To find that I need to be looking at apartments.

Just when I thought I might be able to slow down work and just relax, soon.

...and you weren't ready to stop taking your medication.

*lays down on the floor*
*thumbs up*

Thurs: organize workspace, prepare for battle, sound the war drums
Fri: Marathon owed half-sized conmissions, and one ink
Sat: Marathon full color, two inks, and whatever else can be managed
Sun: Envelopes, addresses, post office prep. It's gonna be a bigass shipment. May need more war drums.
Mon: Take cat to vet, then HIT THE POST OFFICE WITH GUNS ABLAZIN'.
Tues: Rollover for anything not finished.

Streams will be announced and links will be posted before the marathons begin on Friday and Saturday.

I didn't expect this delay to be this long, and It should not have been. If real life was going to get in the way of my finishing commissions and shipping them on time this month, then I should have done a better job of communicating that. My communication as a commission artist this past month has sucked.

I will have a schedule of work for this week by tomorrow, including the post office trip. If you haven't received your art in the mail, it will be going out this week.

I'm going to schedule a few streams and try to marathon through a few pieces I owe and get caught up as best as I can without compromising how good it looks.

I am so thankful to everyone who has commissioned me in the month of May, and to all my Iron Artist supporters. Without you, I would have never been able to make my conventions this summer happen!

I feel very unwell today, so I need to rest. But I will be back tomorrow!

Let's DO THIS.

Question me about life, art, how I do things, favorites, characters!
Knock yourself out!

I'm clearing up my queue today so I can pick back up tomorrow with some new work. I've got 5 slots available for sketches, inks, colors or chibis!

Examples and prices here! http://www.furaffinity.net/commissions/ashhavynn/

Comment to claim a slot, or just note me your refs!
What I need:
Type of commission (half or full sketch/ink/color, chibi, ect):
Character ref(s) or description:
Any special requests or let me decide?
Your e-mail address for me to send your paypal bill:
Am I mailing it to you? YES/NO
Your shipping address if you want it mailed to you:

As always, shipping is free on traditional art.

Slots for this week:
1. metallicumbrage
2.
3.
4.
5.

I feel like I lost my head somewhere in La La Land.

Seriously, I don't know what my problem is, but going on a month I have just been exhausted and spacey. I have pretty bad insomnia usually, getting ~3-5 hours of sleep when I set aside 9. So it's been very weird to me lately that I sleep 8 hours, wake up, feel the need to go back to sleep after breakfast (if I indulge myself, I sleep until 12), then feel the need for a 5pm nap and STILL be tired at 9 pm.
What the hell?!

I'm not even sick anymore. Even my cough is mostly gone. Shouldn't I have energy again?

If that's not bad enough, while I'm used to misplacing things and forgetting things and failing due dates, lately I have just been impossible. I keep my commissions sorted in lists along with mailing lists so I don't forget. I think I've forgotten 2 orders that needed to be shipped, accidentally dropped communication twice, AND even forgot to DO one commission.

This is ridiculous! If you've been inconvenienced by my scatterbrained nature lately I deeply, deeply, apologize. I'm sorting everything out ASAP.

In the mean time I need to figure out what vitamins I need to be taking or... something. Because this is embarrassing.

I have exactly zero tattoos. I've been wanting a Phoenix on the back of my neck since I was 16. It will have accumulated the meaning of recovering from multiple toxic relationships by the time I can afford it. I'm 24. I've never been able to raise the money.

I want two phrases on the insides of my wrists, so I'll see them every day, multiple times a day.
"Never apologize for your art" on my drawing hand.
"Do not hold the hands of ghosts" on my left.

My left hand tattoo is very important to me. You can't romanticize the memory of who someone used to be when the person they give you now is so different. You can't hold onto a relationship for the glory of the good old days if the present and future are destroying you. You have to see loved ones clearly, you can't see them through rose-tinted past glasses. I have to remind myself constantly.
I can't cling to who people used to be. I have to accept who they are.

I wish I could just magic my designs onto me.

Let's keep my mind off of the bad shit. Ask me anything you wanna know about me, my art, my characters, whatever!

I'm in the mood to be a little chatty. Ask me anything you've wanted to know about me!

Hey everybody, just letting you know I had an internet outage last night right after I sent out a BUNCH of messages. Sorry for the late responses! It seems to be up and running again. I'll be out and about with some company today, though, so I won't be able to get very much done work wise until tomorrow. Thank you to everyone who has already supported me with my iron artist run!

Now onto the good parts. My friend took me out last night to my first bar--consequently my first gay bar--to see my first drag show. She's been trying to take me out to one for yeaaars, but the times have always been bad and we live in different states. We went to go see Bianca Del Rio! She's a total riot and also gorgeous. I want to feel as alive as that man acts on stage. I don't think I've felt that young since I was a teenager. Awesome music, tons of sweethearts whose names I'll never know, someone bought me a drink, it was great.

Baby's first late night downtown experience was pretty awesome.

And before any of y'all laugh, I never get to go to parties or clubs or bars. My friends are usually pretty mellow and I'm 90% work and barely any play, so my idea of a Saturday night is playing Skyrim by myself.

Hey, everyone! I got to thinking today, and I was wondering how many of you have mantras that you follow or hold dearly.

Mine, at the moment, is "Existence is more meaningful than perfection."
It's along the same lines of "It's better to try and fail than never try at all," but it puts it in more personal words that are more effective to me.

For example, if I find myself struggling with a piece because I'm frustrated that it isn't -just- how I want it to be, I remind myself of this. It's better I finish it and move on, than allow perfectionism to keep me standing in one place, stagnating.

When I feel intimidated by a piece I want to draw, because of the pose, or some grandeur holding me back, I remind myself of this. If perfection is keeping me from living, from existing, from creating, than it isn't worth it. It's far more important, and has far more influence on the universe, to make an imperfect mark, than to never make any mark at all for fear of a mistake.

This can sometimes conflict with "Quality over Quantity." I find it's better for me to make 100 loose, gestural sketches that all have mistakes than one really great finished piece that I really nitpicked over. Growth wise, I improve much faster. I don't have time to linger over mistakes and feel bad. It keeps me young, and fresh, and it helps keep that weight off of my shoulder that art can sometimes be when it becomes more stressful than fun.

That's essentially why I came up with the mantra, because I wanted to focus on keeping art fun, rather than a chore, but it applies very well to risk taking throughout all of life's aspects.

Do you have your own mantra that gets you through your personal struggle? Please tell me!

Hey, friends! I've got a question to pick your mind with:

How does spirituality or religion play into your lifestyle? Do you practice a religion? If not, what are your thoughts on it?

Do you hold any strong beliefs that govern your lifestyle?

I was raised a non-denominational Christian. and for all intents and purposes, I tend to consider myself Christian. However, my spiritual journey in this life is pretty unorthodox, and I've grown to become fairly inviting of other influences, cultures, and beliefs into my own practices. I find I'm happier when I'm pursuing spiritual growth, because I find myself observing the beauty around me more, and being thankful more often. I don't believe that religion should be a thing that stresses you out, destroys you, or cuts down you or any other person. I feel it should be a way to make the most out of this life we've been given, while nourishing our souls.

I don't actually speak often about spiritual beliefs, so this is a bit of a first, but I'm curious!
What do you believe or practice? How do you make sense of your spirit?

Terms of Service for Commissioning

1. All commissions conducted on FA are short-run illustration commissions, offered on an as-is basis. This is what keeps my prices affordable. I conduct short-run work as follows:
1a. I retain commercial rights to the image; you may not resell or mass-distribute.
1b. I may use the art in FA banner ads, or as commission examples. I will not resell or mass-distribute your commission excepting uploading to online art galleries. If you would like to limit the websites your commission is uploaded to, just let me know.
1c. I will not show WIP shots.
1d. I will not make edits once the piece is finished.

2. While I have the right to refuse any commission without giving reason, there are things I am not comfortable drawing:
*Vore, inflation, adult babies, diapers/pacifiers, transformation scenes, hyperfurs, ect fetish specialties
*I love you all, and FA is full of fun sexy people who will draw your specialty kinks, but I'm not really a fetish artist.
*Ask if you're not sure!
2a. Please keep in mind that I am allowed to decline drawing these things without any disrespect aimed at anyone or their personal interests. Any disrespect shown to me based on what I am or am not comfortable drawing will result in my ignoring future messages from you.

3. Most commissions are completed within the week, but ink and full colored work may take longer as it takes several settings to finish.

4. NSFW commission pricing can be found here: http://www.furaffinity.net/commissi.....ar-and-desire/ . Please discuss any NSFW requests via that account.

5. If you want your traditional art commission mailed to you, I'll need your address via FA note. This is very important! If you don't send it via FA note, I won't know you want it shipped! More shipping info is below.


Payment

1. Please send me your visual reference or description before you send money, so that if the price needs adjusting I can discuss it with you.

2. I only accept payment via Paypal in USD.
2a. Once we've discussed pricing, just send me your paypal e-mail via note!
2b. I'll send you an invoice with a breakdown of what you're paying for.
2c. I'll start your commission after you pay the invoice in your paypal.
2d. That's it!

3. You may only request a refund if I have not started your order yet.
4. You may only request a change in character/artwork if I have not started your order yet.

Shipping (traditional art only)

1. If you live in the U.S. and would like your commission mailed to you, you need only include your address in the note that contains reference information. I will mail it to you free of cost! Because I pay for the shipping, I make post office trips when they fit into my schedule. If you live outside the U.S., you may need to pay shipping, so make sure to let me know before I send your invoice if you want it shipped!

2. I will hold onto the original copies of traditional commissions for one year after the date of completion before discarding them.

3. You may request I mail them to you at any time within this year.