Happy 2016 folks!

Oh yeah, because this year will be sooooo much better. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

NO. BAD SCIFER. BE HAPPY.

THE RECAP -

I'm not going to lie - 2015 was a drag. I spent most of it being very, very sick. I suppose that's what happens when you rent a house where the carpet fittings are so old that they've turned into toxic dust beneath your feet. And the walls and windows are so thin and provide so little protection from the damp that I may as well have been living in a fucking tent. I honestly think living in that house has taken a few years off my life. (For more information, see my journal entry entitled DEADLY MOON SPORES )

Still, I managed to move out of the old place (The Grottage, as I now call it) and got myself a nice new apartment with modern fittings, brand new decoration and not an ounce of poisonous carpet dust to clog my lungs! The view off the balcony is pretty fantastic, too! ... I just don't know if I can stay in Bournemouth to appreciate it for much longer. :(

THE PROBLEM

My job has really got me down. It's an art job in the games industry, sure. But they really aren't using enough of my skills to keep me invested. Part of me wonders if the studio is even flexible enough to utilize all the creative talents I can offer. It'd be comparable to, say -

If they wanted me to do nothing but pixel art, day in day out. That would be fantastic, for a while. But soon I'd yearn to just do a giant painting with a rainbow of colours and not to be constrained by one single style. And my pixel art would suffer because of how little love I'd have left to put into it as the days drag on. Not to mention my technical ability as a whole would decrease, the less time I had to spend improving other styles.

Needless to say, I think I've lost a step, artistically speaking. This could just be something all professionals have to go through, but it is an awful thing to experience. Especially when there are commissions from YEARS ago that I still need to work on, and when I look back on my gallery and can still see the thing I drew last January...

THE SOLUTION(s)

Still, enough whining. I have the power to fix this. Because with the advent of 2016, I will have been working in the games industry for 5 years! As far as a lot of companies are concerned, that's the magic number for getting them to even look at your portfolio! I've had some interest from other studios already, but most of them have been asking me to relocate far, far away. Only a few of them have been close enough to interest me, at the moment. One of which I have an interview for, very soon!

The only downside to getting a new job that may utilize some more of my skills and talents is that I would have to move house ... again ... AGAIN. And leave behind my awesome apartment! I'm not sure if any job could justify leaving this place behind. Not even a job at Valve. Seriously, that's how much I love it. ;_;

THE FUTURE

On the other hand, I also want to keep up my personal artwork and maybe continue working on my old graphic novel, Silent Storm That's why, some time in the near future I think I will be setting up a tip jar, or maybe a patreon. A lot of my friends have said they've had varying degrees of success with it and I think it will definitely encourage me to draw and stream more in my spare time. Several of my skeptical colleagues have described them as a way to "monetize popularity", but I'm willing to at least give it a try. Maybe I'll split it up into separate tip jars for different projects, and see which one has the most popular interest. :3

Needless to say, I'm feeling somewhat hopeful for this, the year of our lord, 2016. I'm in a much better place in terms of financial stability and health. This should lead to more of what you're looking for from me : furryboobs ART!

Watch this space, and have a prosperous new year.

Peace.