I promised it once and I promised it twice. So now that my last commission batch is finished, it's time I fulfilled both promises at last! No abridged version like past times though - this time, the long and detailed version. Because I believe all my followers, especially those who looked forward to commission me, deserve to know at least this. Fair warning, it's going to be yet another long journal, this time for good reason though.


So, why am I, Bassybird, closing off from doing commissions?



Before I properly answer that question, there's something I need to come clean about - in truth, I'm not entirely quitting from doing commissions. It's just that instead, I'll be doing commissions for a single, particular commissioner.

Wait, what? Why??

Let me explain myself. First off, I have nothing against doing commissions for anyone. All in all, I've had an amazing time drawing commissions for all kinds of people! Many of my favorite drawings have been ideas and/or characters from commissioners, not to mention they've given me a perfect opportunity to challenge myself and diversify my palette of subjects, poses and anthro species. And I regret a little having to give up that.

So then why am I? It all came down to economy - of time, money, stress, etc. A less amount of workload, same amount of financial gain and more time to work on my personal projects. And I had the opportunity to work with one amazing commissioner with whom I managed an arrangement to make this possible - kalofoxfire, aka “Kalo”, (who gave me permission to openly name him).

I won't bother anyone with the nitty-gritty details of our arrangement and why it's far more convenient for me, so I'll just say that that it simply puts me in a better position for me as an artist. I'll still be able to draw some personal art now and then, while still being able to make some profit through my drawing and, most of all, have more time than ever to work on my main project - ya know, that vague big project I keep talking about. More about that in a moment!

I'd really like to apologize to anyone who was looking into commissioning me in the future. I hope you understand that as much as I would have liked to continue things the way they were, this new deal is just a whole new opportunity for me as an artist. Also, Kalo is a really nice person and I'd appreciate that, regardless of how you feel about this, you leave him be and don't take whatever resent you may have on him.

UPDATE: As of this journal's first posting, if you see any artwork drawn by me posted by anyone besides Kalo or I, know that it was paid by Kalo and no one else.



So, what was the need for this new deal o begin with? Why did I want to get all this workload off shoulders? Because from now on, I want to dedicate most of my spare time working on that big, important project of mine - my webcomic, Windborn.

For those who frequent FurAffinity, you may have noticed an ad banner advertising said comic. Well, that's it. The big project that's been taking most of my time and effort. But hold on a second, didn't you talk about Windborn before? I did, actually. I made an announcement about it sometime before the comic launched...then deleted it soon after.

Originally, I was planning to keep Windborn and my furry artwork (as Bassybird) separate from one another as much possible, only telling a few select people that I was doing both things. However, those "select few" ended up being not so few anymore as I began to tell more and more people about it. And well, it dawned on me that sooner or later the proverbial cat would come out of the bag, no matter what I did.

So I figured, what the heck, why not openly let my followers at FA and tumblr know from the get go? Let the followers who didn't know already check out what I'm up to. After all, in this day an age, there are more and more artists who balance between been doing lewd art as a hobby while working on a big, more wholesome project.

Besides, it'd save me a lot of awkwardness if I someday start creating NSFW content for Windborn...but I'm getting way ahead of myself. That's talk for another time. ;P

Now a few things to clarify regarding Windborn:

-I'm not going to post any Windborn content in my FA/tumblr gallery, at all.
-I won't post any updates or announcements of Windborn in FA or tumblr, only in the comic's official site, RSS feed and social media pages.
-I really won't be talking much about Windborn in here and I'm not even sure if I'd be able (or willing) to answers many questions about it. But if it's somehow relevant to my FA/tumblr galleries, feel welcome to ask anyway!
-Last but not least, I have no problem whatsoever with anyone drawing art, or even commissioning art, of any of the Windborn characters, be it SFW or NSFW.



And, well, that's that. The big, elaborate reason why I won't be doing commissions for everyone - at least for a long, indefinite amount of time. In the long run, if it's successful enough, I do intend to make Windborn my sole project and dedicate entirely to it. But we're talking years from now on, and a lot of things could happen. Maybe it'll crash and burn and I'll be back to open commissions. Maybe I'll do something entirely different. Who knows.

But for now, this is the plan - personal art, commissions for one person and one big, time consuming webcomic - and I thought you all deserved to know it. So thank you for reading! As usual, I'm willing to answer any questions you may have about this whole shebang.

Thank you to every single of my commissioners, for your support and preference! It's been amazing to work with you all and I hope you continue enjoying my content!