What's there to say? The date's April 2005, and I'm just your typical mid-twenties black college student trundling through life with high ideals and a strange sense of humor. A lover of animals and nature (I've been known to stare at trees and critters while walking by), any kind of music (so long as it sinks in well), and all kinds of people (even the dense ones...sometimes). I'm preparing to close out studies for a CADD (Computer-Aided Draft & Design) degree, before jumping into study in the 3D simulation and animation industry.

   I started drawing seriously in the early months of 1997, or somewhere around that time, I guess. Mostly Disney characters. I've had the interest in drawing and rendering much earlier than that, with years pock-marked by little stints of doodles and such between other pursuits, physical and otherwise. There was also this weird fantasy comic I started in fourth grade as a spoof of popular action/sci-fi movies--typical violent superhero comic that must have been the bane of many a red pen and colorful highlighters. It spanned two composition notebooks by the time I lost interest*. It was long abandoned by the time I stumbled upon this neat li'l thing concerning walking animals, which I found was later called a Furry Fandom. I had started collecting art ( I was awed early on by works of talented people like Ken Sample and James Hardiman ), a couple years before taking the plunge into MUCKs (Multi-User Character Kingdom, an acronym for online roleplay services), and art was an occasional thing to do when bored or not pressured by academic, social or athletic matters.

   It wasn't until late 1998/1999, through inspiration and desire to actually create something memorable, that I got really serious about drawing and developing a style. Despite odd looks from most peers and questions as to "Why that fox has tits and a prick at the same time", I've been spurred on by others to press on and get better. Which is not surprising; I've made a habit of not going with the norm. The art done from then to now more or less is a testament to experiments. Plenty make me slap a hand over my eyes and groan just looking back at them.. but is not that part of what's so nice about a journey like becoming a better artist? The inclusion of yearly trips to the East Coast's largest Furry Convention, Anthrocon, only served to fan the flames even more. AC 2003 marked the third furry-themed convention I'd attend, and the very first in which I worked up the drive (and courage) to place artwork in the Art Show for sale, under my name and the artist moniker of 'Dingo', a throwback to the first online furry character I ever made; a dingo named Mako.

  And I believe that's all for now? This turned out longer than I expected...boy, can I ramble! Hopefully it was informative! Now go peruse s'more, and thank you for taking the time to read on. :)


  * This epic comic still exists intact and unfinished to this day, known only to the very few who've observed it at conventions as..."The BOOK(tm)"...And it will NEVER come within ten feet of a scanner or digital camera! It's scary enough seeing it in person, its only real use now to remind folk that all artists start somewhere.

Some of you may recognize this: My Furry Code FCF[Midnight Fox]p2adm A++ C++ D+ H++ M++ P++ R++ T++ W Z+ Sh++ RLA/RB a cm++ d+++ e+ f++ h+ iwf++ j++ p- sm= For those that don't: It's a Furry Code! Go, decode it, and get your own! Yes, I also have one of those blog-type thingies, over on Livejournal. Under the name NikkyVix, too. Who saw that coming? I hope all of you..since you had to get past the thing just to get to this page. If you missed it, then I'm worried for you! I'm on VCL, also! It's not updated as much as NFA (which can really be saying little sometimes!), and I tend to place art here first for first consideration, but it's still worth taking a peek. Nikotaka Redtail Tawner About the Weirdly-Colored Prickvixen Niko became my personal character a few years ago through an interesting shift of outlook on the purpose of living and everyday life, and currently resides here as the mascot of NFA.com and on the online RP games FurryMUCK, Tapestries, and (occasionally) SPR. More of a visual expression of hir creator's inner personality, shi is, for the most part, an anthropomorphic breed of exotic (read: fantasy) vulpine known as a 'Midnight Fox', yet hir deeper roots comes from a cross breed of arctic wolf and arctic fox. Ask hir about it sometime if you're curious. A hermaphrodite vulpine of indeterminate age, Niko's original mix and exposure to so many different ideas through growing years matches hir personality and usually stays with hir through whatever form shi decides to take. -------------------------- And now the obligatory specs sheet, blatantly ganked from Chessia: Species: Midnight Fox Age: Your guess is as good as hirs, but think early twenties, just past 'teens Height: Six feet, nine and a half inches tall (toes to head) Eye Color: Bi-color. Right eye, turquoise. Left eye, violet. Fur Color: Primarily black, with orange as secondary. Think your typical red fox. Orange tips atop her big pointy foxxy ears, and around hir snout (except for the black bridge), cheeks, bib. The orange fur descends down hir chest, belly and groin, tapering off mid inner-thigh. A strip of orange bisects hir black-furred rear. A paintbrush tip of orange caps her tail. Completely black paws and arms. Hair: Dark navy, approaching black. A fluffy, slightly curly mane that obscures the bases of hir ears and falls down to hir tail's base. One white lock drapes down her temples. Skin: Reddish pink tongue and brown nosepad. Dark pink inner ear surfaces. Medium brown to dark chocolate skin and fleshtone (where visible). Jewelery: A dark blue choker collar adorns hir neck, with a silver heart tag affixed to it. General Build: Cuddly and voluptuous, with measurements around 53/37/43. Toned, muscular plantigrade runner's legs. Slender yet solid arms. Solid tummy (even if it doesn't show all that much on hir). Bushy tail! Can't forget that. Other Characteristics: Bluntish claws and toenails are a dark hue matching with the black fur they spread from. Hir pads (small round pads under each finger- and toetip; larger, canid pads under the feet) are all solid black. --------------------------    Niko is a deep romantic at heart, with hir own personal views and stances on almost anything. When keping to hirself shi can be quiet, introspective and examining of anything around hir; questioning purpose instead of just accepting, and admiring simpler things. And other times shi's silly, mischievous, vivacious and fun-loving, quick to just toss caution to the wind if it means raising a few brows from the more reserved types.    Niko was adopted when shi was a very young kit by the Tawner family, and at the moment shi is considered one of the more prominent faces of the family. Niko's birthname is unknown, but shi gladly took the last name of 'Tawner' when shi was adopted, and is more often referred to as 'Nikky' by friends and family.    Niko has had a rough time growing up, and all of it cannot be recounted, nor can some be recounted in a positive light. Shi can be found fooling around with friends or diddling with something and generally looking for a fun time when the mood strikes. When alone, Niko finds hirself wondering if hir birth-parents are still alive somewhere out in the vast universe. Hir only memory of them is the sword shi holds at home, and a faint memory of a song, which fades more with every passing year. All content on this site is copyright 1997 - 2005 Niko Tawner and DrJones unless otherwise stated. Reprinting, reposting or modification of any kind without permission is prohibited. This site is designed to be viewed with a good browser at 1024x768x16Bit or more. Comments of any kind are welcome here.