So. Now that I've got my tablet kinda-sorta working after a few hours of dicking around with it...

Turns out that it is -insanely difficult- to get a licensed copy of Paint Tool SAI on another computer. Mostly because the serial ID doesn't work by itself, you need to have a password that was sent to your e-mail when you first got the program. As it turns out, I apparently got Paint Tool SAI SO LONG AGO that the e-mail I've been using for the past three years is not on their records.

So, looks like I will -not- be doing much art after-all for some time as I either have to re-purchase Paint Tool SAI for another license or go back to pirating for one silly program.

That, my friends, is ingenius marketing.

So, here's the situation.

My dog, a German Shepherd named Naomi, recently went to the vent after some extreme lethargy and vomiting. Turned out that, by the time we got her to the vet, she had fluid in her lungs (pneumonia) and she was septic. They said they saw a mass in her spleen but they said it could have just been swelling from the infection.

Flash forward to yesterday (she stayed overnight) and three veterinarians/specialists looked her over and couldn't figure out what was wrong. The bacteria was unfamiliar to any of them and broad spectrum anti-biotics weren't working. Her white blood cell count was high, however, so that was good... sorta.

They said they wanted to do exploratory surgery today to try and figure out what was wrong. We okayed it, figuring that it was better to try and keep her alive and have her die in surgery than admit defeat and euthanize her (she's been in the family for twelve years, come December, and we wanted another Christmas with her).

Annnnd that's when they found this. (WARNING: 100% NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH): http://i.imgur.com/6MPNCHy.jpg

This is the tumor they found connected to her spleen, which they promptly removed. For the record, this isn't a camera trick, this thing is legitimately the size that it looks and it's larger than my fist. What is perplexing is they had no idea how this happened because three months ago they checked for sarcoma (we lost another dog that way) and she was 100% healthy.

For now, she's stable, but she still has to fight the Pneumonia and the infection. We're giving her a fighting chance because she's survived a lot over the years and she's giving us all the signs that she wants to fight this. Immediately after surgery she had perked her head up and started grinning/panting when she saw me.

That being said, some friends from work were gracious enough to start a GoFundMe... I haven't gotten the link for it yet but when I do, I'll post it up here. I understand that everyone is tight on money what with the economy the way it is and you're under no obligation to donate to it once it's posted. I'm not trying to guilt trip you into donating. I have nothing to offer at the moment in return but from the bottom of my heart, I thank all of you who do decide to help me out.

Thank you for reading through all of this. I'm not a religious person, but please keep her in your thoughts. We've been a team for more than half my life and I'm wanting to keep it that way.

The hydrocodone doesn't even work anymore X_X

All I can do is just play video games, rock back and forth praying to christ the pain stops for just five minutes.

Seriously, anyone who said that kidney stones are comparable to child birth must not have been lying because the pain is so bad I feel like I'm going to throw up, pass out, die T~T

You go to the restroom at work and PISS BLOOD

(Urine Sample from the hospital: http://i.imgur.com/33Ajcwh.jpg)

Anyway. Got kidney stones and a bladder infection. Fun times right?

Got some art work inbound from several artists, dunno when it'll be done but I'll be sure to post it when it is =3

So, lemme try this again since someone likes to use the report button.

I'm sarcastic. I joke. I am facetious and I -seriously- don't like repeating myself. If you can't handle my personality, don't be friends with me! That means unwatching me, blocking me, and doing whatever you have to do to make sure that you don't see any of my journals/art/interactions what so ever to keep from -YOU- getting unnecessarily angry at personality clashes.

Since I can't post chat logs (even though the reasoning was that I had posted personal information which I -totally- didn't considering the person's username was censored out] you can consider this as a personal message to you for reporting the journal! Congratulations on being that weird creepy person who stalks an artist's journal even though you don't like them as a person O.o;

Moderators: As you can see, there is no chat logs here not showing a person's not personal information and this journal (or the last one that was removed) doesn't breach 1.2:

"1.2 - Do not post or phish for anyone’s personal information. Personal information includes social security numbers, unlisted contact information, home addresses, credit card numbers, and personal correspondence (logs, emails, notes)."

As even though it was a chat log (personal correspondence) it didn't reveal the person's username in any way, shape, or form!

Thank you for your time ladies and gentlemen.

But seriously, un-watch me if my humor/personality pisses you off so much.

For those who don't know, I work with military aircraft. I won't [can't] go into much detail but basically this happened:

http://www.click2houston.com/news/u.....rport/29307014

It's cool though, I'm alive. Albeit, extremely exhausted after a whopping 22 hour work day. Found someone to do the pr0n commission I wanted, hopefully I'll be able to share that with you guys (eventually..). Probably going to get some more done now that I've got my new gaming PC in and have a bunch of expendable money laying around.

Cheers.

Yeah, yeah, I know - 100 billion reasons why I shouldn't fear ebola.

Other then the fact that, for some fucking reason, they decided they're going to bury Thomas Duncan's ashes (the guy in Dallas who died from it) -thirteen miles from my fucking house-.

http://www.kplctv.com/story/2676750.....he-environment

So, excuse me guys, while I spend exorbitant amounts of money on luxuries I normally wouldn't bother with so that I can enjoy what is potentially my final days of worry-less existence -_-

I've burned through a -lot- of artists' pages looking to get a commission done in the $30-100 range but it seems like literally -everyone- is full up right now. So if anyone knows some artists that are open for business, do share!

Perks if:
- Does 18+ art
- Will do multiple characters

Okay, so, here's the deal.

Somewhere along the line I got so burnt out on art that I took an entire month off without ever touching my tablet. Since then, I've apparently either lost my technique(s) or something happened with my tablet settings and... Well, nothing works right anymore. Feels as though the 'x' axis sensitivity is completely off and stretched, for lack of a better word.

Sooo, since I have four requests that are locked in place - they will continue to be locked in place until I get everything sorted out. I have no idea when that will be, however.

In the meantime I'm going to be dumping a lot of unfinished pieces in my scraps, so feel free to check those out if you want.

Blah. Working fifteen hours today.

Anyway, just a quick rant - I dunno who Doublefluff is but they need to live through a terrible car fire =D

"There are plenty of white characters for cosplayers to have. PoC have so very little representation why try to take it?" - Doublefluff

So, apparently, you're only allowed to cosplay characters of your own ethnicity. Great job bro! You're part of the problem!

Decided to upload a quick, 12 second youtube clip of Facerig since I just bought it. Even though it -really- doesn't like my facial structure (keeps thinking that my eyes are closed -_-) this one actually came out pretty good.

http://youtu.be/J-vxnI2dYUU

For just $10, it's a pretty nifty program and I can't wait to see the modding support that it gets. You can already do some color changing on the characters in the software, although it's somewhat limited.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that I was using my phone (LG Optimus) as a webcam for this. Shoddy quality abound!

I'm alive. Work is rough. Long hours, never have time to myself on the weekends.

Other than that I'm going to try to bump up some motivation to sit down and draw those requests I've gotten. Fell through last week because I was focused on getting a new phone since mine completely failscaded.

On a smaller update: I have Facerig now. And it does not like people with small eyes or beards.

Kay, so, long-story short I've spent the past two nights in the hospital (everything is cool, don't worry) but it took up the entirety of both of my days off. I go back to work tomorrow morning and won't be able to sit down at my computer until Monday, at which point I intend to sit down and finish my current requests.

Don't worry guys, I haven't forgotten about you, just have to weigh my time as I work twelve hour days and like to get at least seven hours of sleep x3

There is one more request slot open, for anyone that wants to nab that while it's still available. Shit's free, so you don't have any excuse unless you just don't want it x3

Don't worry, this is good news.

Since I've recently gotten a job and not depending on art to -eat- anymore, I'm no longer doing skull commissions. I will, however, be open to four free requests at any given time that will be done at my discretion. Slots will be posted on my user page. My terms of service still applies and I do not guarantee that I will do -all- requests, or give any guarantees on when they will be done (but hey, it's free art so what've you got to lose x3)

Cheers =D

As mentioned in my last journal entry, I'm doing some free skull art for three lucky people! Those winners are:

50th Watcher Raffle  IzzyWolfram
100th Watcher Raffle  Wolfmama
150th Watcher Raffle  LesserNeon

Expect a note to arrive regarding details about your art and good luck to everyone for the 200th Watcher Raffle which we'll be rolling for -very- soon with 192 total watchers!

Thanks to  MasterCrumbles for giving me the idea of a raffle, I've decided to do a raffle for every-time we (yes, we, this is a team effort guys!) hit a Watcher milestone. I've also decided to shorten the milestones to every 50 watchers as opposed to every 100.

That being said, we're at 191 at the time of this journal posting and I'll be doing a raffle for the 50th, 100th, and 150th milestones that we've already achieved. This will give three lucky people the chance to receive free skull art.

So, now to the gruesome details. The way this is going to work is:

BASIC INFO:
- I'm going to use a random number generator for the drawing.
- You've all already been assigned your numbers in alphabetical order on my watchers list.
- As always, my Terms of Service still applies.
- I will post the winners, tomorrow (Friday), in a new journal.

WINNING CONDITIONS:
- I will send a note to the winners regarding information pertaining to the skull art in question.
- If you DO NOT respond to this note within a week, I will assume you are forfeiting the winning and re-roll for another winner.
- If your number is drawn and you already have a skull of your character done, I will ask if you have another character that can be done.
- If you do not have another character, you may pass on the winning as a credit toward another watcher of mine. Bear in mind, they must be a watcher -BEFORE- the drawing.
- If you do not have another character and do not/cannot pass the credit to another watcher, I will re-roll for another winner.

Finally, I'd like to mention that being as we're so close to having 200 watchers - you should probably advertise to your friends to bring the 200th Watcher Milestone raffle a bit closer so you can increase your chances of getting some free art ^_- Just as well, the 200th watcher will be receiving a free skull too; so it's a win-win.

Cheers guys :D

Talking with friends on Skype, I had the crazy idea for an Oculus Rift game featuring characters from Bad Dragon that you... Well. Fuck.

#greatestideaever?

Anyway, got a few projects I'm working on all at once. Most are lined/sketched/colored and just need rendering, might have those up on FA if I ever get around to finishing them. Just been procrastinating it lately.

On a side note, we've got 190 watchers! Just ten more and someone'll be getting a free skull icon of their character =3

Welp, gone and fucked my hand up by dropping a KABAR onto it. Already re-opened the cut a couple of times trying to draw. -Sigh- Art'll be slow. Again.

I swear to Christ it's not by choice T~T

Alright, so now that the Skull Throne thingum is done, going to start working on some gifts and what not that I've been meaning to finish. One of which is for a non-furry who requested that I draw her up as what I think she would look like as a furry, so there's a whole level of anxiety there because I want to do it right (so far, I think I'm doing a half decent job).

I keep getting asked about the Animated headbanging icon; yes, there is a template for it, but it's male feline. I am interested in doing other species and a female version but for the moment, it's kind of a lot of work for something that I've only gotten asked about a handful of times. Sort of a whole "supply/demand" thing there. If there is more interest in it, I might actually do it, but for now I'm kinda leaning toward.. not. Sorry.

What I -am- considering doing, however, is furry Sugar Skulls. If you don't know what those are, have a gander at google. They're -very- popular in the tattoo community (I have no idea why) and I had some designs laying around from when I worked at the tattoo shop. Might do them, might not. Time will certainly tell though.

Anyway, that's all for this update. See you soon guys :D

Hey guys!

So, I got the job and I'll soon be making BUCKETS OF MOOLAH! That being said I'll soon be able to afford commissions, YCHs, auctions, a new tablet, you name it. Along with some juicy new games I've been meaning to play lately.

Now, as for the Skull Throne YCH. I haven't been able to do much work on it this weekend as I've had family over and I'm pretty sure they're not interested in seeing Cheetah dong x3 But I did manage to get three of the skulls completely done and will be working on the rest relatively soon.

I've got one $60 commission that I'm working on as well that will be completed in the future but it's not furry related and some of the material is fairly heavily copyrighted so I will be unable to upload it here.

That's all for now! Bear in mind that commissions for the full fledged 1000x1000 skulls are still open and they're just $10! I'll be doing another free milestone skull at 200 watchers (we're 24 away) so tell your friends and they might get a cool new icon!

Thanks guys, stay tuned :3

This cheetah landed himself a third interview! Hopefully, soon, I'll have one of them "real jobs" which means I might be able to afford stuff again x3

Artists better be ready to do commissions, YCHers better be ready for bids, and SO MUCH MORE cause this dude is about to start getting steady paychecks again!

Hopefully, I'll be able to get my hands on one of dem fancy Wacom Cintiqs too x3

Have a few bits of work on my profile that I've uploaded in which I used reference material that wasn't credited. Currently in the process of tracking each one down, figuring out what reference material I used (that's the hard part), and contacting the respective artists.

Though I doubt some of you saw the stealth edit, the first submission in my gallery 'Carry On The Path of Progress' used reference material from Atlas0 that wasn't credited. I recently sought out the artist and explained the situation and they were kind enough to allow me to retain the art on my gallery, with credit toward them for the original sketch that it was based off of.

Just figured I'd let everyone know what I was up to as of late x3

Figure I might as well get this shit out of the way before I ever get popular on FA when it could become some high level dramafest. Oh yeah, by the way this journal is going to be LOADED with "triggers" - I believe they're called. So, general rule of the internet applies.

The fact that Furry Scumbags and Artist Beware exists makes me sort of question whether or not I want to stick around on FA, to be entirely honest. The logical fallacies and rampant use of Ad Hominem are just -insane-.

It's one thing if an artist or commissioner is genuinely disreputable and being a general doucher by not actually making good on their exchange of services/money but looking over some of the stuff on these sites (particularly on Furry Scumbags) just makes me sick to my stomach. Not because of the reporting of questionable behavior but because of the general reaction to it.

Look, art and sexuality are AMAZINGLY diverse things that are incredibly intimate to a person. Bashing on an artist because of their sexual interests and then turning around saying that homophobia is bad, to me, is insanely hypocritical. I personally believe that a human being is responsible for their actions, not their fantasies. If we start to condemn a person solely based on what runs through their thoughts then you might as well color me a murderer because I've had a - LOT - of violent thoughts as a teenager, but I never acted on them.

So, to be more specific, there's two points of interest here: Homophobia and the dreaded four letter 'R' word.

Homophobia is largely taken out of context and to be honest it kind of pisses me off... It's one thing if a person is being discriminatory and prejudicial toward another person based on their sexuality but it's -COMPLETELY DIFFERENT- if the person has a genuine fear. It's a very broad generalization of people and the fact that it's used -as- a generalization is what irks me the most. A good example is one particular post on Furry Scumbags documents a person who, on twitter, said that gay people scare them. This does not mean that the person -hates- homosexuals, or rampantly is anti-gay rights, it just means that a guy said that gay people scare him. That is not a valid justification for you to throw up his tweets on a website and instantly assume that he's the scum of the earth.

Here's a very personal story that I don't tell many people but since it's on topic, I'll say it in this journal. I have -TRIED- to be with another guy in real life. It just doesn't fly with me. It's not in my interests and based on the one instance in which I -have- tried, I legitimately freaked out and stopped it right there. Now, I find it regrettable that I don't talk to the guy anymore as we were good friends, but this does not mean that I inherently hate the guy. Despite the sirens going off in my head when exposed to the situation in real life, I can handle it if it's art. Just one of those weird things, I suppose.

I've no issue with anyone in the LGBT community and I fully support Gay Rights. Always have. I'm real big on civil rights and I have a -LOT- of controversial views that a lot of people in my area (I live in the South) don't agree with. So, that in mind, I find it despicable how people automatically jump the gun and paint their own story about a person, destroying who they are, and rampantly spreading their hatred under this false flag of exposing that person's "hatred"... to accomplish absolutely nothing but exposing more hate. It's drama pandering and there's no way that you can legitimately explain it as -NOT- being drama pandering in cases like this.

Now, the big one that is sure to get me a lot of negative attention (and by god I hope this journal lands on one of those sites...) The four letter 'R' word.

Non-consensual sex is a crime. It's illegal. It's immoral, unethical, and by anyone's standards it is the exact opposite of where we should be progressing as human beings. However... It is also a -very- big kink that is not exclusive to any one person. If you want to start throwing out statistics (since I notice that a lot as a justification as to why it's bad), 45.8% of men in 1980 said that they had at one point or another fantasized about being raped by a woman. But apart from it being a common fetish, it's a -personal- fetish.

As stated before, sexuality is incredibly diverse. Don't believe me, go check out F-List or The Rabbit Hole (not sure if that one still exists). There are literally dozens if not hundreds of different things listed in a person's character profile that define what they do and do not like. Believe it or not, human beings are entirely capable of liking the foreign and the bizarre, including things that may be considered unsavory or things you may disagree with.

I find it UNBELIEVABLY in poor taste when a person makes comments like "any person who has fantasized about rape is a rapist" (another one from Furry Scumbags). Dude, this is so not true, that's like saying that anyone who has fantasized about robbing a bank is a bank robber. Or anyone who has fantasized about stealing food when hungry is a thief. It's some straight minority report shit. Another hilariously insightful quote on that site was something along the lines of "lots of people are victims of sexual abuse and they turn into abusers themselves spreading their evil". Holy fuck, I just don't even have words for you, dude, you're a special kind of messed up.

Apart from this robust generalization of people who have not (to our knowledge) committed crimes, there's also the whole 'rape apologist' accusation. I see that one thrown around a lot as well, generally toward anyone who disagrees with the person's viewpoint. To that, I'll direct you here because this journal is already very very long: http://theenlivenproject.com/5-thin.....ape-apologist/

My closing statements are these: What do you honestly accomplish by making this huge ordeal out of these subjects...? I mean it's one thing to make a post on AB about an artist or commissioner who skimped you money but attacking a person's personal views and sexuality is incredibly distasteful and it's not better than what you're accusing them of.

You have to ask yourself:
"What do I have to gain from this interaction?";
"What can I teach this person?";
"AM I actually teaching them anything or am I punishing them for having a different point of view?";
"Is it my job to punish or teach other people?"

Until you can answer those questions, you honestly have no right to judge. Let the lawyers deal with this sort of thing, let the people handle their own problems unless they specifically ask -YOU- to assist in the matter. Stop trying to be a white knight and pull this sort of non-sense because honest to god, it doesn't accomplish anything but spread more hatred in the world and it's entirely unnecessary.

Judge the action, not the thought, and keep your thoughts to yourselves unless you're of a position that is entitled to act on them. I'm personally an agnostic but I wholly agree with the saying "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" and that saying does not need explaining.

So apart from being hacked (still haven't gotten that resolved, by the way), I've got more bad news.

As some of you may know, I've been unable to do much art lately because of some pain/numbness going on whenever I move my head. Went and got that checked out today and there's good news and bad news. Good news: Wasn't heart, or nervous system. Bad news? Spinal Degeneration. Annnd some of the damage is permanent. So, that being said... Going to be down for a little while longer but hopefully I'll be back at it in a jiffy.

See you guys soon.

Recently, someone shared my Skype username on a website called chatiw.com (I don't recommend going there as it's probably loaded with viruses or something). As a result, I was spammed with literally dozens of contact requests/calls from pervy guys who were under the impression that I was a 'sexy cam whore'. Despite multiple attempts to illustrate that I am, in fact, a very large gentleman with a beard, tattoos, and piercings... This did not deter the rash of ridiculousness that ensued.

As a result, I've had to change my Skype contact info. If any of you would like to continue to contact me in that manner, you will need to add my new username: Nomistrav.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.