The Dragon's Cave - FurCon 08: Friday

Continuing my FurCon 08 report:

I got up early on Friday morning, and was delighted to discover that the FairField Inn provided breakfast as part of the hotel room fee. Not just the wimpy little continental breakfast with a mini-muffin and fruit; this was a full breakfast bar with eggs, sausage, bacon, bagels, cereal, oatmeal, juice, milk, you name it. My roommates and I ate very well in the mornings.

When the con opened at 10:00 A.M., I attended an art class of all things. The class was on how to draw basic anatomy (body shapes, hands, heads, eyes, etc.). I brought along a brand new sketch book, the first sketch book I have ever bought for myself. The class was delightful; I learned a lot of great stuff about how to draw characters with correct proportions, and I gained some good tips on how to bring out character depth by varying the thickness of your lines.

After that, I went to the dealer's room. Now this was one of the main reasons I went to the con--I was really hoping to meet some of my favorite online comic artists. I wasn't disappointed! I got to meet:

*Susan Rankin (A Doemain of our Own)
*Jon 'The Gneech' Robey (The Suburban Jungle)
*Eric Schwartz (Sabrina Online)
*Bill Holbrook (Kevin and Kell)
*Dave Simpson (Ozy and Millie)

Susan Rankin and Jon Robey graciously allowed me to take their pictures.


I bought Sue's latest book, and she signed it for me! GLEE! I also bought a button from The Gneech that says 'Kiss the Geek', which I now proudly wear on my jacket.

I was really tempted to buy stuff from Bill Holbrook and from Dave Simpson, but my overly-frugal nature took over and I didn't. Now I kinda wish I had. :(

At 1:00, I met up with Desert_Wolf and attended a class all about Foxes. We discussed their nature, habitat, characteristics, and the legends and myths surrounding them. I didn't know that foxes are much more like cats than canines!

A bunch of 'foxes' showed up at the class as well...


Before the next class, I wandered around the con hallways and lobby, taking pictures of some cool fursuiters. I found a bunch of bunnies chasing around a dog that was holding a carrot on a stick.


I also found a very well-done fursuit of one of my favorite furry characters, Zig Zag! Big props to kathrishali for her fursuit. She later went on to star in a couple of the Furry Night live performances.


The next workshop I attended was "Bad Dog Boot Camp: The Fundamental Story." This was a writing workshop, talking all about the basic building blocks of a good story. I was rather impressed at the idea of the old Greek 5-act play, and how those five acts can be readily applied to most good modern literature in some form or another. I realized that my own stories lack quite a bit of structure; I will look at ways to incorporate these ideas in the future. The workshop was taught by Alex Vance of Bad Dog Books.

Later that evening, I decided to duck in on a puppet show. The puppeteers were pretty amateur, but it was fun to see them anyway, and I enjoyed the songs and improv.


I got recruited to be part of the 'Furmily' Feud game show that went on that evening, hosted by none other than The Gneech himself! It was just like Family Feud, with the lights, music, answer board, and the big dreaded buzz sound when you gave an incorrect answer. The questions covered aspects of the furry fandom, such as "Name a food you shouldn't eat while wearing a fur suit", and "Name a popular furry video game character." I loved it! I went on to win $12.50 in prize money. :)


Finally, the last event of the evening was the dance. Though I went and enjoyed the music and watched some cool fursuiters, I didn't go out and dance. Maybe because the music wasn't right, but gosh, who would expect to hear a waltz with this crowd?



I was especially impressed with this one, who was dancing in full horse hooves!


After a long, fun, and exhausting day, Desert_Wolf and I walked back to our hotel in the rain. Oh, did I mention that it RAINED FOR NEARLY THE ENTIRE WEEKEND? It was windy, too. My poor umbrella didn't do much to cover the both of us, and my tail got a bit wet by the time we made it back to the hotel room.