Gray Wolf, probably drawing some lewd fan art of her favorite anime.

Kemono Friends fan art is a subject that I am very intimately familiar with. Everyday since late September of 2017, I have sorted through all the new Kemono Friends fan works posted to Pixiv and many of the more popular ones posted to Twitter. I have been doing this for over a year now and have accumulated over 140 pages of Pixiv bookmarks, consisting of only my favorite Kemono Friends works. After having combed through so many works over the course of the 2018, I've decided to put together a list of my favorites, in no particular order.

For this list I have judged the works based on the technical skill of the piece, as well as the work's ability to be a touching piece of art.

A work only qualifies for this list if it was posted to the internet anytime during the year 2018. The work also must be a digital, static image and no more than one image from one particular artist may qualify.

Because I have no permission and because I want to encourage everyone to visit the pages of these wonderful artists, I will not be posting any of the discussed material to this blog. I will be using thumbnail links for every work on the list and ask that readers take the time to follow the links to see each work uncut and in full quality.

Number 10: Serval by Kamindani

Standing in the grass and against a cloudy sapphire blue sky is Serval, illuminated by the morning’s rising sun. She smiles and reaches out to the world.

Kamindani is perhaps the most recognizable artist on this list for his amazing signature style of roughly detailed, thick brush stroke drawings.

This work focuses on Serval from a dramatic worm’s-eye view perspective. She towers over the viewer standing in a slight curve, upon curved earth, in a fantastic simulated fisheye lens effect. The clouds in the sky are parted to surround Serval’s head, giving the cat deep blue crown, and making her the center of the image. Serval’s bright smile gives the work very cute and wholesome tones, on top of an already marvelous scene.

Number 09: Deep River by Pero Kisu

Serval and Kaban tread through moving water as white waves approach. Their heads down, perhaps looking for the body of their friend, Lucky Beast.

A very solemn work by Pero Kisu depicting serval and kaban walking through shallow water. Perhaps the most immediately striking thing about this work is the countless number of brush strokes that make up the ocean waves Serval and Kaban wade through. The vast space the grey water occupies diminishes the two friends and impresses upon the viewer their smallness. Their faces both turned towards the shallow water give the work a very solemn tone, especially with Kaban’s trademark hat missing from the image, and the implied goal of their looking through the water. A tiny detail that I really like here is that you can see Serval’s tail through the water, drawn to convey a nice light refraction effect.

Number 08: Moose by Siva_ryo

www.pixiv.net

Moose, in a frozen forest, rebounding off an attack from an unknown enemy. Snow flying, and hair in the wind, she raises her weapon to strike back.

A very intense and active work from siva_ryo capturing a Moose’s moment in battle. The piece is very clearly a work of much technical skill. Moose’s hair flows beautify in the air as she crashes through the snow, a look of stark determination on her face. The cold colored forest around her is hostile, covered in snow and ice. The only warm color comes from Moose’s aggressive eyes.

Number 07: Untitled Work by Tongue_reckless

Serval and Kaban stand among the ruins of giant radio telescopes, bathed in the crimson of twilight. Serval holds the rope of their anchored desert sailer while Kaban navigates using a sextant. Stars lightly dot the quiet sky.

A very mysterious and absolutely enchanting monochrome work from the artist tongue_reckless, featuring the desolate ruins of giant radio telescopes. These tremendous units are very likely inspired by the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array radio astronomy observatory in the U.S. state of New Mexico, which is used by scientists to study celestial objects in deep space.

The array of ruined radio telescopes towering above the desert sand, silhouetted by crimson light, is perhaps the centerpiece to the atmosphere of mystery and melancholy that this image creates. The twilight reds and the incredibly dark blues color everything in this bleak landscape and imbue the image with a very somber tone. And yet, these giant decaying radio structures along with Serval and Kaban’s new desert sail inspire thoughts of curiosity and wonder about the newest venture of our two friends.

Number 06: Do You Want A Friend? by DOKOMON

www.pixiv.net

Aardwolf kneels on the ground of the African shrublands, a silver termite in hand. In the distance, a dark cloud hangs over her head as dim stars peer through the twilight sky. She looks directly at the viewer, wearing a tender smile.

This piece is a very cute, yet eerie work from Dokomon. Here, Aardwolf sits looking quite adorable with a termite in hand — the main prey of aardwolves, and smiles quite tenderly at the viewer, giving the image a bit of cheerfulness. This is then contrasted with a dark cloud in the distance, which hangs directly behind her head, and two very sharp-looking leafless shrub branches either side of her. This, combined with the implied death of Aardwolf’s Friend form in the original anime, gives the work a very powerful feeling of anxiety.

Number 05: Untitled Work by Gunzan

www.pixiv.net

Serval and Kaban sit in a wooden barrel attached to the front of the Japari Bus. Serval’s eyes are closed, and her appearance has darkened. Kaban faces the opposite direction and holds an ore in the sea water.

A very stylistically simple and desaturated mosaic recreation of former Kemono Friends director Tatsuki’s season 2 teaser image by Gunzan. Dark tiles dominate this image, the only color left being the tiles in the upper right corner of the image. The light and the dark tiles meet in between Serval and Kaban, the darkness giving feelings of anxiety to the peaceful slumber that Serval seems to have succumb to. The distortion, desaturation and the now much more melancholic body language of the two friends completely subvert the original image and turn it into an expression of something lost.

Number 04: Costume Shoebill by Guchico

https://twitter.com/Guchico77/status/961186212504457216

https://twitter.com/Guchico77/status/961186212504457216https://twitter.com/Guchico77/status/961186212504457216

https://twitter.com/Guchico77/status/961186212504457216

Shoebill stands tall in her lion costume and ferociously roars at the viewer, her menacing claws raised high in the air.

A fiercely adorable Shoebill work by Guchico, perhaps the best there is at drawing cute and alluring Shoebill works. In this piece Shoebill’s cuteness is greatly enhanced by her lion costume toy from Kemono Friends Pavilion. This allows her to become a super cute Shoebill and inspires warm feelings of pleasantness and joy in the viewer.

Number 03: Tunnel by Ogata Tank

www.pixiv.net

A fun seeking Ocelot walks along a mossy rail into a flooded railroad tunnel. A heavy mist hides her surroundings as a few trees poke through the fog.

This is a cute and curious work from Ogata Tank featuring an Ocelot Friend. Zooming in on her face reveals quite an adorable look of slight boredom as she walks along the rail. The mist that tinges almost every color of the image gives the work a very cool and mildly creepy atmosphere, in contrast to the very cute Ocelot. The old tunnel and the rundown rails make for a very interesting environment. I especially like how well detailed the water is here. You can see the submerged rocks through the surface of the water but not as well where the outside light is reflected.

Number 02: Narwhal by Okojo_ojoko

Narwhal sticks out of the endless ocean, wearing an expressionless face, and looking into the distance. Waves of various shades of turquoise splash all around her. In the far distance, tall clouds hang in the blue sky’s horizon.

This is a very quiet and solitary work by okojo_ojoko focusing on Narwhal. The piece features very lonely and tremendously expansive scenery, nothing but unending blue ocean and blue sky just beyond Narwhal. Her expression is emotionless and her gaze wonders somewhere out of view. This featureless scene is quiet and peaceful but is also dramatic in its depiction of Narwhal at the center of such lonely and oppressive emptiness.

Number 01: Sunset Serval by Animal_ears

www.pixiv.net

A very beautiful Serval Cat stands under a decaying structure, holding onto a rusty guard railing and looking back towards the viewer. Large power lines cross the background of the image and a mountain side boarders the right edge. Clouds hang over both these features as the sun shines through.

An absolutely magnificent work from animal_ears, perhaps the best new Kemono Friends fan artist of 2018, depicting a low angle view of Serval in a rundown structure. The work is thoroughly stunning in its beauty. A detailed Serval stands before a gorgeous maroon to blue sky, the golden sun shining through fluffy clouds as green leaves blow past Serval. The abandoned structure Serval stands under and the powerlines together bring wonder and an adventurous intrigue to the work.