Here's a collaboration I did with one of my talented friends, Carolina Tello! She is a concept artist in the gaming industry and kicks a lot of ass, if you didn't know that yet. She approached me for a feltie commission last month because she wanted to give her husband, who also works in games, a unique birthday gift. They have an adorable imp character that they co-created and she wanted me to make him into a feltie. When I saw her concepts for him, I melted and agreed to take it on!

First, she gave me full reign in redesigning this guy in my own style, which basically meant he was going to become a gumdrop shape ;) Here are some of the passes I took on him:

Next was the felting stage. I built him over a wire armature and embedded wire in the ears, so they can be posed. I try to do something new with each commission that I take on and for this guy it meant sewing him some duds. I am not very capable when it comes to machine sewing. I knew this, but wanted to try anyway. I have mixed feelings about the results but I think it's good for a first pass. I learned a ton about needle types and got a little better at understanding pattern making, but I have a ways to go yet. 

Still, he was crazy fun to do and I always love doing these sorts of commissions; that is, the ones that are intended to be special gifts. It is an honor when a friend entrusts me with making a gift like this and I am always sure to thank them for the opportunity :)

So on that note, I have a few more commissions to finish up, then I am closing out commissions until next year. I start my advanced character design class next week and have a couple of events to make inventory for in the fall, so free time is a luxury I won't have for felties :[ It's for the best, my 2D skills have been atrophying in the last few months and it's time to work those art muscles again.

Oh yes, on the rat front, everyone is doing well at the moment and I am welcoming another rattie into my home this weekend. He is a gentle, old soul and has quite a story, which I will be happy to share in the near future. <3 p="p">

A wayward Elephant Shrew! I want one as a pet so badly :(

So, I've been talking about it in other social spheres, but this little guy is the first of many teaser images to come. What is he teasing for? The joint animal art book that I will be creating for APE in October, with the amazing Jeannine Schafer, that's what. The book will have 100% new content from me and feature both sketches and more polished works of some of my favorite non-human friends on this planet. My half of the book will predictably be filled with rodents, but I promise to diversify into other critters! Once APE is over, the book will be available at CTN-X in November and following that, can be purchased online by sending me an email.

We are both biology dorks turned artists who love Disney, Miyazaki and have our respective chubby, none-too-bright but lovable furry kids, so this should be quite a trip. ;)

My week seems to be ending on a sour note. Not much to be done except make rage doodles! I might have some new, prettier things to show you next week at least!

Future Fledgie sketches! I don't usually sketch before I felt, but since these are for commissions, I decided to play it safe and make sure the customers and I were all on the same page. I should have the felted forms of these guys good to go over the next few weeks :)

For those tuned into the Pork Chop saga, a brief update: Another surgery and one body cast later, she's doing well and the wound (which previously was massively infected, hence the most recent surgery to cleanse and debride it) is looking great, even 4 days later. Unsure whether I will proceed with the spaying, since her symptoms have subsided and clearly, recovering from surgery is a very difficult thing for Lil' Pork. Just the same, fingers crossed that things continue on this path and that I can have my life back again.

I will be releasing a new rattie print in the near future in an effort to recover some veterinary costs. While making felties for Boo's loss did offset the cost, I found that it was much more time consuming than I had anticipated (I am STILL working on commissions that I took for Boo back in March!), so I think that doing a print run/greeting card run might help get more goodies to more people while making me less crazy. We'll see.