The 2-page comic was supposed to make at most 8 days to draw. Instead, it took 16.

I've been running slowly on all my projects recently. The Stoaty Pepper picture took two days when it should have taken one (compared to the time I drew this in 1 day). The only project that didn't take too long (at least compared to the time I devoted to it) was the Nick and Bill story I also wrote.

Besides that, I've rather been stressed as of late. The job interview I had last week didn't pan out. I've been joining a few new meetups recently so I can socialize and network more. I've been ramping up my studying for another certification in a few weeks. I've been dealing with a couple of scam calls and some unemployment assistance -- on top of whatever else is going on in the world. Finances aren't great, but I have some support so that I don't need to start taking commissions. But what I need most of all is regular sleep and a consistent work schedule every day.

I'm going to continue drawing and producing art. But I'm going to do so for myself, and not for anyone else, until I can bring some calm progress back to my life. (And despite the numerous TF ideas I have, probably won't enter the TF Game Jam either, until I can get my non-TF games working, so that I can better estimate my productivity speed.)

I'm not comparing myself to other artists here. Just to myself.

In case everyone missed it in the last journal, congratulations to   airmanstupid for winning the sequence! I'll be working on it for the next few days, look for it sometime next week! And keep an eye out, I might be reopening for commissions when it does.

A big thank you to everyone who entered! I hope you all stick around for the next milestone raffle, I look forward to it!

Yesterday morning, I got my 1000th watcher. A big THANK YOU to everyone who's enjoyed my work enough to follow, it always means a lot to see another watcher.

For those of you who aren't aware, every 100 watchers, I hold a raffle to give someone a free standalone of their character or a TF of their choice. I've done a couple of variations along the way, one of which was bold enough to have a 2-stage TF.

For this SPECIAL milestone, I'm doing something BIGGER. Instead of 1 standalone image, I'm doing a 2-page comic sequence. Up to 3 full body shots and up to 4 close-ups per page. Think something like a page from my costume party sequence or my kangaroo sequence, only you get TWO pages. It's a $200+ deal you can get FOR FREE!*

IN ADDITION, ANYONE who is currently watching me may enter, even if you won an earlier raffle. This is a BIG change from previous raffles where I filtered out previous winners. For THIS raffle, ANY of my watchers may enter. Just leave a comment below, and you're in!

Entries will be accepted until October 9th at 4:00 PM EST. A winner will be chosen within the hour, and I will update this journal with the winner and reach out to them. Have your species, ref, and scenario ready, and I can begin the comic the next day!

Standard commission do's and don'ts apply.


EDIT:   drybonesbones won the raffle! Sending them a PM for info. Thanks to everyone for participating!

^{* Going to lower my prices a tad when I reopen commissions, I think.}

The easiest thing to do on the Internet is to disappear. Just avoid social media for a few days, and eventually there gets to be so much backlog that it's not worth going back to remind yourself of what you've missed out on.

I'm not going to pretend that I've been on some great journey or found some insight. I lost my job back in July. I've had time to get over it, but I've been putting my energy into things besides socializing -- my boyfriend, art, and IT studies. I finally earned my A+ certification last week, which should help out with the job search. But I haven't seen any immediate results, other than another set of scammers trying to take advantage of me. Could I just get a recruiter who's interested in me and my journey, and not in me and my money?

I don't want to wallow in self-pity for too long. But it's these times of self-isolation that I'm most in need of socialization, yet also when I'm at my most difficult to socialize with. How does one escape the hermit trap?

Due to recent events, the next Argent page will be delayed by one day. Thank you for your patience.

I haven't posted a journal in a while. Life has been chugging along without major incidents. I'm working in the day, drawing at night, and trying to get out of the house on weekends.

There's a game store called Miniature Market, with two locations near me about the same distance. One has game nights on Thursdays; the other, on Fridays. I haven't decided yet which one I'll go to. Until further notice, no more art streams on Thursdays or Fridays.

If anyone knows of any events happening in the St Louis area, let me know! I'm happy to make more local friends!

Hello again. Did anyone here miss my journals?

Since late April, I was living in a guesthouse where internet was unreliable and not my own. Now I finally have my own apartment with internet, so I can go back to streaming in the evenings.

I'll be regularly switching between my full-color camel sequence and the seal comic that I announced last week. The idea will be to swap between them so I don't burn out on either.

In the future, streams will take place between 6pm and 9pm Eastern time on weekdays, and from 4pm to 9pm on weekends. I'll be posting more specific notices on my Bluesky. And if I decide to change up my streams in some way (like commission price changes, free sketches, YCHs, etc), I'll post another journal. That way, there won't be endless journals announcing the same thing, and make it more likely for you all to read them.

I look forward to starting this next chapter of my life!

Inking the 3rd page of a 12-page camel TF sequence today. It'll probably take five or six hours. I've been putting announcements for my shorter 2-to-3-hour streams on Bluesky, but since this is longer, I feel better putting this in a journal.

https://picarto.tv/Rimme

https://picarto.tv/Rimme

Bring your own music night.

Does anyone else know the Robb Johnson Band? Seriously, such a talented underrated band, making me rethink my Apple Music subscription.

Also unabashedly left-wing so...

I'm moving on to other bands for tonight, but here:

https://picarto.tv/Rimme

I've got so many things on my mind right now. I'm trying to take care of one thing at a time, but it's difficult when there are so many things to juggle at the moment.

I got a new job working in St. Louis, so I've been looking at all the factors that go into moving to a new city. I've also been trying to give HR all the info they need. I'm anxious to begin, but also anxious not to lose the routine I already have. I suppose I'll find a new routine, but don't be surprised if I go more silent than usual over the next few weeks.

Inking tonight

https://picarto.tv/Rimme

If I could reduce all my dissatisfaction with the world to one thing, it would be the linear march of time. I take way too long to initiate things. I spend too much time on past things. I struggle to find the perfect answer and respond perfectly. I avoid social interactions for fear of making the wrong interaction. I fidget constantly through movies because I want to be able to rewind or pause. I freak out about losing track of my belongings.

All of this was hammered home when I read through some old doctor reports today. I read about my 4-year-old self actively avoiding other children to engage in solitary activities. I loved playing on the computer because it gave me control over my interactions with others. Perhaps most importantly, I think, it does not interrupt me or force me to continue or abandon a train of thought. It is always content to wait for me on my own terms.

Real life isn't like that. Drawing isn't like that. Whether I want to or not, I have to stick to a schedule and stay focused on work. Because if I don't, time will run out, and everyone will be disappointed over something that could have been avoided.

I'm starting another page of a dog TF commission. Feel free to stop by. I truly do appreciate anyone who visits and leaves a comment. Anything at all.

https://picarto.tv/Rimme

Still feeling a bit overwhelmed with lots of activity today and drawing so much over the past week. I think I need to take a night off so I can figure out what to do for the next week and do some unpacking and much needed housework.

Thanks for all the favorites, I know my traditional artwork doesn't get quite as many favorites as my digital art, but I'm very pleased with how most of them turned out.

So, having spent a week on spring vacation with my boyfriend, I ended up drawing a lot of TF pictures. In fact, I filled up my drawing pad. I'll be uploading them tonight and tomorrow night.

Meanwhile, I'll be coloring a picture of me and him becoming a capybara and rat in my sketchbook. It should take about 2 hours or so.

https://picarto.tv/Rimme
https://picarto.tv/Rimme
https://picarto.tv/Rimme

https://picarto.tv/Rimme
https://picarto.tv/Rimme
https://picarto.tv/Rimme

I'm currently out doing laundry, a bit later than I wanted thanks to Daylight Savings. I should be back and underway at 6:30 PM ET to continue my drawing from yesterday.

EDIT: 7 PM ET

https://picarto.tv/Rimme

A binturong TF, perhaps?

2 binturong TFs, perhaps?

https://picarto.tv/Rimme

I've been thinking over my various options for what to do tonight. I'm going out to a family dinner tonight, so I don't know when I'll be back. And when I do get back, I'd like to work on something other than the camel, if at all.

But then I thought of something. I've been spending an hour every morning on the next AFCAH page (which sadly won't be released today despite it being 2 weeks after the previous page). I've got 1 and a half panels inked, so I could continue inking them after I get back from dinner.

Don't think I'll be streaming, though. It's not going to be terribly long, and I might be doing other things as well to catch up on some mental energy. I might do another TF drawing on Saturday or Sunday, we'll see what happens.

Thank you for your patience, everyone.

Another camel stream. It's one page a day, after all. This is going to be one of the last TF-heavy pages, unfortunately.

https://picarto.tv/Rimme

This time sketching out a later part of the series.

Dang, I promised I'd start earlier this time, but it's still 6 PM ET. Ah well.

https://picarto.tv/Rimme

Camel sketching tonight. I have 10 nights to go before another vacation, and another 6 pages to sketch, so I need to step up a bit to get them all sketched out by vacation time.

I'll be listening to more Big Big Train tonight as well, pretty groovy band to draw to.

https://picarto.tv/Rimme at 5 PM ET.

First stream of March, and I'm going to do something interesting tonight, and draw a TF image on paper for my fiance's birthday.

I've got the webcam set up; I'll start streaming in about half an hour (gotta have dinner first). Feel free to join me here after 5:30 PM ET:

https://picarto.tv/Rimme

While I'm currently living at my mom's house, I ought to respect the utility bills she pays. (Most of my money is going to counseling and groceries for myself.) So when she gets a notice that the data limit has been reached, and additional data will be charged extra, I feel obliged to do what I can to minimize it. And streaming video and music accounts for the largest portion of my data, so I'm going to go without streaming until March.

It's hard not to stream, admittedly. Having even one or two people watch my streams helps keep me focused. I've been letting in some bad habits during the past few nights off-stream, where instead of focusing 100% on drawing, I'm maybe 25% focused on drawing and 75% on internet videos or impulse game sessions. But I will do my best to self-discipline with music CDs and my phone data if necessary.

I wish there were still good music stores nearby. I wouldn't mind impulse-buying some Beethoven or Mozart or Neil Young or Mike Oldfield or, God willing, Camel or Renaissance.