For me things haven't gone well this holiday season. I forgot to water the Christmas tree when we got it, so it became too brown, Thankfully we have an artificial tree, so we set that one up yesterday. It's better than no tree at all, I suppose. And some of the presents i ordered will not be here for a while, not to mention I haven't wrapped the ones I got. And my sister and brother-in-law won't come over today, but they will be here sometime later. I still haven't finished my Christmas cards, and it remains to be seen what today will be like when my brother and his family come over.
What can I say about this year that hasn't already been said? 2020 will surely be remembered, if not favorably, but hopefully 2021 will be a better year.
Anyway, for what it's worth, Merry Christmas everybody!

Just so you guys know, this is going to be a very busy month for me, what with Christmas and all. I still haven't done any Christmas shopping, and there are some things I need to do around the house as well. So commissions are temporarily closed until after Chhristmas.
That being said, I do hope to find adequate time to stream some of my pending commissions.
Current queue:
 Agumonofalchemy--multiple illustrations for a book project (inking done, coloring started on first 2 pages);
 jahubbard--1 two-character January commission (to be worked on later);
 Rogeykun--1 6-panel comic commission (also to be worked on later).

Today I will be pretty busy with cooking a beef brisket, which will be an all-day affair. I also will have to dispose of the leaves I raked up yesterday, so I will not be able to stream until at least noon PST, in about four hours.
Also, commissions and trades are temporarily closed, so please do not ask me for any further commissions or trades for now. I hope to have the time for it later though.
Current queue:
The Christmas YCh group pic--coloring completed, shading begun (this pic is #1 priority);
 Agumonofalchemy--multiple illustrations for a book project (inking done, coloring started on first page);
 Chistoso-TheJoke--1 6-panel comic commission;
 DanielMania123--1 commission.

Sorry about my absence yesterday. I had a lot of things to work on at home, among them cleaning up and watering the backyard, and also cooking ribs like I do every Sunday. Then Dad had me bring the propane tanks to Costco to refill them, after which we went to Home Depot to find a replacement plug for the Dremel tool. However, they were out of them, so we went to Floyd's instead and got one there. Before we got home I was already too tired to do anything more, and I still have to rake the leaves up in the front yard. Not to mention the Christmas decorations haven't been brought out yet. So don't be surprised if there are more delays.
Also, sorry about that last journal; I was in a bad mood.
One more thing, I have over 1500 submissions to go through on my main account that were posted by those whom I watch, and it is going to take a couple of weeks to go through and fave them all. (I can't believe I let myself go like this!) So if I take a long time to upload, stream, or whatever, that explains a part of it. Please be patient with me.
Current queue:
The Christmas YCh group pic--inking almost complete (this pic is #1 priority);
 Agumonofalchemy--multiple illustrations for a book project (inking done, coloring started on first page);
 Chistoso-TheJoke--1 6-panel comic commission;
 DanielMania123--1 commission.

I mean, why should I not? There has been almost no activity here for three months or so, so should it still be active?

I recently have been getting a lot of people asking me for commissions, and because of the Christmas YCH being still a work in progress, I have had to ask people not to commission me until further notice. However, this morning I did a traditional commission for  00aa because it didn't take much time to finish, being a simple commission and all. That being said, I need to focus on the YCH group pic in order to finish it in time for Christmas.
Also, my family just got our Christmas tree today (it's a short one btw) and Mom wants me to help her with decorations tomorrow. That includes the roof lights, the wreaths, and the Christmas coffee mugs. Then there's also the Christmas gift shopping I have to do before time runs out.
One more thing, I have over 1400 submissions to go through that were posted by those whom I watch, and it is going to take a couple of weeks to go through and fave them all. (I can't believe I let myself go like this!) So if I take a long time to upload, stream, or whatever, that explains a part of it. Please be patient with me.
Current queue:
The Christmas YCh group pic--inking almost complete (this pic is #1 priority);
 Agumonofalchemy--multiple illustrations for a book project (inking done, coloring started on first page);
 Chistoso-TheJoke--1 6-panel comic commission.

We had an excellent Thanksgiving yesterday, and everyone loved my cards. We all had our fill of excellent turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. We were too full to eat pies though, so I had a couple slices of pumpkin and pecan pie this morning, and they were both excellent.
Well, seeing as it's Black Friday and everyone will be crowding the stores and all, I'm not going anywhere today, so I thought I'd do a Black Friday stream. This will be to finish two belated birthday gifts, one for  se6k8g and the other for  deadf1 (yes, I know it's late but I don't want to let them down). The stream will commence at 12:00 PM PST (3:00 PM EST). If interested, you can watch at http://picarto.tv/CoffeehoundJoe/
Current queue:
 Agumonofalchemy--multiple illustrations for a book project (sketches done, inking to be finished later);
 se6k8g--1 birthday card (inking complete, coloring begun);
 deadf1--1 birthday card.

Happy Thanksgiving to all, and thanks to all those who participated in the Thanksgiving YCH group pic. I couldn't have done it wo\ithout your support (and your patience).
As ore me, Thanksgiving won't be just me and my parents after all--my sister is coming over today to celebrate with us. And she's bringing delicious pecan pie! I hope I have time to make a couple of Thanksgiving cards.
Anyway, be safe and have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Current queue:
 Agumonofalchemy--multiple illustrations for a book project (sketches done, inking to be finished later);
 se6k8g--1 birthday card idea (inking complete, coloring begun).

When I started doing commissions, I wanted them to be just a supplement to my income, nothing more. Hence why I still charge relatively low prices. But in order to be good enough to make a living as a commission artist, my skills would first have to increase exponentially by orders of magnitude, and then I would have to have at least ten times as many watchers as I currently have. So color me surprised if either of those two things ever happens.
And speaking of commissions, I am finding it difficult to get my pending commissions finished, because things keep happening in my life that interfere with them. I really am sorry to all those whom I've let down, but I try to find the energy and motivation to get them done.
Also, as a follow-up to yesterday's journal, last night Dad and I worked on the log splitter a bit more, but when the blade was welded on and we tested it, it failed to split the log. In fact, the blade bent a bit, partially because it was too thin, and partially because it was too dull. I also noticed that it was too low on the rails, so today Dad and I will probably have to make a new blade out of thicker steel. It was disappointing, but a good learning experience nonetheless.
Current queue:
Thanksgiving Day YCH (sketch completed, inking commenced);
 Agumonofalchemy--multiple illustrations for a book project (sketches done, inking to be finished later);
 bluejr3--1 six-character shaded color commission (sketch complete, currently pending inking);
 Chistoso-TheJoke--1 2-page comic commission (finished, many errors need correction);
 se6k8g--1 birthday card idea (inking complete, coloring begun).

No doubt some of you have been wondering about my absence yesterday. Maybe some of you are worried.
If so, you're not the only ones.
I have been coughing a lot these past couple days, and I'm worried that I might have Covid-19. Now, to be fair, the CDC reported that people ages 20 to 49 have only a one in five thousand chance of dying from it if infected, but nonetheless I could be that one in five thousand. And the mortality rate for people ages 70 and over, like my Dad, is 5.4%, so I worry about him too. I've been panicking a lot about this lately, and it's left me barely able to do anything.
I have also noticed that lately I have been avoiding eating lunch on afternoons when I do streams. I know, it's not healthy to skip lunch, so yesterday I went to Panda Express and bought some take-out lunch. Then, after I finished it, Dad had me help him out in the shop. We put away an old 1969 BSA motorcycle frame we had been working on, cleaned off the stand where it was, and got the 1973 Triumph TR-7 Tiger from that was hanging in the barn put on the stand. We also cleaned off the table where the motorcycle manuals and other books were kept, and we even cleaned off the computer table. All of this work left me exhausted, and I only had the energy to upload a couple of commissions I had finished off-stream for  DanielMania123. I didn't even get to work on  se6k8g's birthday gift, and for that I deeply apologize, but I will try to clear my queue a lot better.
So anyway, that's what's been going on with me lately.
Current queue:
Thanksgiving Day YCH (sketch completed, inking commenced);
 Agumonofalchemy--multiple illustrations for a book project (sketches done, inking to be finished later);
 bluejr3--1 six-character shaded color commission (sketch complete, currently pending inking);
 Chistoso-TheJoke--1 2-page comic commission (sketches and inking done, coloring and partial shading of first page done);
 se6k8g--1 birthday card idea (sketching complete; inking begun).

For those who don't know, tomorrow is Veteran's Day, as well as my parents' 42nd anniversary, and my dog Rufus' 3rd birthday. So I will be doing a card celebrating all three that day.
Also today at 12:00 PM PST I will be doing a stream to work on some pending projects, including the Thanksgiving YCH. For more information about that, please read this journal:
https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9668799/
If interested, you can watch me at http://picarto.tv/CoffeehoundJoe/
Current queue:
Thanksgiving Day YCH (sketch completed, inking commenced);
 Agumonofalchemy--multiple illustrations for a book project (sketches done, inking to be finished later);
 bluejr3--1 six-character shaded color commission (sketch complete, currently pending inking);
 Chistoso-TheJoke--1 2-page comic commission (sketches almost done);
 se6k8g--1 birthday card idea.
As you can probably tell, I'm going to be quite busy this month. Hope I can get done what I need to get done in time.

Copied from  marinaneira's journal

[] Lost your virginity? Why would I ever want to do a thing like that?

[] Lost someone close to you? 13

[] Consumed alcohol? Can't remember.

[] Received a kiss? Never.

[] Went to the hospital? About 16; it was for some kind of blood poisoning.

[] Had a broken heart? Can't say I have one at all.

[] Lost a pet? 11 or 12 I think.

[] Got arrested? Never.

[] Broke a bone? Never yet, sadly.

[] Got your first job? 21.

[] Got a boyfriend or girlfriend? Never.

[] Went to a concert? Never.

[] Met someone famous? In my 30s (I don't remember exactly what year but it was Scott Shaw! at Bakersfield Comic-Con several years ago. He said I needed improvement in my composition, which I think is a HUGE understatement to say the least, but he also said that I do have potential.)

[] Got in a car wreck? 20, when Grandma's car was hit in a minor collision.

[] Dyed your hair? Never.

[] Flew on an airplane? Never.

[] Went to another state? 15.

[] Went across the country? 17, but only halfway across.

[] Went to another country? Never.

[] Got a tattoo? Never.

[] Had a piercing? Never.

[] Smoked pot? Never.

[] Smoked a cigarette? Never.

[] Went to Disneyland or Disney World? 4.

[] Had A Long term relationship? Never (I can't do relationships, and I seriously don't want to waste my time trying again.)

[] Dated somebody of another race? Never really did, but when I was 30 a Black woman winked me on Match.com. We never met in person though, and perhaps this was for the best.

[] Passed out from drinking? 27 or 28, I don't really remember.

[] Became a furry? Never. (Being on fA does NOT make one a furry!)

[] Went to your first non business / work related convention? 29, when I went to the first annual Bakersfield Comic-Con in 2008.

I watched a video this morning that I feel is what I've been needing to see for so long: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzhVOU47aSo
It directly spoke to me, in that it summed up my own feelings regarding my artistic growth (or my own perceived lack thereof) and it's comforting to know that I am not the only artist who feels this way. It even gave advice on how to improve as an artist, namely to spend a thousand hours practicing which, if I pout in two hours a day, five days a week, would amount to two years. That's not so bad, especially if at the end I become a much better artist as a result.
I strongly encourage any of my fellow aspiring artists who are struggling with improvement to watch this video. You won't regret it, I'm sure.

Lastly, this is my current queue with status:
 Agumonofalchemy--multiple illustrations for a book project (sketches for about half of illustrations, to be inked/colored later);
 japan2019--1 TF commission (may have been cancelled);
 bluejr3--1 six-character shaded color commission.

This morning I had a bit of a hard time with my Internet connection, but it appears to have resolved itself so now I am going to begin streaming today. If interested, you can watch me at http://picarto.tv/CoffeehoundJoe/
Current queue with status:
 Agumonofalchemy--multiple illustrations for a book project (sketches for about half of illustrations, to be inked/colored later);
 japan2019--1 TF commission (may have been cancelled);
 bluejr3--1 six-character shaded color commission;
 DrebinGrey39--1 commission.

Obviously this journal is not meant for those who use Clip Studio Paint, but I have a question: In your opinion, is using CSP's built-in 3D models as an aid for drawing the human figure cheating?
Now, I have to admit, my figure drawing skills leave much to be desired, and had I not cancelled my figure drawing class at Bakersfield College back in 2001, I may very well have gotten quite competent at that. I have been using those models a lot lately, and although I've known of their existence for some time, but only recently have I begun taking advantage of them. An argument could be made that that is their very purpose, to act as a drawing aid; however, I feel that a figure artist should not have to use models as a crutch.
What are your thoughts about this? Please let me know in the comments. Thank you in advance for your opinions.

First of all, I have decided not to delete any of my accounts, so they will stay. I may go on hiatus for a while though, after my current commissions queue is completed. I also am considering creating an account on Newgrounds as one of my watchers suggested on the previous journal on my main account.
Second, yesterday my niece and nephews were visiting us all day, and I had to help around the house. It was crazy busy! Hence why I didn't post anything yesterday.
Third, Today is the sixth anniversary of my having created my  warpwarp1929 account, even though I wouldn't upload anything for nearly fourteen months. I was more of a lurker/watcher in those days.
Fourth, I noticed that I now have 300 watchers on this account, so that's another reason to celebrate. While I will be cooking ribs for tonight's dinner, I do hope to do a stream to celebrate both of these milestones, and may start it at noon PST. You can watch it at http://picarto.tv/CoffeehoundJoe/

UPDATE: I just found out that two of the 15 new watchers on this account deactivated their accounts, and it seems they may have been spamming bots. Things really do change fast, don't they?

Well, last week I got a package of nuts, bolts, washers, screws and other parts that need to be cadmium-plated for a customer, and yesterday I started plating the big pieces. There is, however, a small bag with lots of smaller pieces, and I don't know when I'll get those plated. So I probably will do some of the plating today and then I may stream later on. I don't know how long I can stream though.
Current queue:
 Agumonofalchemy--multiple illustrations for a book project (price to be determined later);
 japan2019--1 TF commission (may have been cancelled);
 bluejr3--1 six-character shaded color commission;
 BlueBlaze2024--1 two-character shaded color commission.

I was gonna post this earlier today.
Last night I had an animated dream. Yes, animated, as in, looking like traditional hand-drawn animation. Have any of you ever had animated dreams? 'Cause I sure have. Anyway, in it I was sucked into a whirlpool as though it were a black hole. In the eye of the whirlpool was a corridor, and I soon blacked out. When I came to, I was surrounded by a serene yet bizarre scene: I was on a small, rectangular island covered in grass and surrounded by man-made streams, which were lined with bricks or stones. I saw some stairways that led out of wherever I was, but they were high up on the ceiling, which was a kind of upside-down version of the ground whereon I stood, and the stairways on the ceiling were submerged in water. I seem to remember that something very similar to the dream existed in some fantasy animation I had seen years ago, but I can't remember for the life of me which ones. The whole scene was as if M. C. Escher and Windsor McCay had joined forces and created a fantastical flight of fancy where I was. Such a world could only be with the magic of animation.
Later in the dream I was with my maternal grandmother in some parking lot at night. We were going somewhere and doing something (I don't exactly remember the circumstances), but for some reason she was driving a small, white car. (She actually passed away almost 21 years ago, on Christmas night, no less, and her last car was a blue 1985 Ford Mustang, so I have no idea where the white car came from.) Anyway, on the drive home she and I were talking about how I last visited her back when I was 20, and I remarked about how old I am now, and she said something to the effect of me still being young. Dreams don't really make any sense, but they can be fun and a source of inspiration.
What do you think about this dream?

It's gonna take a long time to breathe this one!
Earlier today I plugged my 1TB My Passport external hard drive (you know, the one where I back up all my files) into this Raspberry Pi to look at my Pictures folder. But it was taking too long and giving me the funky hourglass cursor, so I decided to close the window. It did not respond at first, even when I gave it the command to force a quit, so I unplugged the drive, whereupon I was advised by the computer that it's not a good idea to disconnect a drive before ejecting it. So I then connected it to my laptop, only to have trouble accessing the Pictures folder. It said the folder was not accessible, and under Properties it said 0 files, 0 bytes!
I was terrified I had lost all my pictures, all hose years' worth of work down the drain! I can't express how scared and awful I felt. But then, I remembered something that gave me hope: Ever since I've owned this drive, it always gave me a small popup saying there were errors in the drive and advising me to scan now for errors. Hoping against hope that that would repair the drive and make the folder accessible again, I scanned it and left for the convenience store around the corner to see if my lottery tickets won anything (and also to get my mind off my problems for the time being). When I got home, I was even happier and more relieved than I would have been had I won the lottery, because the drive was fixed, and now my Pictures folder is still all there and fully accessible! Yay! I'm so relieved!

Today at 11:30 AM PDT (2:30 PM EST) I will be doing a stream for  A-Phantasm featuring Ami the Alien Mommy. If interested, you can watch it at: http://picarto.tv/CoffeehoundJoe
Here is the current queue:
 A-Phantasm--1 2-character flat color commission;
 Agumonofalchemy--multiple illustrations for a book project (price to be determined later);
 Chistoso-TheJoke--1 9-panel 2-page comic commission (both pages need errors corrected);
 bluejr3--1 six-character shaded color commission.

That's right folks, today is the two-year anniversary of this account. Seems like only yesterday I was thinking about creating a second fA account with only babyfur stuff, and all in a consistent style. Now here I am, two years later, wondering where the time went! Who knows what the future has in store for this account?
Anyway, to all you good folks who decided to watch me, I plan to celebrate this anniversary sometime today, hopefully after my comic commission is finished.

Today during our trip I thought I had coined a word: "ginormongous". Well, as it turns out, it was coined at least fourteen years ago: https://www.urbandictionary.com/def.....m=ginormongous
Oh well, at least it's a word, sort of, so I can use it.
Anyway, our trip was fantastic, we had a late breakfast at the Cracked Egg Cafe, then we went through Weldon and Onyx to Indian Wells Brewery, where we bought the usual beer and ale, and some unusual stuff too.
Overall, we had a "ginormongous" good time.

First of all, I deeply apologize for yesterday's stream not working; for some reason OBS refused to connect to the server, and I still have no clue why. However, when I tried to stream hours later, it finally did manage to connect, but no one was watching. Still, I am glad I got the birthday card finished.
In other news, tomorrow my sister, Barbara, is coming over for her birthday party, so today I have to help Mom clean the house up in preparation. It will likely take all day, but I will try to find some time to stream if possible. Also, on Friday Barbara will come back over for a trip to Indian Wells Brewery in Inyokern, which will almost certainly be really fun.
Anyway, with all that said, I hope to have enough time (and motivation, heheh!) to stream soon, and I further hope you are all doing well.

Hey everyone, just a quick shout-out to  Lil-Ronnie, whose birthday is today. So everyone be sure to wish him a happy birthday, and later today I will stream the process of making him a card before I get on with my commissions and stuff. The stream should start about noon PDT (3 PM EST), and you can view the stream at: http://picarto.tv/CoffeehoundJoe/
Feel free to drop in anytime.

My Dad had a fracture on his right kneecap several months ago, during one of our road trips, and has had a surgeon or two to help fix it. We have since installed a couple of railings in the front porch, the shower, and the back entryway to accommodate him (some more work still needs to be done).
Well, today my Dad went to the doctor to have his knee looked at, to see if any further surgery would be of any avail. Sadly, the doctor said that even if the surgery to repair his knee was successful, the fracture would inevitably recur. For this reason, Dad will not have any more knee surgeries and will most likely have to use a walker for the rest of his life. (He is 75 years old and overweight, just in case anyone is wondering.) Although I really hate to see him reduced to this, I nonetheless have resolved myself (somewhat, anyway) to living with him being like this and doing what I can to help him.
Also, on an unrelated note, tomorrow morning Mom, Dad, and I will meet my sister Barbara, to go for a day-long drive. We will be looking at some of the magnificent redwood trees this state has to offer (I think we'll be going through Kings Canyon), so unfortunately I will most likely not be able to finish my pending art commissions tomorrow. As much as I hate to delay pending commissions, I will still try to finish what I currently owe my clients.
Anyway, that is all for now, thank you all in advance for your patience.