Hey! Here are several conventions you will see me at soon!

ANTHROCON - Next week!
ANTHRO WEEKEND UTAH (AWU)
MEGAPLEX - Are you looking for a room? Send me a note.
ANOTHER FURRY CON (AFC) - New con in Ontario California

That's all for now! I'll see everyone at AC next week.

I had planned on going to ConFuzzled (A UK furry con) this year, but we had to cancel our plans. Sorry to those who were planning on seeing me. Are you interested in going to ConFuzzled? I can transfer my registration to you instead. Comment here and let's talk it over privately.

I've been working on some lengthy projects, and then went on two different trips this past month. There hasn't been much art to share these days. For the next few months, the Sot Scrapbook will be dedicated to sharing these projects alongside rough sketches and doodles. Scrapbook updates will be T-W-TH.

Art shown everywhere else online will be similar to what I've already been sharing this year. Sketches, portraits and color illustrations. Comics and inflation sequences will be coming next in the future.

Thanks to new changes on bluesky, I'll be sharing video game clips more often too. You will mainly see Fortnite and Deadlock.

Have a nice day!

Hi there. What's going on today?

----

I'm on Bluesky! You can find me at "sotbox". I've been doing raffles for full-color portraits when I reach new follower milestones. Follow me there, enter in the next raffle, and maybe you'll get a portrait for yourself too.

I don't post on twitter anymore. A few people I follow were suspended for seemingly no reason. Even with hard work to appeal the bans, they were still unable to come back. I don't like being punished for posting, so I'm leaving it as is. 12 years is a pretty good run! Okay, that's not the only reason why I'm leaving. I'm also leaving twitter because numbers don't matter anymore. Imagine you share a new piece of art that you put several hours or days of work into. It gets over a hundred favs, and a dozen new followers. Pretty sweet. The next day, I've lost seven of those followers. By the end of that day, I got more than seven of those followers back. The day after next, I've lost twenty followers or more. The day after that? I've got them back to a completely new, random amount.

These fluctuations don't mean anything. It means you have to pay money to share your art effectively, or be consistent with sharing something new everyday instead. I want to be an artist, not an ad-man. I want to share better art every year, not low quality artwork everyday. I have slowly built up a following over the years, and it came from sharing my journey in making art very often. Now I'm being told by powerful people, with more money than I have, something else entirely. "You could be a successful artist if you pay us money for more visibility." No thanks. I was already visible, but then they changed the rules.

----

Don't worry. I'm going to be okay. What am I up to these days?

I've been enjoying playing multiplayer games with friends rather than by myself. I like playing Deadlock and Fortnite! Add me on Steam! I've been enjoying building up my profile nowadays. Steam doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon, so you should add me! If you want to add me on Epic to play Fortnite together, just ask. That's all I use epic games for anyways. Fortnite is a party game for me. Deadlock is more rigid, but equally as goofy if not more so. I'm excited to see where Deadlock is going next over the years! I like to play Viscous. I've made some videos of my plays in Fortnite too. Find them here!

My sister and one of my other cousins have both had children now. I'm very happy for my sister! I'm an uncle now. My mom is doing well and is very happy to have me in her life after all of the loss she experienced years ago. She's overjoyed to be a grandparent! My best friend/roommate and I are doing nicely, and I appreciate being around when they have to deal with their difficult parents. They recently came to visit for a couple days on election day, and it was very stressful. I'm really proud of my roommate for getting through the visit with thankfully just a cold. I got the cold too lol. Then we had tea and played lots of mario party!

----

I don't feel like saying something such as "stay tuned for more!" because I'm getting pretty sick of hype. I'm happy for a following, but I want to push my art into new territory that everybody will enjoy. Familiar yet modern. Exciting and novel. Sweet and ... sour? Whatever the case, this comes with doing the artwork, and it's a pretty lonely experience. So I'm at my computer, learning about the world a lot everyday.

I feel disillusioned by social media, so I am interested in being outside and hanging in multiplayer video games instead. I feel disillusioned with how I would share art over the years, so I want artmaking to be on a more strict schedule that can eventually roll into how I share new art every week. Even then, there is still disillusionment. I don't feel very excited for things as much as I used to be. This will pass, but I'm much more at peace with my depression, and this is a part of it. Often I look around online and see an immense amount of hype everyday that builds into disappointment of failed expectations. This is not a very new problem, but it feels intensified with how many more people are online every year. I don't believe I'm above the same scrutiny, but it makes me feel very sad how many people online are so ready and willing to hate the things they were originally interested in loving with all their hearts. Sometimes it feels like the need to react to an experience is more important than the experience itself. I don't understand it, and it makes me feel alone. It feels difficult to be excited about culture when culture changes to emphasize the reaction they'll get from their work rather than the quality of that work in the first place.

Seeya later.

What's up? I'm gonna keep this brief.

Inflation sequences I've been scribbling out in private and putting in my scrapbook for the past couple years are now coming out. I'm also making comics, and will be sharing them in the future! When I bring up 'sequences' I make them as single images that you're supposed to flip through, one page after another. But what will my comics look like? Well that's what I'm trying to figure out these days. There is a new inflation sequence coming this next month, and the first part will be shared tomorrow!

I've been sharing art drawn by others more often on my socials. I will be tagging those artist's pages however I can, and I encourage you to check out their art. These drawings won't be posted on my gallery sites, but will be shared throughout the year from my social pages. If you don't want me to share your art from my page, please message me. I'll often be asking for permission anyway.

I'm going to Megaplex and AFC (Another Fur Con in SoCal) this year. Megaplex is *checks watch, coughs* tHIS WEEKEND!? Well you'll see me there! I will be helping out my roommate  the-chu with their RAIZAP booth in the dealer's den, hanging out with other artists, and then going to some theme parks. If you wanna say hey, please do! I will most likely wanna draw something with you.

That's about it. Have a nice day!

Happy Sot's Day!

The word "Sot" means different things in different languages, but the general etymology of the word comes from between the 1100s - 1400s of the english language, meaning "fool"

With this context, I want to talk about Sot's Day.

Do you like tricking folks on April Fool's Day? Good. Everyone deserves a big laugh. However, times are changing. People now treat April Fool's Day as a mundane annoyance in a chaotic world. Not only that, but it is considered foolish to reveal something cool on April 1st. This is such an awful feeling. We should always have something cool to share everyday. Why should we discourage others from sharing something cool for even one day? Is this how we should be living our lives?

No! Sot's Day is about sharing something exciting, real and honest about yourself DESPITE the act of doing so being foolish in the first place. If the day for celebrating practical jokes has been muddied and soiled, then I think it's better to switch the holiday up entirely.

Spend Sot's Day (April 1st) by sharing something new and extraordinary about yourself. Above all: keep it real. No tricks! Share a new character. Post a full story. Start sharing something you've been hesitating to share with others. It doesn't even have to be as complex as that.

Do you have something exciting that you want to share with others today?

Hi!

What's up? Art is going well. I'm trying new things, and I'm happy that my art is going in a new direction. There's more great stuff coming up next! The new art I want to make is going involve other things I enjoy beyond kink artwork and the fetishes I enjoy.

Is kink artwork going away? No. Quite the opposite, actually. My goal is making kink art that is even more whacky, and provided with even less context than before. I find this way of expressing myself much more interesting nowadays.

Why do I want to do that? The answer is a little complicated. I don't have as much to say online these days. I enjoyed twitter, but I don't really anymore. It's become very clunky. Being active on twitter for several years helped me learn that I enjoy sharing art above all else. The element of surprise in what I share next is lots of fun too! Nowadays I'm just exploring the web and taking in new art most of the time. So I'm learning to make art that speaks for itself too. I'm really excited to go in this direction. So-- going back-- the kink artwork I draw is already pretty niche. Now I wanna take it a step further, make even more goofy stuff, and not explain myself further.

Since I want to share even more artwork with everybody, I'm retracing my steps a little bit. There's a lot of gaps to fill on my other galleries and platforms. I will be posting my artwork from 2019 up to today across my platforms to fill in these missing gaps. Uploads will be a mix between old and new for as long as it takes to get through all of this stuff. Enjoy!

I'm also looking into building up my own website soon. I would like to work with anybody capable within the furry community to help me make it, and I'm willing to pay for your work. Send me a note through FA if you're interested.

If you want to see all of my artwork in chronological order, I have an artpack of all my work from the past ten years! I put a lot of work into it, and it's always a great help when someone picks up a copy. There is also a cheaper option for my sequences from that same timespan.

Just wanna see my new art? Go to my TELEGRAM channel: SOTBOX Art usually shows up on TUES / THURS / SAT

Want to see new artwork even earlier, along with many other sketches and larger works in progress? Pledge to my SCRAPBOOK Art will usually be posted on MON / WED / FRI

After that, please check here on FA or DA. For general social media feeds-- TUMBLR BLOG / BLUESKY / TWITTER

Want to see me post my artwork elsewhere? Lemme know.

Think that's about it. Have a nice day!

The Slightly Damned book three kickstarter is getting very close to being able to reprint book two! Please consider pledging in order to get more great books in people's hands!

Here's the link to the kickstarter!
https://www.kickstarter.com/project.....cation-project

Hiya!

I closed my commissions a few months ago. My queue is now finished. I’m now working on some icons and colored pieces for people who’ve pledged to Patreon- my scrapbook blog- back when I offered those as rewards.

When I was offering different rewards through my scrapbook, I also had rewards for discounted commission coupons. I wrote down a list of folks who pledged for that reward, but at some point I ended up misplacing the list. Earlier this year I found it again, but have decided on moving on from the reward. When I was giving these out as rewards, it also came with other rewards included at the tiers these coupons were offered in. Sketches, colored pieces, icons and so on. When people were ready to commission me, folks were willing to pay full price and also leave me a tip. Seeing how much work I was doing back then has helped me understand that it’s best for me to not value my work lower than necessary. Please understand. Thank you.

---

On June 17th, my friend Erik and I put together a memorial service for Creature_Unknown’s passing on June 10th. This entire service can be found here.

“Smasher and the Will O' The Thiccs” memorial playthrough - June 17th

If you missed it, that is A-OK. You can watch the entire memorial stream at that link! October 28th is also Creature_Unknown’s birthday, and that is a great day to draw a memorial piece or share good thoughts you had of them. Mark that date!

---

The memorial service was a good incentive for me to build up and start a Discord server. You can find it here.

Here are some things you can find there!

- It is structured with the new forum capabilities. I find a lot of discord servers are very cluttered with too many redundant channels. The amount of channels here are very limited and the focus is instead on topics that hide over time if they’re not active. Instead of a channel only about art you’ve commissioned of your fursona, there’s just a forum thread for that that you can bump at any time.

- Tags are unique for both forum boards that help with creators and people who are just looking for a good conversation. The art forum has a tag for scribbling and doodling stuff together to share in a thread, or a tag for those who don’t want comments on their art threads.

- A soundboard that rotates over time with classic sound effects, and themes for different months and season of the year. I’ve always wanted a dedicated soundboard, and so I’ve put a lot of work into this.

- Roles are kept very simple, focusing instead on active users and a color for their username.

We’re already getting creative with what we can do in our small community, and more is already on the way. I hope you can join us!

---

I went to Anthrocon this past week. It was my first time in Pittsburgh, and I enjoyed the con a lot! Most of it was spent behind a table in the Dealer’s den helping out my roommate, but I still had a bunch of fun. The food was great. People were happy to meet me and hang out in the evenings. I saw cool suits. I’m a little bummed out that I didn’t take as many photos as I would’ve liked, but we were real busy.

I’m also enjoying alcohol more during these trips. It’s been fun trying a lot of new things for my taste buds. Our hotel was close to the Sly Fox, and we had so much food there. That was my first time having ranch on pizza, and the first time in years where I had a food coma that put me right to sleep. I was knocked out in bed for almost two hours after our meal!

---

The time at Anthrocon is important to bring up first before going back to the subject of Discord. I haven’t been very active on Discord until now, and I think it’s probably a good idea to be using and perusing a few servers more often. I’ve been reading the news about the different social media sites. It stinks bad, but I’m not too worried on my end. I spend my time on more public places using my platform as a megaphone to share the art my friends and I make, and I don’t plan to stop doing that. Beyond that, I tend to just leave compliments on art and ideas I enjoy.

Another detail about public social media sites is that I believe it inadvertently encourages private, intimate greetings. I tend to just mention one person at a time, or sending a direct message to someone. It’s probably a me thing, but I don’t really want to discuss with entire groups of people through sites like twitter or tumblr. Not looking to be part of large threads, or coordinate an event through those spaces. So it’s usually easier to do everything 1-on-1.

There has been a bit of a drawback of this approach, though. I have met some cool folks through these sites and other platforms, and have built a great network of friends. But now I don’t really have the time to do a lot of 1-on-1 conversations as much as I used to. I’m feeling motivated to do other things with my time, and so I’m focused on getting back into group activities. Even when hanging out with one person I want to do an activity together. If we’re just gonna chat, I need to spend that time working. Otherwise I will fall behind.

While Discord can feel very cluttered, it is ultimately turning out to be a better solution to current woes with social media. You can voice chat, chat through text, share your screen, use a webcam, and even have forum threads now! Best of all, it doesn’t have to be public to everyone online by default. But even with that, I don’t want to give them my money yet. All of this stuff is great, but I haven’t seen anything super innovative yet. Just a great consolidation of features I’ve appreciated throughout the years of hanging out online in one place available to everyone.

---

I strongly think Patreon- of all places- has the opportunity to take up the space of an innovative place to share work. It seems like they’re already slowly building up their site to include more features. I hope more comes out soon too! I have a lot of artwork posted in my scrapbook on patreon, so I encourage folks to check it out often.

I think that’s all on my mind. I want to be more focused on groups again in order to build up better spaces for people to hang out beyond public social spaces. These public websites have begun to slowly imply you’re not -supposed- to share stuff online. That’s so boneheaded! In my eyes it’s definitely malicious.

Have a nice day!

---

Links:

“Smasher and the Will O' The Thiccs” memorial playthrough - June 17th

Tropicadia - Discord server

Sot's Scrapbook blog

On Saturday, June 17th, at 3PM PST (6PM EST) my friend, Erik Smith will be sharing a playthrough of "Smasher and the Will O' The Thiccs" through a screen-share on my Discord server.

Find the server here - https://discord.gg/udUNqHBR

Please feel free to join us!

There's been some tragic news recently within our small community. Creature_Unknown (BloatedGoyle, Jacob) has recently passed away. They were one of my peers, and a great artist who was improving with incredible pace and determination in subjects I was really interested in.

I got to meet them a couple times at MFF '22, and I'm glad I did. I wasn't incredibly close to them, but they were closer friends with many other people I do know. Erik was really struck with the news of Jacob's passing, so I'm using my megaphone to let everyone know that we will be having this playthrough session together!

Again, it will be happening this coming Saturday, June 17th, at 3PM PST (6PM EST)

NEW ART, SEQUENCES AND COMICS - My scrapbook blog has everything new!

THE SOT ARCHIVES - Buy my artpacks!

MY ART ONLY- Just my newer drawings and other small updates

DAILY ART - Search a large variety of tagged artwork through the years

ART I LIKE - Art by me, my friends, and other things I like!

---

How can you support my work?

My scrapbook blog comes with three tiers!

🟦 Big - Access to my scrapbook blog!
🟥 Bigger - A download of all my artwork from 2021 - '22!
🟨 Biggest - A download of The Sot Archives: 10 Years of Sequences!

Buy one of my artpacks!

🎂 The Sot Archives: 2012 - 2022 🌟 Contains over 2000 drawings!

🍰 The Sot Archives: 10 Years of Sequences ⭐️Comes with all artwork from 2021 - '22 included!

*kicks door open*

What's up! It's been a while. Here's what I've been up to these days.

So my stepdad died a year ago. I went through the grief of it. I said my piece. I am taking care of my mother in moments of emotional grief. She and I have both lost someone dear to us- twice. But now she knows she can stand and walk again without a husband by her side for the second time in her life. My grief isn't as large. I wasn't as connected with him, but I showed my forgiveness, patience, and faith with him, so did he.

But enough of that hokey crap! It's also been a year since I moved in with Chu and it's been pretty sweet. We are overcoming a lot together. Travels. Pets. Finances. Where the hell the remote is. Life's going alright. I cook a lot more now. Check this recipe out: Monterey Jack Skillet. Make sure the BBQ is sweet.

I'm starting to feel the first moments of my mind getting older. I sometimes forget things. I feel more doubt. I don't think I forget a ton, but I'm starting to feel like being on the web so often has been affecting my reading comprehension, so I'm aware of that and starting to change how I take in and learn new things. I am focused more on responsiblity these days. Getting older means I have to be ready to take care of the people I respect, admire and love. So improving myself is key to that. Gotta stay alert.

That's about it.

Back to work! I got a lot on my docket and must pace myself effectively in order to get through it all! There's no time to waste!

Sot Sketch Commissions - Now Open!

SUBMISSION FORM HERE

- Sketch commissions are $40~ for one character, full-body.
- Extra characters are $20~ each.
- No first-come, first-serve. Will instead pick and choose my favorites.

Hey!

I'm taking a short rest from drawing artwork.

I've been actively drawing every month for the past ten years. I've been spending time these past couple years taking care of my body for the future. It's been paying off well.

I recently got more geared up for pushing my limits again, but there are still one or two complications remaining. I talked with my doctor, and full rest is now in order. This is a preventative measure I must take for the future of my work.

I won't be doing any streneous activities with my hands for four to six weeks.

I've talked over the current events with the last folks I owe some art to, and it's all good. Thanks everyone!

Patreon pledges are still very appreciated during this time, but I understand if people may want to take back their pledges. I unfortunately don't have a lot of income. I am letting folks know all of this before Feb 1st, which is the date pledges go through each month.

I'll be avaliable sometimes to chat, but I won't have much to say for long periods of time.

Seeya later!

Yo! So 2021 is ending. What a year. There's been a lot of ups and downs in my personal life, but 2021 wasn't the best. I was going to explain myself in more detail, but the simplest way to put it instead is that I struggled this year.

But hey, I survived. A lot of good happened this year too. I became closer with my mom. I live with my best friend. I started building up some healthy habits. Things are paying off. I can't predict the future, but it's feeling bright right now.

So now what? Well, I'm going to be more kind to myself. I had a feeling these past few years that I was losing a sense of my own identity. Now I think I understand what I can do to treat myself more kindly. What's important for others to understand is that not much will be changing on the surface. I'm excited to keep sharing art with everyone, and there will still be ways available for people to support my work.

Thanks for being awesome, folks.

Hey, how's it going? Got some news to share with you.

+ I posted a lot of sketches in September across Patreon, Twitter and Telegram. If you are reading this, then all of the sketches for the past month have now been uploaded here!

+ I've been drawing Pokemon! A lot of them, actually. It's been a lot of fun. I'm drawing them to practice using a brush pen. You can find these sketches on Twitter and my Telegram channel.

+ I am back to posting sketches exclusively in my Scrapbook. If you want to see 'oodles of doodles more often, please support me on Patreon. $5 gives you access to my entire scrapbook of sketches and works in progress.

+ Colored artwork will once again be posted simultaneously across my galleries. If you're a patron you may have already got a little bit of a headstart on seeing new colored pieces.

+ I've been offering icons through Patreon! Now that I'm getting through making the icons, I am upping the price of icons through Patreon to $25. If you would like one, that's the place to get 'em.

+ I will be opening back up for commissions soon. Please stay tuned!

+ I'm going to be at Biggest Little Fur Con in Reno this October! Yeah, I know what's going on in your mind right now— "You sure are a busy guy, Sot!" — But really I am going to be helping Chu with running their table at the con. Will I see you there? Please feel free to let me know, and make sure you're vaccinated!

Think that's everything. I hope everyone's been having a good rest of their year. Mine has been improving since this Summer. I had to take a couple months to reflect, recharge, and reevaluate my future. I'm back now and feeling pretty good! If something bad happens to me again, please just assume a boogeyman got me. Make sure to check if I'm stuck under the bed! Or maybe I am the bed... ?

Thanks for being awesome, everyone. Have a swell day!

Hey again.

I'm gonna keep this real straightforward.

My stepdad died on July 1st. I knew this guy longer than my dad. We weren't the closest people, but he did have a big impact in my direct family. My mom loved him a lot, and took care of him in his dying months. This is the second dad I've lost to cancer. This is the second husband my mom has lost to cancer. We're grieving and suffering. I can't sugarcoat it.

At the same time as this, I'm moving. I'm not moving very far. I'm taking part in a housemate swap happening right now in our small community of neighbors. This was planned before the family news broke, and unfortunately on the same day I got the news about my family death I found out that the housemate swap was happening much faster that I had originally anticipated. Despite suffering, it's more convenient for everyone including myself if I get moving as soon as I can. I started moving on July 1st.

I am going to be moving into a new place, and want to be accommodating for my neighbors and my new roommate. I want to get all of this done right now so that I can get right back to

- Making cute art for all of us.
- Making and saving money
- Be ready to take care of my grieving mother.
- Thriving in general, living life my way.

But right now, I must do the hard stuff. Moving. Cleaning. Packing. Spending. Taking care of business. This is the best time.

I sometimes fear I share my feelings too much in general, but I'm not going to sit around bottling up my life in order to fit into a persona online. What I really fear is being fake with people. So I'm not going to be fake about what's happening now. Through this, I'm going to be more ready to live a more fulfilling life, which will in turn— I hope— enrich the lives of those I meet on my journey.

But right now, I can't draw. I cannot be an enormously massive growing tiger right now (lol). I am feeling very small, but I am going to stay this small right now in order to get a lot of work done behind the scenes. Once this is all done, best case scenario? I'm going to grow even bigger than before.

What can you do?

Multiple people have asked me if they could help out in some way. This is why I wrote this post out in the first place. Enough people care to know how they can improve my life. I'm very grateful for this. Here's what you can do.

- Words of encouragement.

- Pledge to the Patreon.

http://patreon.com/sot

- Send me a tip. I don't want to dig into my savings right now, but I will have to. I also don't have a microphone anymore to talk with friends online. There are a lot of things I wish I could afford, but that's why I take commissions. But I can't take those right now, so any tips are greatly appreciated.

https://ko-fi.com/sotos

- Donate to SGDQ toward Doctors Without Borders, working across the world to fight against cancer that affects us all. Cancer has destroyed my family. Help a cause that will make sure it doesn't destroy another family.

https://gamesdonequick.com/tracker/ui/donate/35

- Be kind to someone today whom you think may need it. Do it for me.

Take care everyone. Thanks for asking me if I needed help. Right now, I do.

Hey everyone.

I will be not be available to talk on Telegram, Discord and other instant messaging services much anymore.

I will still be posting art regularly across my platforms.

I will also still be available for correspondence on commissions, Patreon obligations and other business-related things through instant messaging.

Other than that, I won't have much to say to folks who message me directly. Nobody has hurt me, and I do not hate anyone I have spoken to. This is a personal problem.

This won't be forever.

See ya later.

Hey! So for a year, I decided to do a Pokemon evolution chain as my fursona for a bit. Why did I do that? Some people were curious so I thought I might as well explain myself in detail.

I wanted to make a new fursona of sorts as a reminder of some new years resolutions. An evolution chain felt like a perfect way to express building myself up throughout the year. My original plan was that I could only evolve my 'sona as I finished some deliberate goals throughout the year. If I didn't do them, I couldn't evolve! It wasn't a New Years Resolution, it was a New Years Evolution.

I also wanted to start changing my subject matter in my art, and I wanted to show that in a more subtle fashion by turning my main fursona into something else. I'm gonna say something pretty obvious in our present time, but if you're reading this in the far future you may not be aware that 2020 was a year where things didn't go as planned. My life was no exception either. Nevertheless I decided to stick with the Pokemon look. By the time it was October I was already starting to think about where my art would be going next once more.

So, there you have it.

What now?

Well, I wanted to use this journal to explain all that, but also make some deliberate statements about intentions behind my work. This is some simple stuff that will be explained in more subtle ways for the future, but I will also explain this when asked directly.

- Characters I have previously named "Sot"-- which are my white tiger and purple dragon character-- will be referred to by different names from now on.
- This Litten / Torracat / Incineroar character design will still be seen around. They're not going anywhere!

Thank you for reading! Have a great day out there.

Hey everyone. Hope you're having a good day.

This journal is a two-for-one news update.

Since July 1st, I have been posting artwork every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on my usual accounts, then putting that artwork onto FA on the weekends. I've been making a lot of art!

The year is winding down, so I'm taking a break for December to cool down on making and posting artwork. There won't be anymore art posts for the rest of the year.

My Patreon blog will still be getting updates for a few more weeks this December, but then I will be taking a deliberate break from making art for the rest of the year and early January. Thank you to everyone for pledging to me, but also sharing and enjoying my artwork everywhere!

Now for the second update!

In January 2016 I began to take commissions on a more regular basis. Now it's the end of 2020. It's been five whole years of commissions! I guess I should at least say something to mark the occasion.

First off, it's been a weird transition going from making art for myself for several years and then making my art into a business for making money. Looking back at what I was doing before, I wouldn't say I was wasting my time, but I was kind of floating in space just trying to learn art. I was also actively going to school, and honestly I wasn't very happy there. I'm in a happier place than where I was before in my life.

I sometimes wonder if I stretch myself too thin, but I'm still always happy to draw things for other people. Commissions, gifts, etc. I was already making gifts for people before I was taking commissions, but now people want to pay me for something I already felt happy to draw for them for free. That doesn't always happen, but that entire circumstance happening at all is a huge blessing for me.

If you are looking to open for commissions for your first time, I do have some advice to share so that you don't get super overwhelmed.

- If you feel anxious on when you should open for commissions for your first time, wait until 5 to 10 different people ask you if you are open for commissions. That way when you open for your first time there is already going to be some interest ready right out of the gate. Start with sketches and work from there.

- If you keep getting tips, raise your prices. I recommend keeping a tally on how many times you've been tipped. When I would reach a certain number of tips over a period of time, I always had to raise my prices the next time I opened for more slots.

- Don't be afraid to say no if you find yourself uncomfortable drawing something. Try and work on coming to a compromise for drawing something else instead. If someone really wants to commission art from YOU, they will want to accommodate for you if it means you're going to make better art for them overall.

- Giving general updates to clients goes a long way! Telling someone that the commission is still on the way rather than saying nothing at all for a few months makes a big difference. It's enough of a small gesture to show to your client that you're thinking about them and the work they paid you for.

- Last but not least, none of my advice could apply to you! I have met many people who handle commissions differently than I do, and they are all doing good work just fine for themselves. I think about this often when sharing all of this advice. If you find none of this advice applies to you whatsoever, you don't have to take my words as gospel.

Above all, remember to have fun drawing -first- more than anything else. After that, doing commission work is all about the follow-through. Doing commissions often and at a good pace builds up not only a portfolio of clients, but you will also be known for being reliable. At times I am bad at predicting my stamina, thinking I can take a commission in October but finish it in November. Now it's December, and I still have a few commissions to do. Whoops! But even though that happens, I have finished every single commission I have been paid for.

But with that, I'm not without fault. Have I forgotten about your commission? Feel free to let me know. I'm on twitter, and I also read any FA notes I get sent my way.

Be well out there! Take care today!

GET IT HERE: https://gumroad.com/l/cbUaa

I have made an entire artpack of all of my artwork from 2012 through 2019. All of it.

You can now download it and keep it all offline for $15. This support goes towards helping me move to another state this weekend.

- Artpack of 1500+ drawings
- Unreleased artwork
- Unpublished short stories
- A retrospective history on certain pieces

$15. This helps support my move to another state.

Before Tumblr had a whole crackdown on content a couple years ago, I made sure everything was preserved as much as possible. I originally did this as a personal project in my free time. Then it grew … and grew, and grew. You know how it is.

This archive is a failsafe to have everything from 2012 - 2019 in one place. My original blog could be obsolete and deleted at any point against my will due to auto-moderation that has affected other users on this site.

This artpack includes these items in detail.

- Around 1,598 drawings, give or take.
- Unreleased drawings from the Patreon scrapbook and beyond.
- Two unpublished, lengthy short stories over 10k+ words each.
- “The Annotated Sot”, a look behind-the-scenes on artist history and process behind specific pieces in my life.

Any help would be appreciated since moving to an entirely new place comes with a lot of insecurity.

GET IT HERE: https://gumroad.com/l/cbUaa

204863

Hey everyone.


This journal is a long time coming, but I'm going to be straightforward with all of you about it. Please read closely.


I have now been drawing for ten years, and feel comfortable drawing artwork more than I ever have in my life. I'm still going upwards and outwards with my progress. It's not perfect by a long shot, but it works. My ideas feel more clearly expressed than before.


Sharing my artwork online, my subconscious has felt that I need to always put myself forward to pry for the attention of others online. Update schedules, social media outlets, constant output, news updates like these, etc. The goodwill of those who are strongly dedicated to my work does keep me going. A faith in my work, and what I choose to create.


I've been working really hard both in artwork, my job, and getting my life in order. Things feel much better. It's helped me reflect again on what's really important in my life.


I don't have a lot to prove as much as I thought I would. The more comfortable my life can be, the more I can focus on my goals. One of these goals is communicating online in a more meaningful way. If I amplify everything I say by using a platform, people are not going to listen to what is truly important for me to share.


I'm going to be a lot more quiet these days when it comes to public output for everyone to see. Patreon will still get updates. I'll still post things across galleries. A lot isn't going to change, actually. I'll still post art. I'll still open commissions sometimes if I need to take some. I'll still privately talk to people, or reply to people on social media. But there will be a significant cut back on what I'm actually going to say out loud.


You're obviously going to still see talking, growing and shrinking animals. That stuff is fun to draw. But there is also going to be a slow change in overall motive to express myself. All of this fluff is fun, but it is not as personally meaningful to me compared to some very important pieces of artwork I want to share with you.


When I do say something, I want it to count. I want it to be meaningful. This is directly related to my goals in life. If I don't achieve these goals, that's okay with me. But I can't predict the future, so I'm going to be doing my best to move myself in the right direction.


All I ask for you- as weird as it may sound- is to have faith in me that I know what I'm doing. I believe I do, but your own belief will help me even more.


Have a great day everyone, and thanks for reading!

There's a lot of information you should know for the current future, so I'm going to be straightforward and post it all.

I will be posting one piece of art on FA everyday until I cannot do so anymore. There will be extra goodies in between as well.

// I am much more active on Twitter.
A lot of new stuff goes here first.

// I post a lot more stuff on Patreon.
I do a lot of artwork and prefer to show things in color. HQ color work is posted at the $1 tier. Many exclusive sketches and works in progress that do not get shown elsewhere are posted at the $5 tier.

// I have more real-time updates on a Telegram channel.
This is for updates on-the-go and for general stuff I want to share with people.

// I still have a large archive of art on Tumblr.
Like, a lot. This will always still be updated until hell possibly freezes over, or I get bored. Both may happen someday.

---

I like to schedule things ahead of time for posting. Here are times you may see drawings appear on these platforms. All times are PST.

Patreon - 2:30PM
Tumblr - 2:30PM
Twitter - 3PM
FA - Whenever I'm home!
Telegram channel - Same as FA.

What you can expect from each platform?

Patreon - Exclusive sketches
Tumblr - Higher quality images than FA
Twitter - New stuff usually appears here first
FA - A new post everyday until I run out of stuff to show!
Telegram channel - An assortment of cool stuff.

Sometimes I may not have something to show on Twitter for a while in between larger projects. Expect some music I like on days like these. You will see these at 3:30PM.

----

That's all for now! Have a great day everyone.

Hey there. I haven’t updated this place in months. I know some people around here follow me exclusively on here or on my tumblr blog, so I wanna give people some quick news.

- Life has been a lot better this year, but I’ve still be rather depressed most days. This happens every once in a while throughout the year. I’m okay.

- I’m going to be slowly phasing out commissions this next year. It’s contributing toward my depression. I had a lot I want to say about this, but I don’t really know what I’m going to do. I love making art for people, but it is grinding me down in a way that is destroying me. I’m sorry.

- I still have a patreon, but I haven’t been using it effectively enough. This has to do with how I will be phasing out commissions. The newest upcoming posts on my patreon will not be recent commissions.

- I'mma be uploading a couple of my favorite commissions I've done here to FA, but that's about it. After that it will mainly be some personal art.

That’s it. Bye now.

Hey. Just an update that I'm going to be cleaning up and uploading stuff to FA. Just changing things up in here. Thanks!