So, those submissions I recently uploaded are gone, as are the comments, faves, and possibly watches. Lovely. Guess I'll repost them in a few days. Also, I see at least one note I should have, except I don't. If you noted me in the past week or two, please resend it...

Thankfully, I'm smart enough to hang onto all my work. Not my first time with this kind of event..

I don't even know where to start, so I'll just summarize it as: life sucks, and can go fuck itself. I'll be spending the next two weeks recovering from everything, doing housework on here, and catching up where I need to. Oi. Hope everyone's well.

Hey, I just wanna say I'm not dead. Things in my life have gotten very rough, and keep going up and back down to where I find myself. Clients have been spoken to and I'll be finishing up work. To those clients, I appreciate your patience. I never set a deadline, but you've waited far too long. I'll make that up to you somehow but for right now I'm concerned with catching up on commissions and then taking a break from them. I want to do a lot of personal work between fursonas and characters. Small style change and a sona change incoming~ Hope everyone's doing well.

I'm a little behind on finances due to an incident back at the end of June, so I thought I'd open up for sketch commissions. They'll be done very clean and be given a light color fill to give the characters some presence! I feel like it's a neat little way to add some color but keep the price low!!

They'll be $20 per figure, two figures max. If you want, you can split those two characters into two images.

To grab a slot, just comment below or e-mail me at flarestar.studios@gmail.com!

1-Character Examples:

Clean: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13943612/
Adult: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13943905/

2-Character Examples:

Clean: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13945352/
Adult: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13949863/
Adult: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13949887/

1.  jalen 1 Char
2.  rychandrakey 1 Char
3.  seraphimnokitsune 1 Char
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

..just under a lot of stress. And rather sick at the moment. It doesn't help that my job is the type of place that encourages (read: demands) workers come in even when sick, when they should probably stay home to recover, and more important, avoid infecting their co-workers. My white cell count is down due to some temporary medications, and so my normally all-star-level immune system is pretty horrible at doing its job.

To my waiting commissioners, I do apologize. I'll have progress for you this week by the end of the month. And more art planned. Things have happened in my personal life and my sona's in the middle of a re-design of sorts for more than a few reasons. So that might be the first piece I post apart from commissions. I have a lot planned for the next few months, and posting regularly is going to be a thing. Art soon~

All of the commissioners who grabbed spots back in the beginning of March and paid have been taken care of! Thank you to everyone who spread the word or purchased a slot; it got me through a rough time and I appreciate it! I'm opening up regular commissions again now that I feel I've got a handle on everything and my art feels back under my control.

In lieu of commissioned work, you can look forward to regular submissions from me as I try to find a quick way to color linearts! I love when I get to spend the time on a full-color piece, but it's not really conducive to getting a bunch of ideas out quickly. I have a lot I want to draw, so you may see some experimental pieces in my gallery for the next 5 to 10 as I try to nail down the exact look I want~

Hi everyone! Sorry for the silence and lack of art, I'm working on a lot of personal pieces and I'll have stuff to share soon. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, I find myself in a bit of a bad situation - I spent my last few dollars on making sure I could eat today, and don't get paid until Thursday. We're also really low on diesel oil for the furnace, and will have to get more to replace it within the next 48-72 hours, I'd like to help with that. I also need gas in my car to get to work!

So, I'm opening up for some colored sketch pin-ups, 1 character limit. I'd love to fill 10 slots, but am starting with 5.

NSFW Example: https://www.dropbox.com/s/vj7piur1z.....nupexample.jpg

Paypal only, payment due upfront as per my ToS, which can be found here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/2304724/

If you're interested, please e-mail me at flarestar.studios [at] gmail [dot] com with a visual reference and what you'd like to have drawn out!

If you're not looking or able to buy but still want to help out, a signal boost is a great way to do so!

Queue:

1.  jalen
2.  takantwins
3.  bhawkes
4.  outsider
5.  startyger
6.  hades-ember
7.  akikitsune
8.  dajinn
9.  umi
10.  bunnyrabbitrobby

Thank you for all the interest! I can now survive the next few days, and afford to keep the house warm as well. I will show my gratitude by finishing these in a timely fashion~

Not exactly how I wanted to get on a first-shift schedule with a second-shift job, but I'll take it...

Making progress on some commissions today, as well the start of some personal art inspired by the recent events in my life. I doubt any of it will the see the light of day before the end of the month save one piece. I need to go shopping for stuff as well, but at least lunch was made already. I should think about a small breakfast, too..

I'll have a lot of art in the next month or so, keep an eye out. It's a new year, so it's time to slough off all the qualities about myself that I loathe and leave them behind. Keep the people who matter around. Push forward. It won't get better any other way.

With my commission queue finished barring final adjustments from clients, I find myself with a little bit of free time outside my work. Alongside three commissions that aren't listed that I picked up before I officially closed for them, I'll be doing a lot of personal work in the next few months.

I want to become more consistent with my quality and frequency of work, and I have a few other improvements to make as well. Once I'm satisfied with where I am on all that, I'll open my queue again with a different set-up I've been thinking about over time - decided on from looking at others artists and how they run things, what works and what doesn't, public response, commissioner satisfaction, my own personal ideals, etc. I'll be monitoring responses to it to see how it fairs.

Until then, please enjoy the artwork I'll be working on outside this 40hr/week part-time job and the start of the upcoming comic on the 17th!

~Yuki

I normally don't post journals unrelated to business or my own personal life, but for this man, I feel I have to. He was caught in an accident that wasn't his fault in a company vehicle that wasn't properly maintained. Despite nearly dying and still recovering in a hospital bed, he wants to bring Christmas to his kids and his wife.

You can find the original journal here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5348618/
Fundraiser link: http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fu.....-s-fund/119138

Anything will help - I'm planning to give money towards this with my next paycheck. Any amount will help, even a dollar. Please donate, spread the word, or both; a man this selflessly devoted to his family deserves to be rewarded. This is how we make a difference in the world - one person at a time.

EDIT: I realized I can't talk to others about making a difference if I don't take that step myself. I've donated a small amount, what I was able to. Even if you can't make it in time for Christmas, help make sure this family is alright until next Christmas.

I apologize for being out of reach for a few weeks. In the time I've been gone, I managed to secure a new part-time job and it has done wonders for my morale and view on my life. It will finally be something I can live off of and supplement my illustration income with. That said, commissions will be finished shortly, and then closed for a little bit while I train myself up to a more professional level on certain aspects. Oh, and glad to see FA is back up. Time to get to arting!!

Also, if you're looking for a program that gives you access to one-button screen-capping with customizable settings and keys that saves the image instead of copying it to the clipboard, I highly recommend GreenShot: http://download.cnet.com/GreenShot/.....-10915306.html

I was lamenting over the loss of my laptop again tonight when I went to screencap sexy anime pictures off youtube videos for pose and design inspiration, as I had completely forgotten that Print Screen only copies the screenshot to your clipboard...and lost a small handful of images. So I set out to find the same functionality for Windows that I had with my Macbook, and I found it with GreenShot.

I hope everyone's doing well! Please keep your eyes on my page, as I have a lot of art planned for this last two weeks of the year!

Thanks to my sister's generosity, I'm able to work on commissions again. Granted, one of the RAM sticks in her gaming desktop that I'm now borrowing has died and it's sitting on 2GB of RAM; so that needs to be replaced... It makes running multiple programs at once a little difficult. I'll be getting back to work on commissions tonight, finally. Commissioners should expect an update by Sunday night at the latest - I'm looking to have outstanding pieces done by next week.

The time without a way to work on the aforementioned artwork has led to me doing some reflecting on past artistic endeavors and upcoming important deadlines at the end of the year. I don't quite yet possess the ability to accurately assess how long work will take me, nor to truly assess the amount of effort a piece will take (I've seen art directors say it's actually rather common among artists, and seems common enough from what I can tell, so at least I'm not alone..) and I need to do 6-8 high-level professional-finish full illustrations before the end of November. As such, I'm pushing the comic back until the first week of January; the quality of these pieces cannot suffer for anything and I'd rather focus on commissioners and my upcoming review.

I'll be finishing up outstanding commissions and then setting up a short ruleset for future ones, and maybe trying to do one or two personal pieces each week, time permitting. I want to upload more often, and consistently at that. Here's to getting back into the full swing of things within a few days~

I've never had a problem with spilling drinks near electronics save one incident, and neither has my sister, save one or two, so I felt confident putting the glass on the edge of my desk. Bad idea, as cat + my sister trying to shoo her away forcefully = glass spilling contents on laptop. It's currently drying, and I've tried cleaning off the keyboard with alcohol. The moment the soda hit the laptop it just sorta blinked off, heh... It won't turn on, but I'm going to leave it alone until morning. I have a few ideas to get the data off the local drive, but ugh, seriously? x_X

I'm borrowing my sister's desktop for now, but we'll see how quickly I can't get a replacement desktop of my own. That said, it was a Macbook Pro from 2009. Unfortunately my copy of the Adobe Master Suite and MangaStudio EX4 are Mac versions...

Client work was stored externally and unaffected! :D I'll be downloading and messing with SAI to see if I can't complete my commissions that way.

Despite my chosen profession being deadline-driven, despite my constantly looking to improve my business practices, despite my ceaseless focusing on self-improvement, and despite my artistic ability I've honed over 25 years, I am no stranger to missing deadlines. I missed college deadlines that, had I made them, would have accelerated my professional career considerably to a point where my life would be very different from how it is now. Recently, I missed an important deadline: the Hardblush + Wetblush Conest deadline. I loved the plan I had for the storyline of the comic, the page I laid out was visually interesting, and I loved the general concepts behind the encounter and the relationship of the two characters. I was extremely excited for the opportunity.

Except I fucked up. I had two weeks that I gave myself to complete it, knowing I would have to at least start rough sketches by the middle of the first week. I failed to do that, and only ended up starting to put ideas that were completely planned and fleshed-out in my head to paper on the afternoon of the 14th of October. I got this far: https://www.dropbox.com/s/wneik2gha.....bydeadline.jpg


This is not my first missed deadline, but it will be my last. Ever. I already said this in the presence of someone important to me, but I will say it here here as well: Never again, on my honor, will I miss a deadline. Starting the first week of November, I will be uploading one page of this comic each week, in full color. Once it is finished I may consider doing other comic ideas. In the interim, I take unrelenting, unwavering steps forward into the future.

Enough time elapsed that I was willing to give interested commissioners a second slot, however I still have 3 left over. One slot per commissioner, two characters max per slot.

1 Character - $20
2 Characters, separate images - $40
2 Characters, same image - $35

Examples:

The commissions will be of same quality to the below examples:
Rated-G:[X][X]
NSFW:[X][X]

ToS: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/2304724/
Original journal here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5096887/

If you're interested, send me a note~

Alright, so life happened, and I was under the weather for a couple days. I'm opening up ten commission slots, $20 per character, max 2. I'll be doing this a little differently than I see most commissions being handled - each slot goes to a client, not a commission. Still $40 max, but this way if you want two separate character images, you can do that without taking up 2 slots. I feel it'll be more fair. We'll see how it goes~

1 Character - $20
2 Characters, separate images - $40
2 Characters, same image - $35
G-XXX rating.

The commissions will be of same quality to the below examples:
Rated-G:[X][X]
NSFW:[X][X]

If you haven't, please read my ToS here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/2304724/

To snag a spot, simply note me with a reference and what you have in mind. I can work off text references, but prefer even an image by another artist with comments as reference over pure text, and am willing to do 2-3 minor edits. After the initial contact, we'll move to e-mail.

You'll get a WIP after the sketch is complete, which is when you'll mention any minor edits that need to be done. After that, it's straight through lineart and over to color. If the final colors are off, they'll be adjusted. You'll get a high-res JPEG and an FA-ready JPEG once it's finished in case you choose to post it to your own gallery.

Payment is Paypal-Only this time, and upfront, as per my ToS.

1.  umiriko
2.  del3bcl3
3.  takantwins
4.  asper
5.  takantwins
6.  umiriko
7.  asper
8.
9.
10.

In an effort to adhere to something resembling a day-time schedule, (let alone a schedule, period) I will be adopting normal business hours as follows:

M-Th: 10-3 F-S: 10-1

I will be working on commissions during these hours and these hours only. The other hours in my day will go towards personal projects, personal art, and non-art endeavors. You can reach me during these hours in one of three ways - e-mail, FA notes, or Skype.

Skype: flarestar.studios
E-mail: flarestar.studios[at]gmail.com

I do have a part-time job, so occasionally it will conflict with my hours. I endeavor to respond to any communications in a timely fashion - within 2 business days, usually same-day. I may devote a period of time in the evenings to responding to communications as well, as I'm well aware that some people are on night schedules!


~Yuki

A little later than I'd have liked, and yet a little sooner than I'd have liked, I'm opening ten commission slots for the month of April. Outstanding commissions will be done within the next few days - indeed I'm adding final touches to one of them as I type this. The discounted prices I originally set will remain in place for a month or two, and will then be rising to something a little closer to my original prices in June.

You can find my current discounted pricing and ToS here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/4244339/

If you'd like a slot, please send me a note with a general description of what you're looking to get!

1. chaosie
2. Claudia_Vial
3. melissasweet
4. Umiriko
5. BHawkes

In an effort to push that latest negative journal down a bit, I want to link something I found in my inbox today - a blog post by Charlie Hoehn. I happen to be on this gentleman's e-mail list, and while I don't receive all too much, what I do receive is of a superior quality. I've already made all these realizations myself by constantly observing peers and seniors, and asking many questions of many people, but this is a wonderful reminder of it all.

Give it a read, you won't be disappointed.

http://charliehoehn.com/2013/02/24/.....of-employment/

Well, lost that job. I didn't have the relevant experience inside the software that he was looking for. This became evident after a week, and 17 hours of my time, because there was no formal interview process. I'm guessing he wasn't willing to train me and instead wants to risk paying for more advertising that may not bring in a more skilled worker, which makes no sense when he said to my face that business was slow and he needed to do up a marketing campaign.

If I had more experience with these sorts of "Sorry, it's not working out." situations, and some examples to show him immediately (note to self, carry presentation-ready work examples on a flash drive at all times, going forward..) I may have been able to turn that into a different employment opportunity with him. Oh well.

The good news is, I was paid for those 17 hours. The bad news is I no longer have that job. So, I'll be spending what would have been the rest of my time there today on commissions. :D To Photoshop!!

To the few commissioners who are waiting - I know I've given you recent updates, but I want to apologize for slow completion time. I've been focused on trying to get a new job when I saw the opportunity recently, and as of Saturday, the position was mine!! It's a 10-5, few days a week sort of thing for now, and the past two days have been spent trying to get used to it; doing a brutal 13-hr day between my two jobs yesterday left me exhausted. Combined with less than 7 hours' sleep the past two nights, and bad quality sleep at that, I've been pretty tired when I do get home. I'm about to go to bed though, and have resolved to work on commissions tomorrow night, and try to get all of you another update by Friday. :D Thank you for your patience! <3

when you're having way too much fun working on commissions, and then you realize how late it is. And you have to sleep. But you're nocturnal and love the night and how you feel at night and working at night. This feeling...it deserves an image.

After commissions though. I guess I should sleep, or something..

I know I've had an influx of recent watchers courtesy of a generous friend. I don't have the time currently to thank each and every one of you personally, however I would like to acknowledge you all here.

Thank you for clicking that watch button; I'll do my best to make it worth your while. <333 Thank you for your comments, your faves, your views. Even if I'm modest, I [i]do/i] have an ego, and seeing all of that makes me feel good about my art and myself, and inspires me to keep doing what I do. I have some stuff planned for the next few days, including both for V-Day and for 3500 pageviews/300 watchers. Small numbers compared to some, I know, but they're still worth celebrating. You all have made that possible. <3

If all goes well, and it should, there will be once piece up for the 14th here, and then an additional one by Friday. Maaaybe a third. We'll see. Thanks for reading, I'm going to grab dinner and get back to Photoshop!!

I thought it would be a good idea to create a list of all the people who have commissioned me on FA in the past. It is my hope that this list will serve to inspire confidence in people considering hiring me. And who knows, it may also keep me accountable and give me an easy way to see my progress as an artist when I'm feeling down. ;) Below, you'll find the people who have commissioned me and a link to the art! Thank you to all of you who choose to support me and allow me to do what I love for a living! <3

Commission List
2011
1.  ldthedinger 1 Figure - Sketch
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5697798/
2.  brokennik 1 Figure - Sketch
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6167116/
2012
Personal Sabbatical!
2013
3.  marbles 1 Figure Graphic Color
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/9786449/
4.  -razor- Paid 01/28 - 2 Figures Full Color - Sketched
5:  -razor- Paid 01/28 - 1 Figure Full Color - Sketched
6 kitgrahamn Paid 01/29 - 1 Figure Flat Color - Sketch In-Progress
7.
8.

Below are my prices for commissions. Prices may be increased for highly detailed images. What falls under that definition is under my discretion.

All payments must be received up-front before work is begun.
All prices apply to both adult and clean work, there is no price difference.

Waist Up:

Sketch:
$15 for 1 character, $10 ea. additional, backgrounds start at $5
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4889835/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6167116/

Ink:
$20 for 1 character, $15 ea. additional, backgrounds start at $10
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/9051945/

Flat Color:
$25 for 1 character, $20 ea. additional, backgrounds start at $15
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/9051938/

Graphic Color:
$30 for 1 character, $25 ea. additional, backgrounds start at $20
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8918139/


Full Body:

Sketch:
$20 for 1 character, $10 ea. additional, backgrounds start at $10
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4362489/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3396260/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4957717/

Ink:
$30 for 1 character, $20 ea. additional, backgrounds start at $15
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5698327/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8974352/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/9051633/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/9051747/

Flat Color:
$35 for 1 character, $30 ea. additional, backgrounds start at $20
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5856820/

Full-Value Pencil:
$40 for 1 character, $35 ea. additional, backgrounds start at $30
Example not available at this time

Graphic Color:
$50 for 1 character, $40 ea. additional, backgrounds start at $35
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8918139/

Full Color Image:
$65 for 1 character, $45 ea. additional, backgrounds start at $40
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8946571/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8974334/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/9040753/

I may also do auctions in the future if I think they would be successful. I also plan to have Ink-wash/watercolor monochrome work on this list. That will be added soon.
Badges:

Pencil:
$35
Examples not available at this time

Ink B&W/Flat Color:
$40
Examples not available at this time

Color:
$50
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6393295/

ToS:

By commissioning adult art from me you agree that you are of legal age to view and own adult material in your area. You are paying for a digital copy of the work. You are not paying for reproduction rights. You may print copies for personal use but you may not distribute them and you may not make profit off of them. I retain all reproduction rights and as such may make prints of the work, use it in a portfolio, display it on a website, etc. unless you buy those rights from me. I retain the right to sell sketches/inks unless mailed off to commissioners, or destroyed upon request. Otherwise, all work shall be stored neatly and securely.


ALL PAYMENTS MUST BE RECEIVED UP FRONT FOR ANYTHING BELOW $100. ABOVE $100, HALF IS DUE UP FRONT AND HALF BEFORE FINAL COLORS. ALL WORK BEGINS UPON RECEIPT OF PAYMENT.


What I Will Not Draw:
Including but not limited to:

Anything unlawful or defamatory, racist, sexist, etc. promoting hatred of any kind
Scat
Watersports
Cub
Babyfur
Hyper
Drugs
Inflation
Rape

If you're unsure, ask. :) I may update this list from time-to-time as I encounter/remember things.

Unless deadlines are otherwise specified, I work in order of payment per level. So if I have 2 sketch commissions, 3 full-pencil, 1 ink bust and 3 flat-color, I will complete the sketch for all of them and send them out for confirmation where applicable. :) You can expect your commission done within two weeks; though I do accept shorter deadlines for fee between 25%-50% extra. If you have questions regarding my policies/pricing, please feel free to ask me via note!