🌹 BLAKE REF SHEET 2021 | + Old Ref Showcase! (Patreon)

I CAN FINALLY BREATHE A SIGH OF RELIEF! PHEW!!
this thing. My god this thing has been a huge labour of love over the last 24 hours. I stayed up until 3am last night getting the flats done for her reg palette which I really didn’t mean to do, I just got so carried away and focused I lost track of time completely 😭 and I only finished this about an hour ago at 6:40pm tonight LMAO. IT’S BEEN!! A BIG PROJECT LEMME TELL YA!

I had no plans on making her a new ref anytime soon, but my bestie PlanetVCR made her a pink palette for funsies yesterday, and It sparked some kind of new connection with Blake again, I really can’t explain it. I think it’s because the pink palette is just completely self indulgent, and that’s what I need for Blake. Pure, self indulgence. So I said YA KNOW WHAT! I’m gonna finish that ref of her. AND FINISH IT I DID!! Im really pleased with how this came out. I haven’t made her a ref myself since 2017, which is the last image shown in this post! She’s had two reference sheets after that last one I made that were made by others, but I felt like it was time I made her a new one again to see if it helps with getting that connection back, and I think it definitely did help. I’ve been drawing her with pink eyeshadow for a few years now and none of her refs have had it on, so I’m happy I finally got to smack that on here! As well as just making her feel more me, in her clothing and accessories, and personality as well. Blake slowly morphed into just becoming a mascot, a character that didn’t feel like me anymore. Blake’s personality was so fixed in many people’s minds, that she didn’t even feel like she was mine anymore if that makes sense? I was scared to change her because so many people know her as she is, but she just slowly started to disconnect. Blake was always more of a fursona with a personality that I aspired to have rather than a 1 for 1 representation of myself, but eventually who I wanted to be wasn’t? That anymore, but she just stayed the same. Ive been figuring myself out a lot more recently, and I have a better grasp on who i am as a person. I’ve changed a lot over the last couple years and it felt like Blake wasn’t changing with me like she had been doing a,l these years. BUT, Now with this new ref I really feel like I’m onto something. 

She hasn’t changed design wise, almost at all. I gave her my hair cut and the blonde streak I have in my hair, the pink eyeshadow isn’t new but this is its first appearance on a ref of hers, and the biggest design change is that her light underbelly markings now go onto her inner thighs because I think it flows much nicer design wise. I’d tried changing her design and stuff while she was private on Toyhouse, but none of them felt right. Her design was never the problem, it was how she was perceived by the eyes of thousands and her personality. So being in the process of changing all that is doing wonders. I want to keep her still quite close to my chest, as I fear that too much spotlight for her will result in the same issues and another disconnect, but for now I’m. Happy With her. I’m happy to have her back in my life. She has been with me for a lot, and I want to continue having her by my side for as long as I can. She might just be a fictional drawing of a dog, but to me she’s so much more, she’s so incredibly important to me, and she always will be no matter what happens.

With all of that long winded explanation out of the way, lemme know what you guys think of her new ref AND her rose tinted palette!!! I decided to include all of her old reference sheets that I’ve made over the years in this post to show her growth. It’s insane to look back at some of her older refs, mainly bc of how cringe some of them are BUT also because I remember where I was at in life when I made each one of them, it’s really nostalgic for me.
Blake will be turning 9 years old next month on the 18th, so I felt it fitting to get her new ref done now. It’s what she deserves after all!💛💖💛💖🌹