Hi there,

I am writing to inform everyone with whom I am acquainted with that my fursona, Kurtis AKA Sir Space Dragon, is not and was never an original design. I decided upon myself to make this matter public after recently being contacted by the original owner. I want to first make it known that I was in no manner pressured to make this issue public. Keeping this matter confidential simply did not sit right with me. I believe everyone has the right to know the truth, and the truth is that my ignorance has substantially hurt at least one person in this community. The rest of this entry will pertain how this issue came about, and why it was allowed to remain hidden for so long. By this juncture, if you wish to dissociate from me in any manner, I would completely understand. I only wish to explain my side of the story in this entry, and it is not my intent to evoke sympathy or coerce support with this letter. Whatever is written below, I have always wanted to get off my chest.

In about 2009~2010, I first learned of the furry fandom. What I knew of it then, or conceptualized , was extremely enticing given my real-world circumstances. Back then I was essentially lackluster in every aspect of my life, and so the prospect of escaping into a community where you could come up with your own character and dissociate from your actual self really lured me in. I had some vague conception of the badass fursona I wanted, but I could not draw to save my life then. It was then I stumbled upon a particular anthro dragon design online, and I became obsessed with it. I changed the character’s color to grey and called it a day without ever considering the implications of my actions: Kurtis was alive only in my daydreams.

I never did much community-wise. I kept to myself and entertained the notion of being my fursona only in my own mind. Things changed with mandatory military enlistment in 2015. Following a fortunate combination of extremely supportive peers, great commanders and luck, I ended up in command school. The ensuing 9 months of training was perhaps the worst time of my life – mostly because it made me realize that I had utterly wasted at least the first 16 years. I was crushed when I realized I was nowhere near prepared for the training. Everything came to bite me in the ass – compared to 88 other stellar cadets, I was physically incompetent, selfish and utterly careless. Worst still – I did nothing about myself despite constant feedback sessions. Not surprisingly, my obsession for Kurtis intensified: after all, he was the badass, beastly, fearsome warrior that I could never be. Over this period of time, excessive fantasizing got Kurtis a backstory, and I redesigned him with the intent of creating a more rugged character. Obviously, none of this helped with actually making me a better person during training. I graduated second from the bottom in my platoon.

Fortunately, I had the sense to turn my life around after graduation from command school. I had a year of service left as a platoon commander, and I vowed to never let myself sink so low again. Kurtis went from being a fantasy figure to an inspiration. My change in mindset brought me many great things: I made progress in my drawing, got acquainted with amazing people in the fandom, saw successes in my military service… I concluded my service in 2017, and by then, I had happily buried almost all my bad memories. In doing so, I believe I repressed the memory of ever having started off with a copy of someone else’s fursona. That combined with the belief I had redesigned Kurtis enough, I genuinely forgot that he was never an original design.

A few days ago, the original owner contacted me with regards to this matter – I guess you really cannot run from your past errors. As much as he was nice enough to offer seeking resolution privately, the thought of keeping more secrets made me more uncomfortable. Try as I might to convince myself that I am overreacting and irrational, I cannot deny feeling as though I am a fraud, and that I have been lying to everyone. I have to right my wrongs, and this process involves redesigning Kurtis and removing existing artwork of him, regardless of who drew it. Please give me time to make these amendments; as simple as it should be, the aforementioned process is taking a toll on me. I really do wish I was a more collected person.

I sincerely apologize for any distress I may have caused with this letter/revelation and will work to ensure I will not be a source of unnecessary concern in the future. I aim to stay, because if there is one thing keeping me in the furry fandom, is the comfort of knowing that I can make someone's day with a drawing or two.

Best,
Joaquinn

Hope everyone's swell and well and swole!

I will be open for commissions on February 1st, 0900HRS EST. There will be 3 slots.
To snag a slot, email/dm/telegram me after the stipulated time. If I get more than 3 responses at 9am, I will randomly select 3.
I feel like I have been less active so here's to jumping back into furry art!

Congrats to  Ekzo and ph3n11 (Twitter)! Keep an eye on your inboxes!
Also, thanks to all for the continued support! For those who do not know yet, I have managed to get timelapse videos working on my computer - two samples are on my twitter page but perhaps I can find a better platform to archive them in the future (recommend them to me!) Hopefully, these timelapses are both enjoyable and helpful!

1. COMMISSIONS
Yes, I will still be opening 4 slots on November 20th at 2000HRS (GMT-4). I understand that this time may not be optimal for followers in more inconvenient time zones so next time, it will be at a different hour. I really do want to be able to draw for everyone! Nothing makes me happier than a satisfied client, and I aspire to make as many furries as happy as possible with my art.

2. MCFURRY COMMISSIONS
Idea was from a friend, and I thought it was hilarious. There are 2 slots left as I write this so feel free to hit me up.

3. FUEGO AFFILIATE
So I've been using pre-workout from a specific brand called Fuego and when they asked for affiliates/ambassadors, I applied cus why the heck not. Surprisingly, I got in. Don't worry - I won't be spamming this page with shameless advertisements of the products but I do want to mention it just once. If you are ever looking for a good pre-workout or protein supplement, use my referral https://fuegosupps.refersion.com/c/94d60e and special code "SSD" for a discount. That's right - I got to pick my own special code AHA.

4. I LOVE YALL
Truth

Hey folks,

It's been a super busy month and I fear I'll only be busier and busier... except when school breaks a bit for Thanksgiving!
I will be opening 4 slots for commissions on 20th November at 2000HRS (GMT -4). The first 4 people who message me via Telegram, Twitter, FA or email will get said slots (if more than 4 people get a message through at 2000HRS exactly, I'll do a random draw)

Also, to the two folks on my trade queue: I have not forgotten! Sorry it has been so long! I will still abide by my promise!

That being said, if my schedule miraculously frees us between now and then, I might just open up one slot or two on short notice. These impromptu openings are not guaranteed, but the opening on 20th November will be unless stated otherwise. So stay tuned, and thanks for all the support!

We are also inching closer to 400 watchers - I'll be doing a giveaway when we cross that milestone!

Drum roll please...

The winners are  Enferre and Blaze the Firewolf on Twitter! Congratulations! The theme was actually "dynamic duos", so the winners can choose one other person to be part of the artwork with them! I decided upon this theme because I wanted to emphasize on the fact that most of my successes, achievements... have been with the help of at least one more person. And yes, as for my art journey, you guys have been that wonderful helping hand! Thank you all for participating and supporting me! You guys are seriously DA BEST and I want to do as much as I can give back to you all. If you have ideas for different content, please hit me up and I would love to discuss!

I'll do one hell of a giveaway once I hit 500 watchers so watch this space!

Yo,

Less than 48 hours till the giveaway closes.

What are you waiting for?

For those who have yet to enter, here's a friendly reminder that I am doing a giveaway!
Entries via FA and Twitter are both allowed so what are you waiting for?

Once again many thanks to everyone who has supported me thus far, by watching, faving, commissioning me... it all counts!

In addition, I think it's good for me to start thinking about other kinds of content I can offer you guys. Time-lapses of my drawing? Other kinds of art such as scenery? Who knows? More collabs and trades? Feel free to bounce ideas off me!

I decided I miss doing commissions so I am open once again to draw for all my lovely fur-iends. Hoorah!

In addition, I am going to start accepting art trades. I am super excited to do so and if you are interested in doing trades with me, please read the following carefully!

Regarding Trades:

- I am willing to trade any of the following: BW headshot, Colored headshot, BW full body, Colored full body. Of course, whatever you draw for me should match what I draw for you in relation to these categories, and vice versa
- When you do approach me with a trade offer, do give me a bit of time to browse your gallery and get a feel of your art style
- PLEASE DO NOT BE UPSET IF I REJECT YOUR TRADE OFFER! I get art for myself mostly based on mood - for example, some days I want super cartoony art and others I want some edgy nonsense.

Please do not be afraid to dm me for any clarifications regarding commissions or trades or life in general! Peace~

Drum roll please!

Thank you all for entering this giveaway! We have 113 entries from both FA and Twitter combined - that means there are 4 lucky winners...

...and here they are!

1.  Iantos

2.  CJMPinger

3. FurFurDwagon (Twitter)

4. korpifox (Twitter)

Congratulations to the winners - expect a DM from me soon!

Once again, thanks to everyone for spreading the word.
Stick around and I'll probably (definitely) be doing another giveaway at 250 watchers ;)

TL;DR version:
Now is a great time for me to take commissions. I would also be doing another giveaway once I hit a 100 watchers!

For those who want to be more privy of my life:
Finals are dead and buried in the ground. Rejoice! As much as I would have loved to go back to Singapore, I am staying in Pittsburgh over the summer for a few reasons.

1. I want to get a PA Driver's License
2. Gotta finish one more test to become an EMT
3. I'm going to be a Resident Adviser for the university's precollege program
4. ANTHROCON!!1!!1111

Regarding point 4 - AC would be my first con and I really want to go with at least one person I know. So if anyone is actually keen, please be my guide!

I'd like to think I'll be in for a good balance of work and play these upcoming weeks. I hope everyone else has a good summer as well!

Peace

Sorry for the late post! I was caught up with a massive fuckton of stuff...
Anyway the winner is number 69! Congratulations to  BlurryBear !!! I’ll be messaging you soon!

To everyone who chipped in their numbers: thanks for the support - there’s always next time! Expect more giveaways in the future!

First and foremost, I want to thank all my watchers and those who have commissioned me. I really appreciate the support! To express my gratitude, I am going to prepare to do an art giveaway so stay tuned!

So after taking a couple of commissions I realized that my commission terms could do with some fine tweaking. These tweaks include both adjustments recommended by my watchers and adjustments I personally thought would do us all a favor.
This will certainly not be the last time I am amending terms, so here's to anyone thinking of commissioning me in the future: I have added a "last updated:" bit in the commission title. Be sure to take note of that so that you can be up to date with the commission details. I'll typically announce any major changes to them, but otherwise, minor changes will be reflected in the change of dates.

Remember that I am always open to inquiries!

Spring break is finally around the corner, and I really need that one week of absolute chilling.
Spring break is also the best time to commission me, because I will be pretty damn free!
So to whoever's been mulling over an idea, now's your chance.

COMMISSION INFO ALL HERE!!!

FA's formatting is not the greatest thing in the world so below is the link to the google doc that contains my Terms and Conditions:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/.....it?usp=sharing


Feel free to message me for any clarifications!

So a few things

1. It is time I got off my arse and made something out of my artsy nonsense
2. It is also high time I began practicing more frequently and more furiously
3. I don't ever want drawing/writing to be an on-off thing

Granted, it has been a busy two years but how much time have I wasted when I could have been drawing/writing more, or just generally improving my rep?

Time for a rehaul

So I just came back from Thailand, having completed yet another month of infantry training. There's plenty to reflect upon but I'll save that for later.

Goodness. The keyboard feels so foreign to me.

In actuality, there was quite a bit of free time between missions. I could have brought my sketchbook to maintain my artistic skills (whatever skills that may be) but regrettably, I did not. Heavy sigh.

I can only hope that I have not deproved.

Not art-related but I thought it was worth penning down.

It had not been an easy 21 days of training, particularly the last 9. The Jungle Confidence Course is infamous within the ranks of servicemen and for very good reason. It stripped me down to a single instinct: survival. It robbed me of comfort, warmth, food and company. I was to motivate, feed, push and take care of myself alone and in the unforgiving jungles of Temburong, Brunei.

On my last day of survival, I cried like a big baby. I had never missed my family and friends that much before and the pain was overwhelming; not only did I struggle to cope with their absence, I regretted taking them all for granted. Love, laughter, meals and memories had pulled me through 19 years of my life and I none of those to spur me onward in the jungle. Only then did I know.

Life is full of things to enjoy. It really is.

Just spent 24 hours in camp serving my extra duty, which was not all that bad since I had my sketchbook with me.

I think I learned a lot by spending my time browsing the works of numerous artists, scrutinizing their unique points and doing some sketches on my own. As of now, I'm still trying to find my style, but the hours of in-camp sketching did help lay down some foundations.

Or so I believe.

Unfortunately for me, I'm flying off to Brunei for further infantry training. Who knows, maybe I'll find some inspiration there.

TL;DR - observe your surroundings. Find form in what is otherwise mundane