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Furry Chat => General => Topic started by: razi on January 03, 2007, 03:01:00 AM

Title: Furry Skin Controversy
Post by: razi on January 03, 2007, 03:01:00 AM

I have noticed lately, that when someone new to furry skins wants to start a new project, a lot come to me and ask me if I have done it before. I can understand the need to feel unique, but this feeling of not wanting to "step on toes" among the furry skinners has always confused me a bit.

I was wondering how other furries felt about this, especially those of you that make skins or who want to make skins.

In a nutshell, the way I feel is that every artist has their personal style, and even if they do something someone has done before, they add their own touch, their own flavor to the look of the piece. Just because VanGogh painted sunflowers, doesn't mean no other artist should ever paint them again.

Case in point - yeah, I made a red fox after WaltzingMouse already made one... heck, I even derived from her products to make the parts for it! But was her's the first red fox? No, SugarCat had done others before her.

Do the three red foxes look similar? No, we each had our own take on what we thought made a nice looking fox avatar.

Is one skin better than another? No, not at all, that is arbitrary and depends on who's buying it and their individual tastes.

Would I be upset if someone else did a red fox? Hell no! I would love it, and if they did a good job of it, I would have it in my inventory!

A red fox is a fairly common favorite fursona, but there are infinite ways to depict the fur patterns. There are hundreds of varieties of red fox in the natural world as well, depending on where you live. There is not a standard way to paint one.

Basically, I think furry skinners should just go for it... paint what you want and forget what's been done. It's what flows from your mind and your hand that will make it unique. Yeah, so you might be the first one to make a certain animal, but don't be hurt if someone else makes one too. Your fans will love yours the best, and they will have their own fans.

The important part is to put variety into the catalog, paint your mad hearts out! Isn't it a beautiful dream to someday perhaps have subcategories in the furry section... foxes here, with 50 different varieties of fox, maybe 10 of them red, 5 different arctic fox.... etc.... then over there is the big cat section, then another just for tigers, wolves, kitties, dragons... and so on. Get the picture?

Now the only thing I feel is exempt from this are unusual fursonas, like my leophox and Noey's ocophox... those are both totally off the wall and should not be copied. On the other hand, I feel just regular animals in unnatural colors are not exempt... say like a purple squirrel or a green kitsune... those don't take a stretch of the imagination to come up with, and the variations on the basic theme of the purple squirrel are infinite.

Overall, I don't want anyone to ever narrow their artistic options just because someone has made one already. When it comes to making furries, nothing is copyright there, anyone can make anything, and it's not stepping on anyone's toes because each artist's interpretation is unique and extremely valuable to the furry community as a whole.

All of this is simply just my opinion, but i truly believe as I said above, and I am going to say it again in case you missed it:

Just because VanGogh painted sunflowers, doesn't mean no other artist should ever paint them again!

Title: Re: Furry Skin Controversy
Post by: Maxis29 on January 03, 2007, 03:02:53 AM

 :snicker: I concur.  :-*

Title: Re: Furry Skin Controversy
Post by: Goblin Cat 😸 on January 03, 2007, 03:06:25 AM

I agree!

Title: Re: Furry Skin Controversy
Post by: Rhakshi on January 03, 2007, 03:06:53 AM

i guess that would make sense

Title: Re: Furry Skin Controversy
Post by: razi on January 03, 2007, 03:13:15 AM

yay! Thank you!

I want furries to have fun and go mad like me! I am nuts for painting skins, I do it purely for fun and the joy of wearing something i made.

I also dearly love to see others develop their own style, and variations on a theme fascinate me.

Title: Re: Furry Skin Controversy
Post by: Rhakshi on January 03, 2007, 03:15:16 AM

I still can't find though something good. I want something moderately tan colored, or not idk maybe white fur. hmmm i should become a developer

Title: Re: Furry Skin Controversy
Post by: crustybread5 on January 03, 2007, 01:17:46 PM

Rhakshi, you might like my clouded leopard skin. It's not too dark, if that's what you're looking for.

Anywhoo, back to Razi's point. I totally agree with that.

And Max.. Where did you lean such a posh word?

Title: Re: Furry Skin Controversy
Post by: razi on January 03, 2007, 06:17:07 PM

:D I am so happy I am not the only one who feels the same!

Back when I released the skunk originally, I released the female first, and later the same day, Max released his male skunk. It was several weeks before I finally broke down and  made the male version.

Well, as soon as Max released his, I get negative messages on my homepage about it, plus I am hearing people in chat accuse him of not being original.

 :snicker: whatever!

I replied to them, if you want to get technical about it, LNLG just happened to release a skunk the very same day, hers was just a few pages ahead of me in New Products. So maybe you should slam my talent for copying her "original" idea. Come on, really, how original of an idea is it to make a skunk furry? It's the way the fur is executed by the artist that makes it unique!

Did i copy off of her? Certainly not, it was a coincidence. Am I upset Max released a male skunk the very same day? Hell no! That, too, was a coincidence. Even if it wasn't, I still don't care. All three are very different.

There has been another skunk released since, I forget who made it, but I really enjoyed their take on it, plus it has made me rethink the choice of ears on mine, which I may go back and fix soon.

Title: Re: Furry Skin Controversy
Post by: ephemral on January 03, 2007, 06:27:21 PM

That's how I feel about it.
At first I just picked one of the few red panda skins that matched my style the most.
After I got my name and became a developer I went streight to makeing my own red panda.
Now there are at least three in the catalog to choose from.  After I upload my next skins I already have lined up ready to go
I might make another red panda with slight color variations.

Title: Re: Furry Skin Controversy
Post by: WovenSky on January 04, 2007, 02:52:54 AM

I skiped all the words except the sunflowers part.

Title: Re: Furry Skin Controversy
Post by: razi on January 04, 2007, 02:58:53 AM

heh

I think she is saying I am a bit verbose!  :th_Pyong-1:

Title: Re: Furry Skin Controversy
Post by: WovenSky on January 05, 2007, 01:28:29 AM

Who's saying that?

Title: Re: Furry Skin Controversy
Post by: AngelOfLight0270 on January 05, 2007, 02:58:47 AM

umm not sure(trying to figure that to)

Title: Re: Furry Skin Controversy
Post by: razi on January 05, 2007, 05:30:12 AM

Quote from: WovenSky on January 04, 2007, 02:52:54 AM

I skiped all the words except the sunflowers part.

Quote from: GothchyldeAzrael on January 04, 2007, 02:54:58 AM

....?

That's what I replied to!  :th_Pyong-1: You skipped all the words because I talk too much!  :snicker:

I can't help it, I just feel really strongly about it. If we're going to make a furry community for IMVU, we all have to work together to make things nicer for new furries.

BTW- Maxis and I have begun plotting the furry takeover of IMVU.  :peace: They will need to make a whole new IMVU just for furries because we will infest every corner.

:snicker:

Title: Re: Furry Skin Controversy
Post by: AngelOfLight0270 on January 05, 2007, 05:32:13 AM

ohhh lol I thought so and its okay :D

Title: Re: Furry Skin Controversy
Post by: KitsuneSix on January 05, 2007, 08:32:30 AM

 :peek:
I agree mostly. But if you don't want people to use your idea of something it's logical. Like my Xira Fox, Noekh said she might make a female one, but I already had plans to do that,  so I disagreed. I don't get credits often, so I try to conserve my credits by making good products that I think people will most likely buy. Say if someone did use my idea I already thought and made, I wouldn't want people using it til I come out of the baby developer stage. Yes people can alter something you made their own special way, but what if theirs is better, and no one buys the one you made? Then you're gonna lose and feel like dirt.
 :sniffle:

Title: Re: Furry Skin Controversy
Post by: Goblin Cat 😸 on January 05, 2007, 12:22:24 PM

That would be awesome!  :peek:

Title: Re: Furry Skin Controversy
Post by: razi on January 05, 2007, 02:12:50 PM

Well, I think creations like your Xira Fox are unique, and should not be redone.

But if you would have made a blue wolf, then that's not so unique. There may not be a blue wolf currently in the catalog, but it doesn't take a great stretch of the imagination to create one.

I believe Noey's post might have been in error, since the previous and next buttons at the bottom of the page take you to the next thread instead of the next page of the current thread. I believe she thought she was replying to a request for the Hottie Tottie Kitsune in female form, since the threads were side by side in new products at one point.

I know Noey better than that, she would have never tromped on your idea without your permission.

Title: Re: Furry Skin Controversy
Post by: WovenSky on January 06, 2007, 07:44:24 PM

Sweet I can't wait to take over IMVU!!!

*grabs her bow and arrows*

Title: Re: Furry Skin Controversy
Post by: Fabriciano on January 10, 2007, 11:48:37 PM

well if i made my own eyes i think i can do a furry skin too... but really dunno how.... loool... great point of view!! :)  this catalog will have quite more variety!!! :)

Title: Re: Furry Skin Controversy
Post by: PrincessWilly on January 20, 2007, 01:59:13 AM

OBJECTION!
~
Sorry about that, I just started playing Pheonix Wright: Ace Attorney for the first time...
~~
 omg
~~~
What I mean to say is, though I agree that nobody should worry about stepping on toes...
~~~~
I also believe we should all strive to bring something new, if possible.
~~~
For the better of the consumers that is.
~~
The more selection, the more we can reach out to!
~
But, that's just my opinion...

--

~Princess

Title: Re: Furry Skin Controversy
Post by: NiryxTheDragon on January 20, 2007, 04:38:53 AM

hmmm new what about a snake person its new and it could have like a cobra head
*skipped the really long entrees*

Title: Re: Furry Skin Controversy
Post by: balzich14 on January 21, 2007, 03:01:06 AM

hmmmm

Title: Re: Furry Skin Controversy
Post by: NiryxTheDragon on January 21, 2007, 03:03:25 AM

wait now i read the thing lol nvm forget what i said ^^ sowwies and zich this is about a few weeks old i think

Title: Re: Furry Skin Controversy
Post by: crustybread5 on January 21, 2007, 10:57:01 AM

Please stay topic, read all posts so it makes sense about what is going on.

Thread temp.  locked untill futher notice.

Title: Re: Furry Skin Controversy
Post by: Pause on January 24, 2007, 12:07:37 AM

Copying is the best form of flattery.


It's is actually very courteous that people ask "permission" before starting a project of their own.  I also believe this is because we live in a world full of Lawyers.

I also believe when you do something good, you will not see the million people that loved it, but remember the ten people that complained.

Title: Re: Furry Skin Controversy
Post by: NiryxTheDragon on January 24, 2007, 12:43:29 AM

wow thats really true i gotta say that