InFurNation Rotating Header Image

Fantasy

Remember: Food Over Fighting!

Recently at CTN Animation Expo in Burbank we came across an artist named Donna Vu. She is the lead artist and art director on Dragon Roll, an on-line game published by Sleepless Skink Productions in 2016. According to their web site, it goes like this: “Fun Guo and Shiu Mae [a pair of young dragon siblings] are on an adventure to get their uncles and aunt back from their homes. After a fight, while preparing their dad’s surprise birthday party, they all go their separate ways. Now they must find and remind them of the important roll that family plays in all our lives, all before their dad gets home.” Remember to visit Donna’s web site too, as she has lots of development sketches for the game.

image c. 2017 SSP

Fantasy From Reality

April Solomon is a second generation artist (her father, David Solomon, has had paintings displayed in the Smithsonian Institution) who specializes in fantasy works and fantasy creatures. In her case though, it’s fantasy creatures informed by a well-researched reality. According to her web site, “Studying both animal and human anatomy is a constant perseverance to help design a more believable fictional creature. Her inspiration and reference comes in all forms; such as bones and muscle tissue, colorful birds, ambient fish, flowering plantlife, skin tearing sharp toothed animals, and anything else that may find its way into her field of vision that well spark the glow of inspiration.” To that end, she sketches and paints plenty of real-life animals as well.

image c. 2017 by April Solomon

Grim Grinning Cats

Huevocartoon is an animation studio from Mexico that made a name for itself with the Huevos series of animated films — which were quite profitable north and south of the border. Now they’re taking things in a different direction with their new CGI film Grimalkin. According to an article in Variety, “…the horror comedy narrates how a domestic cat’s love for his family is tested when mischievous creatures invade the house, a foster home run by a loving young couple. Being the only one with the ability to see them, the cat must confront the creatures before they take over the house and its inhabitants.” The film is being directed by storyboard artist Sant Arellano. There’s no word yet on a planned release date — but check under your bed just in case.

image c. 2017 Huevocartoon

Vinyl to Match

More stuff we found at a recent My Little Pony convention. Snuggle Trumpet is, according to their web site, the home for t-shirts, dice bags, athletic jerseys, and other good stuff all decorated with custom-made vinyl decals.  So far, it’s mostly about My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic of course, but they not only make stuff based on canon characters but also based on fans’ own creations. Plus, they plan on expanding their line before long.

image c. 2017 SnuggleTrumpet.com

Ponies of Darkness

Allan Gann made a name for himself as a crafter of custom plush toys for various organizations and individuals since 1999. Then in 2014, he expanded his vision with Midnight Mares, designed not only as a plush toy line but also as an animated series. Inspired by My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (obviously!), but Midnight Mares takes things in a darker and more grown-up oriented direction. Visit the official web site and you’ll see what we mean. Interestingly, Mr. Gann has retained the services of Duo Cartoonist to help create the animation. Duo Cartoonist is well-know as the creator of the Children of the Night animated short, which won a Special Ursa Major Award.

image c. 2017 MidnightMares.com

Cats With Hats

No, not that one. Cats With Hats is a new full-color independent comic book series written and illustrated by Aynsley King from British Columbia. After a successful Kickstarter campaign, the first issue is out and available now in paper or digital form. “Five cats: Viva, Jinx, Olive, Purrche and Soots. They don’t remember who they are, or why they have hats that grant them the power to change into the animals with powers they wouldn’t have otherwise. Together, these strangers must work together using their new hat powers to piece together their shared mystery all while uncovering the conspiracies in Catsopolis…” That’s what the official web site says. Go check it out!

image c. 2017 by Aynsley King

Step into the World of Crow

Recently, we learned about a new 3D virtual reality film in the works called Rainbow Crow from Baobab Studios. The idea is to make a short film where the viewer can step into a different world and interact with animal characters as they tell you a story. In this case, it’s a Native American legend about how the crow saved his fellow animals from a harsh winter frost — and in so doing, gained his famously black feathers. Directed by Eric Darnell from Dreamworks (Antz, Madagascar), Rainbow Crow stars the voices of singer John Legend, Diego Luna, Constance Wu, and Randy Edmonds. A short preview film (about 4 minutes of the final 40) made the rounds recently at Tribeca and other film festivals. Road To VR has an article about the production of the film.

image c. 2017 Baobab Studios

Animals to Cuddle

As we’ve noted, if you’re talking about Furry Fandom the word “cute” is never far away. And if you’re talking about cute, plush animals are probably going to come up too. Well at the L.A. Comic Con we came across an artist called Bellzi, who specializes in cute plush animals. In literally dozens of designs in fact. “Anything and Everything Cute” their web site says, and they live up to that ideal!

image c. 2017 by Bellzi

Rabbit, Take Me Home!

An interesting project we stumbled across at the LA. Comic Con, with the deceptively simple title of Bun. Brought to us by the writing and illustration team of Brian Silveira and Lisa Nguyen, Bun is a graphic novel fantasy/horror series the couple created and published themselves. Their web page describes it like this: “A boy. A girl. An unspeakable evil. A rabbit.” An interview in a local newspaper gave us a bit more description: Bun is “…an intricate tale that follows a young boy and his pet rabbit, the titular Bun. The book picks up after the boy, Milo, loses his mother to cancer. In the wake of her death, his father retreats into alcoholism and depression, essentially making the boy an orphan, alone and struggling with his grief. Milo suddenly disappears, transported to another world where his rabbit Bun serves as the only bridge back home.” The first and second installments of this black & white series are available now.

image c. 2017 by Silveira/Nguyen

Save