Saturday, November 25: Chinese Icons
Sunday, November 26: Commissions Reopen, 10 slots.

NO NOTES.
ALL FORMS MUST BE POSTED IN JOURNAL.
You can note me your Paypal e-mail if that's a security issue.

Slot reservation is at FULL PAYMENT RECEIVED.
All sketches are 800px on the longest side.
No previews. No changes.

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WING-IT SKETCHES
You choose the rating, I choose the pose.
Won't draw: Cub/child porn, feral porn.
Will draw: Just about everything else.

SKETCH WING-IT
EXAMPLES: NUDITY | NUDITY | XXX
$20 USD per character

GRAYSCALE WING-IT
EXAMPLES: GENERAL | GENERAL | NUDITY | NUDITY | XXX | XXX
$30 USD per character

FLAT COLORED WING-IT
EXAMPLES: GENERAL | GENERAL | NUDITY | NUDITY | XXX | XXX
$38 USD per character

SHADED AND COLORED WING-IT
EXAMPLES: GENERAL | GENERAL | XXX | XXX | XXX | XXX
$45 USD per character

SOME CHARACTER QUALITIES MAY COST EXTRA.
Includes: Wings, taurs, nagas and complex markings.

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WOULD YOU LIKE TO...

Choose the pose yourself?
+$5 USD per character

Add a background?
EXAMPLES: GENERAL | GENERAL | XXX
+$10-$30 USD depending on complexity

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TO ORDER:
Fill out the following form and post it in the journal. NO NOTES please! It's so hard to keep track of.
NEW ORDER
Grayscale, Flat Color or Shaded? [Sketch | Grayscale | Flat Color | Shaded]
Wing-It or You Choose Pose? [Wing-it | I want to choose the pose.]
Number of Characters: [All prices are per character.]
References: [Up to three links per character. Picture refs only - ANY DESCRIPTION ADDED COSTS EXTRA.]
Rating: [Choose one: General | Tasteful Nudity | XXX]
Pose: [Leave BLANK if Wing-it | Otherwise, one sentence description of pose and/or reference image]
Background: [Leave blank if no bg | Otherwise, one sentence description of bg and/or reference image]
Paypal e-mail: [Sending Paypal invoice to the e-mail provided here.]

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WAITING LIST

1. Elberik
2. shaytalis
3. soulus42
4. commando-ray
5. commando-ray
6. neal (off FA)
7. neal (off FA)
8. neal (off FA)
9. neal (off FA)
10.

So I guess updating from this journal (clicky clicky).

I've moved every year for eight years. Sometimes twice in a year. Somehow, I managed to upkeep a career and freelance work on top of it, among my personal obligations. I don't know how. Honestly, the stress affected me heavily. I also have a slew of health issues that make it difficult. Blah blah blah, sob story, you guys get that all the time I'm sure.

This isn't a sob story. Anyway.

So the last rental house we lived in was fine until the basement flooded. The rental company did literally nothing to alleviate the situation, causing mold and asbestos issues. We ended up having to hire an attorney to break the lease and, even then, they were threatening a lawsuit. Which, quite frankly, had they proceeded, I would have counter sued. I'm so done with rental companies screwing over their tenants.

But they didn't. We broke the lease and bought a home - five years ahead of our planned schedule. It's a bit smaller than we wanted but man, it's been a lifesaver. Brand new 2016 appliances with warranty, never been used. Still had the tape and stickers on it. The interior had been renovated but the exterior and plumbing needed work. We moved in August 2016 and I started working massive overtime to make money for a new roof.

It's somewhere in here that I just brain fogged out FA entirely. I don't know what happened honestly. I guess just life.

On March 6th, we had a devastating storm. It knocked a tree out and we thanked our lucky stars that it didn't actually hit the house. The storm did, however, do $16k worth of damage to the house from hail and wind. Honestly, it was kind of a blessing. We have homeowners insurance which covered a new roof, gutters and siding. Remember that I had been busting my rump for a new roof? Now it was covered!

However, in the process, we also wanted to update the look of our house. The outside was this ugly, dated tan and shit brown (no, seriously). It had this old 70's car port, rusted light fixtures and a rusted flag pole. Everything about this house on the outside was very "eh" despite being gorgeous on the inside.

So I poured myself into my job. I've been flying out right and left (seriously, I'm on a plane about twice a month or so), taking every single event I can get and generally working myself into the ground.

In the end, we were able to add to the siding, gutters and roof all new exterior light fixtures, new faux shutters, a new mailbox and numbers on the house and a fresh coat of paint on the foundation.

In addition to all of this, I've also been working on furniture for our house because, surprise, surprise, cheap furniture just doesn't survive eight moves. In the past year, I've added a console table, an entry table, a mudroom set (bench, wall shelf, and everything that goes on it), a coffee nook, two new cat trees, a new bedroom set, a vanity, and... probably more than what I can remember. I also have matching desks coming in soon for the office. This will be the first time my husband and I will have a complete-looking office and not a "hey, this desk we found on the curb kinda works so yeah."

Basically, we're becoming adults I guess?

The plumbing has been kind of an ongoing issue. There's roots in the system but it's going to cost a bit to dig it up. Originally, we just thought that the drain couldn't support the flood of water newer washers put out. After spending $750 to overhaul that system, we found out literally this morning that it's not inside the house that's the problem. So we're looking at some expense there.

We're also fighting insurance and the contractors for the house on expenses for the siding. The contractors say we won't owe them more than $500 for repairs but our insurance is wanting to lay almost 3k on us. I'm letting them duke it out as I have an e-mail stating how much we'll owe our contractors max, so if I really gotta, I'll take someone to court.

But for all that sounds horrible, this has actually been a really, really, really good year. We own our own home, we have a savings and we're very stable!

I could just pay for the plumbing and contractors out of pocket. I have the savings to cover it. But I'd like to not eat into it. My job is officially in the slow season, so I'm not going to get enough from that to cover expenses. So I'm back.

I would have eventually come back anyway. I honestly had no idea that I had uncompleted commissions and I'm super disappointed in myself that I just totally forgot. That's not something I've ever done before and I don't want to get a rep for that. Life just got in the way and my brain did a slipsidoodle. For some reason, I was super sure I had no obligations to FA. Derp derp derp.

But that's being taken care of as we speak.

I'm taking commissions in batches from now until March when my job kicks back in full time. I just want to keep our savings secure and I feel like the work on the house is threatening that. So that's my main goal.

And next time, when I blip out for a while, I will make sure all of my commissions are complete. Herpaderpadur.

So thank you all for your patience and uh, hi for the first time in about two years!

Restructuring this journal so it's not just a ramble.

Here's why I've been absent so much since April:
April 9th: Open commissions
April 10th (2 am): Basement floods
April 17th: Property management company waits a full week to remove sopping wet carpet from basement. Leaves asbestos under carpeting everywhere.
May: Get tired of contacting our property management company every day trying to get the basement resolved. Hire an attorney to send a strongly worded certified letter. Hire inspection company and confirm elevated levels of mold in the basement. Nothing comes of any of this.
Late May: Apply for and qualify for a mortgage. Begin searching for a house we can own.
June: House hunt. Property management company does literally nothing with the basement.
Last June: Make an offer on a house.
Late July: Officially close on a house.
Late July: Put in 30 Day Notice at property management company. Company throws a fit. We contact our attorney.


Good news: We bought a house!
Bad news: We may be in for a long legal battle with our property management company.

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To my commissioners:
I know I have a handful of commissions from the April batch. I apologize for not getting back to you sooner. I honestly believed this situation with the flood and subsequent negligence of our property management company's maintenance team would eventually resolve itself. What they're doing isn't legal and it put us in a bind. I'm extremely excited that we can purchase a house, five years earlier than our plan no less, but I did not imagine moving this year. Not again.

I never transfer funds to my bank account until commissions are completed, so if you need a refund, send me a note with your e-mail and I will return your money. If you're willing to wait, I'm happy to finish your commission but I have to get my autoimmune health under control, we have to get moved and I have to resolve this issue with our property management company, in or out of court.

We officially move on Monday. Our 30 Day Notice ends our lease on August 31th. Our lease technically ends September 27th. I'm hoping all of this will be resolved, one way or another, by October. It could be earlier depending on what the property management company decides to do. I'm not going to go into the specifics of what we've discussed with our attorney, but suffice to say we're planning to be more counter-offensive than on the offense, if that makes any sense. I'd much rather just wash my hands of this and both parties just walk away. But it is up to our property management company how far we take this.

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An extended history.
I know I've been kind of sporadically on FA for the past year or two. It certainly hasn't been intentional. My husband and I have been renters with a horrible rental experience. The house we rented when I first joined FA sold out from underneath us. The subsequent apartment had both a murder and a person drive a truck through a basement level apartment. The following rental house's owners lost their jobs and had to move back in after 10 months. Then we rented a house where we discovered a hazardous materials issue the owner couldn't afford to fix. After 30 days there, he had to foreclose and we had to move because it was unsafe. Then this whole deal with our current property management company.

Financially, we are fine. We're stable. We've got this, and I'm incredibly proud of that. I mourn the time we could have been stable in other areas of life if we weren't constantly packing up and moving our lives all over our city, but all of that has been entirely out of our hands. That being said, I take full responsibility for my flakiness and intermittent availability, as well as not updating you guys in terms of what's going on. Every time something pops up, I assume it will resolve faster than it does, or that we've "finally gotten stable" and we haven't. In fact, I came back briefly in March and April because our house was doing fine and we'd really settled in. Then the leak in the basement and negligence of our PMC led to us buying a house, moving again and hiring an attorney.

It is beyond me that property management companies can treat their tenants this way and get away with it. They are preying on the concept that most renters can't afford to put an attorney on retainer and it is utter bullshit. Slumlords using people. Shocking, right? I truly thought that, eventually, whether it was from my excessive calling or contact with our attorney, that the company would eventually fix the situation. Mold and asbestos are serious issues and our PMC is a nationwide company. I still truly cannot believe it has come to this.

But, we bought a house! And I'm incredibly excited for that.

TL;DR: Rental property neglected by property management company's maintenance team, led to dilapidation of property and partial unlivable conditions, attorney hired, we purchased a house, moving this weekend, dealing with property management company legally, will be back by October (hopefully sooner).

I haven't been purposefully avoiding FA. I just couldn't get into my account after the password resets because I totally forgot I had an outdated e-mail here.

I don't have an update for progress on commissions. I was diagnosed with severe major depression last month and, between the condition and the medication, I just kind of fell off of all social media - not just here but literally everywhere in my life. Honestly, I was never sad or suicidal, but I did have an extreme case of the "fuck-its." I mean, I called into work for the first time in fourteen years last month because I just couldn't find the will to move. It was a pretty big deal, especially for someone like me who likes to keep busy. I pretty much went from 90 mph in my life to 0 in the blink of an eye.

All of that being said, I am feeling much better and, now that I have access to my account, I can actually work on commissions. I should finish them fairly soon. My hubby and I are getting ready to make the biggest investment of our lives: We're buying a house! But that means the down payment's on me. The last time we ran into a financial situation like this (2012 when my car went out), I opened up endless commissions on sale and paid for my car in a matter of weeks. So I'm kind of hoping I might be able to do something similar. But I refuse to open up until I get my current commissions completed. That's only fair to those who have waited so long for them.

Thank you so much for understanding - both about my account and the depression. It's been a weird couple of months, but I'm ready to get back on top of things!

I apologize to everyone whose commission hasn't been finished sooner. My doctor put me on new medication and I kind of just fell off the internet entirely as I've struggled to adjust to it. Thank you so much for your patience! I'll be back very soon!

I've almost finished the details on my commissions list. I'll be reopening commissions once they're done - likely later tonight!

Are people still buying these things? Is anyone interested in Sketchmissions? If I have enough interest, I may open up a journal - for the first time in over a year. Interest stated here may not guarantee you a slot if I decide to open later.

Just poking my head in to see if this thing still works?

Just checking in, particularly for my three commissioners who are still, still waiting on their commissions. I'm so incredibly sorry for the long wait! I don't think I ever anticipated moving this month. When we moved to our previous apartment, we actually threw away all the boxes, vowing we'd never move again. But so much ridiculousness forced us to move: Everything from a massive building-wide flea infestation to poor maintenance and a month long leak in our bedroom to a homicide in our parking lot. I absolutely love our new place, but we literally just moved in on Saturday and Sunday. I've spent all day unpacking and will likely be up most of the night too. I have loose ends with our previous living space to tie up as well.

I'm hoping to continue working on commissions at the beginning of next week once all of these has wrapped up. These three commissions will likely be the last I take for a while as I adjust to our new living arrangements and try to get my health sorted out.

I am still working on commissions, but it's happening very slowly. Things have been absolutely so hectic here, but they are coming along.

My husband and I are moving by September 20th. We have had the absolute worst experience with our current apartment. Everything from a flea infestation from a neighbor to a bat in our front room to a leak that lasted a month, springing over our bed just six days after we bought a new mattress to a homicide in the parking lot. Even worse, something in the apartment or around the building is making our pets sick. All four pets have seen the vet repeatedly since we moved in, including one life-threatening issue in one of our pets, totaling $1700 in bills for unexplained illnesses. The vet has repeatedly suggested it might be environmental, which confirmed that we needed to move. And, as you all know, I've been sick a lot myself. It's not connected to the building but rather my condition, Multiple Autoimmune Syndrome, but I spent the first four months here nearly blind, and the next five months in and out of the GI specialist and hospitals with an end diagnosis of Celiac Disease and a Vitamin D deficiency. I really can't say that we've had a positive moment specifically associated with where we live.

Between my medical bills, my husband's student loans and the pets' vet bills, we're broke. But we're still trying to move. Our lease is up September 25th, so we're hoping to lease a rental house before the 20th. Most, but not all, of our problems have been directly connected to living so ridiculously close to a bunch of people who aren't properly taking care of themselves in some form or another. My husband and I feel that a rental house is absolutely the only way to go.

We currently have an application in on one. We'll hopefully know if we're approved by the end of the day tomorrow. If so, we'll owe $633 for the deposit and $300 for the pets within 24-48 hours. Ouch. Ouch ouch ouch.

I've been taking extra hours at my primary job to try to make up the difference. I've been working myself into the ground. So when I come home at the end of the day, I pretty much pass out in bed first thing. The stress from all of this is causing my MAS to flare, so the days I do have off, I often feel sick. In fact, I was diagnosed with stress tremors the other day. Tremors make it kind of hard to draw, so I have to wait until I'm calm enough to do so.

I do have a personal fundraiser through a well-known fundraising website to help us with moving bills which has been helping. I won't link it publicly, but if you'd like to donate, please message me and I'll send it to you. There are some rewards, like a physical thank you card mailed to you, a print of a drawing I did of our pets "signed" by them and more. It explains the whole situation much better and outlines all of the vet bills. It's going to cost us about the same amount of money to move as the vet bills were in the end. I have a hard time seeing that as just a coincidence. The campaign covered our application fees and we're about $200 from having the deposit.

I do still plan on having some sort of sale to help cover moving costs. I really kind of need to have it now-ish. But I have current commissions on me, and I absolutely refuse to start taking new commissions until my first batch is complete. That's not fair to the commissioners who have waited now almost a month for their artwork.

At this point, that's about all the update I've got. If you have any questions, let me know!

I'm still working on commissions when I find the time. My cat is okay, but it resulted in roughly $700 worth of vet bills. It would be less of an issue if we weren't facing deposit, pet deposit and rent within the next couple of weeks on a new place. I'm certainly not asking for donations. My husband and I always manage to scrape by no matter what. However, once I finish these current commissions, I will likely be doing some sort of small-scale Iron Artist sale on flat grayscale sketches, no background, with a single color accent in the old line style at a discounted price. Kind of like this or this. One of those "as many as I can pop out in a day" type things. Is that something anyone would be interested in?

Seriously, this week has been absolutely nuts. We had a lot of things go down at our complex and are now searching for a new place to live. On top of it, one of our cats has been vomiting relentlessly. He just got released from the vet today but I have to keep a keen eye on him for the next 24-48 hours. It's been a mess.

I keep meaning to update about all of this sooner, but I can never find the time. Pulling my hair out over here!

Know that all commissions have been started and that I am working diligently between events to get them completed. While I look towards a balance of quality and timeliness, I don't want to rush your pieces so that I finish them on time but miss the mark. I always my work to a higher standard than that. Thus, commissions will be late but worth the wait, I hope!

More updates soon as I get them.

I'm here all day working, so why not? Assumption Meme + TMI day two!

1. State an assumption you have about me and I'll tell you if you're right!
2. Ask me a question, any question, all day!
3. Too shy to post? Post anonymously over at my Ask.FM account. No registration required!

Ready? Set. Go!

ALL ICONS ARE BEING WORKED ON RIGHT NOW.
Order now, get it today!

NO NOTES.
ALL FORMS MUST BE POSTED IN JOURNAL.
You can note me your Paypal e-mail if that's a security issue.

All prices are USD.
Slot reservation is at FULL PAYMENT RECEIVED.
Icons are 500x500px uploaded to FA,
100x100px received by note.
No previews. No changes.

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Chinese-Themed Icons
Loose digital ink sketches on parchment-textured background.
All face left.

GRAYSCALE CHINESE ICON
Examples: Tons of Examples
$9 USD
$7 USD!

COLORED CHINESE ICON
Examples: Example | Example | Example
$12 USD
$10 USD!

Chinese character optional for an extra
$1
Available characters: Art/skill, blaze, brave, cat, courage, darkness, desire, dog, dragon, earth, electricity, fire, fish, food, fox, hate, horse, ice, love, melancholy, otter, ox, poison, rabbit, river, scar, sky, snake, star, strong, tiger, wolf.
If you would like a different character, you will need to find an image of a SINGLE CHARACTER and link me to it, as well as stating what it means.

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TO ORDER:
Fill out the following form and post it in the journal. NO NOTES please! It's so hard to keep track of.
Please fill out an order for EACH ICON ordered.
NEW ORDER
Reference: [ONE clear image reference of face, no descriptions.]
Grayscale or Color? [Choose one: Grayscale or color.]
Chinese Character for $1 more? [Yes | No]
If yes, what character? [Single characters only. Choose from above or link me an image of a single character, stating meaning.]
Paypal e-mail: [Sending Paypal payment request to the e-mail provided here.]

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WAITING LIST
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This entry is going to be long! I'm splitting up everything into questions so it'll be easier to find the information you're looking for. If you have ANY questions, feel free to post them in the comments below, message me, or send me an e-mail at artist@onyxavia.com. Thank you!

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HEALTH HIATUS 2014

Hi everyone! I'm sure you've noticed that it's been a while since I've posted any artwork or taken any commissions. That's because I've been sick. Because of my recent illnesses and diagnoses, I'm taking some time off to get my health and life back in order. Below is a series of questions to help you better understand my health vacation.

Before I get down to the details, I owe a HUGE thank you to the following amazing commissioners for being so ridiculously patient as I worked on their commissions through illness, appointments, medical procedures and biopsies. You guys rock!

 alluringming
 carcass_hell_hound
 zigzagziggy
 kcpuppy
 rekohunter
 -razor-
 caine_fuzzbutt
 firegasher
 huskytime
 gentlemanplayer

Now on to what you'd like to know!

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Health Hiatus FAQ Sections
Use Ctrl+F to find the section you're looking for!

Important Dates | What's Making Onyx Sick | What to Expect | Other

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IMPORTANT DATES

Q. When does your health vacation begin?
A. Monday, April 14th

Q. When does it end?
A. Monday, May 19th

Q. When will you reopen Sketchmission commissions?
A. Monday, May 19th

Q. How many slots will you take for the first week?
A. I want to take it slow when I return, so my opening for May 5th will be three slots. I will increase 1 slot each week until I find a comfortable, low-stress number that works with my conditions. I'm hoping to make it up to my standard 7. However, I may find any number between 5 and 10 comfortable.

Q. When will you reopen Chinese Icon commissions?
A. Wednesday, May 21st, though I may take some of these during my vacation if I have the time.

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WHAT'S MAKING ONYX SICK?

Q. Overall, what are your diagnoses?
A. I have Multiple Autoimmune Syndrome, which encompasses Hashimoto's Thyroiditis (hypothyroidism), psoriasis, autoimmune scleritis and Celiac's Disease. I was also diagnosed with a hiatal hernia as well.

Q. What is Multiple Autoimmune Syndrome?
A. An autoimmune disease is when your immune system decides to attack a healthy part of your body. When you're diagnosed with three or more autoimmune diseases, you are diagnosed with Multiple Autoimmune Syndrome (MAS). There is no cure for MAS, but it is a manageable disease depending on the autoimmune diseases present.

Q. What is Hashimoto's Thyroiditis?
A. I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism in 2011 and have been managing it ever since. Hashimoto's is when your immune system attacks your thyroid. I have experienced the following symptoms with hypothyroidism, ranging them from the very worst ones to the more manageable ones: anxiety, "hypocomas" (where I sleep from between 12 to 36 hours without waking up), hair loss (this is what made me go to the doctor), brain fog (where you cannot think clearly and mostly want to sit in a vegetative state), weight gain, severe cold sensitivity and muscle locks due to this, dry skin. MOST of these symptoms went away with a strict diet and medication. I still experience occasional hypocomas, anxiety, brain fog and had to work very hard to remove the weight.

Q. What is psoriasis?
A. Psoriasis is when your immune system attacks your skin, creating scaly-looking lesions that itch and flake. I've had this since I was 3 and have learned to manage it very well, but it often pops up in times of severe stress, such as the past few months.

Q. What is autoimmune scleritis?
A. THIS IS REALLY THE BEGINNING OF THIS WHOLE THING RIGHT HERE. In August 2013, my husband and I moved. While packing, a bit of dust got into my eye and scraped my cornea, creating a corneal ulcer (bacterial infection of the eye). I treated it immediately and properly. However, my immune system didn't understand that the issue was solved and continued to attack my eyes. This gave me severe eye pain and pressure, headaches and changed my vision drastically (ironically improving it, but because my brain couldn't keep up with the rapid change, it appeared that I was going blind). I went through three ophthalmologists and had to go to a hospital to get properly diagnosed. Some original potential diagnoses included a pituitary gland tumor that had metastasized into my eyes or MS. Once I was diagnosed with autoimmune scleritis, that gave me the trifecta of auotimmune diseases and I was officially given the diagnosis of MAS. It took until mid-November before the scleritis cleared. I had a recurrence in January, and am currently having a recurrence as we speak, but they're much more mild and easy to manage now. No pain, no headaches, no vision changes - I just start to see halos around lights at night and make sure to take my medication for two weeks.

Q. Tell me about November to now - what happened that made you so sick?
A. While I had autoimmune scleritis, I couldn't see hardly anything. I fell off the diet that helped me keep my hypothyroidism in check because I couldn't read labels or cook for myself. I had only been on the diet since mid-2012 on, so I figured I'd experience an increase in hypothyroidism symptoms, but return to normal afterwards. I was wrong. In November, slightly before I was given my first all-clear on my eyes, I experienced the most awful pain that left me writhing on the floor of the bathroom for 6-8 hours a day, occurring once every week or two. It was horrible and absolutely crippling. I went to see a doctor about it and was told it was just nausea. However, as the attacks increased, I was finally sent to a GI specialist. The GI specialist thought it might be my gallbladder or liver, so I was sent to have an ultrasound my gallbadder and blood work done. Both came back clear. That led to a colonoscopy and EGD in search of potentially cancer, ulcers or diverticulitis. In the procedure, they found that the inside of my stomach was speckled red. Villi are these little finger-like protrusions in the wall of your stomach that help you digest food. Mine were so inflamed and blunted that it looked like a red-speckled Easter Egg inside. When he turned the camera around, he could see evidence of a hiatal hernia in my esophagus.

Q. What is Celiac Disease?
A. Celiac Disease is an autoimmune reaction to eating gluten, where your immune system begins damaging your stomach and small intestine. Symptoms include bloating, weight gain or loss, nausea and pain. It can also deprive other systems of the nutrients they need to function thanks to malabsorption. The solution is simply to stay away from gluten.

Q. What is a hiatal hernia?
A. A hernia is when an internal organ pushes into a place it doesn't belong. A hiatal hernia is specifically when the stomach pushes into the opening of the diaphragm (called the hiatus). The pain I experienced writhing on the floor of the bathroom was a severe hiatal hernia combined with gluten thanks to my not-so-great diet because I couldn't see to make anything for myself.

Q. Holy crap, you have a lot of problems!
A. Honestly, I knew I had a lot of autoimmune issues, but they were always manageable up until August 2013. Never once did I consider myself ill. Since August 2013, it's been a downhill slope. This is primarily why I'm taking a health vacation. I need to get back to where I was before a piece of dust scratched my eye!

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WHAT TO EXPECT

Q. What will you be doing on this vacation?
A. Seeing specialists, dieting, exercising and relaxing. I was told by my GI specialist that I need to get my stress levels under control because they are perpetuating my autoimmune diseases. This is the primary reason I decided to take a vacation in the first place. Being away from work will allow me to focus on my diet and exercise - I'm going to make that my primary "job," if you will, alongside sleeping and making appointments with a dermatologist (in fact, I've already done this and gotten medication for my psoriasis outbreak) and an endocrinologist for my hypothyroidism, along with my already established GI specialist appointments to plan out my hiatal hernia and Celiac Disease solution. This may lead to seeing a dietitian. So, while I will be resting, I will be busy getting myself healthy.

Q. As a full-time artist, how can you afford to take a vacation?
A. I work two art jobs. I'm taking a vacation from this one since it's my full time job and only working the part-time one on the weekends. So I'm also still technically working. And yes, when I'm working both jobs, I often work 6-7 days a week. Remember that stress thing my GI talked to me about? Yeah. That.

Q. Will you still be on FA?
A. You betchya'! I'm not leaving FA - just taking a three week break. You may still see journals from me, including TMI Tuesdays and updates on my health vacation progress.

Q. Will you be taking any commissions during your vacation?
A. I don't plan on it but, if I get the itch, I might take a couple Chinese Icon commissions.

Q. Will we see any uploads on FA during your vacation?
A. Other than TMI Tuesday notifications or Chinese Icon commission should I choose to take any, likely no. But the minute I come back, I'll going to upload the 11 commissions I just completed. It'll be my way of letting you guys know that I'm back!

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OTHER

Q. I got a commission from you, but it's uploaded to Onyxavia.com. Will that link expire?
A. Never. Unless GoDaddy experiences technical difficulties. If so, send me an e-mail at artist@onyxavia.com!

Q. I got a commission from you but you didn't upload it to your gallery yet. Can I still upload it to mine?
A. As long as I'm credited, by all means, please do!

Q. I need to get a hold of you for something. How can I contact you?
A. I'm still going to be around on FA, so feel free to send me a comment, note or shout. You can also e-mail me at artist@onyxavia.com.

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CONCLUSION

Thank you all so much for being so understanding over the past several months as I've been working with my illnesses. You guys have been great! See you soon!

I'd like to thank all of my watchers! Last night, I officially hit 6k watchers! You guys are amazing!

Tracerinshadows
Note me a single reference of your character's face to receive your free Chinese-themed icon!

I used this site to select the winner by copy-pasting the list of usernames, hitting the button and selecting the one that fell in the #1 position.

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The results of the survey are in! The list below reflects the averages of all answers to the survey. The only answers thrown from the survey were ones that were lower than my current prices or ones that told me to keep the price the same, as I obviously cannot do either. One dollar over my current price was still an acceptable answer. I took any price ranges given to me and averaged them to give me a single number answer.

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I AM CURRENTLY NOT OPEN FOR COMMISSION.
These are just my new prices!


SKETCHMISSIONS

Grayscale Wing-It
Previous Price: $25 USD
Average Survey Answer: $31.42 USD
New Price: $30 USD

Flat Color Wing-It
Previous Price: $30 USD
Average Survey Answer: $38.12 USD
New Price: $38 USD

Shaded Wing-It
Previous Price: $35 USD
Average Survey Answer: $45.14 USD
New Price: $45 USD

Backgrounds
Previous Price: $5-$10 USD depending on complexity
Average Survey Answer: $19.82 USD
New Price: $10 - $30 USD depending on complexity

NEW ADDITION
Sketch Wing-It: Example
Previous Price: N/A
Average Survey Answer: $21.00 USD
New Price: $20 USD

As per usual, all additional fees still apply for detailed character traits, such as wings, taurs, nagas, complex markings, armor, weapons, detailed clothes, etc. All of these extra fees have not changed, and will stay in the $5 to $10 range depending on difficulty. I usually try to keep them on the $5 side as much as possible. Prices are per character. Flat backgrounds come at no additional fee, and include a single color on color commissions.

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ICONS

Grayscale Chinese Icon
Previous Price: $6 USD
Average Survey Answer: $8.96 USD
New Price: $9 USD

Colored Chinese Icon
Previous Price: $9 USD
Average Survey Answer: $12.67 USD
New Price: $12 USD

Full Icon
Previous Price: $15 USD
Average Survey Answer: $20.08 USD
New Price: $20 USD

Prices are per character. Couples icons are available only during Full Icon sales and have a special glowing heart background free of charge unless flat color is requested.

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Q&A

Through the comment section of the survey, I saw some suggestions or questions pop up multiple times. Read below to see my answers!

Q. You should get a website!
I already have one!

Q. Update with the progress of the commission?
You can always find that right here. I update it every day after work! My days off are Mondays and Tuesdays, which is why it hasn't been updated for this week yet.

Q. Comics?
I actually do offer these, but only one slot at a time, which has been filled by  seraphimrush. Until I finish his comic, I cannot take another one on.

Q. Chinese Icon badges/full artwork?
This is something I'm highly considering. I want to talk to  punkedpixie about her tags and see if we can't collab on badges around the time of major conventions. The price will reflect both of our work. Her tags are fantastic, so if you have a moment, go check them out!

Q. YCH Auctions?
Though I did one over the holidays fairly recently, I'm hesitant to do auctions. A lot of winners back out, leaving the second place winner holding the bag. When the second place winner can't pay (and rightfully so), it goes to the third place winner - so on and so forth. Sometimes, there's only a few people bidding on these auctions. When the winner bids multiple times and then backs out, the second place winner can feel like the auction was unfairly inflated. There are alternative auction sites, but not enough users frequent those sites to make them worthwhile.

The bottom line is that auctions are too high-risk for someone who does this full time with no other source of income. At least, it has been in my experience.

That doesn't mean I won't do auctions, but it does mean they won't happen very often. Auctions come on a case-by-case basis when I have a pose idea I really need to get out and won't be put in a difficult financial spot if the auction doesn't come through.

Q. You are way undercharging yourself. Why?
I'm actually kind of thrilled this question came up so many times. The last time I raised my prices was over a year ago, which may be a partial cause. However, I don't think I ever viewed it as undercharging until recently when I timed my hours of work and realized I was making sub-minimum wage. Ouch! It explains why I've been barely scraping by on some freelancing-related bills. Hopefully this survey will change some of that. I certainly don't see the new prices as undercharging by any means, but I'm sure some of you will disagree. And I'm sure some of you will think I'm way overcharging. Nonetheless, these prices come from the average of over 100 answers, for which I'm truly grateful. Thank you all!

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And I believe that's everything! If you have any questions, concerns or comments, please let me know! Thank you again!

Sketchmissions sale will start tomorrow!

NO NOTES.
ALL FORMS MUST BE POSTED IN JOURNAL.
You can note me your Paypal e-mail if that's a security issue.

All icons will be completed by the end of the day, March 17th.

Slot reservation is at FULL PAYMENT RECEIVED.
Icons are 800x800px uploaded to FA,
100x100px received by note.
No previews. No changes.

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Full Icons!
Fully lined, colored and cel-shaded!
Could also be considered a portrait commission!

Example
Example
Couples Example
Humanoid Example
Old Example
Old Example
Old Example

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TO ORDER:
Fill out the following form and post it in the journal. NO NOTES please! It's so hard to keep track of.
NEW ORDER
Number of Characters: [All prices are per character.]
Couples Icon or Separate: [Couples | Separate - Leave blank if you're ordering one character]
References: [Image references ONLY, up to two references per character with clear shot of face.]
Paypal e-mail: [Sending Paypal invoice to the e-mail provided here.]

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WAITING LIST
5.
6.


This is just a means of contacting me. I'm not leaving FA, and I'm not siding one way or another. I'm business only here!

I can always be contacted via e-mail at artist@onyxavia.com. And, as always, I will always be right here on FA.

I will try to get my website www.onyxavia.com up and running within the next week or so. It's still running off of my old style and prices from a few years ago when I used it regularly, so it is currently not up-to-date or usable. This website will, within the next few weeks, have my scheduled sales dates, prices, updated gallery and an order form.

This will be a supplement to ordering on FA if you are not available here. Journals will continue to be posted right here and orders will still be taken in journal.

However, if you are leaving FA, my e-mail is the best way to contact me at this time.

If you would like to be added to a mailing list for updates and sales times, regardless of whether you're leaving FA or not, please contact me at artist[at]onyxavia.com with the subject "Mailing List Addition." By doing so, you will receive my schedule of sales at the beginning of the month, an e-mail each time I open for commissions and an e-mail each time I close.

Please - no drama in the journal comments. I simply want to post this in order to inform you of other ways to contact me off of FA.

This journal covers a detailed explanation of why I took two and a half months off from commissions.
Below is a time table regarding the problems with my eye since August.

I finally have an official diagnosis for my eye - and it's so much better than expected! I went to see an ophthalmologist located within a local hospital today. He said that I have scleritis caused by my immune system's overreaction to the corneal ulcer from August 25th. Scleritis is the inflammation of the the surface of the white part of your eye. It's treated far differently than uveitis or standard inflammation - it's actually a cheaper, easier treating process as long as it doesn't get out of control. All I have to do is take an NSAID such as Aleve twice a day for a month. Within a week, I can even start wearing contacts again!

There were a few things that led to this diagnosis - 1. I do have a few (minor) autoimmune problems. 2. I had a video of my eye from the day I started experiencing the bruising pain that very definitively showed scleritis. 3. It was almost actually cleared up today because I'd been taking Aleve for the past week to calm a constant headache I've had from my prescription change.

It would take an ophthalmologist who took the whole of my situation into account - my autoimmune problems PLUS my eye pain - to correctly diagnose me. That's why I've been having issues getting diagnosed.

I know many people on here have significant health issues. I am deeply moved by many of the journal entries I see. I am definitely not one of them though. I'm pretty healthy, so having issues like this was really strange!

Now I will still need some continued time off. My eye still needs about another week to fully heal from the strain I've put on it over the past month and a half. In addition, my prescription has drastically changed and my new lenses won't be in for a week and a half. Once I get my new prescription, I should be back to work.

I really hate that I will miss doing Halloween commissions. They're absolutely my favorite seasonal commissions. Maybe I can make up for it in November!

Also, thank you to everyone who has commented here and supported me. A GIANT thank you to my commissioners who have been so incredibly patient. I seriously have the best support in the world right here and I couldn't be happier with my decision to join the furry community as an artist. You guys rock.

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Why I've been unable to work on commissions.
Posted on October 16th. Any additional edits or notes after that date are italicized.
Here is the timeline from the date I took these commissions to now.

August 1st: Signed lease at a new apartment.
August 16th: Open commissions for the current queue on Friday as per usual schedule.
August 16th: Husband suddenly receives new job.
August 19th - 25th: Moving week.
August 19th: Husband flies several states over for a week-long job training, leaving me to pack. End up taking this week off to pack.
August 25th: Moving day.
August 25th: Diagnosed with corneal ulcer (infected abrasion of the eye, most likely from dust during moving). Told to stay off of the computer.
September 9th: Get completely unpacked.
September 10th: Notice eye is better, but still have white patch.
September 12th: Diagnosed with eye strain and accumulation of white blood cells in eye. Told to stay off the computer.
September 19th: Eye finally clears.
September 20th - 22nd: Out of town.
September 23rd: Take a day to recuperate.
September 24th: Develop bruising pain, red patch in eye. Broken blood vessel?
September 26th: Bruising pain intensifies. Diagnosed with inflammation. Steroid drops continue. Told I can resume work.
October 2nd: Pain remains. Steroid drop dosage upped. Told to stay off the computer.
October 6th: Develop blurred vision.
October 7th: Major vision change: from +5.5, +5.25 to +4.25, +3.75. Vision has never changed my entire life. Told I may have diabetes, MS or a tumor.
October 9th: See doctor. Have blood tests and an MRI ordered.
October 10th: Told it's not diabetes.
October 11th: Have MRI.
October 14th: Told it's not MS or a tumor. Begin setting up appointments with different ophthalmologists.
Edited in after posting journal to give a full timeline:
October 17th: See new ophthalmologist. Officially diagnosed with Autoimmune Scleritis. Major vision change: from +5.5, +5.25 to +3.75, +2.25.
October 28th: Get new glasses prescription. Hold off on contacts until given all-clear.
November 6th: Last ophthalmologist appointment - given the all clear!
November 8th: Start working again after taking two and a half months off.

I've been actively working on the problem with my eye since it began. All appointments made were the soonest I could make them from the moment I needed to do so. At this point, I'm thinking it's uveitis or scleritis [Note: I TOTALLY CALLED IT, lol], but I'm not sure - and I won't know anything until after this week.

NO NOTES.
ALL FORMS MUST BE POSTED IN JOURNAL.
You can note me your Paypal e-mail if that's a security issue.

You will receive a preview sketch where you may change up to 25% of the image by 1 week after payment received.
You will receive the completed illustration 3 weeks after payment received.
Final resolution: 3000px on longest side, or 10" at 300 dpi!

Depending on interest, this may not be a first-come, first-serve.
Please do not be upset if I don't choose you!

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FULL COLOR ILLUSTRATION
$75 PER CHARACTER
Won't draw: Cub/child porn, feral porn.
Will draw: Just about everything else.

EXAMPLES: GENERAL | GENERAL | NUDITY | NUDITY | XXX | XXX

SOME CHARACTER QUALITIES MAY COST EXTRA.
Includes: Wings, taurs, nagas and complex markings as well as detailed clothes, armor and accessories.
Backgrounds also cost extra.

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TO ORDER:
Fill out the following form and post it in the journal. NO NOTES please! It's so hard to keep track of.
NEW ORDER
Number of Characters: [All prices are per character.]
References: [Up to three links per character. Picture refs only - ANY DESCRIPTION ADDED COSTS EXTRA.]
Rating: [Choose one: General | Tasteful Nudity | XXX]
Pose: [One sentence description of pose and/or reference image per character.]
Background: [One sentence description of bg and/or reference image]
Paypal e-mail: [Sending Paypal invoice to the e-mail provided here.]

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WAITING LIST
Color Codes:
Waiting on Response | Not Started
Ball & Stick'ed | Sketched
Lined | Flatted | Shaded

1. OPEN