I am writing from a motel in Logan, UT, about halfway between Albuquerque and Portland. My move is finally here! And... my car broke down! Last night about half an hour north of Salt Lake City my alternator died and so did my car. We got towed to Brigham city where we dropped the car at a mechanic. After that we took about an hour to get an uber to the closest hotel, which we found out was totally booked. Apparently there is a "Small Satellite" conference in town right now, nearly every room in a 30 mile radius of Brigham city was booked. We found a room at a motel in Logan, with a conference rate of $350 a nightš. But at least we found a place!
Well, I am grateful we didn't get hurt and the repair seems straightforward. I am still very excited to be in Portland soon! I've already joined a group chat with Furries in the city and am making plans for a possible welcoming/housewarming party. I'll be living in a house with two other furries, Zephyr - who just got their MFA from RISD and has been making work about Furry culture, and Sibyl - who is a PhD candidate writing about furries in their dissertation. Our house has a designated studio space that we plan to share as a work space! It really feels like I'm moving into a situation I've always dreamed of.
So it's been a rough 24 hours, but the next chapter has so much to get excited about!
If you're reading this, thanks for your support! It definitely helps, especially in a situation like this with unexpected costs and delays in a plan.
Howdy patrons. Friday marked the opening of Wild Desire, my exhibition of new works with Mark Zubrovich. Mark is a furry and painter based in Brooklyn, NY. Weāve been pen pals since 2018 and finally met for the first time for this show. Iāll have plenty of photos to share from the opening soon, as well as formally lit install photos later down the line.
While Mark was here we also recorded an episode for my new furry podcast Iām trying to get started! I think we go some really good material in there. Iāll try to post a rough edit in the next month or two, Iāve still got to teach myself how to edit audio š¤Ŗ
Now that the show is up Iām directing most of my attention on preparing for my move to Portland in early August. Lots of packing, consolidating my work and belongings and coordinating getting it all across the country. Wish me luck!!
Side one of a 2 sided standing panel piece thatās going in my show. The show is opening next week so Iāve been in crunch mode preparing for it! Excited about this one though. The other side is gonna be atmus. Will share photos of that progress soon as well.
A recent painting Iāve been working on for my show coming up inā¦ 2 weeks??? Wow itās around the corner! Definitely the largest thing Iāve painted, first canvas Iāve painted too. Based on a screenshot from a Frosted Flakes commercial. In the original image thereās a boy diving for the catch and Tony is his shadow.
I have been thinking of the title of this piece as also the series title, The Tiger in Me. It really gets at why Iām interested in making this work. Like, thinking about how I, like a lot of kids of the 90s, was really taught to love and identify with these brand icons. Itās tough to say whether all these companies advertising to kids really knew what they were doing. Yes, they wanted us to love Tony and love Frosted Flakes, but to what end? I think my goal with this project would be to make a Kelloggās rep feel uncomfortable. Like āyes, I do love Tony, Iām in love with Tony, isnāt that what you want?ā
Anywayā¦. Thatās the primer on this new painting show. Iāll be sharing more as I finish works. This oneās aaalmost done, need to touch up those fugly cleats.
Happy Friday folks! I just looked through my back catalog of uploads and added access for all patron levels. Thanks to Loomy for letting me know about that issue. New folks, you should have a lot more access to the archive of uploads. There are some good ones in there :)
I just spent a good 2.5 hours putting social media posts together for this print sale. After a good 4 hours working yesterday on the photos, my website store and my Patreon relaunch.
It catches me off guard how much all this stuff matters. I was going to post the announcement to instagram tonight but apparently evenings are the slow time for post engagement. Funny because I guess that means everyone is on instagram while at work? True, I guess.
Thanks so much for signing up for my patreon to support my practice. I look forward to sharing projects and ideas with you all on here.
If you look at the recent posts you'll see a few WIPs and sketches from my recent screen printing project. You'll also see a special patron only link to purchase that screenprint at a discount through my patreon page. Please don't share that link with others (obviously!) But please use it yourself if you like.
I'm currently juggling quite a few things, all of which I hope to share some about on this page. A non-exhaustive list of big plans right now:
-Aformentioned screen print sale -Moving to Portland, Oregon in August 2023 -Hanging a show of paintings in July 2023 -Researching and starting a podcast on Furry topics -Hosting a studio sale of older works before my move -2 Large Longer term photo projects that I'll share more details about soon! -Like a hundred other little things before my move :)
Anyway, I just want to send a little hello and build up an idea of what you can expect to see and hear about on this page. Thanks again for subscribing <3
Please limit your purchase at the patreon discount page to one print per patron! You're always welcome to buy another print on the regular store page :) :
After 3 sessions we've got all the posters printed! I'm currently in the process of signing and editioning them, but the majority of the work on these is done. I'm in the process of making my store page for these, and the special patrons only discount on the print :)
Here are some view of the poster even further along. I worked with my old college roommate and good friend, Ben Higgins on the design, you can really see in image 3 here where a graphic designer stepped in, lol. I was very excited with the 3rd design, but ultimately decided to simplify some elements in the final design. I loved the bullseyes on the face heart and crotch, but my screen printer (Diego Garcia, thanks Diego!) advised that those fine details would likely get flooded when printing the large swaths of flat color that surround them.
I also was going crazy trying to figure out what to put in the shooter info form. I wanted to give a place for folks to write what gun they used to shoot the poster with (to emphasize the gun fetishization) but couldn't think of the most appropriate term. I had "model" as my stand in text until I showed it to a gun guy who recommended I use "Firearm", which is what made it to the final design.
A couple early sketches of the target practice piece. I had initially imagined the piece as a more detailed image of Atmus, possibly a direct half tone of a photo. Also included here is a series of pose references I was considering when designing the piece. My initial imagination had this fire texture somewhere in the design, but I ultimately dropped it in the editing process. After tracing a pose in procreate and turning it into color blocks I realized I liked the less-detailed outline more than a direct photo or photo-traced sketch. You can see the first iteration of that in the red and blue outline here.
Here's a preview of a project that's been cooking for a while now. I first got the idea back in 2019 to create a print that turned Atmus into the subject of a shooting range poster.
The subject of mass shootings and american gun culture has been a long running fear/fixation of mine. I think Atmus makes a useful subject for this idea, crossing the idea of the hunted deer and the hunted queer subject.
This image is the final design, which is currently being burned into a set of 3 screens, I've got plans to print them this coming week with help from a local screen printer.
I'll be sharing process images of the screenprinting, as well as sketches of the artwork that lead to the final design, in coming posts.
WOO! The time has come... for the return of this page.
As any returning patrons know, I last had decided to take down my page after patreon had deemed my artwork "too pornographic". After some years and a few back and forths with patreon support, I have been handed a verdict that my art is officially "NOT TOO PORNOGRAPHIC!"
As the screenshot below shows, this ruling is tenuous at best, but I'd say that's as good a deal as any queer artist can get in this current hellscape of a culture we live in, so I've decided to tap back in.
I'm drafting a series of posts to go up over the next few weeks, documenting a variety of the projects I've been working on over the last few years. Plenty of posts about current and future plans to come, so stay tuned!
It's with some sadness that I'm announcing plans to close my patreon page. Since Patreon decided to censor my content in Fall 2019, I've had thoughts and plans of moving to a new platform. But with the finishing graduate school, the pandemic affecting my ability to make art (particularly my ability to attend Furry community events), and now with my new position teaching this spring, I don't feel that I can manage upkeep of a monthly art production project. I am thankful for the support so many folks have provided in this in between phase for me. I hope and plan to make more to show for it when I am able to. But for now, it feels like closing this down so that I can stop deepening that debt is the best move.
Thank you all once again, and I wish all folks a better 2021. I hope that when I am ready to make and share new work that I will be able to share it with you all.
Hi Patrons. Some of you may have noticed a bunch of my content has disappeared off this page. Unfortunately this is the result of a week long dispute between me and patreon. About a week ago I woke up to an email from patreon informing me that my content was in violation of their community guidelines. Despite the fact that their guidelines define banned pornographic content as "real people engaging in sexual acts such as masturbation or sexual intercourse on camera", and my work doesn't actually contain any real performance of sexual acts, or any actual display of exposed bodies, patreon has refused to concede that my work does not violate their terms. I have included screenshots of my dialogue with patreon in the image album for this post, in case folks want to see my full appeal and patreon's (crushingly blank) responses.
So, what does this mean now? The ultimate plan is to move my work off of patreon entirely. Considering they censored not only my fun furry-on-furry photo comics and gifs, but also my fine art works that deal even remotely with sexuality (They specifically requested I remove my Self-Care/self-suck images, which are getting ready to be hung in a show later this month), I feel that patreon is not a healthy place for any of my work. I hope to recruit a web designer who can help me set up a custom subscription service that I link to from my artist website, tommybruce.net. If that works, then hopefully I can cut out a middle-man entirely and continue to produce and share my work with impunity. But, that takes time and money, two resources that I, as a graduate student in my final year of my art program, have very little to spare. This leads me to my next major point:
I will not be shutting down my patreon, yet. I understand the feeling that others might have, that I (and all of you) should stop giving any money to patreon at all, starting with removing this page entirely. My thinking though is in weighing the damage: How much would patreon be hurt by losing it's cut of my supporter contributions? Not very much, $22.75/mo to be exact, as of my current earnings. Compare that to the funds I would continue to generate, if I maintain this page for even one more month, $407. That amount of money would be a huge boost in tracking down a web designer to commission for a custom payment structure on my own site. With that in mind, I hope you will consider supporting me through this moment of turbulence. Additionally, I want to let folks know:
I plan to make this issue into a topic for public conversation on censorship and sexual expression. While I carefully devised the content I uploaded to patreon to never explicitly cross the boundaries stated in their community guidelines, I'm not too surprised that they would find a way to call for it to be removed. I see this instance as another step down the regressive path away from freedom of sexual expression on the internet, right in line with Tumblr banning 18+ content and craigslist removing personals from their site. All of this is an effort to push sexuality back into a closet by a fascistic government, and I think it's a battle worth fighting.
More info will be coming. I'm spinning a lot of plates right now with school, teaching, upcoming exhibitions and more, so please bare with me as I try to make moves on this plan as efficiently as possible.
If you don't want to give money to patreon, you can donate money to me via ko-fi or Paypal.
All funds raised on these accounts will next go toward research and development of a new subscription payment method that I run directly through my own domain.
Finally, thank you for your supportāpast, present, and future. I would not have ever made a lot of the fun comics and gifs I shared here if it weren't for enthusiastic support from so many of you. Even glimpsing a possible future where I could make a living as an artist on the collective support of my patrons gives me hope that there is a future for a model like patreon... just hopefully one that doesn't get bought out and wrecked by venture capitalist backers and conservative online pay service companies.
If you have thoughts on how I might move forward, please feel free to reach out! You can hit me up on twitter, telegram or email. @atty_boy on the first two, tbrucephoto@gmail.com via email!
Still getting lighting set up for this, but hey check it out! My colleague had this taxidermy head in her studio, when she moved out she lent it to me, she said it made sense for me to have it. Been trying to think of what to do with this guy... today is sketch day!
The latest iteration sketch of my background for an upcoming performance piece. A professor suggested I might move from the "cartoon crack" to a cracked screen to get more specific with my metaphor and I really loved the idea! I'm still working on cleaning up the compositing, and I want to scan my own cracked screen rather than pull an image from the internet as I have here. But, i'm pretty proud of how well i've been able to figure out the combination of the elements in photoshop.
As I mentioned in some of my other posts, I'm excited by the introduction of compositing/drawing/mixed media into my practice. I feel like I have a lot more opportunity to "work into" my images now as compared to when I shoot straight photographs. Looking forward to what more comes out of these experiments....
I will definitely be uploading a hi-res version of this image to be available as a digital background later! Though I wonder if that might be too anxiety inducing??
Hey yāall! I just want to let you know that Iām going to be switching over to a different charge structure, now new patrons will make their first payment on the day they sign up. This shouldnāt affect anyone here as today is a charge day for the month.
So, nothing should change for you, but I wanted to let yāall know. Thanks again for your support, canāt wait to keep sharing more content with you all!
Tomorrow Iām driving up to Santa Fe, NM to visit a gallery. Through a winding series of fortunate events, I have landed an opportunity to stage a performance and pop up exhibition during an upcoming photo portfolio review event in Santa Fe. Iām meeting with the gallery owner and event organizer to plan out the show. One piece I have in mind is a photo op with Atmus in front of a big installed wallpaper background. I think people will naturally want to get a picture with Atmus, so I want to try and utilize that for my work. This is my initial sketch idea for the background. Itās a landscape I pulled from Zelda that I drew over on my iPad. Iām not sure if itās finished, but I really like the crack as this reference to the state of things feeling broken. Right now it feels maybe too simple, but at the same time I think itās easy to over complicate and become too didactic. Just thinking out loud!
Either way, Iām excited to have an opportunity coming up to share work in print, and Iām really excited at the thought of printing a background at like 10 ft wide! Wonder if Iāll get banned from my print lab? š¤š¤
Excited about some hot acquisitions via mail today! I commissioned my fursuit makers for an pair of arms and a tail that I could wear to partial-fursuit as Atmus.
As you can see in the bodysuit hanging on the wall, normally getting into suit is pretty all-or-nothing. I've gone to some events only wearing my head, but I wanted to have some way to be a little bit more in character without having to go full suit. Hopefully this will give me more ways to use Atmus in performances and photographs. Already thinking about more outfits I might put together to wear with him in this mode. Woo!
Gratuitous dancing gif that I made to see what I look like in motion B)
First test with this printer on a custom puzzle. Wanted to see the image quality before I commit to any more prints, but Iām pretty satisfied. Would love to make a couple more images into puzzles for fun collectables.
Iām so excited! Am gonna start shipping these out in the first week of September. If you want one but donāt have an address listed please message me, I would love to share one with you ā¤ļø
Sharing here as a little behind the scenes for y'all. One of the things I want to do with this patreon is figure out how to apply the funds directly back into my practice and the Furry community. To me, commissioning work from other furries taps both of those desires.
This is a little concept sketch from fursuit sneaker designer Razzy Lee. I've loved her work for a while, and have had a desire to work with her since seeing her designs. Separately, I've also been trying to make more progress on my Link cosplay outfit for Atmus. So, this design comes as an interpretation of Link's boots, though one that's general enough so I can wear the boots with other outfits as well.
I should get the final product in my hands sometime this fall, in time for halloween and MFF! Other plans for Link outfit still include a chest belt, gloves, and a sword and shield. Not sure if i'll go handmade or work with more custom commissions on these... just thinking out loud!!!
I've had the idea to turn this image into a postcard kicking around since I made it, and I have also been thinking about more ways to say thank you to all you supporters. I ordered a limited run of these, and they should get in in the coming weeks. I'll share more once they arrive.
Relatedly, many of my recent patrons have chosen not to include their mailing address in their account info. If you would like a postcard but don't want to add your info to your account, please reach out to me directly via email or telegram with your mailing address and info! I think these are gonna be really neat and would love to give y'all something to keep around. Perhaps there might be room for some more physical rewards in the future if the response is positive!
A fun portrait I took at Denfur of a friend. The smoke came from a friend using their vape. Miles (a patron on here! Hi Miles!) got a great behind the scenes image of the photoshoot. Sharing that here as well.
I have some more exciting projects to share here soon! I'm gearing up for my last school year now, everything starts in about two weeks. More time in the studio and more art will probably mean more behind the scenes previews of work! Looking forward to sharing :)
I was working on this photo of Atmus the other day while making some prints. One of my my steps in the editing process is using a threshold layer to find the brightest and darkest points in my image. While using the threshold slider I got kinda mesmerized by how the image morphed. So... I decided to make a gif of that! Very satisfied by the loop/pulse. Feel free to steal this for your DJ set visuals ;)
Today I've been working on a portfolio of images to share in the Art Show at Denfur 2019. It's been interesting to try and decide what images I should choose to show. If you haven't been to a con, the general format for the art show is a series of pegboard cubicles, signing up for the show guarantees you one wall about 4x3' to fill as you please. Everything in the show can be listed for sale with silent auction bidding.
I'm planning to have a few prints at different sizes and prices. I have NO idea whether anything will sell. Most of what I've seen in art shows is illustration/painting of cute/cool furry characters. I'm not sure whether actual photographs of (specific) fursuits will appeal to a general audience. But, regardless, I am excited to get to share some work at a convention.
PS: I would love to know if any of y'all will be there! Please feel free to reach out on here, twitter, or telegram. (Atty_boy on both twitter and TG)
A sketch from the studio today. I shot some images of Taro and Wolfbound in front of a chroma key screen with the intention of collaging them later. This is a really quick and dirty mock-up of something I had in mind. Not quite sure how I feel about it, but I wanna keep it around to keep thinking. The bg is grabbed from the Little Mermaid ride at Disney.
