So a while back, Foxxpaw did a sort of self help journal series. I absolutely loved it and had some very pleasant discussions with him during that time, and now, I feel I need to do something similar. Maybe not quite the same, but something to give myself a bit of structure now that I'm getting my art groove on. (please don't hate me for bringing up financial stuff but that is a part of this. T.T) So, without further adue...

1: Persistent work.
What I mean by this is, to always have a project to work on. Be that commissions (which I have but need to discuss some things with the commissioners) or giving myself projects to do. Even just doodling a bit every day would be beneficial but that's just the bare minimum. Constantly practicing on new styles and skills, or improving on ones that I'm weak on, will help me to get better at art and diversify my capabilities. I do have a list of projects to work on too, including a couple of short comic series' and a number of one-off pieces.

2: Maintain a positive perspective.
A little vague again, maybe, but basically just trying to keep myself in better spirits. The thing that stops me from working most often is fear of failing to meet my own expectations. I think most artists struggle with this at some point. Seeing an image in your mind, then having difficulty translating it to the canvas. It can be a little disappointing or even dis-empowering. I know I've had days where I struggle to get a pose to look right. Draft after draft after draft, just all looking so... off. Something I'm trying to do to mitigate this is work with more layers in my projects, giving myself more room to tweek and adjust where needed. I'd like to reach a point where I can just draw and not worry about the outcome so much, but I doubt I'll ever truly reach that state. Yay constant improvement!

3: Stop screwing around and finish commissions!!!
Okay, this is one I'm not sure how to tackle. I have at least 2/4 commissions that I really need to get finished up, however I find myself in a complicated situation with my rooming arrangements. This limits what kind of commissions I can really take on (cutting that number down to just 1 of those original 4 commissions) As much as I love drawing naughty stuff, I'm kinda prevented from making any financial gain on those works. So, I'm stuck doing clean commissions only, not a bad thing in and of it's self but I feel it limits my options a bit here. (no offense guys, but it's kinda true. Most furry artists either sell absolutely amazing fantastic clean art, or they sell porn. XD) Which, leads me up to the topic that I really /really/ hate to bring up.

*prepares for the backlash*

4: Financial goals.
No fancy title or joke, it's just what it is. Thankfully I don't have too many bills to worry about, but I do have bills that I am having difficulty paying, and would be a pretty big hamper on things if I couldn't manage. So, goals for this section. Kind of a sub-list I guess. (1) "Set commission prices and give examples of work"; This I struggle with. Partially because I feel I'm a pretty poor judge of what to price my work at, and partially because I feel my work is still pretty inconsistent. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but it's hard to overlook some flaws when you know how something is supposed to look or work. (2) "Sustainable income"; This is the end goal of this segment. I'm not begging, and I'm not looking for handouts. I just want to be able to pay my bills. The excess of which could be covered with an extra $100 each month, but if I can reach that just from what's essentially a hobby, would help out greatly. Again, I hate talking about money like this. It makes me feel like I'm begging, but at the same time communication is super important to me so, lesser of the evils here.

I don't know what's going to happen over the next months, I have grander goals for myself that I want to work towards, but I want to focus on these ones first. Those first 3 are persistent, I'll be working on those and trying to improve myself.


And guys, to everyone who's stuck with me through this journal, thanks. You guys are awesome. <3