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Caltech 1994-1997
The Art Corner

1998-01-06 : This is where I (Louis) get to display the art that I have created. I admit that the drawings aren't that great. They're here more for friendly openness than to show off. Feel free to criticize and make recommendations. I know I will. Most of these pictures are of Nutsy, but there are a few pictures of other furries mixed in. They are presented in aproximately the order they were drawn.

Some of the pictures have been retouched. A few were drawn on binder paper so I removed the lines. Other than that and some color balancing, there has been very little retouching of the pictures here.

I didn't start putting dates on my pictures until recently. Thus, many of the dates are guesses based on file modification times.

First Attempt (12K) c. Jun-94
This is here to keep me humble. The first time I ever tried to draw Nutsy. I'm so embarassed! It took me a couple of years to figure out what was wrong with this picture - Nutsy doesn't even have a tail! The entire aviator's cap over the head thing, a la Rocky and Bullwinkle, was way to cliche and I dropped it quite quickly.

School year, 1994-1995

These next five were all drawn at about the same time. They were an attempt to figure out what Nutsy looks like and to stabilize his physical characteristics. Most of the later changes have been in the facial markings and head shape.

Leaning (12K) c. Nov-94
This is a picture of Nutsy relaxing against the trunk of a tree.

Profile 1 (18K) c. Nov-94
This is essentially the canonical profile sketch of Nutsy.

Profile 2 (18K) c. Nov-94
Another profile sketch, but the proportions are not very good. He's got a long neck and huge thighs. Definitely pretty weird.

Smelling (23K) c. Nov-94
I was trying to come up with realistic poses. In this one, Nutsy is using all his concentration to smell something. Maybe he's trying to find that stash of walnuts from last fall.

Standing (24K) c. Nov-94
This is an attemp at some sort of a scale drawing. Nutsy and I are standing side by side

Nutsy, drawn (37K) c. Feb-95
This was the best picture I had of Nutsy for quite a while. I used MS Draw to create this, so that I could futz with it as much as I wanted, and still produce a sharp image.

These have the different eye and face markings. They are also better as I had more practice by the time these were drawn.

Snooze (4K) c. Apr-95
This little doodle of Nutsy curled up taking a nap somehow ended up being very good.

Water (20K) c. Apr-95
I saw a squirrel doing a pose similar to this one once when I was walking across campus. The squirrel was laying on his belly on a bench, with one arm and one leg hanging off the edge. That gave me the idea for this sketch. Nutsy's legs came out with the right proportions on this one. I used to have the hardest time with this part. The tail is not right though.

Louis and Nutsy (15K) 27-May-95
Well, it had to be done. Nutsy and I in the same picture. Again, done with MS Draw.

Summer, 1995

Josh (23K) c. Jul-95
One day, I decided to write a little story and include some illustrations. This is a picture of Josh that came out of that endeavor. Josh has just caught a brook trout from a small stream,

School year, 1995-1996

On the front porch (58K) 26-Nov-95
This is a picture of Brian and Kalindra relaxing on their porch swing, watching dim lights from the town in the valley. Unfortunately, the perspective isn't too good. The house ended up being pretty high up on the mountain to give a good view of the town. Kalindra would probably freak out at a view this high. Kalindra's tail was supposed to be wrapping around Brian. Unfortunately, it looks like it's sticking straight out. (I guess Brain was getting a little fresh.) Poor Kalindra has stick legs too.

The Battle (46K) c. 26-Apr-96
This is one of the best pictures I'd ever drawn (at the time). It's pretty big. I threw a little color in for fun. The battle has no story behind it yet. It's just Nutsy and a black squirrel duking it out with raw magic. This is the first picture with a clasp draw on the strap of Nutsy's pack. I added this after Nutsy was inducted to the FM Mage's Guild. I tried to capture a pose with Nutsy bearing back under a strong attack. I always liked the cupping the hands method of firing magic. I liked the magic effects in Mortal Kombat III, so I tried to use those as a guide. The staff is more impressive, though, because of the flare. I'm still trying to figure out why Nutsy is transparent.

To Much Mortal Kombat! (58K) c. Apr-96
DONT' LOOK AT THIS! Oh, OK, go ahead. The picture is kinda graphic, and is definitely not what I usually draw. I stopped working on this one because it was too out-of-character for Nutsy. It could be a continuation of the story above, but I think I'd just been playing a certain game too much. However, I have to admit, the action came through very forcefully and Nutsy is kicking ass.

Feather (6K) c. May-96
This is Nutsy, trying on a new, more realistic style of face. He's wearing the feathered cap that the guy in the next picture should be wearing. :)

Archer (21K) c. May-96
I got the idea for this one from Brian Jacques's Redwall books. This squirrel archer should be picking off sea rats, stoats, or other vermin from atop the walls of Redwall Abbey. I was also experimenting with more realistice head shapes. Oh, and I have to say, the bow is darn cool, and that's exactly what a real bow looks like.

Lady in Red (34K) 16-May-96
I got the idea from this one from the song, Lady in Red. Since Nutsy is supposed to have red fur, I thought that if he were to have a girlfriend, she too would be in red. Essentially, I wanted to capture the song in this picture. It was originally a pencil drawing, then I started to colorize it. I never got further than this. I had also hoped to add silhouettes of a croud of other furries watching the dancers, but I never did. The Lady's movement comes through very well, in my opinion, but Nutsy looks like he's planted firmly to the floor although he's supposed to be rocking back. (See the next picture.) Another interesting fact is that the ASCIT formal was fast approaching when I drew this. My girlfriend Michelle and I were going to attend. I patterened Nutsy's tux after my own tuxedo. In a rather erie coincidence, Michelle decided to wear a red dress!
Dance Study (31K) c. 16-May-96
Before I drew Lady in Red, I did some sketches to see how the dancers would be arranged. I also have a sketch of what I thought Nutsy's partner might look like.

Summer, 1996

Pathfinder (95K) 12-Jul-96
This is a big one. I got the idea from a doodle done by my roommate Vince. I tried to draw what I saw in my mind's eye when I saw his sketch. I think it came out rather well except for the poor squirrel's tail which looks like a wire brush! Pathfinder is also the name of my computer, so this guy is its personification. Well, maybe mascot would be a better term.
Compare (41K)
This is a side by side comparison of my picture with the original that I did just for fun. Again, the original was a doodle, while I spent hours on mine.

The next few pictures are just random sketches. I never intended to scan them, I just wanted to get myself drawing. Amid all the failed attempts, there are a few gems though. These are all done in pen on note paper.

Sketch 1 (33K) c. Jul-96
This was a random sketch. I've always loved Greywolf's artwork. Here, Nutsy is pestering the busy-important-Greywolf for an autograph. In case you didn't know, that thing in the corner is a fractal called Hilbert's curve.

Sketch 2 (220K) c. Jul-96
More stuff. Attempts at expressions: surprise, anger, contentment, and sadness. A few full body sketches. A few knots, including a nice trefoil. Nutsy's emblem. A chair, and a diamond.
Sad (32K) c. Jul-96
This is the best part of the picture above. Nutsy is looking very forlorn.

Sketch 3 (144K) c. Jul-96
Stuff! Attempts to draw Faehlyn. Expressions: anger, contentment, melancholy. The first face and the second to last pair of faces are really good.

Sketch 4 (183K) c. Jul-96
On this page, I was trying to draw a dream scene where Nutsy is being chased by a Hell-vixen. I was never able to get the perspective I wanted. There are many perspective drawings of Nutsy running. I think that the drawing at the top conveys the mood the best, despite my attempts to improve it. Also of interest are some nice stick-figure foxes and a squirrel with very realistic proportions (I think). Finally, the fox in the corner is a rendition I made of a photograph.

Sketch 5 (32K) c. Jul-96
A couple of scholarly looking rabbit faces, plus a corn cob bubble pipe.

Study (143K) c. Jul-96
A scholarly rabbit in his study.

School year, 1996-1997

The Terrible Ode'ee Monster (75K) 13-Jan-97
This is a silly little drawing of Nutsy battling the terrible ode'ee monster. The characters aren't that great. I think I drew a really cool wasteland, though.

Ahead (10K) c. Jan-97
This is a silly little drawing of Nutsy ridding on top of Lan Louis's head. Lan is not too pleased.

Valentine (16K) 14-Feb-97
I drew this with a mouse, right around Valentine's Day. It came out well, I think, especially the rose.

Summer, 1997

The lab I was working in during the summer had a Wacom graphics tablet. Whee!

Test run with tablet (12K) 1-Jul-97
I sat down to mess with the tablet for the first time, and this is what came out. The background color is off-white, because I didn't really know what I was doing at the time. Also, the date I added to the picture is wrong. I really drew it on 7-1, not 7-7!

Serin (7K) 2-Jul-97
This is the first time I've ever drawn Serin by hand. Not too bad! The picture looks a little mottled, but it looked fine on the monitor I was drawing it on. Serin is a blue fox, and a very taciturn fellow. His name is derived from the word serendipity, however.

Fly! (43K) 6-Jul-97
A new 'best' picture ever, so far. I really like this one, although it is not exactly what I had in mind. I wanted the lady gray squirrel to be angry and determined, as if attacking an offscreen opponent or trying to prove that a woman could perform powerful magic. However, I just couldn't see how a flight of butterflies could ever be used for a determined attack, so I lightened the mood of the picture. In this picture, Lady Gray is still showing that a woman can weild powerful magic, but she also shows that women have a sense of beauty and flair that men lack. Nutsy is ducking in the background. Nutsy, who I think is somewhat smitten with Lady Gray, must have made a joking remark about women magicians, and Lady Gray is happily showing him up. That's a pretty accurate rendition of Nutsy, although the fur coloring is off in places. I think the squirrels' legs are a little weird looking as well. I didn't really want to give Lady Gray hair, but she didn't look very female without it. I need to work on that.

Siberian Arabian Nights (38K) 19-Jul-97
This is a pencil sketch, touched up. I had this cool idea for a submission for Siberian Nights web 'zine, so I drew it. Then I realized Siberia was not Arabia. Oops! Collin suggested that perhaps this guy is part of the squirrel foreign legion. :)

Sitting on a chair (28K) 30-Jul-97
I decided to update and revitalize Nutsy's homepage, and I figure's I needed a better picture than than the cameo that had been there since forever. I wanted something inviting, but not exravagant or showy, frank and not trying to show off. The idea of hunching over on a chair, elbows resting on one's legs with fingers laced seemed very fitting (and very like me).

A mouse dream (24K) 25-Aug-97
This one has a lot of story. You see, I dreamed this. This dream was a short animated scene about two mice. Most of my dreams are in movie format, but almost never animated or about furries, so this one was special. The scene opens with a sad girl mouse sitting on a branch. The boy mouse jumps up on the branch all excitied. He has just finished his basic schooling and can now do magic! He was just a country boy when he first met the sophisticated, magical girl mouse. He is slightly enamored with her, and decided to learn magic to impress her and to be more like her. Now he's done and he just found her again. He's so excited and looking for her approval. Something tragic has happened to her in the meantime, and she blames it on magic. She is now disgusted by it and doesn't want to have anything to do with it. When he comes up, she is just reminded of what she now hates. She says some angry words to him, then runs away. The poor guy is left shocked and confused. I can remeber the story line, but I can't remember the words. It's like remembering a conversation where you can remember the gist of what was said, but not the exact words. So, the captions are just approximations. Maybe she should be saying something along the lines of "You just don't understand," or "You just don't get it do you?". The story seems to be a mix of The Secret of NIMH (the left mouse reminds me of Timmy) and The Warriors of Virtue (the right mouse reminds me of Elysia, so I named her Alyssa). My drawing isn't great. The mouse on the right is just not right. So many things that could be better, especially the legs. In my dream, he's actually brown. On the other hand, the mouse on the right came out very well, The face and the body posture do a good job of conveying her sadness. In fact, I have a close up of her. Her fur color was white or light gray.

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Louis K. Thomas <louiNØSP@Msth@hotmÑOSP@Mail.coNÕSP@Mm> Fight Spam! Auth 2003-02-22 (3275 days ago)