Furry artist


 * "Artist" redirects here. For the character by that name, see Footman.

A furry artist, or anthro artist, is a person who creates artistic works with the furry fandom in mind as the target audience, or who creates anthropomorphic art of interest to the fandom. The works of such artists is called furry art.

Etymology‎
"Furry artist" is used mostly to identify those who create art such drawings, paintings, collages, sculptures, and other types of works traditionally thought of as visual/physical media. Those who write furry fiction are usually referred as furry writers.

Performance furry artists are also subject to their own designation, such as fursuiters, puppeteers, furry musicians, etc,... Alternately, some artists of a certain art subset (e.g. Comics), may append the term "furry" to their craft to further identify themselves on that particular field (e.g. furry cartoonist).

Anthro artists
Some furry artists also describe themselves as "anthro artists", but not all "anthro artists" identify themselves as "furry". For some, the connotation "furry" feels that brings a baggage, normally not flattery, with the term, or in some cases, may wish to identify themselves as artists who draw furry content without a direct connection to the fandom.

Other definitions
Some artists that work for/with the fandom, but are not/do not wish to be part of it may use the simple term artist.

Of less use is the term Funny animal artist, a older predecessor term to describe a "furry artist", but most common, to describe those anthro artists, or even non-fur ones, not comfortable, again, with the perceived "furry" negative word impact.

Social interactions
Most furry artists have an active connection to the furry fandom. Many attend furry conventions and furmeets (and/or specialized artist furmeets), furry MUCKs, Internet forums, IRC chatrooms, Social media, and any other sites and events connected to the community.

However, a small portion of furry artists have little or no involvement in furry fandom. They may avoid fan social activities out of lack of interest, discomfort with the public reputation of the fandom, dislike of the furry social community, and/or other personal reasons. This lack of personal involvement does not necessarily prevent such artists from selling their artwork to furries.

Typically, a furry artist utilizes these avenues not only as social tools, but also as a means of advertising and merchandising his/her/their work.

Economics
While some furry artists are able to make a living from their furry artwork, most do not. In general commissions, prints, and other art sales make a significant income only for very popular and well-known furry artists. Artists with a smaller fanbase may make a small amount of money from their furry art; this is predominantly through commissions (rather than prints or original non-custom works).

A large majority of furry artists create their artwork for the enjoyment of the subject matter. They may share them on online art galleries without any expectation of sales.

Blacklisting
There are rumors of a bias against hiring furry artists (or blacklisting) by professional companies (e.g. Disney Feature Animation or smaller set of companies). This is believed to be due to the perceived pornographic nature of furry art in general (see Furry stereotype), or their recognition of a prospective hire as being one.

Online galleries
A large number of online galleries exist that are exclusively furry art or are friendly to furry artists. This list includes only some of them.

Exclusively furry

 * Artspots
 * ArtVark
 * Fur Affinity
 * Furry Art Pile
 * Inkbunny
 * SoFurry
 * VCL
 * Xenographia
 * Yerf
 * YNA

Furry-friendly

 * DeviantArt
 * Elfwood
 * Epilogue
 * SheezyArt
 * Side 7