25 years - Gun Friends by @ajfox (A Girtz)

1999: Having met one of the artists I was hoping to connect with, I fired up my AOL Instant Messenger & ICQ clients and began looking for others as well. This was quickly becoming the 'sweet spot' year for great online artwork for many different places. (At the time: Yerf, Side7, Furnation, etc.) All the artists I'd been following were active and posting one amazing piece after another. I could tell the influence from their work was rubbing off on me as I continued to find my own anthropomorphic artistic voice from the sidelines. A steady rotation of multiple character design work took hold as I kept practicing, not knowing what anything meant or what I was doing. College and life demanded much of my time, so I kept my anthro-based work quiet but never far away. I would sneak a peak at the latest uploads in my computer classes whenever I'd get some free time. Things would continue to get interesting, both for art and new connections, as the days went on.

2024: Believe it or not, THAT'S how I started out drawing Cheetahs. It's funny, but thankfully, also short-lived. Once I got down what I thought (at the time) was decent proportioning, I began to look into my subjects in further detail. (Even then I knew that wasn't what a Cheetah looked like) Back then, for me, learning to draw like this was like getting the keys to a new corvette. I was in such a hurry to see what I could do, I didn't slow down to spend more time on developing details, accuracy and consistency. I'd get burned by this during an application process, and in the year to follow. 3 more of my OCs from that time are pictured with pistols. Left to Right: Kitt the Fox, (..how original..) AJ the Raccoon, and Kammy the Cheetah. (displeased with her marksmanship) I took some artistic liberties this time, but kept almost everything else the same. To the gun safety conscious; I share your cringe. My future works will be more mindful of this.