is it weird that i've been using Modern layout just bc it formats to my phone? i like Classic don't get me wrong! maybe i'm just too nerdy about tech and UI that most site layouts don't phase me much haha

anywho, holidays are done for now, i went up to visit the relatives and had a relaxing time! hope you're all okay, whether you had plans or flew solo. take care of yourselves bc Mama Miya said so! 🩷

i should be back to art n stuff this week, been dealing with some ailments and personal stuff, nothing serious. everything's fine now, and i pretty much got nothin going on til the next holiday!

additionally, i'd LOVE to return to streaming. there are so many damn games that need my attention and i hate puttin em off for not feeling up to streaming. it's a mood thing ig, sure some of yall get it. keep eyes on my alt account ohiobonjour.bsky.social for announcements (i might make use of these journals again too)!

one last thing, seeing all the new OC refs coming i'm getting jealous that i haven't made any for myself lately!! my kitty sona's design is pretty locked in at this point so i'm willing to plop her onto a digital ref sheet lol. Boo's nearly ready, eventually i'll get to her's as well, shouldn't look too different from her most recent one!

just leaving a note that i'm still alive! the usual struggling with sleep/exercise, tends to pick up when the clocks change, weh

got holiday plans ahead of me but i'm still drawin, nothing concrete yet but i'm gonna focus on some particular OC/fanart ideas as often as possible

i also wanna return to streaming but unsure when that'll be...just keep your eyes peeled, i'll think of somethin lol

Really successful weekend for my first full-ride (never done 3 days before). Majority sold was stickers, but squeezed out a few prints and a framed piece. it was a pleasure meeting a couple regulars again, you guys mean a lot to me!

I didn't break even from the table deposit, but it was close. Need to work on making things people wanna buy, as opposed go just letting anything flood out. My inventory is simple atm, i intend to keep it that way but have ideas for more unique items that folks may find special.

In the meantime, i'm currently working on the online shop! it'll consist of all the items i sell in-person. still desperate to clear out old stuff, but i'll work on new stuff in the background so i don't fall behind!

consistancy has been an obstacle, my inventory still consists of guinea pigs that i put out mostly to test the waters, see what people think. good reception, and i'm flattered! but there's still a lot to be done. gonna try not to drive myself insane making everything the exact same style. rather, my goal is to utilize different styles depending on the item type, if that makes sense.

appreciate the support so much. wish me luck, and i'm looking forward to going to more events with my new business~

can't help but roll my eyes a bit, when i hear web artists complain that the communities feel "dead." FA seems to be on the receiving end of this mindset so i'd like to share some ideas. because it's a tad disconcerting that artists, especially the "popular" ones, are synthetically shrinking their worldviews like this without considering the possibilities we have as artists.

people who say this tend to be the types who keep their followings and followed limited to oldheads who stick to norms (i.e. cishet 30+ year olds). NOW LISTEN there's nothing wrong with that inherently. but it just seems to me that they could bother to branch out.

let's take myself for an example: my earlier influences are approx 10 years older than me, and were in an active state of their careers when i stumbled upon them. as i grew older and more interested in newer things, i mingled. i discovered and interacted with folks who were closer in age if not a bit younger (still adults). folks of different communities: furries, queer, LGBTQ, people of color, niche kinks, retro games/tech/etc, specific art mediums, etc etc etc

my career has simply flourished as of late, not only from starting up a business, but from stretching my boundaries beyond things i already know. i've been able to speak to people who do things i couldn't even envision 10 years ago. now this. i believe this is the true meaning of being an artist. i have many of my recent followers to thank for this. you've colored my world better than any mainstream popstar has.

this isn't a comment on anyone's personality or character, but if you ask me, those who claim "X SITE IS DEAD I CAN'T GET NEW CLIENTS" imo they need to either take a break and find new aspirations, OR do some much needed branching out in subject matter, process/medium, communities, interests, etc.

and now, a video game allegory:

someone says "splatoon is dead right?"

buddy, have you:
1. played any DLC campaigns
2. played on a competitive team or gone to in-person LAN event
3. met any artists who's main shtick is splatoon fanart (a countless amount if you ask me)

if not, it's possible you haven't even gotten started with splatoon

as an artist you have to realize that designating anything that isn't mainstream as "dead" and throwing it away without consideration of the possibilities is a...less than viable move tbh. pretty sad even. it doesn't look good for you or the history we're building. don't let the public norm taint your vision.

the possibilities man. move towards em, because they are indeed there for the taking.

TLDR: if you're an artist and feel like communities have grown dead or stale, PLEASE take the opportunity to search for new things. they won't just appear in front of you. YOU have to explore.

Keeping it low and chill these next couple days...because this weekend I'll be tabling at Portland Retro Gaming Expo yet again, but this time in Hall C, which will be open the whole event!! also i'll have gotten my vaccines Thursday, which means i'll have to stay extra hydrated and keep ibuprofen on standby, weh ToT

i'm really lookin forward to it tho!! will be my first time tabling for a full 3 days, i'm up for the challenge!!

more deets in my scraps! :3

howdy! it's been a while since the last real update

a couple weeks ago, just when i planned to lock in on important stuff, i caught a headcold. it didn't last too long but left me with a really annoying cough. i'm no longer congested but that tickle is really persistent due to allergies now, so i'm not sure when streams will resume...

in the meantime tho, i'll keep preparing for my upcoming gig at Portland Retro Gaming Expo in mid-October! more deets to come~

https://miyabi95.carrd.co/
oh! i also threw together a full site for myself! i'm temporarily using carrd until i get reacquainted with my Dreamweaver+Neocities setup. it'll look very similar to what i have currently, please check it out!

i just noticed a couple folks who are from the older crowd of furry artists complaining about something having to do with the newly updated tagging system. i don't mean any ill will towards people here, even those who are always ready to butt heads with FA staff...but it kinda irks me that they're so stubborn to accept changes that, in retrospect aren't so significantly awful.

apparently the culprit of the issue is that FA tags now have a report function. so what does it do? if you report tags, it'll bring up a Trouble Ticket form partially filled out so it's related to "Abuse of tags." I'm sure they're implementing this in good faith so that an artist's works are easy to find via tags. from what i can tell (after scrolling thru all the comments on the latest update) they are NOT trying to censor anyone or infringe on privacy. sure, it's a little old and broken (the "no dashes" rule caused a fiasco apparently? i just use underscores) but the mods and admins are not out to get you LMAO

Look I get it. i understand tagging is a boring task most of the time. i kinda dislike it myself from a practicality perspective. that said, i want folks to be able to find my art if they so wish, so including keywords that relate to my interests is extra important. i also get that sometimes, you just wanna post something to let off some steam, vent art, and don't especially want attention. i respect those who are just cataloguing their thoughts. if that's the case, mute your comments on the post.

i know we have our community-based gripes with FA staff recently, especially with the ABDL-exodus it's gotten harder to fully trust that the online furry community is a safe haven. that said, it's important to remember that unlike dA, twitter, tumblr and other toxic gentrified socials, FA is supported by real, non-corporate humans who volunteer during their busy lives to curate a network of artists, regardless of medium, skill level, gender and kink/sex preference. those are our values, and we manage to keep staff in check as much as possible, even when times get tough.

just try not to be so stubborn and reactionary when changes occur here. personally i'd say these changes were MUCH needed especially after the founder's death* when the servers were more at-risk than ever. it's really fortunate that the remaining staff members were able to mitigate most of the issues from that incident.

*say about him what you will, i'm not 100% aware of his history as admin. but he was probably better than the fascist dictators running most of the world. people make misjudgements, mistakes. innocent people die and you just laugh and kick the corpses which does you no favors.

i'm seeing it in a lot of circles now, artists have reached a point of feeling like nothing's working, their creations aren't worth anything, etc.

I don't really have advice myself, but i do think it's very important to take breaks. even if it makes work or family life harder, take a short break. even a few minutes to yourself. go for a walk, watch a movie, literally anything that isn't artwork. maybe it is tho, heck, painting, casual doodles and journaling could help too.

we all get ourselves caught in the cruel cycle of life in a cash-demanding world. it's happened again and again to me and people i love. i don't think burnout's a bad thing necessarily, in fact it can serve purely as a wakeup call that one's work has taken over their well-being! try to take that call. i'd rather step away feeling uninspired than continue creating art that feels soulless ya know? coping with burnout is nature at work, if you just take however much time away from your studio, you'll eventually learn to love it again.

anywho, here are some good folks i'd like to promote!

 deepcreases i highly recommend them to anyone into those good paws! their comms are open last i checked

 Pawberry will always cherish his wonderfully Y2k and kemono-influenced art! his comms are also open!

 doronkomajo my sweet skunkey, the love of my life who i've known for almost 10 years now! she does take commissions but is currently on a break. check out her art tho because she is masterful, also has a SFW alias with more beautiful art to peruse~

 qweave been a part of their streaming community for a few months now and have to say, after entering a fighting game tourney for the first time thanks to them, their vibes are immaculate! you should check out their streams with the also famous  boot

additionally here are some folks who aren't here on FA but could use some support:

https://bsky.app/profile/tyguy.bsky.social my Good pal Tyler! the art and animations they make are fucking beautiful, you should check out their art and streams, specifically for the cute lil anime-style ending they put together!

https://ko-fi.com/twistcmyk Noelle aka Twist is a furry comic strip artist you may have seen before! she's really silly n awesome, seeing her on stream with Qweave, Boot, Tyler and Synth is a big treat :]

I'm in the home stretch towards my next gig, and wanna do a lightning round of prints to fit the retro gaming theme! Can't decide who should go first tho, so feel free to drop a vote :]

https://strawpoll.com/e2naXQdEvyB

With more ideological headaches on the way, let me get on my high horse for a moment:

My spaces DO NOT welcome artist-erasure of any kind. I'm against anyone who supports
"innovative systems" intended for art, writing, or independent human thought. Any support towards corporate censorship is also unwelcome.

I am a human being, and I can only handle so much pressure on the internet we've harvested for 3 decades now. The pandemic induced my social anxiety, to the point where mere phone-calls feel like annoying tasks at best.

That said, I can at least leave my mark on Mother Earth by helping spreading awareness of issues that affect the people and aspects of life I care about. I'm doing what I can. We need each other the most as the adults who have to foster changes towards peace and fairness.

Let's be all the help we can be!

howdy! i'm still alive but settling into summer was a bit of a struggle for me as i am allergic to Timothy weeds and it is their season when summer comes around. my sinuses, sleep and skin have all been affected but i'm starting the rebound, hopefully the symptoms fade as the grass season ends soon!!

in the meantime expect a late pride pic from me! not 100% sure what it'll be yet but i'm experimenting with ideas

also a Mud Day pic will happen i just need to get over poor sleep habits so my ass can get back into gear for art LOL

LATE ASS OVER HERE

i can see that FA staff is dealing with some new volunteers who are pretty adament and vocal about changing the site, to the point of trying to steal the reigns from the oldheads who have more experience? not pointing fingers, but that's what i've gleaned from reading their updates recently. some creative discourse is to be expected, i understand that as an ex-Discord admin.

i think we're fortunate to be on a site that's staffed by real people, no CEOs or marketing teams - so they're pretty mature at handling situations like this. they've done a good job at holding themselves and the newer volunteers accountable, so i have to commend them. if it wasn't for the main staff (Fender and co.) keeping folks on check, the site would follow in the footsteps of Cohost. (yeah, it was a good site but had many issues caused by i.e. discordant staff, look it up)

thanks so much for the likes and follows lately!! i'm glad my older art still has staying power, again it was during a time when i was in college, censoring the left side of my brain (computer science...Yuck) so doodling kinky stuff was a BIG escape for me. i still want to draw more lewdness, but ofc drawing is my main gig so i just have to keep trying to balance it with the rest of my life and figure out how to draw when i'm "in the mood." still feeling things out so bare with me!

lately art has been a sparse mostly because it's June, which unfortunately means my enemy The Grass Pollens is at Full Power and i have trouble staying sane while sneezing and itching. happens every year, i'm trying harder to keep it at bay but yeah, some days i just can't do things unfortunately -.- that said i'm still hard at work with making merch, hopefully i can get into my usual fall event to table, will be sharing my progress along the way, and get an online storefront running very soon! i appreciate everyone's patience u.u

in other news, idk how to feel about them removing the dropdown gender thingy, but to me it's not a huge deal! most folks i follow didn't seem to use it often, it just makes the uploading process slower so...win-win i guess?

often times i feel people take websites too seriously where they act as if a small change is a personal attack. i understand that changes have to be adjusted to, and it can be difficult depending on the change...but try to chill out because if you ask me, this change in particular is very minor! use tags or somethin, obviously more people are using them thanks to the blocking utility so it's gotta be worth something.

also happy pride, born to yiff, gender is a fuck, i am trash cat etc. etc. etc. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

as you may have seen already! hope you enjoy them bc i had a lotta fun sketching them and they helped me cope with being a college student going for the wrong degree lol

CW for below as i'll be discussing topics related to age of consent, but nothing graphic. Also, i'm not defending myself from any accusations or controversies. fortunately i don't have the staying power to deal with that BS. but i thought it'd be nice to provide my boundaries with something that's pretty relevant in pur NSFW spaces nowadays.

on the topic of me drawing smut of existing characters: this is such a hot topic that it has affected how i consume media in both good and not so good ways. it's was tough, a while back for a few years i struggled to indulge in nsfw because of Age Discourse that sprung out among most fandoms. i flung the question of "are they adults?" around at fanart just because that was the thing to do. it made me question the true intentions of MANY artists, most of which i've never met or spoken to, followed by plenty of instances where my brain locks up a la Ace Attorney and i just block artists on multiple sites to make myself feel safer (fun fact, it didn't).

in case i wasn't clear enough, this is not a good way to think in my opinion. i do fully agree with the idea of being cautious in the NSFW spaces, especially online. be careful who you hang out with, keep your sights out for red flags, stay educated on where to go and who to contact when things escalate, etc. that said, i've mostly abandoned the idea that aging up characters for smut is irredeemable and disgusting - but not fully, as there are lines i will draw depending on the circumstance.

let me explain with some notable examples - Cream the Rabbit. She's a lil bunny rabbit, has a mother who watches over her and is depicted as a child in every instance. am i okay with smut of this character? Obviously Not! even if aged up, it still rubs me the wrong ways. If a character is consistently a child with no sign of full maturation, it's off the table. i do apply this to Miles Prower as well. While he shows some teen/tween maturity and isn't as bubbly as he used to be...smut of him is not endorsed by me. Now, am i going to go door-to-door yelling at every artist who draws aged-up Tails porn bc that's what's trendy recently? absolutely Not.

with the other Sonic character's it's different, for one thing canon ages have been removed from the main cast (according to the JP site Sonic Channel at least) so obviously it doesn't feel quite as awkward to see smut of them. I personally don't view them as children due to the fact that they're not very human in their designs, neither are the scenarios they're put in. i.e. they're a squad of adventurers on a planet that isn't Earth, not an earth-based group of high schoolers.

i feel these distinctions are crucial when people react like "ew i can't imagine these characters having sex" because the response that "they're not human" kind of works? idk, that's just my opinion, surely most folks are against smut of Sonic and co. and i certainly don't blame them.

That said it's best to just leave the NSFW artists who do this alone because i just feel like for the most part what they're doing isn't a political statement - they're simply drawing they're favorite characters in kinky scenarios. Think of it this way: a NSFW artist isn't probably isn't drawing an aged-up Sonic to say "yeah, i age up teens and i want to make it your problem!" that's typically not the case at all. Trust me, because i've come across quite a few artists who age up a character to make a statement, and usually it's harmful and supports the "who cares, it's just a drawing" ideology we're trying to keep our distance from.

And now the Elephant in the room: I drew smut of Amy Rose years ago, and posted it here today. am I proud of it? well it's nice art, and I feel secure in my depiction of her as a mature gal, chubby body and whatnot. Note that it's all about presentation! Will i draw more of her and other characters? Maybe, the other characters who are mature (Rouge, Sally, Vanilla, etc.) are still on the table!

And now a TLDR: All-in-all it's important to be safe online, be weary before you make decisions like drawing NSFW fanart, but don't let it dictate your livelihood like I did. i'm pretty desensitized that I try not to worry so much when i see pantyshots in JP media bc it likely wasn't designed as a personal attack, and i won't show distain at people who enjoy most raunchy media as well. That said I always know where to draw the line. said line is different for everyone, so be aware of that!

before i start posting new stuff featuring my sona, i'd like to address something:

i'm already hearing the comparisons. "Sonic gjinka!!" "OMG it's human transfem Sonic" while it can be flattering to say stuff like that, character artists like me would rather not hear it. be mindful of that. are the similarities striking? indeed, i agree with you! it may or may not be intentional, but regardless i'm wearing my influences proudly, right on my sleeve. it's a bit of a new direction i'm taking seeing as most of my art has consisted of more "original" designs. that said, it's still rude to point out similarities even if they're obvious.

i don't ask much, so just keep that in mind when reacting to my art. of course, i'm continuing the "original" stuff, you'll see characters i've worked with in the past and possibly new ones! fanart will also continue, i'd like to draw my scrimblos more often than i tend to, esp. to make merch - mainly focusing on my niche interests, but occasionally i'll branch out to make trinkets for other weirdos out there, hehe

THANK YOU for reading and look forward to what i have coming! my two socials (IG and BS) will still consist of sketches and WIPs, so if you want to see completed stuff head on over to my FA/dA gallery and/or tumblr blog.

https://www.furaffinity.net/view/61059663/

please adopt them bc they have a really rad design and it saddens me that the price had to be lowered!!

also support a wonderful LGBT artist who makes lovely fat art~

second year selling at furlandia was a success! folks were very sweet as usual and i sold a good chunk of inventory. sadly i was pretty braindead due to 3hrs of sleep but hey! if you interacted with my booth just know that your support means the world to me 💕💕💕 the past month was a great learning experience as i was able to table at two events, my parents have been helping out with management and quality control (i do the art, they manage the displays, finances, etc.) which is new but much-needed as i suffer from autism which makes me stubborn when it comes to asking for support lol

for the summer i'm going to hit the books - doing a lot of practice sketches of characters i like and some other stuff like vehicles. i also need to practice more varieties of poses, particularly action so that i can more easily make some larger images for prints and such! yes this means i'll focus on other OCs, but i'd like to get some fanart made to buff my inventory as well.

AND NOW THE IMPORTANT TOPIC...i'd still like to open for comms. The only thing is that i'm preoccupied with making merch, so comms are on hold for the time being. Please be patient with me!! quite a few folks at the last couple events i tabled at inquired, so i really wanna draw for y'all! just need to fill my inventory first, i appreciate your cooperation 🙇‍♀️

see you there in portland oregon c:

hiya! i'm back from toon fusion oregon, it was really swell, i managed to sell out of a few items. the voice acting guests attracted a mostly-mainstream crowd, so i didn't get much interest in a majority of my items, but i'm glad people came by and browsed anywho! it also meant a lot that a couple folks remembered me from past events i tabled at ToT

from here, i'm crunching myself a bit to prep for my next gig, Furlandia's Artist Alley on Sunday May 25 in Portland, OR! It's just one day, but i'm working on some new items that should appeal to the good furry crowd there~

for real tho, i feel like people feel so paranoid thanks to Twitter and other online messes that their perception of online communities has been tainted with thoughts of inevitable Doomsday! and look i'm not scolding or belittling anyone for thinking that way, it's natural, yes, but i think this site gets a bad rap for the multitude of incidents it's been under.

I remember the DDoS fiasco of 2016, it had them down for almost a month i wanna say? it felt pretty hopeless but hey, they stayed in touch with us and recovered - they're still here and so are we, so i consider it water under the bridge. tbh with a tightly-knit community like ours (despite its flaws and bad apples, nothing's perfect) it's hard for me to expect a website like this to just poof and disappear.

sure, the architecture is old-ish but i wouldn't say it's obsolete or not up-to-date. it's just different, among all the quick "fast food" methods of engaging with each other online via corporate social media, FA stands out as a multicultural, multifandom gallery site mostly centered around silly talking animals and their costumes.

in addition it's a hub for artists to promote themselves! i enjoy sharing my artwork here the most, and getting comments feels almost like christmas morning. of the few social media sites, i consider FA to be the most important for my viewing pleasure. it's lovely to sift through my plethora of submissions*, even if i go a long time letting them accumulate lol!

anyway yeah, try to relax since the situation's more under control - they were just doing some maintenance and discovered that the site needed a LOT more maintenance than they expected. this was nowhere near as severe as the DDoS attacks from years prior.

If you're worried about an overnight vanishing of important data, do your daily diligence and MAKE ARCHIVES OF YOUR DATA. use a cloud service if there's no other option, but i HIGHLY recommend investing in physical drives to store your files in. I have like three of them, one of them is like 2TB and holds all of my art stuff. time-consuming to setup, but well-worth the trouble!

also, draw on paper sometimes, make some physical art and media, it's arguably the best way to show off your talents! C:

*made easier with the Firefox extension FABUI, please check it out because it makes browsing and uploading go FA so much smoother!

lol, idk what it is but i've been struggling to make some art that i'm proud of lately. namely drawing by hand - still struggling with inks due to simple mistakes that i should be able to avoid, but maybe i just need to step back and practice?

that's exactly what i'll do! digital art will persist but i feel it has spoiled me some, so i'm gonna loosen up and sketch on paper for a while until i build my muscles back, so no strict inking or coloring until i feel confident enough.

anywho i have a bunch of stickers on the way, and will focus less on making merch and more on building my online shop so folks can support me outside of cons! speaking of...

This coming weekend, May 10-11 I will have a table at TOON FUSION in EUGENE, OR! A couple weekends later, May 25 I'm returning to FURLANDIA in PORTLAND, OR - couldn't get in to Dealer's Den so I have a one-day booth in their Artist Alley. Happy to be a part of the show again nonetheless!

My window of opportunity is opening over the summer so hopefully i can manage to make a couple more events before the year closes. Look forward to more announcements on that!

i was supposed to make a journal before the outage but forgot lol but we're kinda back so rev up the bugatti waheeey

#
wanted to let you all know that i'm making progress towards a website via my tumblr blog! no theme set in stone but i might just design my own template by modifying an existing one. for now i have a preset haha

https://www.deviantart.com/miyabi-95
ALSo i'm cleaning up my deviantart gallery! the FA outage made some space to allow me to manage it a bit and put up some new stuff. dA isn't my thing anymore but i'm not against keeping a portfolio there for a while (stash might come in handy for web design stuff too)

that's about it, i'm drawing more again so expect more frequent uploads! u.u

was not feeling in the mood to do anything earlier this week bc the con, while very enjoyable and fun sucked out all my brain juices!! LOL

but i'm back, gonna do some sketching this week but laying low bc i get bottom brackets tomorrow YAAAY

sick i forgot we were getting names this month

just posting to say i will be con-going this weekend! see y'all monday C:

buckle your seatbelts bc this is a BIG one. my art buddy Dan aka  Xicheo is open for SFW chibi commissions!!! his art absolutely rocks my socks, please check out his post below!!! $40 base price with flat colors :3c

https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/11110084/