Your Guide to the World of Furry Fandom
Another artist we met at Lightbox Expo was Megan Brain — yes that’s her name. Her specialty is an unusual one: Cut and folded paper sculptures. Sounds simple enough, but wait until you see what she does with it! She has been creating amazing and unique works for customers big and small for a while now. And more recently she’s been recreating some of her paper works as collectible pins too.
image c. 2023 by Megan Brain
Another artist we came across at Further Confusion is Gyl Kille, who uses polymer clays to create miniature sculptures which she molds and paints. As you can see on her web site she not only makes little animal sculptures, but also a line of shot glasses and the ever-popular cake-toppers.
image c. 2018 by Gyl Kille
Leslie Levings is a sculptor and artist who created a line of colorful and imaginative clay creatures known as Beastlies before she even started high school. Now she’s all grown up — and she creates them full time! Each individual beastlie is a unique creation out of clay, made by hand. Most of them aren’t based on any recognizable animal species, but they are most certainly non-human characters with a lot of personality. Visit her web site to see her currently available models, and follow the link to her gallery of previous designs.
image c. 2016 by Leslie Levings
Damon Bard is a sculptor, 3D modeler, and character designer with decades of work under his belt. He says it best himself on his web site: “For 28+ years now, Damon Bard has been working as a freelance artist in the entertainment industry primarily as a sculptor but also as a development artist and designer of characters and creatures. Since then, he has contributed to nearly 30 films and other various projects during his career. Damon has also been fortunate enough to have worked along side some of the most talented, acclaimed and awarded artists and directors in the industry and on a few of the most successful films ever made: Kung Fu Panda II, How To Train Your Dragon, Coraline, Kung Fu Panda, Ratatouille, Shrek 2, Star Wars: Episode 3, and Madagascar to name a few. Additionally, Damon works on his bronze figurative sculpture and oil paintings between and during projects as time allows.” A busy artist. His site also features a link to his demo reel, showing off some of his 3D digital works.
We’ll let Lyla Warren tell it herself: ” Recently relocated to Portland (from San Francisco via Denver) Lyla Warren is a self-taught freelance artist. Her education was forged by late nights in the halls of the animation industry and by wonderful mentors. Through her career, she’s worked for a variety of clients such as Disney, Cartoon Network, Sony, Mattel, Zynga, Laika, and Leap Frog, to name a few. These days she is focused on sculpture, character design and personal art work.” And what sculpture! Her leaping-out-of-the frame 3D pictures of various Disney and Pixar characters have been featured at the Disneyland Wonderground Gallery, and her other works have drawn from many sources. She even found time to create her own 2D animated short film, Beaver vs. Platypus, as well as shorts for the Happy Tree Friends series. Take a look at her web site to see all that and more.
image c. 2014 by Lyla Warren
Brian Harris is a graphic artist who, as of late, has been moving increasingly into 3D work — thanks in large part to the ever-expanding technology of 3D Printing available at sites like Shapeways. Working under the name Timothy BH, Brian has been selling sculptures of Goldie Pheasant from Rock-A-Doodle and Spike the dragon from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, as well as others… and he intends to start taking commissions soon. Check out his Shapeways Shop to see his current work and find out how to keep up with his latest creations.
Image c. 2013 Brian Harris
Spike c. 2013 Hasbro / The Hub
Painted Dog is the furry name for the artist known as Angyl Kille, creator of one-of-a-kind wildlife and fantasy sculptures. As shown on her FurAffinity page, her work can range from simple character studies to more “practical” applications like shot glasses and Christmas tree ornaments, all with more than a touch of whimsy thrown in. Check her out there, at her Deviant Art page, or at her own professional page, belibou.com.
image c. 2013 A. Kille
This July MX Collectibles is releasing a set of 6-inch tall collectible busts, modeled after various university mascots. And the first set of four is decidedly furry! Check out their web site for the new busts of the Louisiana State University Tigers, The Clemson University Tigers (pictured below), the University of Memphis Tigers, and the Brigham Young University Cougars. Each of these busts was created by well-known collectibles sculptor Clayburn Moore.
image c. 2012 MX Collectibles
Recently discovered at Comic Con: Jackie Huang is a 3D story artist and art teacher. In 2009, he took up the art of needle felting and created Wool Buddies, a collection of fuzzy animal dolls, sea creatures, and various friendly monsters. You can check out his various designs at the Wool Buddy web site, or else his work is available at several stores and art galleries in California. His work is also available in several “do it yourself” kits that teach you the art of needle felting.
image c. 2011 Jackie Huang
