Art of the Day #453: Qalcove — An Appreciation, Pt. 1

The Many Regrets of Nicholas Wilde by Qalcove Source [01]

Hello Everyone:

A rather sad piece of news came our way last week.  Qalcove, one of our favorite Zootopia fan-artists, has closed her Twitter and other accounts and announced that she’s no longer posting art to the web.  The featured image above is, to our knowledge, the last piece of artwork she put up before the shutdown.  Her reasons for making this decision can be found here. 

It would be out of line for us to offer an opinion on the matter, (and we think most of our readers can guess what they are anyway.)

We do however, want to offer Qal our support and our hopes for better times.   And with that in mind, Today and Thursday’s Art of the Day Collections will dedicated to Qalcove and all her work.

To give you an idea of how popular she is, the first two times we featured her art, I accidentally misspelled her name (as Galcove rather than Qalcove.)  The response I got was nearly instantaneous and highly indignant…not from Qal but from her supporters.   As I later found out, she has many, many friends in Zootopia Fanart community; they loved her, and she loved them…and with good reason.  She was always quick to offer praises for a fellow artist’s work, endless retweeting images that she particularly admired. 

But at the end of the day, Qal just plain loved to draw Zootopia fanart.  She was the kind of artist who would tweet, “I don’t know if I can do this,” and then go out and produce something amazing.  At the time of her decision to withdraw from posting on the net, she was working to expand her skills, having just completed her first livestream art sessions, two of which I was fortunate enough to attend.

Before we get to her artwork, please permit me to add one final note.

Qal, if you’re seeing this, I think I speak for the rest of the ZNN staff when I say that we love both you and we love your artwork.   We’re going to miss you terribly, but we understand and respect your decision.

Good luck and God bless, may all the best follow you.

John Urie AKA MercMarten
Team Leader, Zootopia News Network – Treasure Hunters.

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Today’s collection features a repost of Art of the Day #373 from last September — in which Qalcove was the Featured Artist.  Part 2 follows this coming Thursday.

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Hustled Kiss by Qalcove Source [1]

Hello lovers of Zootopia, wherever you are.

Today we’re featuring the artwork of Qalcove, not only one of the best Zootopia fan-artists working today, but also one of the most prolific…and possibly the most versatile; there’s no artist I know of who can match her skills at showing Nick and Judy in such a wide range of situations…or in such a diversity of art styles.  And when it comes to stirring up emotions, Qalcove crushes it; she can tug at your heartstrings with one pic and tickle your funnybone with the next.

In addition to her solo artwork, Qalcove recently became involved with a new project, ‘The ZPD’, an upcoming ‘mockumentary’ miniseries centered on the Zootopia Police Department.  She also has her own Youtube and PicartoTV channels.

And so today, we proudly present an all-too-brief sample of Qalcove’s Zootopian artworks.  Enjoy…and don’t forget to show the artist some love by clicking on the source-links. (You might even want to check out her Patreon Page.)

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We open, as always, with a collection of Judy Hopps pics .

Mayor Lionheart’s Arrest by Qalcove Source [2]

Judy July Event: Jul 7th – Tanabata Bunny by Qalcove Source [3]

Stranger in the Night by Qalcove Source [4]

..and from there, into some images of Nick Wilde.

Summer Style by Qalcove Source [5]

Nick Wilde, Chaos Theory Expert by Qalcove Source [6]

Sweater Fox by Qalcove Source [7]

Private Hanami by Qalcove Source [8]

Cadet Wilde by Qalcove Source [9]

“Hee!  And you call ME ‘Fluff.””
“Oh, go away, Carrots!”

Officer Fluff by Qalcove Source [10]

Not exactly a solo pic…but close enough.

Black and Wilde by Qalcove Source [11]

Next up, some images of Nick and Judy together.

We call these next three pics the ‘Buds Series.’

Buds by Qalcove Source [12]

Best Buds by Qalcove Source [13]

Silly Buds by Qalcove Source [14]

Hopps! Wilde! by @QalcoveArt Source [15]

Marine Day by Qalcove Source [16]

Swiggity Floofy by Qalcove Source [17]

Check out the next three images and you’ll see what we mean by ‘a diversity of art-styles.’  From realistic to impressionistic, and then to a caricature in 3 easy moves.

Tuckered Out by Qalcove Source [18]

Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn by Qalcove Source [19]

Long Day by Qalcove Source [20]

Tag-Along by Qalcove Source [21]

It’d Still Be Nice to Have a Partner by Qalcove Source [22]

Group pic, featuring Jack and Skye.

Practically Poor by Qalcove Source [23]

A pair of illustrations from the story, ‘The Bridesmaid’s Dress.’

The Bridesmaid Dress and the Groom (3) by Qalcove Source [24]

The Bridesmaid Dress and the Fox by Qalcove Source [25]

…and two from Return to Zootopia.

Tell me If I’m Wrong (Return to Zootp[ia…Ep.3) by Qalcove Source [26]

Just… Listen (Return to Zootopia, Ep. 3) by Qalcove Source [27]

Yet another of Qalcove’s specialties is drawing feral versions of Nick and Judy, (and Company)

I especially like her portrayal of The Ottertons in this one.

A Few Little Characters by Qalcove Source [28]

It’s You by Qalcove Source [29]

And here’s some more artistic diversity.  If it it weren’t for the signatures, I’d never have known that the next two images were created by the same person.

Run Run, Runaway! by Qalcove Source [30]

LT – Nice to Meet You, Miss Hopps by Qalcove Source [31]

Unbelievable by Qalcove Source [32]

How about a couple of crossover pics?

Space Madness by Qalcove Source [33]

The Rainstorm and the River (Pocahontas Crossover) by Qalcove Source [34]

We wrap things up with a quartet of holiday images.

Christmas.

Christmas Week — AllI want for Christmas by Qalcove Source [35]

New Years.

Happy New Year From Savannah Central by Qalcove Source [36]

Valentine’s Day.

For You! by Qalcovet Source [37]

And Mother’s Day.

MothersDay by @QalcoveArt Source [38]

And finally….
“You kids, quit grazing off my lawn!” 

Still Going Strong by Qalcove Source [39]

Until next time…

See you on Thursday.