HEY LOOK! Embarrassing old art!
Posted this to dA, couldn't help but share here, too. I've always wanted to do a piece showing the progression of a character.
So here's Dakota from his early, humble beginnings in 2001 to now.
Holy cow what a trip down Memory Lane. The ones from 2001-2003 seem like from another lifetime (maybe it sort of was, it WAS when I lived in California!) Man the 2001 ones are...special. Oh gosh. I had pretty much just discovered what a gryphon was then. Dakota was my second gryphon character (the other was forgotten within a new months) and I forgot when exactly I had that dream that tied him to "Legacy" as a widow (well, just about) and Lillian's creator. YES, ideas from dreams, I know. THEY ALL WORKED OUT IN THE END, DIDN'T THEY?
Took me forever to figure out WHO Dakota was. I've noted here before that it kind of clicked for me in the fall of 2002 when I was stuck in a mental hospital. It's kind of hard to explain without sounding all trite and cheesy...but to put it simply, what Dakota is to Lillian is the same as how he is for me. Caring, protective, loyal...I was in need of that in my life then and that's what Dakota was.
By spring 2003 I had started writing "Legacy" in earnest and he FINALLY GOT A FRIGGEN NAME even though it was just a "temporary" name at the time because I wanted to write their darn story but had no idea of what to call him...so I just pulled "Dakota" out of nowhere and it stuck. It pretty much just goes on from there, the story and my visual depiction of him evolved side by side.
(I have no idea why I didn't have anything for 2005. Go figure.)
Now most of it is just HOW DOES GRYPHON GET DRAWN? The thing I noticed as I did this is that there was a scary lack of Dakota and "Legacy" themed art from 2008 and this year. I can think of why, but it'll pass. That, and the past couple years or so I haven't really done much with their story compared to the previous years. The extent of the writing was mostly just NaNoWriMo and some short story snippets at the side. I had been entirely too busy with fanart and fanfics...>.>
I still need to iron out a lot of things. Still not happy with his crest, I still usually draw his beak too big...pah. (I didn't notice how big it was in the last picture until I was colouring it. GAHGAHGAHAH.) Oh well, I have plenty of time...time, in a sort of runic rhyme...
*snaps out of it* What was I saying about things that distract me from my own stories? >.>
And yeah Lillian is attached to him in most of the pictures. That's my "papa wolf." :>
Welp, art isn't gonna draw itself. *heads back off to the saltmines*
So here's Dakota from his early, humble beginnings in 2001 to now.
Holy cow what a trip down Memory Lane. The ones from 2001-2003 seem like from another lifetime (maybe it sort of was, it WAS when I lived in California!) Man the 2001 ones are...special. Oh gosh. I had pretty much just discovered what a gryphon was then. Dakota was my second gryphon character (the other was forgotten within a new months) and I forgot when exactly I had that dream that tied him to "Legacy" as a widow (well, just about) and Lillian's creator. YES, ideas from dreams, I know. THEY ALL WORKED OUT IN THE END, DIDN'T THEY?
Took me forever to figure out WHO Dakota was. I've noted here before that it kind of clicked for me in the fall of 2002 when I was stuck in a mental hospital. It's kind of hard to explain without sounding all trite and cheesy...but to put it simply, what Dakota is to Lillian is the same as how he is for me. Caring, protective, loyal...I was in need of that in my life then and that's what Dakota was.
By spring 2003 I had started writing "Legacy" in earnest and he FINALLY GOT A FRIGGEN NAME even though it was just a "temporary" name at the time because I wanted to write their darn story but had no idea of what to call him...so I just pulled "Dakota" out of nowhere and it stuck. It pretty much just goes on from there, the story and my visual depiction of him evolved side by side.
(I have no idea why I didn't have anything for 2005. Go figure.)
Now most of it is just HOW DOES GRYPHON GET DRAWN? The thing I noticed as I did this is that there was a scary lack of Dakota and "Legacy" themed art from 2008 and this year. I can think of why, but it'll pass. That, and the past couple years or so I haven't really done much with their story compared to the previous years. The extent of the writing was mostly just NaNoWriMo and some short story snippets at the side. I had been entirely too busy with fanart and fanfics...>.>
I still need to iron out a lot of things. Still not happy with his crest, I still usually draw his beak too big...pah. (I didn't notice how big it was in the last picture until I was colouring it. GAHGAHGAHAH.) Oh well, I have plenty of time...time, in a sort of runic rhyme...
*snaps out of it* What was I saying about things that distract me from my own stories? >.>
And yeah Lillian is attached to him in most of the pictures. That's my "papa wolf." :>
Welp, art isn't gonna draw itself. *heads back off to the saltmines*