Hello Taiky! Welcome to the Eurofurence forum.
You're definitely not alone when it comes to Dutch people here.
Last year was my first furcon, and I'd be more than happy to show you around and to give you some tips
for when you go to the con.
There's barely any segregation on the con. What I mean to say by that is that you have nothing to worry about when it comes to feeling alone, because usually all kinds of people from different regions meet up around the fire outside.
If I send out a message before the con to tell the Dutchies to meet up, we could do that too.
Man, I was shy as heck too.
Until I asked the question: "How do you and your partner prepare for sexy time?"
Bad question.
When it comes to a fursona, I had been struggling with it for years before I drew my profile picture.
I realised that a fursona doesn't come from the brain, but the heart. It's not like 'your destined animal' or something like that.
It doesn't have to be. I did think that earlier, though.
You know when you have a good character when you look in its eyes and see yourself.
Other websites and other people CAN be wrong about what you should be according to them.
If you can draw a bit, start with the face. Drawing out of the imagination can help you settle on the shapes you want.
Now what I did before drawing was make a check-list. There were only a few things I really wanted in my fursona.
I didn't want my character to be just like any other, so I decided on some cat shapes like the nose, but I didn't want it to be entirely cat.
I wanted to have big and characteristic pointy ears like in a lynx, but I didn't know any colours I wanted to settle on.
To bypass colour, I drew it with a pencil.
I can go on and on about the steps I took to achieve what I wanted, but here's the short version:
- First go for the nose and muzzle. Look at different fursuits and try to settle on a nice nose. If you're not happy with whatever someone else has, draw your own.
- Go for the ears. Does your character have any ears at all? How long and how wide would you like them to be?
- Hair or no extra hair? There's more furs in art with hair than there are fursuits with hair.
- Go for the eyes. First decide on the type of eye and the grade of how cartoony. Then settle on a good size. This part is where you usually f*** up. Endless erasing and desperate mirroring. Can't get mirroring right? Draw half a vase (vertical split) and practise getting the other half right as well after.
- Go for the eyebrows. Brows or no brows. That's the question.
- Finish the sides of the face and the fur as last.
And that's how you settle on it.
