A Winter Dream

This, my friends, is a gift (well, sort of) to the wonderful Lauren Dukes. A few nights ago, I'd absentmindedly shared the fact that I had no money for Christmas gifts this year. I told her that I'd hoped I'd be commissioned some time before Christmas, just so I could have a little money in my pocket to buy something for my parents, but that didn't happen. No commissions, no job (which I've been searching for for quite some time now), no nothing. What's this wonderful girl do? She insists on sending me money. Of all the IRL people I know and have shared my predicament with, she was the only one to say, "I'm sending you something." And guess what? She's someone I've only known online, not IRL. I doubt she'll ever know how much I appreciated that act of pure kindness and generosity that came at such a great time. I'll never forget how she offered to help me out like that. And, just to make things clear to any and all that read this, it wasn't the fact that she sent me money (or how much, whatever) that I so greatly appreciated. It was the fact that she didn't ever think twice about trying to help me, monetary or otherwise. So, my dear friend, this is one out of many pictures that will be made for you.

Because of Lauren's generoisty, I've become her art slave. I'm going to make several concept designs for her character and fursona, Dream. This is only one idea I had in mind. I have some anthro sketches that will be finished up and scanned some time soon (hopefully). Umm...to explain this a little, that's my fursona, Quaylak, riding upon Dream's back. This was supposed to be a very "dream-like" picture. Ever since I moved down her to Georgia from Chicago, I've really missed the cold and snow. Soooo, I wanted to make something like...I dunno...a "dream" sequence. So this is supposed to be Quaylak having a dream about snow and stuff, which should explain her lack of winter garments. She can feel the crisp chill in the air, but since it's a dream, she's not freezing that fluffy tail of her's off.

To explain Dream's chosen colors...well...I wanted them, like the composition of the piece, to be "dreamy." Something almost childish and fantasy-related. Something soft and gentle, yet seemingly "unreachable." Oh, and since Lauren was looking for (what I thought) a unique fur-pattern for her character, I went a little wild with the markings. A little too wild for my tastes, but s'all good.

To wrap this uber-long description up...I just wanted to say thanks again, Lauren, and I hope you like this!

Uhh...I just remembered...ignore those ugly little purple lines that were supposed to be 'hoof-prints' in the snow...I kind of forgot to work a bit more with those...>>; And the compression shoved some color out of the lines, which really sucks. I really can color inside the lines, I SWEAR. X3


Dream (C) Lauren Dukes
Artwork and Quaylak (C) Me.