Hey all,

Finally at the stage where I'm ready and able to get back to work :) In a much limited capacity, but back nonetheless.

I'm going to be reopening for Commissions, but I'm going to be limiting the number of slots more than usual so that I can be sure to meet them. This week, I'm only taking Commissions for Traditional media Conbadges for Confuzzled, and from my waiting list (I'll be Noting you guys later to see if you're still interested).

Another journal will pop up when/if I'm properly open again. It will still be limited slots for some time, but hopefully there'll be more as we go on :)

Oh, and you can follow my progress on Twitter now if y'like : urbanvixen_art

Conbadge Slots
Open

Transformation Slots
1. Anonymous
2. ~Open~
3. ~Open~
Feel free to Note me if you have an idea and would like to get a quote / get on the waiting list though :)

General Commission Slots
--Closed--

Hey all,

Brief journal (and general illness update) to say thank you again to everyone who's been so supportive :)

I've just gone through the big low-point of the treatment, and am out the other side. Got to take things gently now and be patient with what my body's been through, but from here on in it should be gradual improvement and a return to norm :) I may have some relapses, but they reckon I'll be in remission sometime this year - well ahead of schedule :)

I have also begun my glorious ascension into an augmented future.* Oh, yes, I have electrodes now. It's okay to be jelly ;)

*Okay, actually, they've just strapped some cardiac monitors etc to me. But that didn't sound nearly as exciting.

Hey all,

So my thyroid levels have dropped and I'm out of the danger zone :) Woo. Unfortunately, next up we'll be dropping them BELOW what they should be... which is going to feel worse, but it's the penultimate stage before balancing me out. So a definite progress, even if I don't feel well.

In the meantime, I was going to set up an account for my rapidsketch project. But apparently FA's been bombarded with spam lately, so new registrations are off.

So I'll be posting them in scraps here. It'll be daily, with the occasional pause if I'm too ill to sit up and scan them. It's not great, but it's somethin to keep me drawing :)

Caio

Foxy

Hey all,

So I'll try and get to the point on this. I've tried writing this about five times over the past two weeks, but I keep collapsing before I can finish it.

So, please forgive it if it's rambly or blunt. The alternative seems to be not writing it at all.

I'm really ill. It turns out I have been for at least the past year. It was starting to shut down my lung function and heart. My body's been trashed by burning up on the inside. Running at 110% all the time, even while sleeping.

It turns out that it wasn't just depression or just the house stuff on its own which was making me so ill. Just the fact that my body couldn't take it any more and was starting to shut down.

Unfortunately, the cure feels worse than the illness. My body is inevitably convinced that the medication is trying to kill me, so it's trying to fight for my life. This is causing fevers, exhaustion, dizziness, nausea, the lot... a lovely grab bag.

And yet, MASSIVE silver lining.

This is still amazing news. For years, we've been told to accept that my life expectancy is pretty bad. I was expecting a sudden heart failure in my 30s. Now, I'm looking at another 40 years if I'm careful. And there just aren't words to describe that kind of revelation.

I also have shakes, which have gotten worse over the past two years. I've had to face the fact that one day I won't be able to draw anymore. It gets harder every few months. They thought it was a 'benign tremour' which would never go away. But now we know it WILL! It was part of the problem. I will be able to keep on drawing as long as I'm alive and have hands :)

(If you're curious; it's thyrotoxicosis. Basically, the level beyond the usual hyperthyroidism where it gets nice and nasty. They're dosing me to shut down my thyroid entirely, though temporarily, and it'll take a while. They need to make me 'crash' in order to balance me back up.)

So, basically, I have to stay in bed most of the day. I'm doing some artstuffs, but it takes me a long time with breaks in between.

If you've read this far, thanks. And I have something to ask of you;

Please suggest things for me to draw.

I'm not promising anything re: quality. If I could do quality, I'd be finishing up my projects. I've tried, but focusing or thinking intellectually exhausts me immediately. I desperately want to draw, but there's only so much inspiration when you're feeling like this... and stuck in your room... and your flat.

But I want to draw. It will probably be rubbish, but throw me some ideas ? Suggestions including your characters etc are welcome. :)

And hey, thanks for taking the time to read this far. Let me doodle somethin' for ya.

Hey all,

If you didn't commission me at Confuzzled 2013, you can ignore this journal.

An awesomely sweet boywuff commissioned me at Confuzzled. He was going to contact me on FA, but I haven't heard from him yet. Finished his piece for review back in August and I've sent a few of non-specific Notes to people who I think might be him, but no joy yet.

If this is you, drop me a Note !

All else fails, I'll bring the final to Confuzzled this year :(

Edit : More submissions coming over the next few days.

The "Long Story" is here

Since I got carried away in the writing, here's the short story :

*inhales* Nasty things happened. I had to move town in a hurry. Depression got me briefly after I'd saved myself from the actual crisis, then a series of things breaking in the house (as well as several undisclosed problems which existed before I moved in) has caused a lot of illness, a lot of lost or ruined artwork and horrific working conditions. One of them is still ongoing and looking at legal proceedings soon. *inhales*

That's why I vanished for so long. My commissioners should be all caught up now. Our Lady Naga is just in colouring, with some extra bits on the way to apologise for the delay.

The lesson I have learned : I will now be keeping my commission list (including any projects) to three at a time. I took on too many pieces to manage when life kicked me upside the head.

Less of the past, more of the posting and sorry once again.

Let's go.

Hey all,

I'm back. Initially I set out to keep this short, but the circumstances of the past six months ran off with me when I started to write. This isn't all of it, just the main stuff that really kicked me back. It's been an... interesting year. But worth it, for sure.

In short, I got swept up in a series of alternately nasty and bizarre situations. Work was disrupted, or work was destroyed. I've been ill a *lot* as a result. All of my commissioners are up to date now and our Lady Naga is just being coloured for posting, so I'm officially back.

The lesson I have learned : I will now be keeping my commission list (including any projects) to three people at a time. I took on too many pieces to manage when life kicked me upside the head.

The bit below... eh.. got a little long. It doesn't need reading but, once it's up, it's up for anyone who wanted to know. So, yeah... And since a few people were left wondering, it felt important to explain. So, starting with the serious, continuing to the just outright bizarre and never forgotting the poo fountain...

**************************

<b> The beginning : </b>

Some very nasty (read : abusive/strategically targeted/violent) stuff went down, reaching a series of small climaxes which forced to move town in a hurry. I had stayed in Soton as long as I could, which turned out to be a mistake. I should have run earlier.

<b>The fallout : </b>

I moved to Bristol in August, and things are better. I should have recovered. Unfortunately, I suffer from bouts of depression (like, well, many many artists... it's almost cliché... the fandom does wonders for never letting ya feel like you're alone :) ) and the Big D seldom hits when there's an immediate and severe problem to be dealt with. No, it waits for you to sit down. Then it keeps you there.

I'm used to dealing with it. I normally manage to kick it in a month or so. Enter...

<b> The Poo Fountain : </b>

It all started with my toilet being backed up. Then, the drain outside my window erupted into something seldom seen outside of Cthulu monster manuals. It was enthusiastic, gleeful in its new life. If you've never seen anything like this, I urge you to recall the “I'm so excited” 90s chocolate advert.

It took the landlord a fortnight to fix. It was the end of August when it started. The weather was warm. I was sick for three.

But I got over it. The Big D wandered around again, but I started to get back to work. A couple of people received commissions from me and I was doing better until....

<p> The Electric Waterfall </b>

Few things are more frustrating than being told that your ceiling *isn't* pouring water when you could boil a pan of rice without ever turning on the taps. The electric waterfall started overnight in September and continued to pour for over a week whilst the landlord <b>patiently</b> assured me that it wasn't. My kitchen and part of my studio turned into a platform game. (“Don't touch the floor ! It's electric !”) It was... interesting.

Eventually, the landlord sent a plumber round who tightened up the pipes in the upstairs' flat.

A week later, it started again. It took a long, long time to get the landlord to accept that the rain of Zapdos wee was, in fact, *his* problem. It meant almost a month of electrics shorting (no clean clothes, and the power shutting off at random whilst I was working).

It sucked.

The Big D said Hi.

<b> October : The OCD month </b>

I'm sorry about October. I spent weeks working on one commission, trying to make it 'perfect' because I was so sorry about the delay. Compensatory OCD – trying to break out of the fugue in the wrong way. By the end of the month...

<b> The Green Menace </b>

… The rest of my part-complete work was ruined. The unresolved rain of sparkly-sparkly water caused a damp problem. It started hidden behind my art cabinet and canvases, where I store all my sketchpads. The mould ate a lot of work and a lot of personal art too. It ate 6 of my paintings before I realized, with piles of paper just irrecoverable.

I had to re-draw everything I was working on. It's heart-breaking to feel satisfied with something, then lose it. You can't recreate it; you have to make a new one. It's a lesson we all have to learn, especially as artists. But on top of everything else, and so far behind... I really felt more like breaking something than making something. Nothing worked to kick my muse back on track – I ended up forcing myself to take a break.

So now, there's mold. Mold everywhere. As I write this, I'm still having trouble breathing. The Landlord still hasn't resolved it. It's spread to every wall and every room. (You may have guessed, he's f******g s**t) and I'm having to move yet again.

The Big D keeps trying to waddle in, but I'm not letting it. I'm finally up to date on commissions. Lessons have been learned. I have slain great faecal monsters and weathered the monsoon. I sit in the midsts of my green, fungal enemies and I am not afraid to pick up a pen.

Enjoy the artsies I've managed. I think I'm a better artist now than I was, at least.

That is all :)

EDIT : Rendered somewhat tardy by a cracked sceen, but submitting starting now...

---

Current commissions : Closed

Waiting List : Taken :)

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Packmates / Homies / Critterz with non-prey status :
 BlondeGoth - Polar bear/wuff cross. Artist
 jowgenetsu - Wuff
 Draconder - Big ass dragon. Artist.
 RobertS - Hoofer
 weremoco - Wabbit. Artist

Hey all,

Just a quick note on commissions - I've received a few inquiries about commissions (I love you guys!). The tfclinic went better than expected so I won't be accepting new commisions until Bree's transformation is complete and I've delivered to all the lovely people already on my list.

That said - Please do message me if you're interested. I'm making a list and I'll send out Notes when I'm open again. Since I'm now able to spend a lot more time on artsy things than ever before, I have no idea when that'll be but it shouldn't be long.

And once again - to everyone who has supported the clinic, THANK YOU :)

Working on today (Friday)
Yet more Naga p2 Sketchies ... Cleaning up to colour Naga p2.
Jkrolak p4

---

Commissions Que

 JKrolak - Page 1 - 3 + final done (pending tweaking). Interim pages in progress.
 danteylfingr - Line art complete.
 junfox - Waiting for reply.
 nothere - Pending.
~Anon~ - In conception.

---

Other In Progress

Sprites for Solar Wind (game)
Background art for Solar Wind (game)

---

Financial stuff means I've had to cut back a day, so now I work on art Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays. I do sometimes pick up art-related notes and emails on other days.

Hey all,

Just had a splendiferous night with the local cabaret crowd. Hopefully made a few new arrangements... vaguely contemplating some kinda furry burlesque for Confuzzled.

In the meantime, submitting tomorrow. Have a couple of commissions edging towards completion (edging... because one is a TF sequence) and our first day for the TF Clinic's naga-to-be.

Watch this space.

... Okay, that space isn't doing anything interesting. I mean, watch the submission space ;)

I really oughta go to bed. *hic*

Hey all,

The switch down the road has frazzled so I'm without internet except for the odd 2 minute burst to raise our hopes. So will have missed most/all messages today. Virgin say they'll have it fixed tomorrow.

Aaaaaand attempt no. 3 to post this....

EDIT : Yay ! I has internetz. But...it's 3.27 am. Gawdammit -.-

*Squee* So happy. Very, very few things are quite as satisfying as going, "Huh... I wonder what would happen if I did *this*" and having it totally work out :D I have a new colouring technique, mixing solvent markers with my usual watercolour pencils and inks.

Thanks to that, Centauress will be finishing this weekend :D

---

Commissions Que

 JKrolak - 1 page still in conception. Page 3+5 in sketch. Page 1+2 inked.
 clonedboy - Cleansketch underway.
 danteylfingr - Line art complete.
 junfox - In conception
 nothere - Pending.
~Anon~ - In conception.

---

Other In Progress

Centauress - Page arranging / cleaning up / posting.
TF Clinic Website - Complete. Awaiting centauress completion.

---

Packmates :
Wingpal
Hoofer with perpetual non-prey status :

Yay! Finally at the point where I can post some of the stuff I've been working on. There'll be more soon.

And don't worry - Our lovely centauress is waiting for her finale. I just hit a point where I felt that *only* posting up the next page wasn't going to be quite good enough. I'll be posting up her first, penultimate and final pages over three days when they're all done. There's just been some delay due to that bout of lifestuffs that happened, and the fact that catching up with commissions was more urgent. Sorry.

Speaking of commissions :) I'm far enough into current work to take on new ones. I'll be drafting up a new price list tomorrow. I'll be making adjustments but doing in the same format as the old sale list.

New commission slots will open on 15th March. Feel free to drop me Notes in the meantime though.

---

Working on this morning : JKrolak mmish, Centauress coloring, Clonedboy mmish.

---

Commissions Que

 JKrolak - 1 page still in conception. Page 3+5. Page 1 inked. Page 2 in progress now.
 clonedboy - Cleansketch underway.
 danteylfingr - Line art complete.
 junfox - In conception
 nothere - Pending.
~Anon~ - In conception.

---

Other In Progress

Centauress - Page 1 complete. Penultimate page in progress. Final page coloring.
TF Clinic Website - Complete. Awaiting centauress completion.

---

Financial stuff means I've had to cut back a day, so now I work on art Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays. I do sometimes pick up art-related notes and emails on other days.

Just about getting a clawhold on things !

Many pieces/prelims/sketches are just getting finishing touches. Should be sending out a storm of emails later on tonight.

And then maybe I can sort out my sleeping patterns over the weekend :)

Commission status : Open-ish
Commissions are open BUT I don't expect to get around to anything new for at least a couple of weeks whilst I get through my backlog (norovirus and aftereffects wiped me out for a while). If you don't mind the delay, send me a note :)

Hey all,

Rather than spam everyone with a new journal every day, I'll be updating this journal as I go along, so pop back if you're wondering what I'm working on :)

Thanks for bearing with me and thank you for all the lovely comments and support.

Commissions closed til Friday so I can catch up, but feel free to Note me for next week's slots.

---Had Norovirus. Not fun. Can't seem to catch a break atm. Feeling better. Just at the tender aftermath phase. Catching up with reading, highly recommend Wolfbreed by A. S Swann --

Hey all,

Thanks for bearing with me and thank you for all the lovely comments and support.

Commissions closed til Friday so I can catch up, but feel free to Note me for next week's slots.

Tuesdays Stuff

DC - Continuing from yesterday.
obsidianskricker - Continuing from yesterday.
Catching up all Notes/Emails
Continuing Centauress
Finish TF Clinic page MINUS comic page (the comic page will be added later - it's stalling the whole project at this point. Grrr)

Hey all,

A question : What do you guys think of personal art being posted up ?

Production has briefly faltered because I had - what basically boils down to - a rather messy breakup this week (though it's more complicated than that). I'm going to skip all the details, not least because she might pop by this page and I don't want her to think I bear any ill will (and I do hope we work things out.)

But, it does mean I've done a lot of personal art lately. In the "art" world, emotional art pieces can be some of the best, but furry art pieces are a lot more 'obvious' in what they're about because they contain characters. So, it's easy for them to slide over the border into 'angst art', which isn't very professional of me.

What do you guys reckon ? Should I keep it off this page in order to keep this as a 'professional' sort of page, or should I post them anyway?

Hey all,

Winter sale is coming to a close this Saturday (16th Feb) so drop me a note :)

Details here.

Also, We have snow!

I know a lot of you folks live in places where you're getting fed up with snow now, but this is only our second dump so far :) Makes me happy.

Working on today:

- Dante sketches (cleaning up)
- ~Prefers to be anonymous~ sequence planning
- Obsidianskricher prelims (sent)
- Polishing up the TF clinic page at its new location (got fed up with technical problems and have switched)
- DC preliminaries

Hey all,

Thanks for the lovely kind comments. I'm FINALLY feeling better. Plus, new scanner that *theoretically* kicks the arse right off the old one.

Going to be doing the submission-a-day thing with the many sickbed doodles (and sequence continuations). The quality'll vary since I was feeling rather rubbish, but I hope you enjoy :)


^^^^^^^

Commissions Open : Details here

So... A lovely big patch of black mould appeared in the corner of my bedroom. Unfortunately, it was hidden behind my bed... which meant I spent days breathing the stuff in before I spotted it.

In conclusion, I am rather poorly :(

Although it has lead to one of the most creative takes on 'wallpapering' I've ever attempted... Yay ?

Positive side no.2 : I had just bought a new sketchpad the day before I got went down with the sickness. Empty pages + bedridden = Doodlefest. Should be able to do a submission-a-day thing for a bit when I'm back up.

Lethargically yours,

Da foxydragon

^^^^^^^

Commissions Open : Details here

Hey all,

My scanner's thrown a wobbly and is doing that awful striation-lines thing. I'm going to polish up this week's non-commission submissions on my tablet and post them up in digital form.

I'm posting up one of the human-parts of a sequence. Goshdarnit but I just prefer doing fur in traditional media.

UPDATE: Scanner is properly fecked, but the new one should be here today or tomorrow. Watch this space :)

Ttfn

Commissions open: Details here.

Realised I had pushed my commission status off the page with my previous journal. Whoops!

Open for commissions. Details here.

Seem to have recovered from my bout of rubbishness (had a coupla days with no inspiration) and back to productive scribbling :) Thanks everyone for the encouraging comments and feedback.

Plus, it's GameCity this weekend so woot :) Hopefully hooking up with some game-designers and playing the role of newbie game artist. Should be fun.

Every artist knows the feeling... Dangit! Having a couple of rubbish days where I can't quite get anything to work. Someone's pinched my muse... That, or drawing all these hooomans....

Still, I've posted a couple of images up, even if not the full sequences. Sorry y'all.

Every artist knows the feeling... Dangit! Having a couple of rubbish days where I can't quite get anything to work. Someone's pinched my muse... That, or drawing all these hooomans....

Still, I've posted a couple of images up, even if not the full sequences. Sorry y'all.