ggeudraco

Hey DracoFans,

I've been thinking how to improve my fursuit's exposure to the fandom and in general, so I have taken a Twitter handle to do so: www.twitter.com/ggeudraco

The idea is that it's a method of showing off any fursuit pics, especially if there are any of him out and about, or commenting on an event, or doing some form of charity work. Right now, he's concentrating on getting some form of response/rapport with pro sports mascots, but it would be great if any dA users on Twitter can network with me.

Well, it's deviantArt's 15th birthday. Whilst most 15 year olds are always expecting you to pay them money, change their style with little warning and abandon soft toys of something they had a fixation of for over a decade, deviantArt has...umm...shown to be no exception I miss Fella and Jark each and every day...

Anyways, deviantArt want me to interview myself, and I wouldn't mind answer them, so let's go!

How long have you been on DeviantArt?
Twelve and a half years! That's a lot more than the majority of you lot, I'm sure you'd agree. Deep down, I wish I got something for all that loyalty...
What does your username mean?
My dragon's (anglicised) name is G.G. EuDraco. Pretty simple. Yes, I'm a furry. No, we don't all do that. Yes, I am aware of that programme...and that one...yes, I know Clawz was a little too trusting of the production company, Nightwind should have known better than to say 'meet some friends' and 'generally having a bit of a laff' over and over again like a broken record, and everyone knows that when you're vomiting in the middle of a country road during the early hours of the morning, don't do it in: a) an expensive fursuit; and b) in the proximity of a short-sighted livestock farmer.
Describe yourself in three words.
Scientist. Dragon. Unique.
Are you left or right handed?
Right-handed, but left-eyed. What that means is that any normal situation is best done with my right hand, but I use a left-handed bow in archery.
What was your first deviation?
If I recall correctly, it is of a photograph of myself wearing someone else's fursuit head. I had always wanted to try on a mascot costume, and since mascots are few and far between in the UK, there wasn't a school team or somesuch to take advantage of. When I became a furry, there was hope in the form of fursuits, but they were still expensive articles from the US, with many customs taxes bolted on. Therefore, I felt somewhat honoured to even try on the head and have a photo taken. A decade later, and the increase of UK fursuit tailors, I managed to get one for myself.
What is your favourite type of art to create?
It depends on what year. When I started deviantArt, I wanted to become a pencil artist and be as great as what NewberryChucks or neekko are nowadays. As I realised that I was better at science than artwork, I took on a more technical form of art, photography. My early works are an embarrassment to me, but I still keep them on my account, so as to demonstrate the evolution of a photographer. Also, amongst the rough are a few treasures, especially some of those fursuit photos, or observations during London 2012.

Every now and then, I write short stories. I find writing a chore, and the material I do isn't suitable for dA [in fact, one got deleted by dA staff, due to its content!], but when I finally do have the spark and enthusiasm to write a story, I end up with some good, albeit few reviews. I need to write more, but I need encouragement...there's one in my mind now, just begging to be released.
If you could instantly master a different art style, what would it be?
Pencil artwork. To draw OCs, commissions and technical drawings would be such a useful source of income, would finally get me a fanbase, would complement my scientific studies and more importantly, allow me to contribute to the dA community proper.
What was your first favourite?
The first one that was some abstract digital art that I now don't care much for. Following them was some rather teasing artworks from wrexodus, which I shall also not discuss. In fact, I shall lie a little, and say that my first +fav was the work linked below, showing the evolution of my favourite cartoon character, Woody Woodpecker:

What type of art do you tend to favourite the most?
It's a combination of artwork that involves myself, and anything that really, really...really catches my eye. I mean really overwhelms me, such that I have to click that +fav button.
Who is your all-time favourite deviant artist?
Deep down, I have no all-time favourite artist. Of course, I have favourites, but I am so used to watching daily artworks on other sites, instead using dA as a means of showing off what I have. I'm strange like that: avid FurAffinity reader, avid deviantArt poster.

If I am forced to answer, then it would have to be TsukiNoodle. She drew lots of stuff for me. Those days are now over
If you could meet anyone on DeviantArt in person, who would it be?
Cynically, any 'popular' deviant artist. To meet them, befriend them and observe their processes, might encourage me to aspire more to be more like them. In turn, I would be exposed to their community where I could gain some feedback on what I do, and improve and be better overall. Even if that doesn't happen, I'd have at least got to be in their city or country, and maybe an artwork from them for my troubles, I guess.
How has a fellow deviant impacted your life?
Two. TsukiNoodle and I met during a time when deviantArt had a public shoutbox and we had a great time together while it lasted. A few years after she departed from my life and dA in general, Almiras came wandering in with her Spyro kigurumi, and a friendship was struck up, involving fursuits, a yappy miniature schnauzer and the synthesis of a small G.G. EuDraco plush. I would say they both impacted my life, as both of them gave me some incentive to 'continue'.
What are your preferred tools to create art?
My fingers. They hold pencils, push camera buttons, strike keys on a keyboard. Fingers are very preferable, with honourable mentions to hands, arms, my spinal cord and my brain.
What is the most inspirational place for you to create art?
When doing photography, it'd have to be somewhere busy and ripe with opportunities. A city, a popular event...you know what I mean. If it's literature, it's by myself, all alone with myself and my thoughts - I guess I'm too used to exam conditions when it comes to writing text.
What is your favourite DeviantArt memory?
Attending the London deviantMeet in 2012, the day before dA was hosting a gallery event, as part of their World Tour. 550 deviant artists, along with official dA staff made their way to Hyde Park for all sorts of socialising and stuff.

...and that's that. From one of your oldest deviants, well done on being 15, art community website!

 

For deviantArt's 14th Birthday, I've been encouraged by Heidi to dig out at least five dA entries that illustrate the 'journey' I have taken throughout my dA membership. Back when I joined in January 2003, you had two choices for submitting and browsing artwork that took a furry slant: Elfwood (which was awkward to navigate) or VCL (who had a strict, peer-reviewed registration). Failing the 'exam' for the latter, I decided to register an account within this little known, underground art website known as deviantArt. Of course, many other websites have emerged over the course of time, such as FurAffinity, Weasl, Inkbunny, as well as more blog-centric art gallery websites, and of course, the art websites with more lascivious means. However, I still actively use my dA account to showcase photography of mine that meet the standards of my inner critic, often to some interesting comments.

So in accordance with the awkward rich-editing mode of Sta.shWriter, here are seven (half of 14) entries:

1 - Overexposed First Fursuit (2003) Taken during my first attendance of a furmeet in London, this would have been the first time that I had even tried on a fursuit. A properly exposed photograph of this event still sticks deep into my memory, often catalysing memories of a less formal (albeit more dictatorial) LondonFur history.
2 - dA Fella riding a wolf (2008) Taken during the 'Fella Round The World' contest, with the dA mascot riding a then recent art installation at the University of Surrey. Having a photograph of you riding the wolves during your graduation ceremony was supposed to be adopted as a Surrey tradition, although I don't know if it ever caught on.
3 - Mini-EuDraco at the River Cherwell (2013) On a punt at Oxford, with a group of roughly 20 Christians. I was always known to be quirky in my ways, and I didn't fail during this event, deciding to take a travelling companion with me. This miniature, plush version of the dragon I associate myself tends to go to various events, acting as a means of curiosity, amusement and conversation to members of the public.
4 - Fursuit Photoshoot (2012) My fursuit had just been recently delivered to me at this time, and this was the first official use of the complete setup. deviantArt wanted users to design and submit Christmas cards for distribution to hospitals through the US and UK, and the idea of having myself in pelle doing chemistry immediately popped up in my mind.
Organising this photoshoot was awkward, with laboratory technicians playing the bureaucracy card and consistently delaying proceedings. However, one maverick member of laboratory staff had juristiction for a single laboratory, and upon hearing of my plight offered a timeslot, laboratory supplies and his office as a changing room; all within a 48-hour period. The photos were taken, cards printed, and sent off to dA HQ just in time to meet their deadline.
5 - London 2012 Opening Ceremony (2012) I milk this shot quite a lot, but it just demonstrates the wonder experienced and shared regarding a once-in-a-lifetime event. I did my best to experience as much of London 2012 as possible, getting integrated and keeping loyal dA viewers entertained with a better view of the vicinity surrounding the Olympic Park.
6 - Meeting Chocobo Girl (2014) From a small section of window in 2012, I managed to catch sight of a little girl in a chocobo costume. A couple of sneaky camera shots shown off on dA and permission from the parents to publish on the website of a national newspaper led to a lot of exposure for this little girl, and a friendship of sorts starting. Every time that there's a Final Fantasy event in London, I make it a task to seek her out, and this photograph shows the last attempt: myself in pelle offering her a gift of a chocobo feather.
7 - Arguing over the atom (2013) I never thought that in my life, I would have been doing research that counted towards a PhD. It was hardly a smooth affair, with a very cynical aftertaste from my four and a half years of academia, which was not helped by unsupportive staff. However, I gained a far greater appreciation towards my specialist subject (computational chemistry), and this illustration made it to the personal page of my PhD thesis, with my dragon on the side of the wavefunction, while I took on the role of electron density, in a battle over what describes the atom better.

Looking back at the work archived within my deviantArt account, I learn that my life has been well enriched, even if it has been plagued with negative events.

For deviantArt's 14th Birthday, I've been encouraged by Heidi to dig out at least five dA entries that illustrate the 'journey' I have taken throughout my dA membership. Back when I joined in January 2003, you had two choices for submitting and browsing artwork that took a furry slant: Elfwood (which was awkward to navigate) or VCL (who had a strict, peer-reviewed registration). Failing the 'exam' for the latter, I decided to register an account within this little known, underground art website known as deviantArt. Of course, many other websites have emerged over the course of time, such as FurAffinity, Weasl, Inkbunny, as well as more blog-centric art gallery websites, and of course, the art websites with more lascivious means. However, I still actively use my dA account to showcase photography of mine that meet the standards of my inner critic, often to some interesting comments.

So in accordance with the awkward rich-editing mode of Sta.shWriter, here are seven (half of 14) entries:

1 - Overexposed First Fursuit (2003) Taken during my first attendance of a furmeet in London, this would have been the first time that I had even tried on a fursuit. A properly exposed photograph of this event still sticks deep into my memory, often catalysing memories of a less formal (albeit more dictatorial) LondonFur history.
2 - dA Fella riding a wolf (2008) Taken during the 'Fella Round The World' contest, with the dA mascot riding a then recent art installation at the University of Surrey. Having a photograph of you riding the wolves during your graduation ceremony was supposed to be adopted as a Surrey tradition, although I don't know if it ever caught on.
3 - Mini-EuDraco at the River Cherwell (2013) On a punt at Oxford, with a group of roughly 20 Christians. I was always known to be quirky in my ways, and I didn't fail during this event, deciding to take a travelling companion with me. This miniature, plush version of the dragon I associate myself tends to go to various events, acting as a means of curiosity, amusement and conversation to members of the public.
4 - Fursuit Photoshoot (2012) My fursuit had just been recently delivered to me at this time, and this was the first official use of the complete setup. deviantArt wanted users to design and submit Christmas cards for distribution to hospitals through the US and UK, and the idea of having myself in pelle doing chemistry immediately popped up in my mind.
Organising this photoshoot was awkward, with laboratory technicians playing the bureaucracy card and consistently delaying proceedings. However, one maverick member of laboratory staff had juristiction for a single laboratory, and upon hearing of my plight offered a timeslot, laboratory supplies and his office as a changing room; all within a 48-hour period. The photos were taken, cards printed, and sent off to dA HQ just in time to meet their deadline.
5 - London 2012 Opening Ceremony (2012) I milk this shot quite a lot, but it just demonstrates the wonder experienced and shared regarding a once-in-a-lifetime event. I did my best to experience as much of London 2012 as possible, getting integrated and keeping loyal dA viewers entertained with a better view of the vicinity surrounding the Olympic Park.
6 - Meeting Chocobo Girl (2014) From a small section of window in 2012, I managed to catch sight of a little girl in a chocobo costume. A couple of sneaky camera shots shown off on dA and permission from the parents to publish on the website of a national newspaper led to a lot of exposure for this little girl, and a friendship of sorts starting. Every time that there's a Final Fantasy event in London, I make it a task to seek her out, and this photograph shows the last attempt: myself in pelle offering her a gift of a chocobo feather.
7 - Arguing over the atom (2013) I never thought that in my life, I would have been doing research that counted towards a PhD. It was hardly a smooth affair, with a very cynical aftertaste from my four and a half years of academia, which was not helped by unsupportive staff. However, I gained a far greater appreciation towards my specialist subject (computational chemistry), and this illustration made it to the personal page of my PhD thesis, with my dragon on the side of the wavefunction, while I took on the role of electron density, in a battle over what describes the atom better.

Looking back at the work archived within my deviantArt account, I learn that my life has been well enriched, even if it has been plagued with negative events.