Scale’s paintings push the limits of furry art, with surprising mainstream crossover.
by Patch O'Furr
(NSFW – nude paintings below!)
In “Furry Good Ideas“, Scale commented on my suggestion about starting a Furry art gallery:
Not sure if the times are ripe for a dedicated furry art gallery, but for what it’s worth I’m having some success entering furry paintings in local art shows… I’m also making a bet that a market niche for paintings actually exists within the the fandom and that a decent number of fans would like to own furry art which can be displayed alongside other kinds of art. The results are very encouraging so far.
The article was meant to encourage feedback like this, revealing a cool new story. Nice to meet you, Scale!
Scale does classical style anthropomorphic figure painting. Public display of his work puts him in a favorite focus of this blog: crossover. He isn’t just showing regular fantasy art to the public, either. It’s both painterly, and super hot! It’s the best of both worlds. Look at the dragoness below… the attitude, the pose, the voluptuous sculpted butt… excuse me while I fan my face for a minute.
I’m happy to share this as a nice surprise to the chairman of Eurofurence. He commented on my article about Biohazard’s crossover art stunt:
We’re seeing a little subcultural eruption, from as far across the line of “low art” as you can get. Scale’s art is pushing limits. His cool, thoughtful style speaks of Old Master sensibility, but the hot-blooded subjects are a weird combination that makes sparks. Isn’t that what art is for? The way people respond to it brings interesting thoughts about art meaning:
The bunny painting was accepted in the show without any problem. I keep finding evidence that most non-furries don’t read a picture like that one as a sexy pinup… I suspect most people just see it as a parody of human nudes.
OK, it’s sexy to furry fans (5,000 on his popular FurAffinity account), but he thinks it doesn’t communicate like that to the “normal” public. Is that a failure? Would they show it if it doesn’t speak to them? It has to work as simply good painting. It’s an example for furry artists: don’t make good furry art – make good art. Read the rest of this entry »