This may not be my first furry drawing or awakening to that kind of interest, but it’s the one that represents my first glance in a totally different country, which is how I choose to express myself. I remember watching animations and other types of content, popular or niche, with talking animals back in Brazil, then finding out my passion, and to the present I still look forward to them.
Even if the character, who is an anthropomorphic extension of me along many others, seems to be chill as they get fresh air from the outside world, my days would start at grey and white when I didn’t have much to do besides draw, more grey than the graphite pencil and the edge of the stump used, and more white than the paper for this piece of art. As I breathe, I’d hold myself in a cool and calm mood as much as I could, with few outbursts of anger and sadness to be seen for others; Only me would really know how I was feeling at the time.
The simple process will be shown from start to finish with a few pictures between subtitles. The courses of actions will also be discussed, from how I draw the fox and its scenario to how I ended up like them by traveling to Italy and starting a new cycle of my life. Keep in mind that I show my side of the story, not just in this article, but basically across this blog.
A Couple of Squares to Begin Shaping my Perspective
The main reference here is an actual place, though nothing much of the background is shown besides the window door in the center of the picture that leads to the balcony. The shapes are solely made of squares and rectangles, and I did my best to make straight lines without rules, though I use them when it’s necessary. The lines that are the floor on the outside ended up being slightly curved till the finish, I then gave a new interpretation: It seems to be the introduced place slowly moving to the sides, when it’s my temper doing it figuratively, trying to find balance.
Looking back at the window door, the thin line at the left of it is thicker than what was drawn. Besides it, there’s also a curtain that can be moved up and down and a glimpse of the indoor floor appearing. I don’t want those repeated faulty and curved to the side lines, such as the ones at the top of the window door, on a final illustration, but I do find them funny quite a lot when I’m not doing or thinking about a professional artwork, as they can refresh my memories of sillier doodles I did when I was younger and even lead to improvements depending on the directions.
The fox character is behind the window door and at the front of the curtain. Part of their body and limbs from the right side are completely covered by the window, no transparent reflex scribbled. They are opening the door with their left hand, as per usual. It’s a basic pose with a head looking at the balcony and its surroundings, nothing dynamic there, it’s merely a lone timid creature revealing themselves and out for ventilation.
Continuing to Develop in the Environment
The lines from before got more definition and adjustments and reveal more of the scenario, like the door window having an oval hole that can be pulled to open if it’s unlocked and the squares that form tiles on the floor. A line from the upper right was erased, at its place it’s just an entrance to my room.
The same goes for the character who is, of course, looking up, checking the environment to see other buildings, the neighbors and the weather, where I once was. I gave them thicker furs at the corners of their cute and round face, neck and shoulders, as well as other physical attributes related to foxes. It’s morning, they woke up not long ago, thinking about things to be done and what’s for lunch, then gather experience, skills and information in order to adapt in a new place.
What’s in there to See and Think About
• In that Place
This is when I use a darker 6B pencil, a mechanical 3B pencil and a small stump to give final touches. The tiles are of a darker color than the other features, followed by the iron edges from the lower part of the curtain. The window door is also shining, which is inaccurate to its actual material, being iron; I take them as personal scribbles of mine. The glass and the curtains were colored in lighter tones.
The vertical lines on both corners are supposed to represent corridors on the left and wider spaces on the right, then they end up having little appearance and importance for the context of the drawing.
The environment both from the outside and the inside is overall pretty basic and minimalistic, with mostly grey and white colors in it; Which is not very good looking for me to say the least. However, having respect and consideration for the people in there who helped me with all of the faults, this is what I called my new home.
• And in Myself
The character of mine was also mostly given lighter marks of graphite with a shadow around them, except around the ears and the eyes, as well as the pupils, the hands, the toes and metatarsal.
In these following paragraphs I highlight why the furry being is the main focus of this drawing, as well as in many other ones. I gave physical descriptions and brief phrases about my thoughts, but the sensation was so shocking that I couldn’t ignore it. While there are actually more details in the background, I didn’t care very much about adding them, as I was more focused with the character, my feelings within them and the message of the sketch as a whole.
This picture resulted in being one of the first times I was in my new living room. I felt excited, tense and confused at that moment, I couldn’t begin where to start, even though I took a good break the day earlier. I was waiting for my arrival at studying at school for years after the pandemic and health, financial and family related incidents, but then hope faded away as I had to wait for more months to get actually ready for an in person experience in other settings besides the ones I got to stay and frequent.
I arrived in Rome, but then Naples is where I started living. In this city I was astonished to see some of my relatives, almost as if we were strangers to each other, it wasn’t on our books to make plans for me to live there, this was a decision we took and agreed fast. Besides, I’d get culture shocks when stepping in Europe, from structures, streets, to some people, including those supposedly closed ones mentioned earlier, acting in a way that made me uncomfortable. At times I’d get homesick and miss the people I got close with back in South America, but I reminded myself to look forward.
Become More Observant Like the Fox
I can unfold my backstories that were once only in my head, but I can also give tips on improving on your artworks. They are mostly thought for beginners but if you’re not, take these as notes anyways, they don’t hurt, slip ups can happen. If you’re solely an enthusiast you could still apply at least some of the things written below to your work and daily life.
• About Certain Tools, in this Case Rulers and Erasers
Avoid using rulers at this stage, let alone rely on them, and the same goes for the erasers. Consider this an exercise to improve on the traction and flexibility of the hand. The precision comes later on when given further examinations to grow into a finished piece. Erasers were used sparingly, I tried to skip it as much as I could, then there were few marks nowhere to be seen by the second picture.
• Adding More than Needed: be Careful
Don’t worry about adding extra information, focus on the main topics and features instead, otherwise the piece gets too cluttered and overwhelming. The drawing from this article has a newbie fox, a door window, and a curtain. Now imagine if I draw the entire room or even the entire apartment (though those are good ideas for drawings) when they don’t have much to do with the subject matter raised. All I wanted to do here was scratch some parts of a situation I lived in, not show my diary.
• Be Yourself
I know it sounds cliche, but it’s something that should be more talked about than it is, because it seems that a lot of people take this with superficiality and don’t bother understanding when others are being real with their emotions and actions.
This one is essential not just in your artworks, but in life. Having authenticity as a trait is a good reason why I am more transparent about myself behind the pictures. Experiment as much as you like in your art. Don’t be hard on yourself, you are practicing and learning just like me.
More Discussion About Traveling and Furry Content in Mind Before Closing the Window
Given what was written back at the introduction, anthropomorphic animals grew on me throughout the years, and they were with me in our times of solitude. Being on the internet since ages ago, I’ve heard of furries before, however I didn’t mind much about them. It was a gradual approach that I could look into with love and dedication.
The character from the picture is an anthropomorphic extension of me in the sense that we are completely separate individuals, yet in my sketch they are portrayed in a situation that I was in real life, not by me taking my physical appearance and adapting to a fursona, but by taking my emotions into account. Making furry friends act like I did with the one shown was to help me to be more open in my art, in addition to getting some semblance of relatability and companionship. This is not the first and certainly not the last time I’ll be doing this.
After processing everything that happened to me, I thought a lot about my future outside of Rio de Janeiro. I couldn’t stay there for much longer as I needed more assistance, and in order to obtain that I had to do a significant transfer. Nevertheless that city, and the good memories from there I cherish with my loved ones will be forever in my heart.
