We’re halfway to Christmas and I figured I’d post a reminder because this is a time-sensitive project. The original post is still on page 1 of c/furry, but Local and Subscribed feeds move way faster, and the image has changed a good bit in the past 10 days, so it’s worth it, I think.

I had this fun idea that we (the “furry side” of Lemmy / the Fediverse) could create a Christmas card together. I drew the background and already added my fursona, and now I’d like to ask you to add your own fursona. If you want to add something to the background, you’re welcome to do so, too! The goal is to have a furry Christmas card by the 25th of December.

How to add your fursona to the drawing:

  1. First, you download the “base” drawing from here (hosted on pawb), open it in the image editor of your choice, and add your fursona on a separate layer; make sure the layer with your sona is the same size as the base, 4000x2000 pixels.

  2. Then, you remove the base and export only the layer with your sona on a transparent background as a PNG. There’ll be lots of empty space because of the layer size, but that’s intentional!

  3. You can either insert the PNG yourself (see below), or reply to this post with your image in the comment and I’ll add it to the drawing.

  • How to insert it yourself: Go to this website. In the top right corner, there’s a little cog. Click on that and then on “Create Team”. A team is basically your user account. Copy the login details the website gives you in case you need to change your image later. Once you’ve done that, click on the little picture frame in the top left corner and then on “Add Image”. Add a description (e.g. your username for image credit) and upload your image file. Because the layer with your sona is the same size as the base, it’ll be exactly where you drew it on your device.

  • If you don’t want to / can’t draw your fursona, you can copy-paste an existing drawing of your sona, too. If you have absolutely no idea how to do that, I can help you! Everybody is encouraged to participate regardless of art skills.

Additional info for nerds

The advantage of inserting your drawing yourself is that you’re in full control and can replace or remove it without waiting for me to do it for you. If you don’t want to do it yourself or have tech trouble, I can help you or just insert it for you. The website is a tool built by @green_copper@kbin.earth, who says that the website doesn’t save anything beyond what you upload and non-identifying debug logs on errors. The source code can be found here.

If you want to move your image around a bit or use a smaller-sized image, you’ll need to change the x/y values of your layer on the website; there is no drag-and-drop. The website may also be a bit buggy, but a reload usually helps. You most likely won’t need to change the z-value, unless your character is behind something they shouldn’t be behind.

Base file with layers (if you want to work with layers; Dropbox links): .xcf (GIMP) file and .psd (Photoshop) file. The PS file looks like it works in Krita. I don’t have PS, but it should work with that, too.

Regarding licencing, unless further discussion leads to something else, CC-BY will be used. This means that you can do whatever you want with the image as long as you credit the artists.

Artist credit (left to right)

Cally (@callyral@pawb.social)
Amp (@lordamplifier@pawb.social)
Foxfire (@foxfire@pawb.social) [they also made the snowman cat outside the window]

If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them. I just hope this doesn’t flop tbh :3c

  • Foxfire@pawb.socialEnglish
    3·
    4 days ago

    Hey, I started adding stuff to the source file this afternoon. Currently my sketch is sitting in a recliner by the fireplace on the right side, just in case it takes me a few days or until next weekend to finish it. I also added a decoration too (a snowman cat), which I’ll show a preview of now. When I finish, I’ll send back an updated .xcf for you!

    Previews

    Digital lineless drawing of a feline shaped snowman outside of a window. Large black eyes, orange triangle nose, and small black dots line a cat smile. The snowman has a green scarf, and a stick for an arm.

    Festive Christmas drawing with a decorated tree, stockings, wreath, and two anthros near a fireplace. One is a small white canine named Amp, and the other is a rough sketch of Foxfire, a fox. Foxfire is sitting in a reclining chair, resting.

      • Foxfire@pawb.socialEnglish
        3·
        2 days ago

        Posting a new comment so you get notified. I just finished drawing my sona, and have an updated GIMP file for you! To make it easier to find my contributions, I colored the two group folders in the project. Foxfire Resting is currently the topmost group, and the snowman is currently in window (incl outside) -> Snow Fur. If GIMP’s layer masks don’t export to a compatibility .psd properly, please feel free to merge layers if necessary. Download directly from catgirls, or transfer.it as a backup.

        Here is the flat export, as a preview:

        Export

        Festive Christmas drawing with a decorated tree, stockings, wreath, and three anthros. Cally, an anthro feline with glasses and green clothing, has their back against the wall. Amp is a small white canine who is near the christmas tree, and the final one is a red fox named Foxfire, a fox. Foxfire is sitting in a reclining chair, resting by the fireplace. Outside the window, a cat shaped snowman can be seen with a green scarf on.

        • LordAmplifier@pawb.socialOPEnglish
          3·
          1 day ago

          Oh wow, that turned out so well! They look very comfy, and their beans have the perfect shade of pink. The snowfur is also a cute addition :3

          I had no issues with the file, though it finally made me upgrade to GIMP 3. Turns out GIMP 2.x can’t open (some) GIMP 3.x files? I kept getting an error message, but it worked after upgrading! I updated the “base” file and the downloads with layers, only green_copper’s collab tool seems to be down at the moment. Your name has also been added to the credits. Thank you for adding your sona to the project <3

            • LordAmplifier@pawb.socialOPEnglish
              2·
              4 hours ago

              How dare you not provide five 9s for your private hobby project /s

              It’s all good, no worries. I’m super grateful for this project and for you offering it for free. Thank you for letting me know that it’s back up <3

          • Foxfire@pawb.socialEnglish
            3·
            1 day ago

            Thank you very much for the kind words! GIMP 3 seems to be pretty nice, so hopefully the upgrade is smooth sailing. Now that things are updated (save for the collab tool for the time being), I’ll whip up a post about this on Mastodon later and—hopefully—get some other eyes on the event for the final week.

            • LordAmplifier@pawb.socialOPEnglish
              3·
              1 day ago

              A lot of it looks just different enough to feel a bit weird (the icons are bigger), but I’ll get used to that and customise it to work with my flow. Moving multiple layers is much simpler than it was before, though!

              And thank you for the Mastodon post. That’s something I should’ve thought about way sooner instead of assuming that it’ll just work. I guess federating stuff is more complicated that I thought!

      • Foxfire@pawb.socialEnglish
        3·
        3 days ago

        Thank you! I thought about what I’d be doing on a snowy night like this, and you better believe relaxing by the fireplace was at the top of that list.

  • cally [he/they]@pawb.socialEnglish
    4·
    5 days ago

    hi! :3

    i drew the character on the left and i’d appreciate if you added my username to the post body as credit, thanks

  • green_copper@kbin.earth
    3·
    5 days ago

    Adding some hashtags via comment so that this might federate better to the Mastodon side of the Fediverse.

    #Furry #ChristmasCard #Collab

    • LordAmplifier@pawb.socialOPEnglish
      3·
      5 days ago

      Good call! I don’t know how this federates over to Mastodon, to be honest. Would adding the tags to the post help?

      • green_copper@kbin.earth
        2·
        5 days ago

        Good question. Lemmy-like posts should be visible for Mastodon and co, but these spheres use mainly hashtags to find and follow content. It is also noteworthy that a big part of Furries on the Fediverse are on Mastodon-like platforms.

        Since I started using the hashtag FurryArt in my posts, I also gained followers of the Mastodon-like Furry community. But maybe that was just by chance at a similar time.