FA has its own donation/tip system for artists now. Neat! http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9150534/

I've added my Paypal and turned it on. I'm not expecting or telling anyone to donate, but if you do I will be very appreciative and probably draw a small thing for you. :3

So, i spent all that time freaking out about my "lost" art files, right? Well... they were on the damn SD card the whole time. >:I Eris dammit, are you fucking kidding me right now? I'm happy to have them, but shit yo.... Really? On the SD card the whole time. Okay, fine. That's good, but... wow, Bob, wow.

My stories and D&D characters are not on there, however. *sigh* I don't relish making those character again. But as for the stories.... well, I feel like I was getting nowhere with what I had, so it may be just as well that I've got to start over. Anything I had finished is up on AO3 so that's good.

What a derp-tastic development this is.

Yeah, so, I can finish that orgy commission from last year now. Sorry for all the stupid delays. >.<

Well. I tried a tablet/phone repair place, and they couldn't help recover my files either. The hard drive is integrated in the motherboard on the Surface 3 and thus I can't remove it - bad design choice but whatever - so my only hope is maybe to contact Microsoft and see if they can help. Uggggh, cloud backup is definitely gonna be my new best friend with this new tablet. :P

I had 2 images I was nearing completion on(Indoraptor's Economic Advice and the Spino/Rexy porn pic) that I'm going to have to start over. I still have the sketches, I just have to do all the inking and shading all over again. I do not look forward to this. p.q At least I hadn't started the coloring?

Stream tomorrow will probably be that: crying while inking. :P

Stream: https://picarto.tv/chewtoysqueaks

And I'm done for today.

This is a nice tablet. It's bigger than my previous one and came with this nice keyboard that lights up!

I'm fussing around with this streaming software, bear with me, I've never used it before and don't know how it works. XD I'll try to at least get a quick stream in tomorrow, even if it takes an all-nighter to get this working first.

Saving everything to the SD this time around. p.q

Looks like I'll be able to order a new tablet through Best Buy, which has what I need for cheaper than anywhere else and I can just go pick it up the same day.

Doing that tomorrow. Stay tuned, commissions will open very soon. :3

Now that I don't have my tablet, I really want to draw on my tablet. p.q

I've been meaning to upgrade anyway, so I think I'll be going with the Surface Pro 5. That last Surface served me well for many years before it quit, so I'll try a newer version. My data may or may not be recoverable, but at least hardware can be replaced.

To afford this, I will need to open commissions. Like, NEED to. But I think I'm done offering pencil sketches, as I don't have a scanner anymore either; the best I can do is photographing the sketch, but I never get great results doing so(usually just good enough for me to finish the picture digitally). So I'd like to start doing digital sketch streams, probably most every day Monday-Thursday at least. I can't really get started until the new tablet gets here, and since I have to wait a bit to order it I don't know when that will be.

I'll be putting up a new price list and maybe a stream schedule in the next few days. I'll let y'all know.

Watch this spot for future activity: https://picarto.tv/chewtoysqueaks

Here's to whatever future we have left!

So my Surface 3 died. Fuck.

Geek Squad could do nothing.

I had all of my .PSD files on there. Which means a lot of my art is gone. All of my stories too. Forever unfinished, and just gone.

Fuck.

Something seems to be trying hard to tell me I'm not supposed to be an artist anymore.

 darkcoyote took me to see Us up in Buffalo this weekend. It was a very freaky film and I recommend it! But I'm not exactly here to review it...

I noticed in one scene where the girl is playing with some animal toys in the sandbox, that those toys looked familiar. Especially that tiny green tree python.

"Safari toys," I muttered knowingly.

I looked them up when I got home, and it seems she was indeed playing with toys from Safari Ltd.'s Rainforest Toob, and I think the Wild Toob as well, the giraffe she had looks like a match for that one.

I've been collecting dino toys too long I guess, because now I can identify Safari's other toys just by association. :P I see them while looking for other stuff all the time.

Anyway I was wondering if those Toobs would have even existed in 1986(when that scene takes place), but the Safari Ltd. company's been around since 1982, so maybe.

So, I made a post on PF about this old rubber pterosaur I used to own in the mid-90s: https://www.pillowfort.io/posts/544537 It's actually a really bad construction of Pteranodon, pretty far into Chinasaur territory in fact, but it has a great deal of nostalgia value for me. I had one as a kid but I think he got stolen. I got him at the Buffalo Museum of Science, and I used to make him sing Bohemian Rhapsody. p.q

If you know what company this might have been made by, or have one for sale or trade, please let me know, it would mean a lot to at least learn more about this weird old toy. :3

Hey guys. I'm still around.

I've been kind of uninspired these past months... Still pretty artblocked, and that goes for my writing too. I try to draw, but it doesn't look right. I try to write, and the words just won't come. Somehow I can still manage repainting dinosaur toys, though. Sorry, might still be a wait before I'm really ready for commissions. :/ Still, I'm gonna try and check in here more often.

So, it's been a long month.

Zakk's grandpa passed on the 22nd. We had to make a second trip out there for the memorial. Lots of driving, lots of new people, and I'm bad with crowds. I'm glad to be home. It was a rough time for everyone. :/

I'm considering opening commissions again. I know some of you have shown interest, and I could use some extra cash. Turns out toy collecting gets expensive, who knew? :P So I may take a few slots and see how it goes. I'm contemplating opening custom-painted dinosaur toy commissions too.

I'm posting my dino collection and reviews, formerly on Tumblr, to Pillowfort now: https://www.pillowfort.io/squeakychewtoy Got a bit of art there too, but nothing that's not also on FA. I've got a whole 2 followers over there. Gosh that site's empty. p.q

Zakk's grandpa is not doing well, so we are going down to visit with that side of his family before he passes. Wish circumstances were different, this being holiday time and all. :/ I want to be back home by Christmas but I guess we'll see. Anyway, gonna be gone a while. Later dudes.

What's up, Doc?

So, I'm sure y'all know about Tumblr and their sudden ban on adult content recently. As an adult artist, I don't like that. Well, I'm giving Pillowfort a try. Haven't posted much yet as I have to manually shrink most of my images to upload them, but I'm hoping once the site really gets going that they'll implement some sort of auto-compression. It's currently run by students and volunteers, and while it's $5 for a beta access account now, it will eventually be free to sign up. I'm fine with throwing a bit of pocket change toward a project like this. Sure the site's not perfect, but it'll get there, they're still working on it. Currently I like the layout more than what Tumblr has; the user interface is elegant and easy to navigate, and that's all I really want out of a site like that. I'm not "leaving" Tumblr per se, as I still watch a lot of palaeobiology blogs on there, but I probably won't post there much anymore.

My Pillowfort, again it's still kind of empty: https://www.pillowfort.io/squeakychewtoy

More info: https://www.pillowfort.io/FrequentlyAskedQs

And of course I'm still here. Maybe I'll be a bit more active. Been hanging out with creative people again, so I've been feeling a bit of inspiration. It's good to have caring friends again locally. It helps.

It's Halloween and I'm not feeling it.

I didn't even decorate this year. Didn't even carve a pumpkin, but I have a craft foam pumpkin I carved a few years ago, it's enough.

Too much stupid drama is going on and I'm depressed. :/

Anyone else see the latest Treehouse of Horror? The last segment is a Jurassic Park parody - Geriatric Park. Old people turn into dinosaurs. They're still old and still kinda look like themselves, so it's not sexy times, but it's pretty hilarious. They did list "increased libido" on the side effects though, and I approve. ;)

They have it on Watch Cartoons: https://www.watchcartoononline.com/.....of-horror-xxix
(But maybe use an ad blocker - that site has a lot of ads. Also not guaranteed to work in all countries.)

First segment has Cthulhu and the second has pod people, which are also fun! I'd say it might be my favorite Treehouse of Horror yet!

I'm attempting that Inktober thing I've been hearing about, and most of it will be dinosaurs so I guess Dinoween also. I'm focusing on finishing things I've been meaning to work on, one day at a time, one image at a time, including the orgy pic(tomorrow's project!). I might be at a late start but at least I'm drawing again, even if it is mainly inking existing sketches! Do the thing, drawing hand, do the thing!

So I'm still trying to get my mind off things and back into art-mode. I thought maybe a little dinosaur discussion might be in order to help do that. What are your favorite dinosaurs? Or specific dinosaur characters even? Or series with dinosaurs in them?

Clearly, Jurassic Park(the first 2 films, and aspects of World if not the plot) and Dinotopia are my favorite things ever. I love Rexy, Blue, and the Raptor Squad, and heck I kinda like what I've seen of the Indoraptor even though I don't plan to see all of FK(still not feeling the plot, I have my reasons). I did see the scene where Mr. Indoraptor takes out Wheatley, at least that was fantastic. :D

From Dinotopia, Bix is my favorite. <3 I also loved the whole deal with skybax riders. And the whole idea of "habitat partners." Any kind of human/saurian partnership makes me happy, really. I'm most familiar with the beautifully illustrated tomes of James Gurney, but I've seen the miniseries and cartoon-movie. They were okay but got some of the lore wrong, which kinda bothers me. Might watch em again regardless, especially the miniseries. David Thewlis plays a descendent of Lee Crab in there, and that's pretty awesome. I guess there are novels too but I never read them. (Should I?)

I've always been vaguely aware of the numerous Land Before Time movies, but somehow still have only seen the first one and one episode of the TV series. :S So I'll have to get on that. Cera's probably my favorite from that tho, I love her sass!

I don't know if I really have a favorite dinosaur. Obviously I love dromaeosaurs(raptors) because they're just so damn sexy(feathers or not, I don't care). But I'm also very fond of therizinosaurs, ceratopsians, and tyrannosaurs. I do have a favorite ceratopsian, and that's Styracosaurus.

Still working on Changes, but it's coming slowly. (Possible spoilers incoming.) Trying to figure out how I'll make Ellie "human" again to get in on were-raptor action. She has very much gotten used to being a raptor, so it'll be a little like that one scene from The Last Unicorn - not a happy girl at first. Wu could to it, Ian could do it(or force Wu to do it) while she's unconscious(sounds like a headache to write but it could be delightfully heart-wrenching), or.... she could remain a raptor, which is its own set of problems. For whatever reason, I'm leaning toward the headache-to-write. :S Also there might be egg-laying down the road. Shapeshifter-egg-laying. I want it.

So.... Dinosaurs. Yay dinosaurs.

Time to get that unpleasantness off my main page. Let's talk about this awesome kitten!

While she was at my sister's apartment, as I said, she didn't seem to be getting enough food. She'd get locked in the bathroom for hours with a filthy litter box and no food or water. p.q She's doing so much better this week on a proper kitten food diet. She is no longer biting hard, she does still nibble a bit but she's very gentle about it now and hasn't even tried to scratch anyone since she's been here. A calm and loving environment really made a difference. The other cats even get along with her, they play-fight and chase each other around but are mostly done growling at each other, haha. My other girls could use the exercise anyway!

We took her to the vet, got her flea and worm meds, shots and all that. She's a healthy and happy kitty here. I think my sister assumes she's getting the cat back, but she's not, because the conditions that poor kitty were in were just awful. Shortcake's here to stay.

Closing commissions and trades now, still trying to finish the orgy pic, still having setbacks... more sorry, so very sorry. :C

My toxic junkie sister - the one who tried to get me arrested and tried to kill my cat last year - is still leeching off my mom and Mom's been letting it happen, and now we have her fucking cat in the bathroom(I normally love cats but it's mean bites and has worms) after I asked her not to bring anything of hers here, especially the damned cat(fucking junkie can't take care of herself let alone an animal, and the poor cat shows signs of malnourishment and stunted growth). Tonight I had a bad fight with Mom, and came to an agreement that she stop helping my sister or Zakk and I leave with the cats and leave her alone. So... I might be moving in a few months if this shit doesn't stop.

It's been stressful. I'm starting to feel like I'm in the wrong line of work, when stress like this basically tanks my ability to concentrate and kills most creative urges. I'm trying to hold on. But I can't stop being pissed and I hate everything right now.

Uh, so, ah.... anyone in the Western NY area want to try and rehabilitate a cat? We simply can't afford to. (Edit: This cat is a sweetheart and we can swing it after all, so she's just our cat now. My sis is NOT getting her back.)

Just checking in, in case anyone was worried. :B

Just trying to stay sane and find time to work on stuff. Sorry for the wait.... again. Making slow progress but I'm getting there.

See ya tomorrow when I hopefully will have some orgy inks ready for y'all. I'm gonna go pass out for a while.

I survived the trip. It was good. I like that side of Zakk's family, they're super chill. Won't lie, I didn't get shit done down there. >.< And then I got sick, bleh. But I'm feeling better and will redouble my efforts this week and get the inks done for that orgy pic hopefully by Friday.

Going out of town for the weekend. Headed to Indiana to meet some of  darkcoyote's fambly. I am nervous! Wish me luck! I'll be back Sunday and will try to work on things while I'm there. Take care!

Still alive and still working. I've been sketching out the final orgy pic but it's going slow, sorry. :c I'm struggling with the composition and poses, but it'll come together. But it is in progress! I'll post what I've got so far tomorrow, after I polish up the sketch a bit. As far as other commissions I'll note y'all when I'm ready to start em... need to get this project well on its way first!

In other news I'm feeding my toy dinosaur addiction. I think I'm done with now-JW ones for a while(just picked up a couple more Safari raptors and a nice feathery Schleich one) but there are a few more yet to be released for JW that I still want. I guess in the end it's okay that I didn't end up getting pet chickens, because I would not have been able to afford these wonderful plastic critters if I had. :B I mostly post dino photos on Tumblr, but would anyone like to see a few more here? I'll probably at least post a shot of my updated raptor collection soon.

Also, after careful consideration(and lots of reviews), I've decided that JW: Fallen Kingdom is not a movie for me. As I feared, there's a lot of dinosaur death, to a point I don't think I can handle. While I'm sure there's an audience for that kind of thing, that audience is not me. I hope that audience enjoys it, but I'll stick to my bizarre science-fantasy-romance version of events. It's probably healthier, in the end. I'm sure if there are any good parts they'll surface on Youtube eventually. At least the toys are super cool this time around. ;3

Much love and good night! <3

Today's the last day to sign up for this: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/8697294/ I'm closing it at midnight EST. Thanks to all who've entered thus far! Almost done with the sketches and tomorrow I start work on the final image.