Hey folks :)  Kairyu-shin and I have been streaming games on Twitch lately, and it's been a lot of fun! We usually stream Sunday afternoons, and occasionally during the week. We'd love to have you folks in the audience too, so if you'd like to hang out with us while we play some fun games, come down to https://www.twitch.tv/otter_pocket and give us a Follow!

Figured I should let y'all know :3 I made myself a Bluesky account at https://bsky.app/profile/dashraptor.bsky.social
If you've got an account, give me a follow! I'll post art up there from time to time, including stuff that might not wind up on FA :)

Well folks, today marks the One Thousandth daily doodle ^_^ I honestly didn't intend for it to line up with Charr Week, but serendipity works in mysterious ways.

Thank you all for enjoying the little doodles as much as you have! I have fun making them, and I'm glad to see you all having fun with them too :3

Hey folks! About this time last year, Kai and I had a fun little idea to do a themed week with my daily doodles: a week of doodles of the charr from Guild Wars. Well, we're doing it again, and we're making it a fun little thing!

So! Monday Oct 7 will begin the Second Annual Charr Week! This year's theme will be the delightful Meatoberfest, a celebration of good food, good drink, and good friends! Next week's doodles will all be charr, and we've got another artist joining in too. Anyone else who's reading this, feel free to join in as well! The more's the merrier, and charr are fun to draw ^_^

Hope you'll all have fun with it, I know I will be :3

The other day, I saw a post pointing out that ref sheets full of details and lore aren't as useful as ones that focus on how to draw the character. I realized I'm pretty guilty of that one, and some of my characters never even wound up with ref sheets in the first place. Between that and an unfortunate result on a ych, I decided it was time to give my ref sheets another shot. And thus, the NuRef project began! Some characters have new sheets, some have been updated, and one even got a full-scale redesign. I had a good time putting these all together, and I hope you all enjoy the new stuff too!

Hey folks! It's been a bit, so I figure it's time for something up in these journals. And I know a bunch of you have had some questions you've been asking, so it seemed like an okay time to go about answering a few. I'm going to be as honest as I can with these; none of them are intended as attacks or snips against anyone, just how I feel about myself and the stuff I'm doing.

Can I get a commission? Will you open up soon?
A lot of folks have wound up asking this one. I do appreciate you folks showing interest! And honestly, I'm not entirely sure when (or necessarily if) I'll be opening again for public stuff. I've hit burnout several times in my life trying to keep up with doing art for the public, especially during times when I needed the money to get by. At the moment, I'm doing okay just drawing stuff on my own (and giving you wonderful folks a doodle a weekday!), and I'd rather just keep going with that for now. I know it's been a long, long time since I've really been available to draw stuff for folks, and I am sorry that I've kept y'all hanging.

Okay, but why do you still post commissions for some people?
Those people are generally my really close personal friends (like, I spend all day every day with these folks), and they do get a bit of a pass there (Plus, some of them refuse to let me do free art for them xD). Like I said above, it's nothing against any of you folks, and it's not like you've upset me with asking for stuff or anything. It's just kind of where my headspace is.

What about the drakens? Will we see art or stories of them again?
I've gotten this question from a few people, and the answer kind of goes deep into my head, a bit. The long and short of it is, no, probably not. To be honest, I feel like I've grown past where I was when they started, way back in the day. I used a lot of shortcuts back then that I've improved past needing now, and I can't really do anything with them without relying on those shortcuts again. I love the draken characters and their stories. They're what got me started, a long way back now, and I wouldn't trade them for anything, but I think they're just going to stay back in the past.

Do you have any plans?
For the future, it's a bit uncertain. Among other things, I've only got so many hours in the week for work, art, games, and all kinds of other stuff xD I do have some ideas for new commission rules and pricing and whatnot, but there is a lot of working-it-out I have to do (including sorting it out in my own headspace) before I get to that point. I can't really make any promises one way or the other on how that's going to go.
With that in mind, I have had thoughts of a couple quick events I could do for you folks. They'd be a bit like doodle YCHs (not auctions, but like a cute thing I could draw different characters in). What do you folks think about having your own doodles? I know a set thing like that isn't something I've done before, so let me know below if it sounds like something you might be interested in doing!


Thank you wonderful folks again for sticking with me, and for every fave and comment you've given!

Hey folks! Today, it has been one full year since I started drawing the Lunchtime Doodles for you folks! I'm so glad you've been enjoying the goofy little pics; I don't often respond to the comments, but I do read each and every one, and I appreciate them all!

There's a part of me that wants to apologize for the general lack of real art, but another part points out that I have been putting together five pics a week for a whole year now, so hey ;) I've got a good pile of brand new pictures for you here though, the things I've been working on for myself lately, and hopefully I'll have some more stuff to post up for you guys soon.

Thanks for sticking with me another year, and I'm looking forward to another good one as well!

Hey folks! Apologies for the lack of doodles you might have noticed the last couple days! I've been caught up in all that nasty weather you might have heard about down in Texas, and have been without power all week; don't worry, we grabbed a hotel the first day, and we've been safe and secure! I'm back home now to type this up, and hopefully it looks like the trouble is passing. Fingers crossed that it stays that way! And in the meantime, I think I owe you folks three doodles, huh? I'll get those extras up in the next couple days too :)

And as a reminder! In case you haven't seen it: for the first time ever, I've got a character up for auction! A cute little tubby dragon :D If you might be in the market for one, the auction is running until 12 noon (Central) on Saturday 2/20. You can find the page right here! A huge thank you to everyone who's shown some interest so far, I appreciate it even if you can't make a bid yourself ^_^

Hello folks! I'm back, and I've got a pile of new art for you here, some of the stuff that I've been working on recently :D

It has been a bloody long time, and I appreciate all of you sticking around with me! A lot of you have voiced interest in commissions, and wondering when I'd be opening back up again. I have to say that I'm not ready to reopen just yet. I'm still working out my feelings on some stuff, and on some of the mechanics of commission-like projects. Hopefully I'll have answers soon, and I apologize again for taking so long.

In the meantime though, I do have a new little project for you folks: Lunchtime Doodles! I'll have a fresh new cute doodle for you folks for each weekday lunch we hit. I hope you all enjoy them!

Hey folks!

It's been a while, I know. I hadn't intended to be radio silent quite this long. I hit a bit of a low-swing in artistic-stuff for a while, coupled with being busy in my personal life as well. Lately, I've been trying to get back into drawing a bit more, as you might have noticed with the upload groups. Another part of it is that I've been experimenting with new techniques and styles for sketching and outlines and stuff. I'd been thinking about reworking my commission rules and reopening, but I need to get my own style settled before I can get that ball rolling again.

Thank you all for your patience! Hopefully I'll be ready to draw with you folks again soon ^_^

Hey folks :) Apologies for the long-ish wait, life's been keeping me busy. I figured it's about time to open up for a couple quick commissions though! This'll be a fairly small-ish run, but if you've got a pic idea, feel free to send me a note and I'll see if I can't get you in :) You can find links to my commission info below!

EDIT: Okay, full up for now :) Thanks folks! If you missed it, keep an eye out for more journals, another round'll forthcome sometime :D

All eggs have now been claimed! Wow, I wasn't expecting to get cleaned out so fast! Thank you to everyone who bought an egg! And if you didn't get a chance, don't worry! Enni and Rene just might have another clutch or two ready to go soon~!

Hey folks! If you haven't seen it in my gallery, I'm starting a new event: Custom Kobold Eggs! Kobold characters are just so much fun to design and draw, so I decided to take a shot and make some special new ones for you guys! You can follow the link up there to get more details, so if you're in the market for a cute little scaly character of your own, there's never been a better time :3

All righty, y'all have been patient enough :D I'm opening up for a couple commissions, for y'all who've been waiting so long. You can find a link to the commission guidelines and prices below. If you've got an idea for something you'd like, send me a note!

Edit: All full up! Thanks everyone! If you wanted a slot and weren't able to get it this time, keep an eye on my journals, hopefully the next set will open up soon :)

Hey folks! Got a new pile of pictures up for you! And since it's been a while since my last post, I figure I owe y'all a little more update on how I've been doing :D

I know some of you have been hoping for commissions, and don't worry, they're still in the plan. But lately, I've been enjoying the pretty novel feeling of drawing for myself. Those of you who've been with me for a while have probably noticed that for a loooong span, pretty much everything I did was a commission for someone; for all that time, I just wasn't able to get myself to draw anything just for fun, and the only time I was able to do much of anything at all was for you fine folks. Since that rough patch at the beginning of the year, though, I've actually been able to turn that around, and have been enjoying just drawing stuff for fun again! So I'm sorry I haven't been able to get back to you guys just yet, and I do still plan to, don't worry ;) But I hope you've been enjoying all the new art as much as I have! There'll be plenty more to come too~!

Hey folks! Sorry I haven't been around too much lately. Figured I'd let you all know a bit about what's been going on.

Around January, my job moved to a location that was an hour and a half away from me, and the pay was just not worth that kind of distance, so I had to resign. For the next couple months, I hadn't been able to find any new work, and my stored up cash wound up running out before I could get one. So for the last three months, I've been in a pretty awful situation. While I was home all day every day, I was pretty much monstrously stressed and exhausted pretty much all of it, which isn't a very conducive state for drawing, unfortunately. So that's why I've barely been able to post anything for a while.

That said! I'm now in a much better situation! I've got a new well-paying job that I love, and I've actually got some energy and drive to do some work when I get home. As y'all may have noticed from the flood in your inboxes this morning ;3 I'll be opening for a couple commissions in the near future sometime, and I'll be sure to do more of the personal art that I haven't been able to do much for a very long time.

Thank y'all for sticking with me, and I hope you'll enjoy the stuff to come as much as I do!

Okay, there's the bell :D The dice have been rolled, and the character has been decided. I'm drawing her up as we speak, so by tomorrow there'll be a new character in my roster, and it'll be all thanks to you guys! Thank you to everyone who participated, this event was a lot of fun for me, and I hope you enjoyed it as well! The lucky winners will be announced alongside the first picture of the new gal :) I'll see you then!

Hey again folks! Sorry it's been so long finishing up this batch of commissions; my only excuse is that I am but a simple, distractable creature... and Destiny 2 is fun xD But! Once I do finish the last pic of this batch, I had a fun idea of what to do next, and I thought I'd get you all to help me with it!

Y'see, I realized the other day that I don't have many characters available for just random fun things. It's kind of a personal failing; I'm awful at making characters and not giving them some kind of background and canon... which then keeps me from being comfortable using them for random fun pics and stuff xD So I figured that once I've got some free time, I'll take a bit and draw up a couple new characters. This is where you come in: for one character, I'm taking dictation from all of you guys! I want you guys to send me details for them :)

There are four categories of information to make a suggestion: Species, Color, Pattern, and Detail.
Species: simply enough, which species should they be? Try to be specific too; "Husky" is more fun than "Dog" and "Iguana" is more fun than "Lizard" :D
Color: Suggest up to three colors for the character, and these'll make up the main palette.
Pattern: What kind of pattern is their fur/feathers/scales? Stripes, spots, asymmetrical tabby splotches, anything like that :) The colors from the previous category will be applied to it.
Detail: For this one, include an important detail about the character. It can be all kinds of stuff, like "Hair in a ponytail", "Cybernetic arm", or "Right ear is torn". Just one detail per entry though!

When the time comes, I'll tally up all the votes, and roll randomly to see which kind of character we've put together! Each category will be rolled separately, so stuff from different entries will be mixed together. The goal is to get a fun character put together by all of you! If y'all send in enough entries, I might even make more than one character too ;)

So here are the rules:
1. All entries should be posted to this journal, as a fresh comment rather than replies.
2. You're welcome to make more than one entry! However, each entry needs to be made in a separate comment, to keep them all straight. If you do want to submit more than one, try not to repeat any info from your previous entry. After all, crazy random creative stuff is the fun bit here!
3. Submit your entry in the following format at the beginning of your comment: (Species) / (Color) / (Pattern) / (Detail). For instance, "Labrador / Red and Tan / Stripes on the right side of their body / Eyepatch."
4. Each entry needs to have all four categories listed, for formatting purposes. If you aren't sure what you want to include, you can put "Null" for that one.
5. No purchase necessary! There's no fee to get in on this, it's all just for fun :)

It'll be a bit before I can get to this, so you don't have to rush yourself to come up with an idea on the spot ;) Hope y'all have fun with this one :D I can't wait to see what we put together!

Hey folks! Figured it was about time to open up for a few more commissions again :) Currently, I'm opening up three slots, possibly with more to follow. If you'd like more info, it's linked below, and if you think you'd like to get one, send me a note and we can hash it out! :D

EDIT: Thanks everyone :D The current slots are full. If you'd like to grab one next time, keep an eye on my journals ^_^

The last round of commissions went pretty well, I must say :D Thanks to everyone who chipped in! Now that it's done, I'm gonna open up for two more slots :) Details on commissions are below, so send me a note if you think you'd like to get one!

EDIT: Okay, we're full up :) Thanks everyone!

Hey folks. Good news coming, but first I wanted to talk seriously for a minute or two about me and art.

One thing I've come to notice is that I can get burned out pretty easily. I love to create, but if I get too worn out, I lose the urge to keep going, and it can take a while before I feel up to trying again. That's why we get these bursts of activity, followed by long silences.

I'm gonna be honest here. This isn't a shot at anyone, and I'm not aiming to accuse folks or hurt feelings. But looking at myself, I've learned that the one thing that burns me out more than anything else is drawing things that I don't like. I'm a nice guy and I hate telling people no, so when people ask, I've usually gone ahead with it. The unfortunate side of it is, this contributes to burn-out in the worst ways, and eventually it becomes a chore to draw instead of being fun.

So I've taken a long look, and decided I'm gonna try doing things a bit differently from here on out. When I do commissions, I'm going to do smaller batches at a time, and they won't just be a flat first-come first-served any more. I'm going to look over the ones that show up, and I'm going to pick out the ones with fun ideas, with neat characters, the ones that inspire me. Basically, the ones that I'll enjoy doing the most :)

Now, this will also lead to instances where I'll be turning down pictures. If I don't choose yours, it's not the end of the world. Hopefully, this will enable me to do commissions more often, and I might pick up your idea on the next round! It doesn't necessarily mean that it's a bad idea; I can only do so many at once, after all! But if I do respond that there's something in the idea that I don't like, please respect that. You're always welcome to come up with something new and try again another time!


ALL THAT SAID!
I've got a handful of new pictures for you, a brand new commission info sheet, and I am going to try opening up for a couple commissions here and now! This round, I'm opening two slots. If you'd like to get one, just send me a note with your idea and I'll get back to you when I'm ready :)

I really should've figured this'd happen, as soon as I posted the last journal ;P Very long story short, a financial situation that'd been managing to limp along is starting to go sideways. Good news, commissions are open again! Opening up a couple slots, so send me a note if there's something you'd like to see!

Update: Well, looks like we're full up for now :) Thanks to everyone who applied! And if you missed your chance, keep an eye out for this spot and I'll fit you in next time!

Hey everyone :) Thanks for watching, I know stuff's been pretty slow lately. Commissions are currently out right now; it's not gonna be a permanent thing, don't worry. Just trying to take a break to get some art flowing again, and see if I can do some art for myself too :) It's something I haven't gotten a ton done lately, so we'll see how it goes! Thanks again for being so patient, and I hope I can put up some fun stuff soon!

I'm sorry folks, I did not expect them to take nearly this long. There's been roughly a zillion things going wrong since I picked it up, either new stuff fighting for my attention, or going out of town to see relatives and coming back to an illness a few days later, culminating in raving insomnia for the past few days. One might think that'd be useful, more time to draw, but really, everything piled together has just murdered my ability to get anything done x_x Again, I'm really sorry it's gone so slow, and I hope I'll be back in working order soon.

Yes, you heard it here first, folks! Now that I've finally finished the fantasy team, I can open up to make some stuff for you guys again :) Follow the link below for info on commissions, and drop me a note if you've got something you'd like!

Update: Okay, looks like the slots're full for now :) Keep an eye on this space though, I'll probably throw out another set once I finish this batch!