I just noticed that as of tomorrow, it will have been 10 years since I joined FurAffinity!

I created this account on December 30th, 2012. I feel like I was just a baby artist then, haha!

Thanks, both to the newcomers and to everyone who's been sticking with me this whole time!

Hey everyone!

I ended up cancelling my plans for ANW, including being in the Artist Alley, due to the looser safety restrictions and current state of COVID/RSV/flu in the US, with an increase over the winter projected. Gotta keep myself and my high-risk family members safe!

BUT,

The merch that I was going to sell at ANW, I'm slowly making available online, starting with sticker sheets! Currently I have two sets of stickers available, one of 5 husky stickers and another of 7 songbird stickers. And they're at my Ko-Fi shop:

> > https://ko-fi.com/akirainart/shop < <

Right now I'm starting basic and setting shipping to North America only, but I know a lot of you are international, so I'll be doing some research and thinking to see if I can expand the options!

Sooo, just in time for me to get excited about doing Artist Alleys at cons again, right? 😝

Turns out I might not be able to do Anthro Northwest after all. I'm gonna hold out and hope for the best... but their COVID policies are much more relaxed than last year which is very concerning to me. I'm lucky in the sense that I have the support of my family and my part-time job, so I can make the decision to bow out for my and my family's safety if I need to... but it would still be a huge bummer not to go. v.v

Gonna wait to make a solid decision, and hopefully I'll be able to get into a couple of other cons later in 2023...

Just wanted to share my excitement that I got a Cintiq! :) I was able to buy it secondhand from a local fur for a VERY good price. It's already making drawing feel much easier and ergonomic for me, so I'm excited to share the work I make with it! I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to "normal" tablets after this, haha.

So, sometimes I'm not sure how to act about my art.

I try to embody professionalism, but is it a good idea to do it to this extent? In reality, I don't feel that confident about my work. I've sold a single print in the six months I've had my shop up, and my older work actually got MORE attention than my newer pieces. And since I've had this account for almost ten years, I'm guessing a lot of my watchers aren't even active anymore? I try to ask questions and such, but I don't get much feedback.

I don't want to let on TOO much because I don't want to seem negative or like I'm seeking pity, though I also want to be personable and relatable and not just seem like I'm in it for the money... so idk, it's a hard balance. :x

I DO feel like I've improved a lot, and I'm happy with a lot of my work, but I'm still scared that trying this one more time won't make any difference, and it will be like every other time where I ended up losing hope on ever getting enough income, and giving up on making art for a bit.

I'm like... AIMING high, and hoping that by acting in a way that I think a professional furry artist would, it would help me get there... is that helpful or not? Haha. I'm not publicly going out and saying "Look! My art is awful!" and I still aim 100% for clarity and communication with clients... but idk if posts like the ones about ANW and Ko-Fi and such that I'm making seem ingenuine.

So, I just got confirmation that I will be in Anthro Northwest's physical Artist Alley this year! I'm so excited \o/

I'll be spending the next month or so finalizing some pieces, and I'm hoping to get an early start on ordering prints and merch, in November or so. If there's a piece in my gallery that you love and want to see made into a print (and it isn't already on my INRPNT, now is the time to let me know! Straightforward faves hasn't always been a good indicator for me on which prints will actually sell at cons, but for verbal requests, I'll certainly consider them!

If Anthro Northwest goes well, I'm also hoping to gear up for more in-person Artist Alleys in 2023.... so, fingers crossed!

So, obviously I've been a little less active than I'd like lately.

When I started my part-time job, I anticipated it being 2 to 3 days a week, but I've been picking up extra shifts, and lately it's been more like 3 to 4 days a week. So as much as I love that job, it's eating into my art time a bit.

To be honest, my motivation has also kind of taken a nose dive... I've been trying to diversify from just commissions, with things like stickers, prints, and a Ko-Fi page. Even so, I've made zero sales in the past month, which makes it hard to feel like I should keep going.

Probably going to continue taking a brief break from art, and then get back to it when either I make a sale, or when trying doesn't make me feel like imploding in frustration, haha.

Hey everyone!

I wanted to draw attention to the fact that I've started selling stickers! So far, I've made designs of some Pacific Northwest songbirds, as well as the capybara and snail I posted earlier, on my Redbubble: >>Click here!<<

I have a bunch of other ideas for sticker sets that I'll also be working on and releasing periodically!

I'm hoping to source higher quality stickers once I get a feel for demand, and for now Redbubble is partially a way to determine the level of interest. So be sure to let me know if you like this idea!

Just wanted to highlight that if you like getting sneak peeks of what's coming up next and/or seeing my process, I'm uploading these to my page on Ko-Fi!

> > https://ko-fi.com/akirainart < <

Curious if anyone is willing to share their experience or stats with ad banners here on FA?

I put one up as a sort of test, though I didn't expect it to get too much engagement. When I'm browsing the site, I'm moving too fast and not really *looking* at the ads, even ones from other FA members. Not sure if this expectation is typical though? Or if others found a lot of success from them?

Just thinking... at some point I would really like to do Artist Alley booths at cons and in-person events again!

The problem is that most of the conventions here are very spread out, and I don't feel safe flying right now or any time in the foreseeable future. :x The two within driving distance for me are Anthro Northwest and Furlandia, both of which aren't for a while... not like being in New England, where I could theoretically drive 2-5 hours and be at a number of different cons throughout the year!

If you're in the Pacific Northwest though, I'll hopefully be dipping my toes (again) into Artist Alleys there when it's an opportune time :) Probably with my partner, who is interested in being an author!

I was also thinking I might try the fine arts side of things, since some of the furry artists I look up to with more realistic styles also do that. That's its own realm of painting practice and networking that I need to work on, though x'D

Commissions have slowed down, so I'm going to start doing YCHes again!

I'm looking at reference photos and what's popular here on FA for inspiration... but if there's anything in particular you want to see, feel free to leave a comment here! I might consider it when sketching out some of them! owo

Just wanted to say, thanks to everyone's support, I was able to pay my medical bills and also have been able to help with my end of groceries this week! Going down to part-time at my "day job" has actually gone really well so far, haha.

Part of me worries that I've already exhausted my audience, but I'm going to keep putting myself out there and trying my best! owob

So... after being on this site for almost 10 years, it looks like I just hit 800 watchers? Which is way more than I've ever had on any other site??! >o<;;

Thank you all so much for your support! <3

Previously at my day job, I worked four 9-hour days. So if I wanted to draw at all, I had to save it for the weekends and it would take over the time that I ALSO needed for my other hobbies, exercising, cleaning the house, and generally getting things done that would pile up during the week, not to mention recovering from severe burnout.

This week, so far I've had one day "on" (drawing and doing business-related stuff) and one day "off." I've gotten a bunch of drawing done... AND I've already done a bunch of cleaning tasks, exercised, played a bunch of Genshin Impact, and gotten to read some of the books I've been keeping in my room for weeks.

I really hope I can make some money so this can continue ;w; I've already had two commission requests, one of which actually panned out, so... that's more than I thought I'd have at this point!

This week I finished up my last full-time week at my current job... which means technically, I'm now a part-time artist!

Thus, in addition to opening for Naturama Projekt donations, I've also opened for regular commissions. Click here to request one!

Prices are as follows:
Bust: $75+
Fullbody Art: $150+
Scene: $400+
Telegram Stickers: $25 per sticker

I'm still working part-time and therefore will be at my "day job" through the beginning of next week, but I'm hoping to be able to start working on commissions by Monday the 23rd of May!

Gonna try my best~ owob

For the first time in a while, I'm participating in the Naturama Projekt!
This year I'm supporting the reforestation of the Harz region of Germany, a massively diverse natural area which recently has suffered due to storms, drought and bark beetles. Donate through the Naturama Projekt, and I'll make art of your characters and prompts based on your donation!

Feel free to e-mail me at aki.rain.art[at]gmail.com if you'd like to donate in exchange for some art, or browse the Naturama Projekt website and other participating artists and charities here!

You can read more about the Harz at the links below:
https://en.harzinfo.de/pure-nature/.....ive/background
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harz

...So yeah, I didn't want to make QUITE so many journals about commissions and money stuff, but I'm going to be opening commissions in the next couple of weeks :'D

I went into the walk-in clinic for mystery chest pains, which may or may not be tied to a cyst in my chest that I still need to get checked out... so yeah, I've been having a lot of stuff going on medically. And my insurance (and the US healthcare system in general) is terrible.

Happy Lesbian Visibility Week and Lesbian Visibility Day everyone!
Sincerely, a proud lesbian.
I am not invisible for this one week :P
Just kidding!

Usually I have time to do some art for today, but I'm currently spending most of my energy transitioning out of my exhausting day job so that I have more time to dedicate to drawing. Hopefully I'll be able to make up for it during Pride Month next month!

Hi everyone!

Recently I started up an INPRNT shop, where you can get gallery quality prints of my work. I've started with a few of my favorite traditional pieces, but I'm planning on continuing to add more, and I'm open to suggestions for any pieces I've done you all would like to see made available!

See what's up so far here (especially if you like giant anteaters as much as I do!): https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/akirainart/

I don't think I've shared it much here before, but I figured this would be as accepting a place as one could find to talk about it, haha.

Especially today, I feel trapped in my human body. I feel like there's so much more to my being. I long for cool forests, soil and grass, and navigating over mountains and through trees. I go through most of my day sensing my horns. Especially lying in bed, I can feel hooves or paws, four non-plantigrade legs, and even a tail. Being in a human form feels wrong, and living in human society can be especially exhausting.

Fursuiting provides some relief, because even being in an anthropomorphic animal form is better than nothing, and I can feel fur, a tail, ears and a muzzle. But it sometimes it still feels overwhelmingly fake.

It's extremely confusing because I can't even decide on a specific species. I'm drawn to things like nyala and antelope visually, but my affinity for cold, snow and mountains suggests something more like a goat and a reindeer. I even resonate with non-ungulate animals like wolves sometimes. Just... I want an animal form of some kind. Anything with four legs, fur and a tail would be better than this.

Art is a major relief for this sort of tension for me, so I'm hoping that spending more time on art in the near future will help relieve this a bit.

Maybe asking in the wrong place, but is it possible to do furry art, part-time or full-time, without drawing NSFW? Like, at all?

Please offer your insight :3c

I'm dipping my toe into the business side of things again, so I just opened a Ko-Fi!

If anyone wants to spare a few bucks to show your support, even a little goes a SUPER long way! <3

https://ko-fi.com/akirainart

Hey all, I'm still making furry art, but not as frequently. It might be apparent that I'm still recovering from the severe artistic burnout that graduating from college dumped me into. I'm finding my voice for creating again, but I've been dealing with a lot of health issues lately that make it hard. Thank goodness I've managed to avoid COVID so far, but I've been having exhaustion and chronic fatigue/sleepiness that's making it hard to keep up with everyday life, and most of my weekends are spent recovering from the week and doing more "mindless" things. The process of making art itself is a lot harder than it used to be.

I'm still in my preliminary thought process about it, but I might have to consider going down from full time work at my "day job" due to chronic illness stuff. I've been trying to keep at it in the "real world" for a few years, but I just get so burnt out. I've always wanted to be able to do art, but I have neither a knack for putting myself out there and sensing opportunities, nor am I much good at detecting and following trends, so... I don't have what it takes for the business side of it. Not sure why I'm putting that out there, haha. Guess I'm just hoping to be drawing and painting again somehow even with everything life is throwing at me.

Mostly to replace the year-old journal that was on my page before :P

Hey all! I'm still semi-active here. I've been making more non-furry art recently, after allowing Fire Emblem to almost singlehandedly take over my life. but I'm still working on some furry stuff too, and I'll be uploading occasionally! I feel like my art and work style has improved a lot in the last year since I've had time to kind of just focus on myself. So I look forward to showing you all what I have in store :)