Things feel like they've settled down some.
Everything has progressed out of the danger zone, like my tooth, and our AC. We've made plans to move. I've been dealing with my loss as well as I can.

I've had some bandwidth to start looking at my future in this "career" and making steps to get myself where I want to go.

I've been making some moves to try and bridge the financial gap that comes with changing your focus, and it's gone rather well so far, so I'm hopeful that things will continue to go smoothly. I don't want to get too much into specifics but I'm hoping that I'll be able to focus on animation more, the way I've always wanted to. I haven't been able to share very many updates on my 3D stuff lately because it's been a lot of rigging and non glamorous stuff, but the vore is coming people. I promise. x3
I upgraded everyone that's currently subscribed to that campaign as a thank you for being patient.

I've also got some writing projects in the works, and I've been making great progress with my comic and commissions lately. Got an art back-log that will be uploaded soon!

I've been dealing with a fair amount of depression... for both obvious reasons and also possibly seasonal depression. I can't say I feel good yet. I often don't. But some of my inspiration has been coming back and some motivation to keep doing things, far more than I did over the winter, and I'm just counting that as a win right now.

My kitty died this morning. I suspected it was coming but it hit really hard. I'll probably take a step back for a bit to recover. She was with me for 19 years, and is the reason I decided to keep going 19 years ago and every time I've wanted to quit since. She was quirky, strong willed, loving and brave and will be deeply missed.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me keep her going these last few years. Her golden years were in large part due to the kindness we received from this community when we exhausted my kitty savings. But I was able to let her age gracefully and as pain free as possible due to you guys. ❤️‍🩹

We're surviving. That's about as positive as I can be at the moment.

I'm not going to go into the specifics, but we've been directly affected by a news item you probably heard about. It's been a hellish nightmare. There were grief councilors offered and people kept saying "There's nothing anyone can say to make this okay." We're recovering, but a lot of our friends are being affected by it as well. There's kind of no escaping it.

The same day that happened, we discovered that we are going to be forced to sell our house and move 8 hours away for Nom to keep his job. We were just getting comfortable in our lives here. If we do choose to move, we'll be moving into a housing market that's 50% more expensive. So while we're trying to stay optimistic, we expect a huge downgrade for a raise that is so pitiful that it's insulting. But if we stayed in the area we live in currently, we would still be forced to move. The job opportunities for him are multiple hours away, so commuting would be out of the question. It's a shitty situation. We're trying to find the bright spots, but some days I can't see anything but anxiety.

I'm continuing to have problems with my problem tooth. The endodontist I was seeing retired without finishing the job, and now I'm having to wait weeks to see a new one for just an exam. Who knows when they'll be able to schedule a surgery, probably 3 months out from that appointment. Meanwhile I have an active infection in my jaw that's rather painful. So that's wearing on me. It's been 6 months of pain so far and I've been lucky that it hasn't been worse, but it's been so stressful just by itself without all the other shit going on. I've been chewing on the good side, which now hurts all the time and I worry about getting more abcesses. My jaw hurts, my teeth hurt. And I grind my teeth when I'm stressed, so this situation is a feedback loop, but it's just getting so so much worse given all the other shit going on.

The one bright spot at the moment is that my kitty who was sick last year is doing better. She saw the vet the other day who commented how pleased she's been with her progress. She's gained some weight, has maintained her appetite and her thyroid levels were good in November. We'll be rechecking them in March just to make sure, but as of now, *knock on wood* she's doing well.

I've had periods where I've been able to put in a lot of time on work, and periods where I just don't have an ounce of creativity in my body. Often times my anxiety is crippling and I spend the entire day trying to regulate that. I know we'll get through the dark times but man. They're just really dark right now. I'm hoping that as we go along, I'll get back to feeling well enough that I can use creative projects as an escape and harness some of this bs as motivation, but that's sort of a shaky thing at the moment. Sometimes it works, sometimes the only thing that makes me feel better is sleeping.

When it rains, it pours I guess.

Uhh if you're joining Bluesky in the second mass migration > give me a follow here! <

I'm also considering putting together an email list so I can contact folks that want commissions when I make slots available. Is that something you'd like? If yes, then I'll look into it seriously...

If you're joining Bluesky in the great migration, > give me a follow here! <
I've been posting 3D wips there, as well as comic updates and all my usual art! I'm a little more active there then here, but FA will always be my art repository.

I also, against my better interest made a new Tumblr, > which you can follow here <. I just decided I wanted to be a bee in their bonnet. xD Mostly uploading old stuff there atm, we'll see how long it lasts.

In the real life updates: I got my root canal last week finally. It may or may not stick. I may need surgery, which is... Exactly not what I wanted right now. I have to wait another month to know if it's done the trick, and then I'll get a crown.

And my kitty has been on her thyroid meds for a month now, and unfortunately has not gained weight. She's improved in terms of seeming to feel better- she's more active and alert. Vet recheck on Monday, so fingers crossed she just needs her dosage upped and this isn't a kidney thing.

I'll try and be better about posting updates~

My kitty went to the vet today and they did a full workup because it's been a while. Her values were fine except for her thyroid which was twice normal levels. So I finally finally have an answer. I don't know why it hasn't been tested before. I have meds for her now, and the vet said that with some cats, a month on these meds makes them seem like a new cat. Fingers crossed she feels a lot better. They gave her meds for her teeth and enough fluids that her saggy skin is literally sloshing around because she was so dehydrated. It's been challenging to get her to drink lately and it made it difficult for them to get blood from her today.
Anyways, thank you so much to everyone that contributed to the kitty fund. 💚 She's too frail at the moment to have her teeth removed, but now that we know she's hyperthyroid, she might gain some weight and be a better surgery candidate in the future. I feel so relieved to have an actual answer finally. I should have followed my instincts years ago to have that tested, but now I know for sure...

In the Lemon news, I have a root canal scheduled for October, which is way too long to wait, but my dentist is closed today so I will call them tomorrow to see if I can get a different referral. I'm finally done being feverish it seems but I only have antibiotics for 10 days, so I'm a little concerned my face is going to balloon up again before October, but I guess I'll just deal with that when/if it happens.

Since my last journal.... some people sent me very generous donations to help me get my kitty to the vet, and to help me not drown in bills while I'm unable to work. I'm forever thankful to you!

My kitty is doing better. She has been ravenously eating, and drinking, although she clearly doesn't feel very well still. I'm no longer worried about her keeling over. Unfortunately the holiday weekend and the intensity of my sickness has made it hard to get her to the vet, but she's got an appointment on Tuesday.

I've since taken a covid test and it was negative. I don't necessarily believe it, but I could definitely see my illness being flu. I am still sick, still feverish. Although now I have an infected tooth and the fever and symptoms could be from that at this point. I've been sick for 10 days I think?

The new update is the infected tooth. I woke up 3 days ago with an abcessed tooth. Been there, done that, was fucking livid that now I have this problem when things were supposed to be getting better. Got a teladoc perscription for antibiotics, and a mouthwash. Started taking that and trying to find a dentist that would see me. They were all closing early for the holiday weekend too. It must be nice to not have fucking problems, you know? To just disappear for 3 days and not give a shit about anything. I wouldn't know. I got an appointment for Tuesday so now I just have to survive until then.

Today I'm feeling less sick, and my face, which had swollen up like a chipmunks yesterday, is less swollen. I can actually put bite force on the tooth again, so I'm hoping they can just do a root canal and not pull the tooth, because my irrational fear of teeth falling out might kill all my other teeth if I have an empty hole in my mouth.

Our AC is still broken, but it's just become a background annoyance to me. I've been sleeping most of the day in the bedroom with our mini ac and we leave it on around the clock in case I start overheating with the fever and need somewhere to go to prevent the cooking of my brain. Now what we desperately need is rain, just a lot of rain. And a cold snap. And then maybe we can push off the ac and not even worry about it until spring... get our other shit in order.

Anyways, your proof of life post. I hope no one else is suffering as much as we have been...

Thank you so much for the support, I'm blown away. 🥹💚
Gonna try and get better. My kitty is eating a little bit on her own today, so things are looking up!

I don't like to do this, but I'm having an unusually bad few weeks, so I'm asking for donations if you're able or what I'd prefer is subs so everyone wins. There are certainly people in more dire need of help than me, so please don't overdue it. Even single dollars would help, if all my followers contributed a single dollar, I'd hit my target 10 times over.

I'm sick. High fever, unspeakable headache. Been in bed for a couple of days. And I need to earn $800+ by the end of August to pay my various loans. Doable if I wasn't sick. But when it rains, it pours. I have $40 in savings because I've had to pay out for other emergencies recently and just have nothing left now.

My cat has been ill for almost two weeks. I've been hand feeding her daily. She needs to go to the vet but I can't afford it. I burned through 3k pet emergency money over the past few years, and I've got nothing left now. Had a sobbing meltdown the other day when I realized if I got too sick, she would probably die. Bf works 10 hour shifts, can't help much. Feeding her is challenging.

We didn't expect to have issues this month and spent money on our other cat's vet needs. We also took a 1600k mile cross country road trip to help some kittens. +$300 that I need to cover for gas. My family helped with this but not all of it. So now I can't ask for more help because they can't afford it.

There are other issues which have finally pushed me over the edge to asking for help, because usually I just take more commissions and deal with it. But our AC is out. It's 95F during the day, 75 is the low at night. We have one small AC we sleep with but our house is too hot. I can't use my render farm or work on 3D to earn money through that. Oh and I've got a 102f fever during this heat. I'm having heart palpitations from anxiety about the heat and the money. It's been miserable.

So if you have a spare $3 you'd like to chip in to help me get through this, it would mean the world to me. Once I get over being sick I should be okay, but I have too many huge deadlines hitting too soon and I'm just too sick to deal with them. The last time I was sick like this, it lasted 3 weeks and I'm afraid that will be the case again. But even if I was healthy tomorrow, I now no longer have the time to earn enough money quickly enough.

My Ko-Fi is here: https://ko-fi.com/lemon_deer
There are also my comic Subscribestar and my 3D Subscribestar if you'd like to offer some continued support: https://linktr.ee/lemondeer

Thank you in advance.

I made a Bluesky account that I intend to switch to being my primary social media site to replace Twitter. At the moment I'm kinda enjoying going through my old art and posting it there as well as on Itaku. Bluesky will be a good place to find the little flash sales I do from time to time where I offer maw ychs for an hour or two at a time. There will be longer ychs here on FA once I finish some of my back log of work.

I am using Itaku as well, although admittedly I'm not liking it as much. I think I will continue to post there, but I won't be as active.

You can find the links to both, as well as a lot of the other sites I'm on my profile, as well as my new >> Linktree <<!!

And finally, folks have been asking about my kitty. She became very ill on the 4th of July, which resulted in an emergency vet visit and then weekly and then every other week vet visits since. The good news: her infected tooth has not become reinfected. Her anemia seems to have been caused by the antibiotics she was on to kill that infection, so that too has cleared up after two months on steroids. She is on monthly arthritis injections which seem to be helping her feel her age a little less, although she is now losing her fur, and has an enlarged abdomen, so she's not 100%, but she's been of questionable health since 2017. Atm I'm just keeping an eye on her and she will have further bloodwork done in a month or so. I also decided to try changing her food and removing chicken from her diet to see if that's the cause of the hair loss.
I would really like to get her problem teeth removed, but that is a surgery that costs multiple thousands of dollars and I very much live paycheck to paycheck. I will be raising my art prices slightly over time to try and get to a place where I can be saving for this surgery for her, and I've been drawing a lot lately to work through my queue. It's been going very well, I am feeling like I'm in a better spot than I have been in years, which in turn is very much helping my anxieties and overall mood.

Thank you to everyone that has both expressed concern about my cat, and who have been so patient with me while waiting for their art. You guys really have no idea how much it boosts my mood. 💚

Yeah hi, normally I'd leave drama where it started, but I rattled the bushes on twitter and discovered some of my followers are willing to look the other way if a person is a nazi or a bigot because they draw good vore and I'd like to kill that now.
I know the vore community is discovering that some popular folks are at least antisemite bigots, possibly nazis, (the receipts, read the comments for more in depth info: https://twitter.com/DrMekkenBVorny/.....81116372398080) I don't know any of the people listed, but figured I'd share because it seemed relevant to my community.
I retweeted and got this as a response: https://twitter.com/VoraciousLemons.....68681391243265
If you agree with that person, or are a nazi or a transphobe or any other kind of ilk like that, get the fuck off my page, or better yet make yourself known so people can block you. I do not support any sort of bigoted ideologies. I know there's this argument for death of an artist and viewing work separate from the artist, but you are supporting these ideologies if you continue to support a person that believes them.
Yes I like digestion and death in vore. I would never want to hurt or kill anyone in real life. I'm LGBTQ+ friendly, I'm atheist but I'm never going to judge you for your religion as long as you aren't hurting/supporting the harm of others. I'm not going to go into details on all my politics but I do my damnedest to be friendly to everyone regardless of their background. I get very unfriendly when you decide to push ideologies that harm others.

This is a hate free zone and always will be.

kthanksbai.


Edit: I've been getting a lot of "live and let live" comments. No. That is a naïve and inappropriate response.
"They're just talking." They didn't stop at talk last time. And they're taking actions again now. People have died recently because no one did anything. When you let evil grow, and spread, talk turns to actions.
This sort of response is a sign of not wanting to get your hands dirty or take any responsibility for your community. You just want to stand by and feel good about yourself. Quite frankly, shame on you.
When we put out the signal that this sort of ideology is not welcome in our community, we protect the most vulnerable people in it. All that signal needs to be is "You're not welcome here if you push an ideology that harms others."
People have compared blocking Nazis as being worse than them. Outrageous. These people think the extermination of entire groups is acceptable.

If you think letting them keep going is the right thing to do, you're enabling them.

If you enable them, you're almost as dangerous as they are and you are not welcome here either.

I cannot believe I have to explain that.

I've been posting life updates to Twitter and realized FA might like some too.
I spent most of the night of 4th of July at the ER vet after my cat spent a lot of the day clearly feeling very ill- not eating, extremely weak and unsteady. They decided she had an infection, and sent us home with meds. It was confirmed today that she has an abscessed tooth, but she's too weak for surgery. She's 17, and has prior health problems. Before the tooth issue, she was frail but doing well otherwise, so I'm very depressed this has come up. Thankfully when she got home from the vets today she greedily ate some treats- the first time she's eaten willingly since Wed, and she's been very alert and perky after getting fluids. Her bloodwork, besides showing the beginning stages of renal failure (which was suspected before the tooth issue) was otherwise clean and pointing to infection, so I'm hoping we can get that down enough that she starts eating, regains her strength and we can get that tooth out.

It's been extremely taxing. She needs care several times a day, and it's been stressful watching her improve, only to worsen hours later. She drinks occasionally, but never enough, so most of the water and food that gets into her is because I ladled it into her mouth. I have also fully expected the recommendations from both vets to be euthanasia, which I would have accepted. They haven't suggested it yet but the waiting has been killing me. Why must bloodwork take so long. The vet today very kindly took her in without an appointment, so I dropped her off at 8am, got news they wanted to do bloodwork at noon, and finally heard back from the vet at 4-5pm. It was agony waiting. Thankfully bf took off two days from work, so I wasn't alone which was incredibly sweet. I'm going through the wringer lately, but thank goodness I'm not alone.

I've had her since she was 2 months old, she's one of my oldest still living pets. I've known for 5 years during her last health scare that losing her was going to wreck me. I've been dreading it ever since. So I'm incredibly thankful I work from home. I have experience with fading kittens and sick cats. If I didn't know what I know, and wasn't around to monitor her, she might not have made it this long.

But vets are expensive, so I haven't been able to take a break really. Especially not with a dental surgery on the horizon. And I realized that I've sent a few emails to commissioners the last couple of days that are just... utter nonsense. Like I got the point across but not gracefully. So I just want to explain what's going on. It's hard rubbing the two brain cells not focused on kitty care together. Please hang in there with me while I deal with this in addition to all the other drama I have to deal with lately. It's been rough. Thankfully drawing is a good distraction, it's actually been helping quite a bit and I'm rather proud of some of the things I've churned out lately.

I'm considering commission slots to help fund her surgery, or other fund raising means. I am going to try and get further through my queue before I roll any of that out, but I guess keep an eye out for openings if you're looking for art.

:3

In November and December bf and I spent long, stressful weeks trying to find a new living situation. At the time we were sharing less than 300sqft of space.
In January we started moving, a large portion of which I had to do alone because bf was working a new job.
In January I started having a skin reaction that caused the skin on my drawing hand to bubble up and fall off. It was horribly itchy, horribly painful and completely debilitating. Then the rash spread to the bottoms of my feet, my arms all the way up to my shoulders. My knees and ankles. I was barely able to sleep After 3-4 weeks of this I woke up sobbing one day and had to go to urgent care because nothing we did was helping and the skin was delicate and easily damaged during our move. I felt like I was going insane. I wasn't communicating with anyone much, certainly not my clients, because I had no updates, and I felt like I was just giving the same excuses. But the funny thing is, I'm self employed. I live paycheck to paycheck. Often times I have to borrow money to pay my bills. I can only offer so many refunds. And much as I would like to, I didn't have the money to give to my commissioners- which made me more anxious, made the rash worse, made my health worse. And all the while, my bills just got bigger.
I have begun to work again although my hand is not healed. It's much better, but I have a huge scar where the first rash was, and it will likely be there the rest of my life. I'm developing rashes on top of it now. SO yes, I'm drawing again, and I'm trying to pick up communication with my clients, but I can only juggle so many things at once.

Today I had someone threaten to open a dispute with paypal. This is the first time in 15 years of commissions that someone has done this. They didn't ask for a refund first, they just came in guns ablaze, so of course, I gave them a refund. I'm not out to steal anyone's money. And I'm sorry if I'm not working at the pace you want. I've offered refunds to most of the people on my queue in the past at some point or another, and you are always welcome to ask for one. I may not have the money to give back right away because I'm poor. I've been living at a loss for like 4 years now. 2020 was the only year it looked like I'd be in the black and then I was held fucking hostage in a breakup and I didn't work for 3 months and screwed myself over. But you know, bills don't give a shit about your mental health. I'm not over here rolling in money, I have student loans, and personal loans from when my business has flagged. I'm literally fucking drowning, and I will still slave away to give you your money back.

Do you know the difference between a struggling artist and a scammer? A scammer will have a profile page full of people demanding for updates and asking for refunds. A struggling artist does not. People don't have to do that with me because I'm usually pretty good. If your name is on my to-do list, your art is going to get done. And if you are patient and kind and you don't nag and pressure me to work faster, you will get extra art most of the time. You get more than the value you paid. That's my personal fucking pride. I do good work, I just can't do it fast and I'm incredibly sorry for that. I'm sorry if you didn't know that in advance. But hey, you don't need to bully me into giving you money back. You don't need to threaten me. You just have to ask, and I will do my fucking best.
It's shit like this that makes me want to close shop for good. Clearly I'm not doing this well enough.

If you would like a refund please email me at deerlemon[at]gmail.com subject refund, and I will do my best for you.

Anyways, I can't pay my bills now, so if anyone here would like a commission and is understanding that it may take a few months but that you'll be rewarded for your patience, hit me up. I will make a new queue that is more transparent for folks. Part of the issue with communication lately is that my inbox is full so when people ask, I can't always answer right away. So I'll do my best to fix that.
I'm not looking for charity, just patience.

Prices are here: https://sta.sh/012c7so77oyx
Submit requests here: https://forms.gle/J2AcTSQZ5NTmoW74A
I will make a new queue in a couple of days.

Thank you for reading my cringe sob story.

I am finally moving after a long stressful search for a new living situation. I'm already very behind on answering messages, but I will catch up asap and let me tell ya, the work prepping the house to live in is really making me want to draw. New art sooooon~

I feel like a broken record, but things are really tough right now and I'm really struggling. Thankfully I have great people in my life helping out, and some fun stuff planned soon.
I just wanted to drop a public line and let folks know if they haven't heard from me about art, I have not forgotten, I will get it done and your patience is hugely appreciated. <3 I'm just having trouble existing day to day let alone even talking to people about delays which I'm sure are super frustrating. I'm hoping some stuff in my life can get ironed out and then I'll feel more secure and able to be creative, but right now I'm just constantly on the edge of the edge.
Anyways, thanks for sticking with me.

Heyyy folks~ Been a while since I gave an update so here goes!
Firstly, you may notice I've been uploading art more regularly again! Most of this art is from early this year or last year, because I had a back-log to share. If you got a commission from me, don't feel like you need to wait until I share it to post it yourself, I just like to take my time with uploads and make sure I'm not spamming inboxes.

SubscribeStar
Due to Patreon's less than friendly stance on vore art, I've been looking into other platforms to move the bulk of my comic campaign to, and settled on testing SubscribeStar since I haven't heard anything terrible about it. I've been on it for over a month now, and like it well enough, so I'll probably keep focusing on it as my main platform.
The rewards are the same as on Patreon, although I will probably add some new ones to sweeten the pot for people who can use either platform. Currently, SubscribeStar is not connected to the website, so for the time being, supporters will only be able to read the paid content on Google Drive or Discord. We will be swapping out Patreon for SubscribeStar on DTH.com as the subscription service asap, but it may take a little time to get functional.
I will be keeping the Patreon campaign open for the foreseeable future, so users that pay with Paypal will likely want to stay there, as well as anyone who prefers Patreon for whatever reason. But anyone that would be willing to move to SubscribeStar would be helping me out a lot! <3

Check out DTH SubscribeStar here!

3D Art
I've been putting more time into my 3D projects lately and decided to make an FA account for that. Check it out at SourbeakStudios! It will be more polished WIPs and once I get rolling, links to animations.
We also have a Twitter account that so far as been more silly updates, but also some gifs and videos.
I also made a 3D SubscribeStar for folks who want to support those projects. It needs 5 total subscribers to get the campaign rolling, so anyone willing to jump on that would be my hero! We'll have fun behind the scenes videos as I remember what animating is. XD

Commissions
I have been working on my queue a lot lately and making decent progress, but I do not have a commission opening planned for the public anytime soon. The current list is pretty intensive, so it will probably be a while still. Sorry if you've been waiting!
I will be trying to take 1-2 commission slots on SubscribeStar, probably around the 15th of each month moving forward, but more updates to come as we approach next month.
I am currently taking slots for round 3 of maw icons from the previous requests (Aka not open for new requests, but soon~). If you made a request last time and are still interested, consider checking your email. When I'm ready for your slot, I'll send an email. But no pressure if now just isn't a good time, I realize it's been a while~

I was asked to combine my art packs from the last few years for easier download, so I did! While I was at it, I also made a pack including all the Down the Hatch pages from chapters 1-5. So if you're not a Patreon supporter and you'd just like to download the high res chapters instead, it's now an option!
Check them both out here!

I ranted this on Twitter but I feel like I should say it here too, with a bit more detail:

TLDR: Artists, vet your critiquers, and don't feel like you need to take them. You are allowed to just make art and be happy and not push yourself. And you are allowed to have goals that differ from your critics. Fuck em if they can't be polite.

Hot take that isn't actually that hot: creators, you don't have to take critique from strangers. Or from anyone for that matter. There's this mentality that all critique is good critique & it's not true. My guess is it comes from art schools & trying to get students used to getting critique- something that isn't easy to stomach sometimes. I am deeply familiar with this having gone to and worked at a school where this was the culture. I have taken a million critiques and I've given a million critiques. But in a school you're surrounded by people whose critique you should ideally be able to trust. And you're in a situation where you're prepping for an industry job, more than likely, where you will be critiqued on the regular by your supervisors.

The goals of an artist on the internet are going to be different. For example, I am not a student. I'm making my living off art with little trouble. I don't want or need to be critiqued like a student because I'm not a student hoping for a job. I'm already doing my job, and happy as things are. I do personally foster a work ethic that always looks for improvement, but I get critique regularly from a group of people I trust. I don't take critique from strangers without a bit of professional curtesy first.

On the internet strangers will throw their opinions at you all the time and they're just that, opinions. Don't take them just to be humble. Take them because you trust them, and for no other reason. You don't owe anyone anything unless you decide it's important. AND HEY GUESS WHAT? YOU DON'T NEED TO FOCUS ON IMPROVEMENT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO!!! You're allowed to be happy with your work. Art is allowed to be a hobby. You are allowed to make "subpar" art. You're allowed to be doing something people don't understand or like. That's their problem, not yours, even if THEY feel like they need to make it your problem. That is 100% your choice and not theirs.

I'm tired of the internet fostering a mindset of people feeling like their opinion is the end all, most important thing. It's not. And I'm tired of seeing people who aren't artists tell young/beginning artists that they have to be open to critique. NO YOU FUCKING DON'T. You probably should take it if you want to improve. But you need to be extremely aware of the background and experience of the person giving the critique. An artist with more experience in the field you want to be in? Yes. A good source for critique. Someone who probably knows what you should focus on to improve. Someone unlikely to give their opinion, dressed up as "fact". A rando stranger who has less experience than you? They might have good tips, but they very well may not, and you don't need to listen to them just because they think you should.

And finally, the method through which critique is given is very important. If the artist is asking for critique on the art? Go for, it leave it in public. An artist who isn't asking for critique? They might not want it! Posting it on their art is the same as basically yelling unsolicited critique in a gallery. It rudely undermines them, and shows you don't respect them. If you wouldn't tell a crowd in a gallery, or the artist to their face irl what you have to say, don't say it in public forms. Treat the artist like a human being. Be polite. Send them a private message and talk to them. See if they want critique. Ask what their goals are, and see if you can help, instead of coming across as shitting on them and tearing their art down.

I, and the other artists creating the content you consume are not robots, we appreciate being treated like people.
Talk to people before you make assumptions, or you'll look like an ass. :3

*And finally a note: Commissions are a slightly different matter, where more than one person needs to be pleased, so you can't really apply this advice to those situations. The client/artist commission respect rant is a totally different rant, that I'll save for a different day.

Hello! Yes I am alive. I've been getting a few messages asking if I'm okay, and honestly, no I haven't been for a long time. It's a long, complicated story. But it's a new year, and I'm feeling somewhat rested and ready to get back into gear next week when I get home.
Thank you for your concern and your patience!

I'm looking to commission some DTH art! Probably some small silly things. I will likely need to purchase the rights to the art, so I'll need to discuss that with whoever I go with.
Leave your price sheets and info in a comment and your preferred method of contact and I may drop you a line!

I hit my Patreon goal that unlocks 3 comic updates per week! Yay! Patreon got three pages this week, and I'll start uploading 3 public pages next week! The comic website will be getting updates Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
Updates on FA will remain irregular. Sorry, it's just tedious to upload here. >>''

It's that time of year again! Specifically, that time of year when I tidy up and say goodbye to the previous year's art folder...

This pack is a bit smaller, and I didn't have enough GIFs to really need a separate GIF pack, so it's a combo!
If you weren't a Patreon supporter, you probably haven't seen a large chunk of these images!
Get it ❆Here! ❅

Down the Hatch will be going on a short break for the holidays, so I can better focus on enjoying my Christmas and New Years!
The next public update will be on Jan 2nd, 2020!
Patreon will still be receiving all three of the next updates, although probably not on the regular days, so keep an eye out for those!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! I can't wait for 2020! ❆❅⁂

Yesterday was Down the Hatch's 5th birthday! WOW!

When I started the comic, I figured it would probably fizzle out pretty quickly. I'm excellent at starting projects, not so great at finishing them. It was what I considered to be the next stage of a writing project I had been fussing with for about 2 years at that point. I wanted to improve my skills, see my characters in action, and make something I couldn't find in the fandom. It hasn't gone the way I first envisioned, but I've learned so much be doing this project, and it's been a humbling experience. I'm in awe of what it's become!

I have to thank Nomfox for being an extraordinary friend and self-appointed manager. He's been so helpful and patient and always has time for me with my constant self doubts, impostor syndrome, and weekly existential crises. He's also always full of good suggestions (if not good name ideas, sorry frand, you suck at that) and the comic would probably not be around anymore if not for him. He's been my reality check, and the voice of reason when I find myself trapped in deep dark holes that really only exist in my own mind, and for that I am forever grateful.

I also want to thank Nickotavers for building the new comic website. In the beginning I didn't imagine there would ever be a need for a website, but Nomfox offered to build one, partially for practice, partially because I think he was taking the comic more seriously than I was. He did a great job with v1, but as I ramped up the comic, we realized the features I wanted were a bit out of reach for us, and that's where Nicko came in! At this point, I don't know if he volunteered, or was volunteered, but I'm very thankful he got involved because he's been patiently accepting my vehement disregard for limitations, and quietly coming up with features I didn't even know I wanted!

I also want to send a shout out to Nomfox, Nemane, and Voraciousollie for coloring comic pages this year! You guys have done a wonderful a job, and seriously saved my wrist and my sanity, and I can't thank you enough.

And of course I want to thank the comic's fans. In an effort to avoid the same old platitudes, I imagine this experience is a bit like feeding birds. Artists put out seed, and the fandom slowly starts showing up at the feeders, and we're both a little in awe of each other, but it's a magical experience, and so we both keep showing up. Sometimes putting out the seed is a lot of effort, and it's expensive, and it's hard to get up the motivation, but the birds faithfully show up at the feeders even when they're almost empty and the fact that someone derives joy from your efforts makes it all worth while. And what beautiful and diverse birds you are, full of ideas and inspiration. You light up my day. ❤

And finally, we should all thank the comic's patrons. Without them, this project would have fizzled out a long time ago, paved over by the demands of rent, and bills and groceries. I would probably be working in an office somewhere, creating someone else's bland, watered down ideas, bored to tears. You guys are my peace of mind, the reason I can set aside the hassles of every day life, and focus on what's important to me. That's invaluable, and I can't ever repay you. Thank you so much for your support. ❤❤

Here's to another great year! :3