I feel terrible for not posting things... but I'm still working on things. Just a bit every day. A refinement her, new idea there. It's... something at least.

I don't know why... but sketches seem to come across better than finished stuff...

Thoughts?

I'm trying to step outside my comfort zone... and get back into things. So... I'm going to try an experiment.

Throw me a character, and I may consider drawing them at some point. I won't make any promises to do it, and this may just disappear... but we'll see.

Something has to give here.

Now get back to being drunk!

So... if you haven't heard, Epic Games is opening their own digital storefront. I've heard a LOT of praise about it... specifically when compared to steam.

But... I don't think it's as much sunshine as it's being painted as.

First,
Steam does need competition

This is a good thing. Steam is kinda a monolith in this case. Being the dominant force for so long has lead to a rather large level of complacency. Having more competition may force their hand on some things, and could maybe being some developers back

However...
1: Bigger cut does NOT equal more profit

One of the things that's being widely touted about the store is the cut the vendor. takes From what I understand, Steam takes a 30% cut (though a recent announcement changed this to be variable based on total sales), while Epic is touting a 15% cut, and waving royalty fees for using UE4 if you use the store. This has gotten some developers immediately on board, as well as delaying their releases to other stores by upwards of 1 year. And yet...

2: Steam has a larger market share

A smaller cut is a nice thought... but it ignores the current user base.

What's more important:

Making more money per sale, but having a significantly smaller user base.

or

Making less per sale, but access to a much, much larger user base?

Fast food sells at a loss, but their volume makes up for it. Putting something on a new market cause their cut is less comes across as doing it for the money, as opposed to consumer benefit. Plus... what happens if the game doesn't sell well, and the studio can't put it anywhere else...

3: Yet another launcher

One of the reason Steam is accepted is convenience. A single place that keeps everything maintained and accessable. As more developers have wanted to avoid paying a cut, they made their own storefronts: (Uplay, GoG, Origin, Stardock, Bethesda Net, Bilzzard Launcher, Arc games, and the myriad of individual games that have their own launcher). From a consumer standpoint... this is wildly inconvenient.

To put that into perspective, remember the early days of Netflix. They had almost everything. As more studios wanted their own service, they pulled out of Netflix for their own services. This leads to the rather comical situation of "Seasons 1 and 2 are on Netflix, season 3 is on Amazon prime, and season 4 is on Hulu Plus". There's no one stop to get everything, which drives people away from all of them.

I don't want to have to run multiple clients to get everything patched, or maintain multiple friends lists across accounts.

4: Epic themselves

From what I understand, there's no forums to post on, no way to post reviews, no say on anything... as well as security concerns.

There's also the rub of them suspending development of Unreal Tournament in favor of developing the store... and Fortnite.

TL:DR
I applaud the idea, and can see the benefits. But... there is a willful ignorance of potential pitfalls, and a failure to listen to the fans.

...but what do I know? I don't have a phone...

Some reasons are more troubling than others, and I'd like to say why I don't agree with it, but I don't like being 'that guy'. Problem is... disagreement... or even criticism anymore... seems to be seen as that person being entitled to whatever their disagreement is pointing towards.

I'm sorry, but disagreement doesn't equate to entitlement in any way. If you play the entitlement card as a defense... it's A: an Ad-homonym which likely doesn't address the initial statement, and B: entitlement goes in both directions.

So... spok, wat do?

... but I don't think I'm good or fast enough for it.

Still... trying to get things out of my head... not happy with them though :(

Why would you paywall a commission? I mean... the work has already been paid for, and comes across as double-dipping...

Just kidding :)

That's all... :(

I keep trying to sit down and draw things...

... but not much comes...
... and if it does, I don't like it...
... and I don't enjoy it when that happens...
... so I start over...

It's a vicious cycle... and I want it to stop.
... but I don't know where to start...

... I try to start a picture, but can't...

... I want to finish something, but can't...

I don't know what I'm missing or doing wrong. It's like there's a fog I can't get pass... and I don't have enough souls to pass the boss gate...

Anyone got any good shading / lighting tutorials or suggestions? I'm not sure how you guys get your colors so smooth... and want to learn how.

I'm partially tempted to leave this comment on... certain images I see pop up every day...

"I have over 100 individuals asking for my patronage, and offer the same things you do. Why should I support you over them?"

I don't know why it is, but I want it back. HALP!

So... I have at least 4 sketches that I'm happy with so far. Should finish one, or just keep sketching to get ideas out out of my head?

Also... I'm tempted to ask for characters to 'borrow'... for pin-ups, and to get out of my comfort zone of drawing certain species / genders.

Some time ago, a picture popped into my inbox, advertising what is... essentially... a "Timed paywall exclusive." You can't see it unless you're a subscriber, but subscribe after... and you don't get it. It's gone. Oh... but you can't call them out on it, cause they disabled comments... like they knew it would draw ire...

Something about that made me... well... snap, slapping me with a nice helping of reality that I needed. All the frustration, all the rage, all the anxiety, to the point where I've actually lost sleep over another persons choice of business model, which has no bearing on me... was all for nothing. I both hold an unpopular opinion which will be ignored (Why ask a yes or no question when you don't want to hear the no part), as well as feel like my voice would be lost in the crowd or ignored cause I'm not popular.

The amount of time and energy I spent on essentially yelling at a cloud for 2+ years could have bent spent on... ya know... actually drawing things, getting things done. Anger and frustration... if directed, can be a powerful motivator, if only cause it's yelling at you to do something other than complain about how you can't do anything.

So... yeah, I'm trying to get back into my regimen of doing something when I can. With a few exceptions, I'm trying to at least attempt to start or refine something every other night for a couple of hours. It feels like putting on a pair of old, comfortable shoes; They may not look the greatest, but they feel really good. Plus... things get done. If people keep going to paywalls, I'm going to pop a tent, and try to supply a diminutive corner of the free void. There's not much, but it's gotta start somewhere.

Also... who do I need to light a signal for in terms of critique / advice / encouragement? I'm one of those people who sometimes needs a nudge or a swift kick to keep going...

... Where did the 'Intergalactic Dragon Stripper' come from? I saw a sudden flood... then nothing...

I'm assuming a movie... but I dunno. Hence... ASK!

So... a song managed to kick me out of my art block... and I have a foundation for something Halloween related. While the body is being worked out... one question remains...

Ameonna (Shadow Warrior 2) or Hexadecimal (Reboot)?

... well... technically it's tomorrow... and no, I'm not... but still...

The more I see... certain things... on here, the more I feel that way.

I wanna say stuff, speak up, get out of this rut... but the more I think about it, the more I think it's not worth saying or doing anything.

But... I must do something. Sitting here waxing about it isn't getting anything done... the irony is palpable.

*Works on D&D stuff*

I have no idea why... but I've been feeling this way for a while. Maybe I need to get out more, hang out with some of you guys... or just do things. I dunno...

Stupid drain monster needs to go away *flails hands in general direction*

:(

Still alive, pushing a journal off... that is all.

TL:DR - $6 per month doesn't sound like much... until you have 100+ people asking for that much. #Theydidthemath

----

So... a recent journal I saw effectively made the following statement: I'm changing business models, and if you unfollow me, you're not a fan.

There's also a lot of articles about what it is to be a 'true fan', supporting a creator with all their endeavors.

Most discussions of said business model tend to go to artists getting paid for their work (which I totally agree with). However, I've seen a few comments that basically say "You can afford this, and if you can't, you're cheap" or various derivatives. So... that got me to thinking:

How much, on average, would it cost me to be a 'true fan' per month for everyone using said model?

Whelp... as part of a cleanup, I went through my entire watch list to figure this out. The number I got was:

More than $6...
More than an Adobe CC subscription ($50)...
More than the average 2016 car payment ($479)...
More than a fully shaded + background commission from a certain artist ($700)...

Your number will likely vary, but, based on my list classifications, I got... $746 per month...

Oh yes... I'm absolutely a cheap person cause I can totally afford that...