Anthrocon was good. I got lots of surprises which made me happy despite the fact that I wasn't feeling well. Allergies are annoying. I also spent most of the time missing my boyfriend since we were both pretty busy the entire con, and barely saw each other at all. At least I get to be home with him now.

Today, I have completed another lap around the sun.

It always feels weird to reach an age that I associate with other people in my life (when I met somebody, they were that old, etc). Mainly because I still feel as dorky as I've been.


I would like to get some work done on art today, but I know it's going to be a crazy day of driving around, AND I'm hopefully going to see Up later, too.

I don't think I've been to the movies since my birthday last year O_o

Yeah, you know the one.

If you're going and want to say hi or possibly get something from me, I'll be around, hopefully in the artist alley. It's possible that I'll hang out in the zoo afterhours. I might stay hidden in my room a lot though.


There's so little time left, now x_X

I'm still trying to see what I can accomplish before the end of the day.

I've discussed my opinions about Michael Jackson before, but today was certainly a startling end to a life that still had much to give the world.

I understand the allegations against the man, but based on the way he was brought up in this world and the unspeakable experiences he has faced, I've always believed there was more than just the accusations. It's not an excuse, but certainly a reason why he may have needed real help... if the accusations weren't opportunistic bullshit to begin with.

As others have said today, I prefer to remember him the way he was when I watched him on TV in awe, from the early-mid eighties through the nineties. Michael was always something to behold, and I feel bad that his self esteem was so damaged that he had to change himself so drastically just to not see his own father's face in the mirror. I have no doubt that Michael would have still been himself if he had been able to let it happen... even then, I still know he was a beautiful person on the inside.

He's done SO much for music and world- and race- relations. He helped bring people together so many times, and encouraged an attitude of improving yourself and what's around you with your own power. He is and was an agent of change in so many ways. I highly doubt any performer will be able to even come close to his level of appeal and talent and energy.

It's fine if you're tired of seeing these tributes to him, but I promise you it's not over yet. He deserves every bit of memorial, I just wish he was alive to see it.

I had really hoped there would still be the chance to meet him someday, to give him a hug and tell him thank you.

All I hope now is that his children are safe and grow up to be themselves, and that Michael is finally at peace.



...of course, if he happened to come back as a dancing zombie, I'd probably welcome that too. That's saying something, because I really don't care much for zombies.

Just a quick journal to let people know that I'll be at Anthrocon in a couple of weeks. I plan to get a spot in the artist alley at least one of the days, but I'll be around. Maybe. I'm mostly going to hang out with close friends that I don't get to see very often.

While I'm in the Alley, I plan to do commissions of the sketch and con badge variety, and they should be -very- reasonably priced, and hopefully the time it takes me to do them won't be too bad, either. I will have samples on hand so you can get an idea of what to expect. I'll only be taking a couple at a time, so if you see me when my queue is full, don't be afraid to check back later :D I'm not going to let myself get too bogged down, and I do not plan to take any homework, though I may work on somethings from one night to the next while AT the con.


Currently, and more importantly of course, I'm working on my existing list of commissions below. I hope to have several of them done before the con, both to clear them off of my worklist and hopefully to give them to their owners.

If you will be attending AC and would like to pick up your commission at the con, please let me know so I can try to prepare in a logical fashion. As it stands, any AC commissions from before will be priority.

I was hoping to take some badge pre-orders for the con, but I don't feel comfortable doing it yet. I'll update again if my situation changes.


As usual, if you have any questions or concerns, PLEASE feel free to email me. My email address is at the bottom of this entry.

For the immediate moment, it would seem I have some additional time to work on commissions. I've currently been doing my best to crank out a sketch for everyone who hasn't gotten at least that much yet, and from there I'll do whatever is next. I truly want to thank everyone who has been waiting for paid work for their patience... and I hope I haven't angered anyone. I'm always reachable by email if you have questions or concerns, or if you don't hear from me right away, and it is not my intention to wimp out on anything I owe. I want very much to get everything moving and done.

Goodness knows I would love to able to take another commission or two right now, and could REALLY use that... but I'm sticking to my guns about getting the older stuff done first. No sense piling more on top when people are waiting for such a long time.

I will be posting stuff as it's finished, if I get the okay from the person who bought it. I do have some things completed, but I'm waiting to hear back from the people about their reactions. This may mean that stuff I've already done won't get posted until after AC. But we'll see. As long as it's done, it really doesn't matter--I still get to cross it off the list-- but I like being able to show off my work, too.


 fossil Auctions
If you ask nicely, you might get him to agree to include a full-color print along with the ink if you win... but I don't know what he's got planned. He may need some additional... motivation XD

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/772797/

I do not enjoy the feeling of anxiety attacks. I keep wanting to come home from work and do art stuff, and then I don't have time. And I need to get stuff done. I need to get stuff done BADLY.

The need and the want are about the same... I need the positive feelings I get from completing a piece and crossing something else off the list, and I'm itching to create.

I've been poring over my old sketchbooks, looking at finished drawings I've done as well as sketches that could still be finished, examining them for clues about how I used to draw. I like the detail I've been doing lately, but it comes at such a price in terms of time, and isn't always necessary. There is something about the clean simplified lines of some of my older work that really does command attention in its own right. I'd like to combine my more recent growth in skill with the positive aspects of my older stuff, and see how that does. Can you believe there was a time when I'd draw and finish things in the same day? Perhaps It'll happen again.

I'm debating about taking pre-order con badges and/or whelp/pup/chibi images in time for AC, but only if I get more of my list done. I won't be dealing at the con, so online may be your only way of getting stuff from me. The upside, of course, is that you might actually have such images to enjoy it AT the con.

Nothing major... just felt like posting SOMETHING, since the older entry was pretty pointless.

Since I'm sort of getting things done, I took the opportunity to update my commission list. No, it didn't magically get huge, it was always that long... I just had most of it listed on my dA before. Seeing as how my dA sub ran out a couple of months ago, though, it's such an ad-infested wasteland right now, and if I try to update THAT journal, it'll lose the headers and footers I had on it... so it is important to port the full list over here anyway.

Perhaps having it all in one place will encourage me to get more done faster. Goodness knows I'd like to... I feel bad about owing people stuff for so long. I do look forward to posting some finished stuff ^^

I managed to get a fair amount of stuff unpacked this evening, in addition to putting away the holiday decorations. I also found the stack of in-progress (non-sketchbook) artwork that I was looking for, so I think just about everything is accounted for, now.

I need to finish some things so I can take 3-4 new commissions, in the next day or so. I've got a few things almost done. But we'll see.

I guess if you're interested, stay tuned.

(x-posted to LJ)

And Happy Holidays to everyone ^^

I am grateful to be warm and cozy in our apartment, with the surprisingly comfy futon we splurged for, over the weekend. I also went a little crazy today, buying stuff to make cookies and cupcakes and warm chocolate spoogecakes... but what are the holidays without celebratory baked goods, right? :D

Our tree is all sparkly.

And I suppose it's only right to top a fiber optic tree with Seven of Nine (it was caliosidhe's idea).

My New Year's resolutions mostly involve finishing and mailing commissions, and drawing more in general.

The blanket nest on the floor is okay... but nowhere near as comfy :/ I really hope we can go buy a mattress when I get paid Friday... with everything so tight, my checks have been gone before the direct deposit even goes through.

Of course, that makes it even more ridiculous that I've been wishing I had money to commission people with.

I need to get more of my outstanding commissions done so I can do more trades again... and/or possibly take more commissions to go towards comfy things of greater importance :(

While this isn't meant to be a rule 34 discussion post, all I have to say is that it bothers me when people insist on drawing porn of everything. You don't even know what a character is like, and yet you're compelled to draw porn of it, for what reason... just because you feel the need to see it naked?

Not even artistically nude... spread and objectified.

I'm all for women (and men too, of course) being in control of themselves and finding empowerment in controlling their image, to be a lusted after object or not.

But why does everything become blatant naked porn so fast?

What do you have against clothes? Fashion can be such a provocative thing, even without being revealing... it always has been.

Sure, you're going to get a bunch of hits and new watches and faves because you've posted porn of a character... but you didn't even stop to think about what the character's creator thinks or feels about the issue.

How would you like it if someone took a character of yours and drew it however they wanted, without knowing that it goes against their character?

Are we just supposed to grit our teeth as we smile and say thank you, because it's important to be polite? Forgive you automatically for your ignorance? Say, "oh, how was he supposed to know"?

Maybe I'm just too big on canon. Maybe I take stuff too seriously. But there are ways you can be much more creative without ripping off a character's clothes.

Something to think about:

If the character's creator normally draws nudes and porn of his characters, but has never even done a pic of this particular one blatantly undressed...

Maybe there's a reason why and you shouldn't either.

If you've at all been wondering why I've been particularly quiet this past week, yeah. My boyfriend and I moved to a new apartment and didn't have internet set up until today.

Also, they've been cracking down on internet/chatting at my job, so I decided it's better to not risk it. Especially since I'm still on new-hire probation for three more months. I don't want to do anything to lose the job, especially something that dumb, and then have to worry about what will happen to everything else that requires money.

Bleh.

Everything is a mess... there's a lot to unpack and not many places to organize it yet.

I have all the sketchbooks that we owe people together in one bag next to my desk though, so we know where those are, and our art supplies are all accessible for the most part. I have a small desk for my computer thanks to Terrulen and Caliosidhe, but Fossil's desk might take awhile to acquire. No matter what, it's going to take a little time to settle in and re-orient ourselves, so please be patient.

Hopefully once everything is settled, it'll mean a lot more productivity from both of us.

I do have a table in the dealer's room, doing sketches or badges and whatever while I'm there. I am only taking one item at a time, first come, first served, and no take-homes (I might work on a book overnight for returning the next day, but nothing that requires it to come home with me). I'd love to do sketch trades if there's time :)

I doubt I'll have any new prints, because there's very little time left, and I haven't done much that I'd feel comfortable selling copies of.

I'm doing my best to finish things I owe to people, and hopefully I'll be able to give back a lot of sketchbooks at the con (especially since I do have some that are finished already!).

If I owe you something and you're going to FurFright, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

ALSO, if you are waiting on commissions from me and you would like a refund, please contact me privately (email is best: emilie at scullyraptor.com) and we can set that up. I don't want anyone to feel like their money is being held hostage, and also I know that I've been taking an exceptionally long time to get to people's projects. I sincerely apologize for that, and again, I have no problem refunding.

I've been contemplating just refunding everything anyway, but I can't bring myself to do it. A good number of the pictures I've really been looking forward to working on, and I'd feel terrible for bailing on anyone that's been looking forward to seeing those pictures, too. I know what it's like. So, it's up to you.

I just want to make sure everyone is happy, and that there hopefully aren't any bad feelings.

Another thing about the con-- any con, really. I've gotten a lot better over the years, but I'm still really shy and nervous, so I might seem startled or antisocial... and I'm working hard to break myself out of my dorkiness/con jitters so I don't come across in a bad way like that. Please feel free to say hi if you see me around!

Borrowed from Warzy Because there's no denying it.

A : Easy to fall in love with.
B : You like people.
C : You are really silly.
D : one in a million.
E : Great in bed.
F : You are dead sexy.
G : You never let people tell you what to do.
H : You are Quirky.
I : Great in bed.
J : People Adore you
K : You're wild and crazy.
L : Unbelievably great in bed.
M : best kisser ever.
N : You like to drink.
O : Crazy
P : You are popular with all types of people.
Q : You are a hypocrite.
S : You love to drink
R : Fucking crazy.
T : You're loyal to those you love.
U : You really like to chill.
V : You are not judgmental.
W : You are very broad minded.
X : You never let people tell you what to do.
Y : best boy/girl friend any one can ask for.
Z : Always ready.

My Name:

E : Great in bed.
M : best kisser ever.
I : Great in bed.
L : Unbelievably great in bed.
I : Great in bed.
E : Great in bed.

So, yeah. ;)

I really don't understand why people are confused/surprised/etc when draws mammals.

I mean, I know he's KNOWN for drawing balloon-titted dinosaur girls... but you'd never know it at cons, where EVERYONE commissions him for mammals. A lot of MALE mammals too. And don't forget KITTI BELLE. You know, Fossil's token mammal member of the Jurassic Beauties? Maybe he doesn't draw her as often as he should, but she's still representing.


Also, the strange perception that his website is a pay site. I mean, I helped him build that site, and if it's generating any revenue that we don't know about, tell us, because we'd really like to go to Disney World and Universal Studios! :D I assure [anyone who cares] that his site is 100% free and has a fair amount of art that isn't posted on FA, mostly out of laziness, but also because his site was up and running before he joined FA.


As far as dinosaurs, he's not the only artist who draws them. People are always coming up to him raving about the fact that he's the only artist they know that draws dinosaurs, or sexy dinosaurs, or scaly things, or something... and Fossil always corrects them, but still... how much have you not been paying attention? There are so many awesome scaly and dinosaur artists in the fandom. Fossil and I (and a few other people have mentioned too) have always planned to make a list of people, but it got out of hand very quickly :)

You may not be able to SEARCH FA for dinosaurs, but you can still FILTER by species! even by sex! Go, they're out there!

1. AC was fun
2. FA:U was also fun
3. Still working on commissions
4. Refused to take an overload of stuff at FA:U! :D
5. Started new job the day after FA:U
6. *is busy*
7. Hoping to get all commissions done by Furfright
8. Laughter is acceptable here
9. Also hoping to draw nifty halloween stuff for Furfright!
10. Summer is not over yet!
11. We had crazy hail and funnel clouds RIGHT HERE! LINK

And now it's time for bed. Way past time for bed.

I has a cozyraptor! <3

Getting down to the wire as usual ^^

I'm doing my best to finish more commissions before Anthrocon, so hopefully I'll be uploading a couple over the next couple weeks.

I don't know that I'll have any new art to sell at the con, but I still have a little time, so we'll see what happens... and of course I'll be doing on-the-spot sketchbook drawings and badges at my table, anyway. I don't think that I'm going to do take-home assignments this year, because I really don't want to add to my commission list before it's done, and I miss working on my own art.

I may have said that before, but I'm sticking to it this time. I don't like owing people art for such a long time. It's not fun for anyone.

YAY I got to see Speed Racer today with my favorite birthday loveraptor, and it was a lot of fun. The backgrounds were like neon exploding everywhere, but the movie was goooood.

The move was gooooooood because I love the silly old cartoon, and the movie was a beautiful homage ^^

<3<3<3

Also,

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!




And, don't forget to take a look at Cali's commission auctions! <3
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/375442/

Cali just posted some auctions to help fund a special trip to visit her dad! She's been gearing up to do this for awhile, so I'm glad to help pimp her arts to help her out--

Please take a look, because there's sure to be something for everyone-- especially her beautiful and affordable badges!

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/375442/

NY Comic Con this past weekend was amazing. Cali had been to various comic conventions before, and knew what to expect, but this was my first time going to a really big event like that. As I mentioned, we only went for Saturday, because of work and finances, but by the end of the day we were so worn out, I don't know if I can imagine what it would have been like to go all three days ^^

The dealers area was a lot of fun, and somewhat made me wish I had more money to budget to getting goodies, but I was good about not trying to tempt myself much with comics. The only things I really splurged on were markers (the art supplies dealers were really nice and helpful!) for myself and Cali, and a neat tee shirt for Fossil. Yay for instant gratification! Part of me wished that I had the cash to burn to get one of the big beanbag chairs that one dealer was selling... they were really comfy and nicely made. It would have been so silly dragging it home on the train! XD

There were people there that I didn't expect, like James Gurney ^^ I didn't realize he was going to be there until Cali and I were standing in front of the table where he was going to be autographing big lithographs for the new Dinotopia book-- so I camped out and was first in line-- He seems like such a nice man! As usual, I clammed up and wasn't able to say what I would have liked... I was also sad that I missed the panel he ran, a "Behind the Scenes" of Dinotopia, which I found out about from the guy who started the line behind me, while we were waiting for Mr. Gurney to arrive. I wish I had taken the time to read the panel descriptions in the program! The litho is really nice though, and I can't wait to get it framed.

I also got my issue #1 of the first Gargoyles comic signed by Amanda Conner, and it was cool to meet her, too! I didn't have the guts to mention that I've read every issue of Barbie and Barbie Fashion... but I have to admit, I'm really curious about the stuff she's doing now :D

Walking around the artist alley and the indie house creator booths was really something. If anything, it pointed out to me how much I need to do before I'd feel comfortable sitting next to any of these hardworking, amazing people. Even if I wasn't interested in the art or concept of a fair amount of the books, I can still appreciate the work put into them, and the professional vibe of everything.

All in all, the con was a good experience, and I'd love to go again next year ^^

Another week of work... I want to finish fixing my computer tonight and get coloring done. I really do. Augh.

I'm very much looking forward to New York Comic Con ^^ Basically just planning to roam around on Saturday with friends and maybe pick up a new graphic novel or TBP if I find anything particularly tasty.

I would definitely like to get some art progress done by then, but evenings have a way of getting away from me. I'm doing my best. I did get some coloring done last night, so I hope to keep it rolling! Doing the rest of the transfers and setting up on my computer is going to distract me a little XD


On a mostly unrelated topic, if you went to I-CON this year (or any year in the past, or intend to in the future), the con now has a message board where you can communicate and discuss things with con staff so we can get feedback on the cons and suggestions for the future. It's sort of quiet at the moment, but that's just because it's new. Help us make next year even better!

As a couple of people helped confirm, EIDE vs. IDE is essentially the same thing, and has been, for at least a while. So, yay internet for misleading me with outdated and obfuscated infos XD

The falling cost of diskspace is such that I was able to get a 500GB drive for about the same as a 160GB (thanks to sales, etc). I would have been happy just straight-up replacing my windows drive with something small, but peer pressure made me cave in and instead replace my Art/Media drive which is still reasonably new and healthy... leaving that drive free for a reformat and windows install. Or something.

I started the drive transfer around maybe... 8pm last night, and it's still likely to be going when I get home this evening.

I have a fair amount to work on offline, though, so I have no reason to feel slighted by the downtime.

Also, *licks the newest additions to my markers* Thank goodness that Pearl actually had some Copics I wanted/needed in stock. I'm wary of the cheap-looking, cheaply-priced copic knockoffs they're suddenly carrying, though. Cali got one to try out, but I don't trust them. Materials are materials, I know-- I've seen some brilliant work done with cheaper markers-- but I'm addicted to Copic's delicious brush tips.

I definitely want to get some coloring done tonight. And maybe some light gardening right when I get home, if it's still light out and not too chilly. The jaunt to Virginia over the weekend was teasing, with warm, humid, flowery prettiness that just reminds me how close summer will soon be... <3

At the risk of possibly encouraging the behavior, which I'm not endorsing... I really need to address this.

I've been Rickrolled twice by phone now. I don't MIND the fact that I've been Rickrolled. It's still somewhat amusing for the time being... but it's going to get old, really fast.

The ISSUE is that I'm being Rickrolled when I'm trying to sleep. The first one was at 4:00AM on Tuesday, I think, and the second was this morning at 5:00AM.

I have to get up in the morning to go to work. And I really like sleeping.

I don't freely give out my cell number, so I thought I should be able to trust most people that have it... and of course, since the calls are coming from an automated system, I can't see who is doing it :(

If it happened once and the person took credit for it, I'd probably laugh and appreciate the thought, even if it happened at a weird time of night, but right now I'm just sad that I'm being prank called by anonymous.

I know, it took a few days for me to update ^^

I-CON was pretty good this year-- and definitely a good year for learning. The Anthropomorphics programming seemed to get more attention than ever this year, both from furs and non-furs alike. I didn't notice any negative issues to come from this, but it did give me a lot to think about, especially when it comes to considering panel topics and titles for next year. Furs are rather esoteric in terms of humor and motivation, sometimes, which can be difficult to work around in a mixed audience.

Highlights of the con included going with Fossil to meet his first Ghostbuster, Ernie Hudson (Winston), and meeting Tim Russ (Tuvok from ST:Voyager). It was also good to see friends that I went to college with, who have since graduated. I really wanted to go to the Browncoat Shindig, but was ultimately too lazy/busy to remember to check and see if it conflicted with our panels. We met some of the people from the Browncoats of NYC at their fan/info table, though, which was neat because I do want to look into going to some of the events.

After the con on Sunday night, Fossil and I went back to Cali's house with Era, Luna, Warsaw, Creature, Terrulen, and Dracos Blackwing to hang out, and I lured over Neo/Fox because I was finishing a sketch in his "Furtrix" themed sketchbook. Fossil showed everyone the crazy prettiness that is Geometry Wars, and got utterly pwned by the full version of the game (we knew it would happen, after playing the trial so many times XD). Later on, Era got us doing karaoke with his American Idol game, but I didn't like it as much as the Karaoke Revolution game I played a few years ago. It didn't help that it graded you based on undulating vocalizations that would make Celine Dion and Whitney Houston proud. We all sucked for various reasons (my voice was shot from projecting during panels), but the girls still managed to do better >:D I can also honestly say that I was schooled by that crappy game on lyrics I didn't know existed. It was fun, even if it was frustrating XD

This week has mostly been just working at my job... I haven't been able to get much done at home yet, so there isn't much in the way of art updates. I did get some more work done on  caedere's commission, so I need to scan that, and I started coloring Kazuldragon's whelp. I'm working a little out of order, but still doing my best to finish things in an organized manner.

If anything, I should be in a position to get things done, because my Windows harddrive is in the midst of clickdeath and isn't particularly in the mood to boot. It was a secondhand drive, but we didn't really expect it to die this soon. I have to buy a new one, but now I have to find a place that still sells IDE drives. I stopped in at Best Buy yesterday only to find that they just have SATAs and EIDE drives, which of course aren't compatible. It figures that obsolescence would kick in. I don't want to invest TOO much in the computer, because I've promised myself a new mac laptop or possibly a proper desktop station once I've paid off my credit card, and that's when I'll be able to go nuts :D I do need to take care of the issue soon, though, because I have pretties to finish, and I'm the main scanning station in our home studio ^^

Tonight begins the festivities of I-CON, at Stony Brook University, Long Island, NY.

For your convenience, the Anthro/Furry events are being held in the Old Chemistry building, much like in days of yore (unlike our last two years' banishment to the Engineering buildings), which, as some of you know, is nice because it means we're closer to the dealer's room, and pretty centrally located to all other programming going on around campus.

The full schedule of events is in PDF here, if you want to peek at what will be happening when ^^

Tonight's probably going to be pretty laid back, so you'll most likely find me in one of the Anthro rooms drawing.

Also in attendance will be:
 fossil caliosidhe eradragon crowchild tyvara_panther
 floebean sage_jackal warszawascream mobianfox
 dracosblackwing

Make sure you wear comfortable shoes for walking, and bring warm dry things! It's raining pretty wet, right now. I think it's supposed to rain tomorrow, too.