I'm going to Belgium!

I'll be back in action Tuesday 12th.

Hi there!

I just want to update folks who have been really patient with me over the last couple of weeks, especially those of you that commissioned me last month.

There's been slower progress than usual on commissions lately. In short, that's because I've been really involved in a couple of unpaid side projects lately that have been occupying most of my time and creative energy. I appreciate your patience, and I'll get around to working on your commissions real soon! <3

Hey!

So, I've been thinking a lot about making my own Patreon soon. Now, before anyone gets the wrong idea:

I am not leaving FA. I am not seizing my art behind a paywall. My art will still be uploaded to FA as normal. My current thoughts on the purpose of my Patreon will be a way for me to be supported for my art, and to interact more with my followers/watchers.

There. Now that THAT is out of the way, I have a question for you, reading this, right now. Yes. You!

Have you pledged to a Patreon? If so, what attracted you to pledging? Did you feel that the reward you got was worth your pledge? What would you want to see from me on my Patreon? Do you have ideas for reward tiers?

I've been scratching my head over this for a while. A Patreon would see me drawing a LOT more frequently, which is something that I want. I feel that having to meet a quota of drawing to make sure my pledgers feel its worth it would be a positive change to my drawing habits. I also have a few comic ideas in mind that I feel a Patreon would really help bring to life.

Also, are you interested in raffles? Streams? etc etc!

Let me know your thoughts. I'll be sat here with an open mind, ready for any ideas you guys have <3

Hellooooooo!!

Oh my god, I had THE MOST amazing convention!! MFF 2015 was an absolute blast, and I'm so glad I went!!

Suiting was a riot, the dance competitions blew my mind and the food has been playing all kinds of tricks on my digestive system (but my taste buds are still sure it was all worth it)! If I can afford it, and have the time, I'll DEFINITELY be coming again next year. Just TRY and stop me!!

I'm sorry to the folks I didn't get a chance to say hello to while we were there! I guess I'll have to make up for it next time <3

The whole experience took my breath away. I'm so lucky to know so many beautiful people. Until next time, guys. <3

Hey!

Tomorrow, I'll be flying out to Chicago to enjoy MFF <3 So there won't be art or updates for a little while.

Hope to see some of you there! If you see a yellow angry-looking fox, don't hesitate to say hi! ^^

Stolen from  kayla-na

Where are you staying?
The main hotel.

Mode of transportation:
I'll be flying there, then taking the tram up!

Transportation buddies:
I'll be flying with my roomie :diegodadingo: and hopefully meeting up with fellow UK folks once there <3

Arrival and Departure:
Tuesday 1st Dec - Monday 7th Dec

Who will you be rooming with?
Kitashi, Diego and Kuin!

What level are you Registering as?
I think I just have the standard registration.

About Me:

What's your preferred name?
Skai, or Skaifox. Both equally preferred!

How tall are you?
5'7"

What is your gender?
Male

How old are you?
24

Personality Type?
I'm pretty friendly, and I love meeting new folks. I'm a get-up-and-go sorta person... so long as it's not the morning.

Are you nice?
I seem to be!

Are you taken?
Single, have been for years, probably always will be! XD

Are you cliquey?
A bit, but I don't do it consciously. Don't hesitate to talk to me if you wanna!

Who will you hang out with during the convention?
Probably my roomies, and generally folks that I know and bump into!

What suits will you have?
I'm gonna bring my new Skai suit! <3

Can I take a picture of you?
If I'm in suit: Yes! If I'm NOT in suit... no thanks.

Can I hug or snuggle with you?
Hugs are fine, snuggles are reserved for folks I know well!

Do you have an artist table?
Regrettably not.

Do you do trades?
Sorry, no. I need money.

Do you do free art?
Nope.

Do you do commissions?
Yep!

Will you be selling anything?
Nahhh. I'd like to, but no.

Will you be buying any art?
I might do! Why not!

Do you like parties?
Absolutely!! Invite me along if you're doing something fun <3

Can I buy you drinks?
Of course! I drink cider and ale. Thanks! ;D

Can I dance with you?
I only dance if I'm in suit, and even then I just do it to be silly.

Where will you be?
I'll be out in the lobby or socialising most of the time. I might not be hard to spot!

How can I find you?
Look out for my big yellow fursuit running around. Otherwise, I'll be wearing my badges all the time. I'm short and have a goofy beard.

If I see you, how should I get your attention?
A tap on the shoulder if you're behind me, or wave and say my name!

Can I talk to you?
Definitely! Why would I say no XD

If you're pissed off, should I approach you?
I recommend not approaching me if I'm angry or worked up. I'm best left alone for an hour or so if that happens, but I don't think it will!

Can I hang out with you?
That depends on my friends! I'd say you're welcome to, but if we're doing something and already have enough people, it might be a no on that occasion!

Rules of engagement (physical contact):
Anything up to and including hugging is fine. I don't mind being touched, but don't pounce on me or grab my face. Yes, that has happened.

Can I visit your room?
If I invite you, sure.

What/where will you be eating?
Not sure yet, I'll have to see what's available! I'm sure I'll be enjoying a good Chicago style pizza once or twice though <3

Can I come with you for food/fun/etc?
If you're invited ^^

Are you doing anything outside of the con?
I might spend some time in the big city.

Will you be at any panels?
I'm not sure! I don't think so.

Will you be performing?
Nah. I'm not really a performer!

What’s your goal(s) for the con this year?
Just have a damn good time and forget about real life for a week.

Hey guys,

I want to find a new server to play on in WoW, one in the EU. The one I currently play on is PVP and I don't know anyone there. I'm looking for either a Normal or RP server where there's other furs I can play with!

So, for any of you who have WoW accounts, which EU servers do you play on? I need company!

Hey guys!

My friends are doing a charity game stream in just under 2 hours!

Watch them and donate money to Extra Life through them, and you'll be entered into a raffle to win some art! ~

$1 = 1 ticket!

Check out this journal: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/7160666/

And go here for info! http://www.extra-life.org/index.cfm.....ipantID=144208

Thank you <3

Just a heads up - I'm in the process of designing shirts, under another name.

I'll keep you guys posted! It's all gonna be semi-furry stuff, so I hope you guys will be interested! ~

Hey guys!

It seems that last night I hit 100k pageviews at some point. It reminded me to thank you all for being so supportive of my work and encouraging me to keep drawing. You guys always leave lovely comments and stuff, and you make doing something I love even more fun and rewarding. So, thank you. <3

Hey guys,

Just a super-quick survey. How many of you guys use Google Wallet?

PayPal fees are stinging me quite a lot, so I'm looking for alternatives for receiving commission payments. I've used Google Wallet a couple of times, but it seems most folks (understandably) don't have it set up.

If you've suggestions for other methods of receiving money digitally though, I'm all ears!

<3

Hey guys!

My Porktober YCH is ending in just over 30 minutes! Get those last-minute bids in <3

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/17902136/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/17902136/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/17902136/

Hey!

Commissions are NOW OPEN!

I'll be taking 5 slots this time! I'll post journals from now on advertising when I'm open and such. I'll also tweet about it!

Price list: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/17747066/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Skaifox

If you're interested, please send an email to skaifox4@yahoo.com ! Thank you!!

Slot 1:  brejen - done!
Slot 2:  brejen - done!
Slot 3:  anklechain - done!
Slot 4:  fabifox &  panthras - done!
Slot 5:  nyn - done!

Hey!

Come and play my Mario Maker levels! <3

5E90-0000-0017-CBBF (really tough!)
A4DF-0000-001B-FDB1
B098-0000-001C-24B3

Hey guys!

Now that FA's finally got it's ass in gear and given us folders, I've gone ahead and put all my vore submissions into a folder.

Here's the direct link: http://www.furaffinity.net/gallery/.....der/26783/Vore

Orrrrrrrr, go to my page, click "Gallery", and then click the "vore" folder on the left.

Enjoy, you hungry lot. <3

Hey guys!

I only need 4 more refer-a-friends completed until I can unlock all the rewards for League of Legend's recruitment system! All you have to do for me is hit this link:

http://signup.leagueoflegends.com/?.....a0d28680462470

Then play up to level 10, and that's it! If anyone does this for me, I <3 youuuuu ~

Over and out! *salutes*

I just wanted to tell my watchers you're all awesome. That's all. Thanks. <3

Hey guys,

Let's talk Paywalls. If you're not interested, go back now!

Patreon popped up back in 2013, and it didn't take it long to become popular, and even notorious, in our fandom.

Since it's conception, I've seen a lot of people complaining about Patreon and the idea of paywalls - that is, having to pay money to see someone's art. Here's my view on paywalls.

They're not evil.

There is nothing wrong with paywalls.

Let me tell you why.

Artists like myself have spent an incredibly long amount of time of our lives to reach the ability level that we're at now. We didn't wake up one day and go "Oh, suddenly I can draw well." This shit comes with practice, practice, practice, practice and practice. NOTHING. BUT. PRACTICE. And in order to practice, we need to spend time. Lots and lots of time.

On sites like Deviantart and Furaffinity, we've had it pretty good. We can log on to a wealth of fresh art/porn every day from our favourite artists, and other than our internet bills, we don't pay a penny for it. Not a dime. It's free, and we've reached the point where we take it for granted.

When paywalls started popping up, it divided our community. Some artists chose to lock most of their art behind a paywall. People didn't like this, because the art that they were used to seeing for free on an almost daily basis suddenly wasn't there. I can understand that frustration, because it's happened to me with artists that I like. However, I know that with most of them, I can get access to their artwork - no, MORE than just their artwork - if I was willing to visit their patreon page and pledge a dollar a month.

One dollar. Per month.

That's right. Most artists are asking for a very small amount per month so that you can view their art. That's not much, guys. Some people are offering MORE than just their art for the lowest price band. And yes, I'm aware that there are artists who are also asking for a lot, but the worth of anything in this world is measured by how much people are willing to pay for it.

Let's invent a scenario, for the sake of argument. If an artist's minimum price band is $35 a month, and you decide that you don't like their art quite enough to pay something as hefty as that per month, then don't. It's honestly that simple. If the artist makes a decent living out of high price bands, then power to them; their art is obviously seen to be worth paying that much per month to some people, and it's working out for them. However, I suspect that some artists might not find that having $35 as their minimum price band is working out, so they'll lower it until people begin to subscribe. It's economics, and if you don't know what I'm talking about, look it up. End of scenario.

Now, an individual picture that an artist has produced will likely have taken HOURS to complete. I know, because my drawings take me anywhere from an hour for a sketch, to about 16 hours for a full colour image.

In 16 hours, I could have:
-Watched ~ 8 movies.
-Worked 2 average-length shifts at work.
-Written this journal 32 times.

You get the picture. It takes a LONG time to draw something. You don't see the process from conception to finished product. It takes a lot of planning, trial-and-error, and polish to get an image that we're proud of and does the customer justice.

Also, I know that some artists are quicker workers than others, but even WITH that taken into account, most artists are still vastly undercharging for their time and skill.

There are other points I could make about all the above, but I've already spent too long on this already, so I'll finish with the below.

If an artist makes the decision to form a patreon and ask for money to access their work and WIPs etc etc, then we should respect that decision. Whether or not we pay for that access is another question entirely. You are not obliged to pay for that person's art if you're not that bothered about seeing it. If you don't want to pay monthly to subscribe to someone's work, then you obviously won't miss their work much, so just move on.

If you support paywalls and don't see them as evil, then that's awesome and the above wall of text was probably lost on you because you knew all that already. I like you. You clearly have a sense of empathy and give a shit about the people you share the world with.

http://orig13.deviantart.net/255f/f.....on-d8h1gvm.jpg

Nah but seriously, our WiFi connection at the new place should be up and running on Thursday.

That means I'll become a bit more active! Yay! \o/

Hey guys!

Having just settled into my new apartment (and still without WiFi - still tethering!!), it's now time for me to set off abroad for a bit! XD

Not sure how much access to the internet I'll have while I'm there - hopefully some!!

I'll be back in action by Tuesday next week, so drawing's on hold once again until then!

I'll get posting much more to my Tumblr and Twitter in the 2nd half of this month. Then there'll be more art to post up here on FA soon after that too! Promise! ;o;

Thanks for stickin' with me, guys. Hope to bring you more arts soooooon <3 <3 <3

Hey guys,

Just another quick update on art progress.

I've now settled into my new abode, but I'm still without a wifi connection. I'm currently tethering off my phone, and using my laptop to post this, but my PC doesn't have a wireless card and it's always been wonky with wireless connections, so that still doesn't have a connection yet.

Still, I'll be working on Mystery Boxes over the next couple of weeks before my broadband goes live - you just won't see them for a while.

The other thing worth mentioning, though, is that my computer had a overheating problem yesterday when I tried to turn it on. Long story short, it looks like the CPU fan that came with my processor had somehow managed to unhinge all 4 of its connectors and fall off the CPU itself, leaving it exposed and gathering too much heat. This lead to a system recovery after several sudden shut downs, but thankfully I didn't lose any data. However, even though I fixed the problem and turned it back on without visible problems, I'm still plucking up the courage to use it for an extended period of time. So, bear with me ^^; I'm hoping to be back up to full speed by Monday.

That's it. Moving home has been as hectic as possible, and I couldn't have done it without the valuable help of my friends. If you bought a Mystery Box off me at CFz 2015, just hang on a little longer - I'm still whittling away at them, computer problems and internet access restrictions aside!

-Skai

Hey guys,

As of tomorrow, there's probably gonna be no art done for a while, because I'm in the process of moving house. As we speak, I'm packing up all my stuff and starting to negotiate when my things can be moved over, and there could be some downtime in between if the new apartment isn't ready on time.

Nonetheless, I'll still be reachable; I'm still checking FA and everything else daily as usual. I just can't get to my tablet from tomorrow, and it'll be that way for a few days!

Thanks for being patient with me. <3

Hey guys!

Just to let you know, my Tumblr account has been pretty active lately:

http://skaifox.tumblr.com/
http://skaifox.tumblr.com/
http://skaifox.tumblr.com/

If you want to see the results of my mystery box commissions from Confuzzled, that's the place to be! I'm on my way to hitting 100 followers on there - why not follow me and help me make it <3

-Skai

Hi you lot! :D

Another year older today. I wanna say a quick thanks to all you awesome folks who've already wished me a happy birthday. You're too awesome! <3333

Hey guys!

If you're reading this, then it's likely you attended Confuzzled 2015 last week, and bought a Mystery Box commission from me in the Dealer's Den!

I've had a few folks asking for an ETA on completion time, so I might as well be completely honest:

I have loads of them to do! I don't want to give an exact figure, so let's say somewhere between 50-100 of them. This means I'm gonna be suuuuper busy now (THANK YOU by the way!! <3 <3), and I endeavour to do them all in the order I received them, so this is why you might be waiting a while for yours to be completed, especially if you came to see me on Sunday! Rest assured, though - I WILL get around to it. I don't like keeping folks waiting any longer than I have to!

I'll be contacting people individually when each one is done, and if you want to see all of the Mystery Boxes as they're completed, the only place to see them is on my Tumblr! (Link below!)

http://skaifox.tumblr.com/
http://skaifox.tumblr.com/
http://skaifox.tumblr.com/

Thanks. You guys are wonderful <3