Hey y'all, Fuze here,

It's been 10 years, if you can believe that. I just wanted to take some time to sit and reflect on where I am in this art journey and wanted to give an update on where I am with my art and my short and long term projects. To think, it started in the summer of 2012, when the MLP/brony fandom was still on the rise. Gosh, what a different time that was. I had graduated with my engineering degree, but due to the recession, was unemployed for a full year. I had filled in that time picking up hobbies to fill in the time; gardening, interior renovations, cooking, guitar, and finally digital art. Borrowing a drawing tablet and following along with some art-streamers, I had imitated my way into drawing fan art for MLP. This would eventually lead into a fascination with storytelling, character design, and original creations.

I'd go back to university to get another degree, but during the two years I was in graduate school, I was still pursuing my passion in digital art. I had built a small but niche following for my gay pony art, but I had moved from being purely making genderbent versions of the main characters, to creating my own characters to make art with, and drawing other people's characters as well. I made a number of internet friends that I still have, some that naturally drifted, and I had to do a lot of learning on how to navigate social relationships. Around this time, I'd actually start drifting away from MLP and into the more general furry space. It was a natural if scary move, since it meant that I had to start improving my art game up.

After grad-school, was the biggest shift in my life, moving to the city for a job opportunity. For the first time, I was literally all on my own, and to be honest, having my online network of friends that supported me, really got me through that tough transition time. Also, with only my job to worry about, I could spend all my free time doing art. It was an interesting time, learning how to navigate being a young adult, holding down the responsibilities of my job, balancing relationships, exploring my sexuality, and figuring out how to accomplish my art projects. I made a lot of missteps, but I hope that I've learned from them.

For art, though, I was more productive than ever. I'd spend 4-8 hours a day doing it, even more on the weekends. I had an ongoing image series for my MLP dragon story that went to 200 images. I was creating VNs from scratch that I had no idea how to do. I was making new pokemon comics, and eventually regular furry comics. Then had started my pokemon fan comics as well as the furry comics in Texnatsu, though I would end up changing the working title of the project. I kept it up for 6 years, consistently streaming nearly every night my art progress. I moved from Tumblr to Twitter, and even made a Patreon.

Then came the pandemic, which funny enough, didn't effect me as much as other people. I was lucky to have a job that kept me employed, as well as let me start working from home. As someone who existed online, this was an easy transition, but I think the lack of variety in my life had really started to weigh on me. I started getting back into video games and real life hobbies, which pushed my time to do art, much later. This is partially why I stream so late these days, since my early afternoon time is spent on other hobbies, but my need to do art makes me do it late into the night. That being said, my production is as good as ever, since I'm still able to consistently put out comics and pictures.

So, that brings me to this year and my current plans for art projects.

First is my Pokemon anthro art, and the PCA comic universe. This series of art is my playground for comics and image series. I don't expect to have major plot lines or character developments, as it's just a way for me to have fun with anthro pokemon in sexy scenarios. My main character Pawl, is someone I'll always have fondness for and just love pairing him with anyone and everyone. Gao and Lucas have become an interesting couple/non-couple, as they aren't officially together, but they sure do get into a lot of scenarios with each other. The general rule I have for my PCA universe is that relationships are flexible, and anyone could be with anyone.

Next, my Little Oasis (texnatsu) comic series. There are 14 comics currently out for it, and that I'm considering my "Season 1" of the series. Each of the 9 main characters got an introduction comic, and it's emerging that Ty is the one character that is having the most plot development. This series I do have a general idea of a story for, and a sense of progression. So for "Season 2", while there's going to be more light-hearted comics with the other characters, Ty's comics are going to have a more substantial story to them.

Next, some visual novel updates. I've got a visual novel in the works right now. I don't want to give too much away, but I am making a remake/redesign of my first visual novel, "Load off". It's in collaboration with my good friend Kyuu, to be a lot more immersive and still have the fan favorite characters, and update some of the parts that are lacking.

Finally, other art and projects, I'm always finding something new to draw or something to explore. I have some fantasy ideas that would be fun to explore once I've reached a good point with the Little Oasis comics, but I'd like to stick to one plot-centric idea at a time.

Overall, I'm kinda surprised at where I am 10 years after I started. In someways, I was hoping I was further along in quality and prestige, but also I can't complain for how far I have come. If I were to give a few nuggets of my learned wisdom and observations, it would be this. The idea that time, effort, and education will produce amazing results is naive, at best. Natural talent and luck are significant factors. But, I'd say the most important aspect, is passion. If you have passion for your craft, people will notice, and it will be the fuel that pushes you through the tough times.