Cowkitty Studios (CK:S) FAQ:

Q. Who is Cowkitty?

A. I'm Cowkitty, aka Tamara "Tammy" Gray. I'm a full-time gradstudent persuing an M.A. degree in the Interactive Game Design & Development program at Savannah College of Art and Design area. I attended Valencia Community College for my AA, and earned a Digital Media: Internet & Interactivity undergrad degree at the University of Central Florida. (UCF)

Q. How did you get a name like Cowkitty?

A. Have you ever tried signing up to Hotmail with a normal sounding name? ^_^; In Freshman year high school, I used the X-Men inspired alias of Shadowcat, but it was taken. So, at the time I liked cows, I liked cats; Put them together? You get Cowkitty! A name that's easy to use to sign up to services. :)

Q. Who's that little guy in the bunny suit? What happened to him?

A. That's Bunny Steve, my ex-boyfriend. Steve (which is indeed his real name) was the former mascot of my sites.

Q. Wait, didn't you and Steve get married?

A. Nope, we didn't.

Q. What exactly is CowkittyStudios.com?

A. This site is basically my online portfolio, resume, web design business, and art gallery in one. This is my "professional" business site.

Q. Can I link to your site?

A. Yes! My site is indeed link-free. I have quite a few link banners you can choose from too. Please link to http://cowkittystudios.com

Q. What happened to ClanBOB?

A. That seems like a long story. I know the BOB community forums have an excellent FAQ to explain that...

Q. Who hosts CK:S?

A. Cowkitty.net is hosted by Inner Revolution (iRev), which is now known as Kyogi. Presence and Gizmo are my most generous hosts. The domain name is now through Dotster, after I had many many headaches trying to run the domain name from NameZero.

Q. I e-mailed you X days ago, and you haven't responded yet...

A. Typically, I am slow at responding my e-mail. I respond pretty fast to simple questions or anything that is urgent, but usually it takes me a couple days to respond. If more than a week goes by and you've received no response from me, then please try e-mailing me again, or e-mail Yvan. He's much more responsible and organized than I am. :) Your mail may just not have gotten through, or maybe I lost the message in my mailbox. I love receiving mail from visitors to my site, especially fan mail. :)

Q. So in addition to running CK:S, what else do you do?

A. Too much. Besides doing lots of freelance web design work and illustration, I work as a web designer for several sites. My greatest achievement so far was doing work for the World of Warcraft: Board Game. My "real" job: I am doing web design and application development work for Disney Parks & Resorts IT.

Q. So what do you hope to do one day?

A. I would love to work in animation someday, preferably for Disney.

Q. So how long have you been drawing?

A. For as long as I can remember. :)

Q. What is your inspiration for artwork?

A. Disney has played a huge role in my life, primarily the animator Glen Keane. Keane has gorgeously animated Ariel (The Little Mermaid), Beast (Beauty & the Beast), Aladdin (Aladdin), Pocahontas (Pocahontas), and Tarzan (Tarzan). He brings a depth of life and soul to each character he draws. I'm also a big comic book fan, with my favorite artists being Joe Maduriera, Art Adams, and Jim Lee, while I am absolutely in awe of the comic coloring by Liquid!. I've also grown a love for the Art Nouveau style, namely anything by Alfonse Mucha. In the past few years, I've developed a love of anime. Though lacking the life that Disney animation has, I love the stylized modern look of anime and manga. As for as the art goes, my favorites are Kareshi Kanojyo no Jiyo, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Chobits, and Trigun. I also enjoy Capcom's official art.

Q. What mediums do you work in?

A. I now primarily use the computer as my medium, though occasionally I'll color something with color pencils or Prismacolor Markers. I do ink all the line art I'm going to CG with Sakura Micron pens. I use Adobe Photoshop 6.01 and Procreate (AKA: Corel, Metacreations, Fractal) Painter 6.1 with a Wacom Graphire Graphic tablet to color my lineart.

Q. Will you draw my character for me for free?

A. I used to take free commissions, but now I'm incredibly busy as a full-time student, webmaster of at least 3 sites at a time, artist, daughter, granddaughter, fiancé, and friend.

Q. Do you still take paid drawing or webpage commissions?

A. I used to... but I now rarely take commissions. I don't have the free time anymore to work on my own projects, much less anyone else's.

Q. What if I want you to draw me a logo, mascot character, etc for a non-profit organization?

A. You'll have to e-mail me a request personally with more detailed information about the request and it's purpose for usage. Typically, I feel it's fair for me to charge for a commission if it's for business purposes, but each request needs to be reviewed individually. For example, a request for a logo for a store is different than a request for a logo for an organization working for human rights.

Q. Do you participate in character exchanges?

A. Yes, as long as I'm not too busy at the time! I love character exchanges! I no longer can, due to a very hectic schedule. :(

Q. Can I use your art for my <insert project/web page here>?

A. Probably yes, but only after you e-mail me with a request including a description of the possible use of the image, which image you'd like to use, and a site URL (if applicable). Whether for a non-profit purpose or not, please try to ask my permission to use my artwork. Everything on my site (Unless noted otherwise) is copyrighted to the artist, Tamara Gray. (And that includes the artwork AND the HTML & site graphics.) If you're confused about how copyright works, please check out this site, The Copyright Files, and educate yourself. I'd be more than flattered if you'd like to use my images, but I hope you'll give me some art credit or a link back to my site.

Q. Can I send you fanart/giftart?

A. YES!!! Please do! I absolutely love receiving fanart of my characters! All fanart I receive is placed into my fanart gallery along with full credit to the artist and a link to their homepage (if they have one.)

Q. I really love CK:S/ck.net, and I want to show some appreciation. What can I do?

A. We put a lot of hard work into these sites, and it's always nice to receive fan mail or thanks. Right now, a link to the site would be great appreciation, or of course, you could always buy something from the store. :)

Q. I have a question that isn't answered here...

A. Please, by all means, e-mail me. This FAQ is still a work in progress, so any comments or questions would be much appreciated.