When I first got interested in doing art long ago, I was heavily influenced by the furry community in the 2000s (though that isn’t to say furries were my only inspiration to art). But in a rather, we’ll say, brute force attempt to become a better artist in general, and in naive hopes to become more accepted into the furry community, I set some pretty high standards for myself. Chief among them is striving to be a “better” or otherwise “original” (furry) artist. Namely, focus more on characters that are, well, original, and avoid any clichés or stereotypes. And although my characters would be verging on sexy, I would strive to present them as being otherwise more then that, and would avoid mere pinups. I also abdicated anything overly pornographic unless I felt I “earned” it, especially on Blender. I didn’t want to be “another” furry artist, I would be exceptional. And this on top of my strive to also try to present myself as a “professional” artist rather than a measly amateur, even though I made these high standards on myself and I hadn’t even bothered to attempt any art, let alone learn the basics.
 
Looking back, that was probably the stupidest decision I’ve ever made in my art “career.” And again, I didn’t even learn the basics of drawing (not that I’m much better now). Needless to say, this thinking caused a crash and burn, and I’ve regretted it now. How ironic that putting pressure on myself to be the best only ended up to make me the worst. Though were I smarter I probably would’ve seen how that would backfire.
 
Well, what’s done is done. I’ve completely failed, in more ways than one. But I haven’t been sent to “artist jail” for being a failure, so I guess I’ll keep going.
 
So awhile ago, I posted a Rita running in the street, and shared the post to my friend, who noted how Rita seemed like a thief or a bugler, and she should be carrying jewelry. I scoffed for the most part, but I couldn’t deny that having Rita be like a rogue of sorts would be pretty cool, and in a way fitting. At first I was dismissive of the idea because of my rule of avoiding clichés or stereotypes.
 
I had hoped that by avoiding clichés or stereotypes, I would pressure myself to be more original, to be “better.” It was a kind of self-discipline. In theory it seemed sound – unless you’re lazy or not very motivated, then otherwise you just don’t bother, as I’ve learned the hard way.
 
Still, something clicked with me over my friend indirectly suggesting that Rita is a typical cat thief. It was a thought perhaps worth thinking over. I mean, I have written a few stories over Rita being an artisan or a crafter of sorts in a semi-futuristic city, but that’s about it for the most part. I had hoped to make something a little more…exciting, but like I said, I’m not very self motivated, especially since I do this stuff more for fun rather then for money. But it wasn’t very fun pressuring myself over, quite frankly, nothing…
 
So, I did something I thought was a “bad idea”; I made a render of Rita being a typical catgirl thief, stealing a pearl necklace from someone unfortunate enough to have their window open during the night. Very unoriginal and unimaginative, something that would curb me to being just “another” artist. But I’ve already become something less then that, so what the hell.
 
I don’t consider this to be overly canon, though that’s not really saying much anymore, this is just my attempt to dip my toes into breaking my old rules/habits. Though personally I’d prefer Rita’s motivations to being a thief to be neutral. But whatever.
 
Anyway, for Rita at least, this might be a chance to do a soft reboot to her character, and maybe make her actually into something more interesting and fun. But it is bittersweet that making Rita, and potentially my other characters, be possibly more stereotypical or clichéd or whatever is admitting decades of failure. And not just as an artist.