TaralWayne - Professional, General Artist | DeviantArt (original) (raw)

Artist

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Professional

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Varied

My Bio

SF FANS, HUGO VOTERS, & OTHER ALIENS

Why do I belong to DeviantArt? On Monday, Apr 7, 2008, 2:36 AM I was advised in strong terms to create a website where I could show my art to SF fans. Of course, even with free webspace available, I have no idea how to create a website, anyway, so I joined DeviantArt instead. I already belonged to FurAffinity, but the material posted there is oriented to furry and erotic art. What I needed was a place to show art to the “straights,” viewers who are not entirely comfortable with fur, fetishes, anime and semi-literacy…

Not that you won’t find a little of that in my DeviantArt presence. But the emphasis here is on fanzine covers, science fiction, fantasy and humour.

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THE HUGO AND I

Let me start something like 40 years ago... I've been deeply involved with Science Fiction fandom since the early 1970's, and after that much time it would be surprising if I hadn’t left some sort of impression. For one thing, I was the Fan Guest of Honour at the worldcon in Montreal, in 2009. As of this year, I've also been nominated 11 times for the Hugo award as Best Fanartist. I haven’t won yet, but they say that miracles happen. I was awarded the Rotsler prize for fanart in 2008, which at least comes with cash.

The key to winning is probably reaching outside of the small fanzine community, which while not strictly closed, isn't well known to SF fandom as a whole. Most of the winners in recent years seem to have had presences in spin-off fandoms such as Trek or gaming or costuming. More recently, on-line activity seems to have been pushing aside traditional media. The winners were also able to attend conventions where they could display their work in the art show. I don't really have those options, but there was one way I could match other artists. An on-line presence. Let my work speak for itself. Of course, I’m not naïve enough to think that good work will win out over networking and popularity, but I can always dream.

The problem with my page on FurAffinity is as I’ve said. It’s a pretty mixed bag, with a heavy emphasis on furry art, and much of it is too erotic or too kinky for a general audience. Friends urged me to find a different site for a showcase.

After a little thought, Deviant Art seemed the best option. Here I am. Browse thoroughly. Don't miss any folders regardless what I called them. And vote often...

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MY LIFE IN THE BUSH OF GHOST-WRITING

If you don't mind, rather than rewrite the same boring old details about myself, I'll quite from FurAffinity.

Artist Profile:
I've been drawing almost before TV's were common, let alone computers and the internet. I was drawing furry characters before there was such a fandom. I might have been the first to use a computer to cut mimeograph stencils to publish an SF fanzine. But it's almost an entirely different world now, and I tend to be a bit slow keeping up. I don't carry a cell phone, own an iPod, known how to ICQ, use PayPal, or know how to operate my digital camera yet. But I try to hang in there.

What I have done (before middle age began to slow me down) includes some magazine and book illustration, a short and obscure career in b/w comics, private commissions, dealer at cons, and too many years as an active science fiction fan to care to number.

Because of the internet, making a living has become a lot trickier, it seems. It's multiplied the number of artists a hundredfold, but the audience is accustomed to 99% of the art being free. It's hard to know if there's a net gain. At the same time travel has gotten more expensive, and the border a paranoid free-fire zone. Cons are a memory. The final insult, a Canadian dollar is over par with the buck. If I take $100 US to the bank, it appears as a two figure entry in my bankbook now. Maybe I should just get a real job, like I had when I was 25. On the other hand, if I hold out another decade, I can 'retire' on welfare, and enjoy the first real prosperity I've ever known, and finally draw what I want!

Ambition is a cruel master.

Current Residence: Toronto
Favourite genre of music: Anything but rap, gospel, or country.
Operating System: Window XP Pro
Personal Quote: "Great men are rarely good men" -- Lord Acton

Favourite Visual Artist

Carl Barks, Rene Uderzo, David Low, Herge, others...

Favourite Movies

Pleasantville, To Kill a Mockingbird, Spirited Away, Ed Wood, Ratatouillle, Gettysberg

Favourite TV Shows

WKRP, Dick Van Dyke Show, Newhart, Red Dwarf, Yes Minister, Blackadder, Star Trek, Night Court, Fawlty Towers

Favourite Bands / Musical Artists

Yes, Gentle Giant, Kate Bush, Lene Lovich, Tom Waits, Talking Heads, Beatles, lots more...

Favourite Books

Lord of the Rings, I Claudius, The Long Goodbye, Adam of the Road, Wind in the Willows, Shogan, Huckleberry Finn, Alice in Wonderland

Favourite Writers

Lindsey Davis, Mark Twain, Isaac Asimov, Raymond Chandler

Favourite Games

The Neverhood,

Tools of the Trade

Ball point pen, mechanical pencil, eraser, six inch rule, and paper.

Other Interests

Coin collecting, die-cast cars, Roman history, too many other things to list, but those are current.

Boy... some customers will do anything to get out of paying up! This is true, but I’m also making a joke in very bad taste. Let me explain. I had already announced that I would no longer be doing any more commissions. I meant it, too. However I can be an easy touch at times, and I've broken my vow of retirement more than once ... and usually regretted it for one reason or another. But the last commission I did as a favour to a fan backfired badly. To begin with, it was a quick freebie. No charge. But then the guy wanted the original drawing, and said he would pay well for it, and would foot the cost of postage. Okay. I agreed. But then was delayed a repeatedly before finally he promised to send a money order the next time he was in town. I crossed my fingers. A little more time went by with no money order, but unexpectedly he reported on FaceBook that he had had a heart attack! Oh, fudge, I thought, trying to be compassionate and not thinking about the money. I decided he

DeliquentArt has been getting wonkier and wonkier with time. Recently, it's been classifiying almost all my art as "not fit to be seen," even when it is as clean as a whistle. I should know... I'm a well practiced whistle blower ... or, in plain speech, a complainer! I'm tried re-setting the posted art, but it doesn't seen to take affect. Instead, one post after another of mine has been blanked out of view unless the viewer is an adult member. I don't know what gives, but it brings to mind an old saying, modified somewhat -- you get what you pay for... and DelightfulFart is free.

I haven't posted anything new in quite some time. For one thing, I'm not been doing art for a while. I start things, see where their going, then not bother to finish since it won't really accomplish anything that I haven't done, many times before. What doesn't help is that I see that downloads from Deviant art choose pretty much the same two dozen favourites -- mostly satisfying mud, petrification and restraint enthusiasts of one sort or another. I've long since lost any interest in those subjects. I would be keener on posting old art if there was a more obvious interest in something other than the same old "favourites." Well... I'm not quitting, at an event. I may get back into the swing of doing new art ... eventually. But if it isn't going to be more mud and statues, it may not be very popular.

Profile Comments 461

Well, it's taken a little while, but I have now downloaded every image from this collection, just to be on the safe side.

I had the honour of posting many of Taral's petrification images on my site.

https://www.p-synd.com/wayne.htm

And now alas no more...

I left my comment on Taral's Furaffinity first before posting here. I didn't realize that he had a DA account until today.

I comment here to pay my respects to Taral Wayne. I discovered his works back around 2022-2023. I feel like I never got to know much about him before he passed away in late July 2024. I hope his passing was gentle and that his works will stand for the foreseeable future to inspire many others.

Glad we met in this life. :wave:

WHEN did he die

How OLD was he ?

I know he had had a stroke but some get such unreasonably young.

LAST QUESTION ...

Will DevArt screw people around bhy deleting his work just because he's dead.

I declared MY death as somebody else due to hackers and came back as MtheMagnificent