I say “new” but it’s more like just lurking for about 6 or so months after my “furry awakening.” I’ve sort of just experimented since that point but only ever lurked in communities such as this
I just don’t know how or where to get started? The furry community is vast and ever growing, but with no artistic ability I genuinely don’t know how to come up with a fursona or where to draw (pardon the pun) inspired from
At this point, all I have is a species that just resonates with me and not much more
So, how did all of you get started when you first realized you were a furry and/or decided to create a fursona and such?
You’re doing a lot better than I did. Despite exclusively having used e621 and Furaffinity for like. Six Whole Years, I wasn’t sure if I counted as a furry (thanks, school trauma!) and I was never really sure how to integrate into any community for fear of rejection, but I eventually reached the conclusion that yeah, I would rather be a dragon dude in my interactions, and… honestly, if you say you’re a member of the community, you’re a member.
Well, you don’t necessarily need to be able to do art to be part of things here. I can’t draw using digital tools to save my life, but I can do pixel art. But even without that, there are a lot of methods of creative expression that you can use to bring your fursona into reality. You can even have more than one fursona, so don’t go feeling paralysed by indecision if there are several options you like.
As for actually building my own fursona… It was actually a while ago, before I realized there was literally nothign stopping me having multiple fursonae. The first thing I decided to consider was all the things that I liked- In my case, they absolutely had to be a dragon wiith durable scales, but I wanted them to have some fluff. I also wanted them to be predominantly blue, since it’s my favourite colour, as well as reasonably athletic, since I’ve always wanted that but never been able to achieve it. Once I knew what main things I wanted, then it became a matter of taking all those things and just figuring out how to connect them all. For example, finding a secondary colour to pair with blue (I found white hit the right vibe for me), where to put some fur on without disrupting the scales (replacing the frill down the back of the neck with a mane, complete with tail tuft), and what sort of outfit design could accomodate a tail and wings well with that physique.
So anyways, what species are you into? There are obviously all the real animals, then the fandom classics, but I should say there are some slightly more obscure original species if you get into the fandom proper, and some of them are really appealing.
Ironically enough, I’m not all that much better before actually admitting it for myself haha.
It was only when I watched The Bad Guys I finally admitted it. After that I did some light experimentation on VRC, and using a furry avatar felt more natural to me. I met some other furries there as well, all of whom were super nice and welcoming to me, so it was a really great experience from the get go!
I like the idea of building multiple fursonas. It’s something I’ve known about but never really considered. The description you have of yours sounds wonderful and unique! Describing your process is really helpful for me, it gives me a lot more to think about. The pngtuber I have is fairly plain and natural colour wise, but I might just experiment outside of that before I properly settle
I haven’t looked much into other species, but I’ve just resonated with Red Pandas the most for a good while now. I’ll probably stick with it for at least a little bit, and when I get more comfortable I may just work on a second fursona as well!