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BACK - Sick + Internet outage + burned wires... :|
General | Posted 8 years agoTechFurMeet was great... except for the part where I got pretty sick on Saturday. I traveled home in the cold snowy winter with a high fever, nausea and a sore throat.
And since that wasn't enough, on the same day I got sick the local headend (station that distributes cable service) of my Internet provider burned down leaving several towns with no Internet for 4 days. I just got service back this morning.
And to top it all off - yesterday evening the wires in my bathroom started literally burning, forcing me to shut down the corresponding auto-fuse leaving no electricity in the kitchen and bathroom, and no hot water (we have an electric boiler) until I climb up on a ladder and see if I can fix the mess the workers we hired for renovating the bathroom a few years ago did.
I'm still sick - I don't know what it is, probably the flu - but I feel somewhat better than yesterday, so hopefully I'll be back to normal in a few more days. Until then I want to keep resting to heal faster, but I will have to look into those wires soon because we can't shower without power for the boiler.
*deep sigh* At least my life isn't boring eh? :D
Out of town for a few days
General | Posted 8 years agoI'll be out of town and unavailable for a few days. As it happens, I'm going to TechFurMeet with my mare
kyeramoon, a tech and hacking oriented mini-con in the Czech Republic from the organizers of ZodiaCon.This will be the first time we meet in person since our friendship stepped up to a relationship, so we will celebrate that by spending some time together.
I will arrive back home Sunday evening and likely resume work on Monday.
All GOOD news! - Plans for 2018
General | Posted 8 years agoGreetings everyone!
First of all let me wish you all a great, productive and happy 2018! May have a wonderful journey this year towards making your dreams come true!
As for me, my greatest dream has already came true, when on Christmas Eve '17 Kyera, the beautiful mare my love burned for for ten years opened her heart for me, and changed my life entirely overnight.
As you may know from my past journals, I have suffered from chronic depression for more than a decade, with several major depressive episodes over the years, getting especially bad in the last years and severely impacting my productivity. This changed overnight on that Christmas eve. While fully recovering from the damage depression has done to me will take years at least, just like for the wounds of mistreatment and abuse from people over my life to heal, the darkness dissipated, and I feel happy and motivated again.
I didn't feel this alive, happy, motivated and hopeful about the future for at least a decade!
As a result, I'm now working full speed at fixing my life and creating a better future. Kyera and I have an action plan to make this happen. First of all, I'm working on rebuilding my productivity from its ruins, with my backlog being the main focus.
I'm working on the Anubian Orgy YCH every day now, which alone constitutes most of my backlog, and the plan is to have the backlog cleared by the end of March at worst, but if things go really well, it will happen much sooner than that. I have redrawn the sketches of the Anubian YCH to match my current skill level, and I'm in the process of sending out the flat-colored sketches to participants for approval which should be concluded by tomorrow if all goes well, then the painting stage begins.
In the meanwhile I sorted through all my art and gathered all pieces from 2017 that I did not upload yet. I will upload these in the coming days gradually. Also while I'm working on finishing the Anubian YCH I will probably do a small number of speedpaints or studies to break up the monotonicity, which I'll also upload.
And finally, we want to make sure that I'm not missing Eurofurence this year, and will be able to bring some nice new artworks for the Art Show! I may even go to ZodiaCon, but EF is the top priority.
So please stay tuned for updates and art! :)
Another kitty sizure. :(
General | Posted 8 years ago Jacqueline just had another epileptic attack.
I called both the local vet who prescribed Phenobarbital for her and the vet evaluating our MRI scan, and they both said that we should stay with this med for now and consult them again in another 2 weeks.
Since she was clear for 2 weeks, and the seizure didn't last very long they agreed that this is not that bad. I hope they are right.
I'll keep you updated.
I called both the local vet who prescribed Phenobarbital for her and the vet evaluating our MRI scan, and they both said that we should stay with this med for now and consult them again in another 2 weeks.
Since she was clear for 2 weeks, and the seizure didn't last very long they agreed that this is not that bad. I hope they are right.
I'll keep you updated.
Cat MRI fundraiser detailed update
General | Posted 8 years ago Hello friends and supporters!
My honest apologies for being late. We have been busy and time flies by, it's crazy that it's been a week already! I promised you a detailed update, and here it is, even if a bit late.
As I have mentioned already, the MRI came up negative. The report technically lists in length the various attributes of the brain and mentions that all look normal and healthy, and then lists various issues and mentions that they were not present.
This is good news, because it means her brain is generally healthy. However, this means we don't know the exact cause of her epilepsy. So continue with standard treatment which means to try out a medication and hope that it works - and if it doesn't, try another.
The vets conducting and evaluating the scan (he was pretty nice and informative, explained everything) said that what happens during seizures is that for unknown reasons the pressure in the fluid around the brain raises, literally squeezing the brain. Medication aims to prevent this by promoting the free flow if this liquid as it enters and leaves the cranium. Medications may make attacks less strong, or eliminate them completely.
He said, that while epilepsy cannot be cured, if the working medication is found she can live a full, long life!
Now, the other good news is that we didn't see any signs of epileptic attack for 14 days now, since she is on Phenobarbital. We keep a close eye on her. While it's too early to celebrate, this is a good sign so far.
Finances:
I've promised to provide account for what and how we spent the money you so generously donated.
With the campaign reaching the goal, and another $25 donated to us directly, that comes up to a total of $425. After PayPal fees that leaves us with $406.29 which was converted at the rate of $1 = 260.05 Ft (HUF - Hungarian Forint), coming up to 105,655 Ft.
Our total costs were:
80,000 Ft - MRI scan
5,000 Ft x 2 - Taxi there and back
7,190 Ft - Harness, leash and toy *
==============
= 92,190 Ft
And that leaves us with 12,810 Ft (about $49) that we have to spend on cat food, as promised. :) For that though we will have to make a trip to Aldi where we can buy larger amounts of good quality cat food at an affordable price.
* She used to be a partly outside cat, going out a lot, but now she can't because we have to monitor her and make sure if an attack happens she won't be in a dangerous place. She doesn't like this, and is very heartbroken for not being allowed outside anymore. We thought that if we get her a harness and leash we could take her on walks outside. Since the taxi cost less than we expected, we decided to buy these while she was at the clinic being scanned. We threw in a feeding ball toy too, which you fill with dry food or small cat snacks, and it falls out through holes as the cat rolls the ball around.
Right now she looks all fine, and already had her first encounter with the harness, as you can see on a pic I uploaded to the gallery.
I uploaded pics of the report and various bills as well as the harness and toy to the main fundraiser gallery for you. [Click here to see!]
Stay tuned for pics of piles of cat food! :D
My honest apologies for being late. We have been busy and time flies by, it's crazy that it's been a week already! I promised you a detailed update, and here it is, even if a bit late.
As I have mentioned already, the MRI came up negative. The report technically lists in length the various attributes of the brain and mentions that all look normal and healthy, and then lists various issues and mentions that they were not present.
This is good news, because it means her brain is generally healthy. However, this means we don't know the exact cause of her epilepsy. So continue with standard treatment which means to try out a medication and hope that it works - and if it doesn't, try another.
The vets conducting and evaluating the scan (he was pretty nice and informative, explained everything) said that what happens during seizures is that for unknown reasons the pressure in the fluid around the brain raises, literally squeezing the brain. Medication aims to prevent this by promoting the free flow if this liquid as it enters and leaves the cranium. Medications may make attacks less strong, or eliminate them completely.
He said, that while epilepsy cannot be cured, if the working medication is found she can live a full, long life!
Now, the other good news is that we didn't see any signs of epileptic attack for 14 days now, since she is on Phenobarbital. We keep a close eye on her. While it's too early to celebrate, this is a good sign so far.
Finances:
I've promised to provide account for what and how we spent the money you so generously donated.
With the campaign reaching the goal, and another $25 donated to us directly, that comes up to a total of $425. After PayPal fees that leaves us with $406.29 which was converted at the rate of $1 = 260.05 Ft (HUF - Hungarian Forint), coming up to 105,655 Ft.
Our total costs were:
80,000 Ft - MRI scan
5,000 Ft x 2 - Taxi there and back
7,190 Ft - Harness, leash and toy *
==============
= 92,190 Ft
And that leaves us with 12,810 Ft (about $49) that we have to spend on cat food, as promised. :) For that though we will have to make a trip to Aldi where we can buy larger amounts of good quality cat food at an affordable price.
* She used to be a partly outside cat, going out a lot, but now she can't because we have to monitor her and make sure if an attack happens she won't be in a dangerous place. She doesn't like this, and is very heartbroken for not being allowed outside anymore. We thought that if we get her a harness and leash we could take her on walks outside. Since the taxi cost less than we expected, we decided to buy these while she was at the clinic being scanned. We threw in a feeding ball toy too, which you fill with dry food or small cat snacks, and it falls out through holes as the cat rolls the ball around.
Right now she looks all fine, and already had her first encounter with the harness, as you can see on a pic I uploaded to the gallery.
I uploaded pics of the report and various bills as well as the harness and toy to the main fundraiser gallery for you. [Click here to see!]
Stay tuned for pics of piles of cat food! :D
Back from cat MRI scan!
General | Posted 8 years agoBack from MR scan! This was an exhausting day. I will write a more detailed update soon, probably tomorrow.
For now in short: Good news is that the MR showed no brain damage or tumor. Bad news is that we still don't know the cause, and back to trying medications and hoping it will work.
The vet said, that if we find one that works, she can live a long life! So overall it's good news. He also suggested a drug, but we mentioned he is already on Phenoleptil (Phenobarbital) so he said then don't change it, unless it doesn't work.
We now all need some rest. Jacqueline is mostly back to normal but still a bit high from anesthetics, so need to watch for for a while.
Fundraiser almost met overnight!
General | Posted 8 years agoWOW! We are blown away!
I was counting on the generosity of the furry community when it comes animals in need, but didn't expect that we reach the goal overnight! You folks are amazing. With another $25 we received directly to PayPal this makes a total of $425 out of our goal of $400!
I have called the vet clinic a few hours ago and got lucky, we have an appointment for tomorrow afternoon! The funds should arrive to my bank account from PayPal by then.
I will update you again once the scan is done and we have consulted the vets.
Thank you everyone once more!
FUNDRAISER - My kitty needs MR scan
General | Posted 8 years ago As I wrote recently, Jacqueline, my rescued kitty developed epilepsy in recent months. She is still young and seizures got more frequent which means it is serious. She got meds but there is no telling if it works or not until she has another seizure, or they stop happening. The vet suggested if we can get an MR scan it may reveal the cause and help with targeted treatment.
The scan is very expensive and we can't afford it, so we created a fundraiser on YouCaring. Please have a look for details, and even if you can't donate, please share it, and you have already helped!
https://www.youcaring.com/jacquelinethecat-1042144
I will keep you posted about her health. And thank you in advance for any help, including sharing!
EDIT: We were made aware that YouCaring doesn't allow less than $5 donations, and that donating is complicated and annoying. You can just use this link instead, though it won't show up in the progress bar: paypal.me/StormEngineer
The scan is very expensive and we can't afford it, so we created a fundraiser on YouCaring. Please have a look for details, and even if you can't donate, please share it, and you have already helped!
https://www.youcaring.com/jacquelinethecat-1042144
I will keep you posted about her health. And thank you in advance for any help, including sharing!
EDIT: We were made aware that YouCaring doesn't allow less than $5 donations, and that donating is complicated and annoying. You can just use this link instead, though it won't show up in the progress bar: paypal.me/StormEngineer
Still alive + Cat health issues
General | Posted 8 years agoStill alive!
I didn't post anything in a while. Don't worry, I'm simply focusing entirely on clearing my backlog. Things are improving overall, even if slowly, but steadily.
I'm going to start posting art again once I made substantial progress with backlog pieces - which is hopefully soon, assuming nothing bad happens.
My cat has epilepsy
In much less bright news however, my poor little kitty developed serious epilepsy. :( She had violent seizures with increasing frequency, and the fact that she is only about three years old doesn't bode well - the younger they are when it develops the more serious it can get and the higher chance of death from heart failure (seizures put huge stress on the heart). There is also the danger of having a seizure while in a dangerous place - eg. a high place she can fall from, falling into a puddle and drowning, etc.
The vet prescribed her medicine (Phenoleptil) and now we are keeping her inside and monitoring her to see if it works or we have to try a different one. In the best case her epilepsy can be made completely symptom-free, but she has to take the med twice a day for the rest of her life. Please cross your fingers! The good news is that crushing it and mixing it into her food works, so we don't have to get her to swallow a pill twice a day. The vet also prescribed a relief drug that need to be administered rectally during seizure - it's a human drug tho, so we need the smallest dosage produced and from even that we need to measure 1/5 on the fly. I really hope we will never need to use it.
The only other thing we could do for her is getting a CT and EEG of her brain, to see if there is any visible brain problem that is causing it, but it may not reveal anything and be completely useless. And there is no way we can afford them any time soon.
Let's hope that everything goes well both for me and my little princess, and I can write only good news next time. Stay tuned!
Good news!
General | Posted 8 years ago I have recently told you about my degrading health, depression and anxiety and other issues and how this freelance contract I had was a major source of these.
Yesterday I could finally sit down with the client face to face and tell them about my situation honestly. At that point I was so stressed and anxious that I was shaking and had a hard time talking and breathing, so they could clearly see I'm not joking. To my great relief, the meeting ended with the best possible outcome: they were not only fully understanding, but they simply told me to keep the remaining advance payment and just get better. In short, I quit without obligations, and they leave the door open for me if I want to work with them again in the future once my health is sorted out.
I can't express in words what a relief this was to me. I literally cried a little, even though I'm not a crying type at all. I felt that all the pressure is slowly crushing and suffocating me and now it's gone. I still have pressure from my backlog of course, but that's not comparable - my backlog is stuff I normally enjoy working on, but this job turned out to be a pain. The clients are really great people on the human level, but to work with them was a nightmare. In retrospect I was absolutely not the type of person they need for this job, but I've only learned that way into it.
So now the only obligation I have is my commission backlog, and apart from a few small pieces I will do to have my bills paid, I can focus on that completely.
I will still need some time to get better but I expect my productivity to gradually increase from now on.
Yesterday I could finally sit down with the client face to face and tell them about my situation honestly. At that point I was so stressed and anxious that I was shaking and had a hard time talking and breathing, so they could clearly see I'm not joking. To my great relief, the meeting ended with the best possible outcome: they were not only fully understanding, but they simply told me to keep the remaining advance payment and just get better. In short, I quit without obligations, and they leave the door open for me if I want to work with them again in the future once my health is sorted out.
I can't express in words what a relief this was to me. I literally cried a little, even though I'm not a crying type at all. I felt that all the pressure is slowly crushing and suffocating me and now it's gone. I still have pressure from my backlog of course, but that's not comparable - my backlog is stuff I normally enjoy working on, but this job turned out to be a pain. The clients are really great people on the human level, but to work with them was a nightmare. In retrospect I was absolutely not the type of person they need for this job, but I've only learned that way into it.
So now the only obligation I have is my commission backlog, and apart from a few small pieces I will do to have my bills paid, I can focus on that completely.
I will still need some time to get better but I expect my productivity to gradually increase from now on.
Update... mixed feelings
General | Posted 8 years agoYou surely noticed I stopped posting Inktober drawings. Sadly I had several issues causing me to fall behind, until I was behind by a whole week. At this point I had to make the decision to give up on it for this year. I have lot of backlog work to do, and a quick drawing a day sounded manageable but as it started piling up it became a source of pressure. Next year I'll try again.
A bit of good news is that my finances are a bit less scary now. Thanks to generous sponsorship from a friend I'm not in immediate danger of losing electricity, Internet or gas service anymore. But I'm still in a tight spot. The real solution will be taking on work periodically once my backlog is cleared - which brings me to my next point.
I have progressed with the backlog but it goes painfully slow. Other than the commission pieces I need to finish I also have the freelance client who hired me, and I'm way behind with that project too - in this case though it's partly their fault, but the result is the same. I have completed a graphic for them in the last 24 hours of a hard deadline which taxed me mentally and emotionally, and now have another piece that needs to be finished very soon as they need to print prototypes... but I'm not sure if I can.
I'm feeling physically sick just from thinking of it, and I have to force myself to work on it for the next few days. I now suffer from both depression and anxiety, and sleeping and eating problems as a result. And I'm not sure if there is anything that can be done... but I have to do something.
I'll meet my client on Thursday or Friday when they are free, and tell them honestly that my health is just in a really bad state and I can't work like this. I'm sure they woN't be happy... but I have to be honest about this, as the problems won't magically go away.
Wish me luck.
3 days without heating...
General | Posted 8 years agoI'm just past some really frustrating days. I had several unpaid gas bills, because I simply didn't have any money to pay them - the gas company was issuing a termination warning. So the moment I got some money I proceeded to pay them. I thought that with that, I'm safe.
The next morning they cut my service regardless, claiming that my payment isn't registered in their system yet...
Long story short I had to run around for two days, acquiring certificates from my bank, paying the last bill despite it not even being overdue, spending 5+ hours at customer service offices, and filling out and signing several papers only to have gas service reinstated...
As a result I was with no heating (apart from a small portable electric heater I borrowed from my mother), no ability cook proper food and not a single cent of money left.
Needless to say I couldn't do any creative work like that. Now I'm way behind with everything, including Inktober, which I really genuinely wanted to do every day, my backlog work, and the freelance work I was hoping to get some money from.
I already had a lot of work, and now even more so if I want to catch up with things...
IMPORTANT update
General | Posted 8 years ago It's the 1st of Oktober, so it's time I post this. Fair warning: this will be a heavy subject.
TLDR: I'm dealing with a condition without being able to get professional help. To deal with it I need radical changes and time.
I feel my life is at an important crossroads. I allowed my depression to control my life way longer than I should have. But I underestimated how hard this illness to deal with.
And when I say illness I mean it. Depression is no joke, it's a serious medical condition - many people out there are killing themselves over it. It's not just "being sad". It fucks with your brain chemistry to physically alter the way you think and experience life. And fighting your own brain is possibly the hardest thing in the World. No wonder most people can only deal with depression by receiving professional help - which I cannot afford.
So I have to fight it on my own. And so far it didn't look like I'm winning. But I believe I finally have a chance to change this. This is partly due to a lot of help from a dear friend (You know who you are. I'm not sure I would be alive or sane today without You. You give me a reason to get up every day and fight on.) and in other part because I gained some new insight into my condition and I can try a new approach now.
I try to sum up my action plan in short:
Main priorities:
1; Get all unpaid bills paid to get rid of the constant fear of losing electricity or Internet.
2; Clear my backlog by finishing all owed art.
3; Build up constant and reliable productivity over time. Making sure I work on art every day and upload regularly. Make sure I don't build a new backlog.
4; Improve my weakest skills for better art quality and better speed, and create new price structure for commissions.
5; Look into if there is any option for those who need a therapist but cannot afford it.
As much as it pains me, I have to prioritize bills over my backlog. I can't finish the backlog if I lose power or have no food to eat. This is the only way. Luckily, I was hired by a small business to do some illustrations and graphics for them, which should help greatly having ends met.
Also, to increase and maintain productive momentum and fight depression I decided to use Inktober as an excuse to make sure I draw every day. I'll do simple, quick drawings - to not steal time from important work - as a warmup before commission/backlog work, starting today.
Finally, I'll try to update you all much more often on my progress. I want you to see that I'm really trying my best to get above the waves.
I need to fix my life finally and move on. I want to experience life without depression and constant uncertainty. I want to be a productive, reliable artist commissioners can expect good turnaround times from. And there is a long way to go.
Thank you for reading.
Storm
TLDR: I'm dealing with a condition without being able to get professional help. To deal with it I need radical changes and time.
I feel my life is at an important crossroads. I allowed my depression to control my life way longer than I should have. But I underestimated how hard this illness to deal with.
And when I say illness I mean it. Depression is no joke, it's a serious medical condition - many people out there are killing themselves over it. It's not just "being sad". It fucks with your brain chemistry to physically alter the way you think and experience life. And fighting your own brain is possibly the hardest thing in the World. No wonder most people can only deal with depression by receiving professional help - which I cannot afford.
So I have to fight it on my own. And so far it didn't look like I'm winning. But I believe I finally have a chance to change this. This is partly due to a lot of help from a dear friend (You know who you are. I'm not sure I would be alive or sane today without You. You give me a reason to get up every day and fight on.) and in other part because I gained some new insight into my condition and I can try a new approach now.
I try to sum up my action plan in short:
Main priorities:
1; Get all unpaid bills paid to get rid of the constant fear of losing electricity or Internet.
2; Clear my backlog by finishing all owed art.
3; Build up constant and reliable productivity over time. Making sure I work on art every day and upload regularly. Make sure I don't build a new backlog.
4; Improve my weakest skills for better art quality and better speed, and create new price structure for commissions.
5; Look into if there is any option for those who need a therapist but cannot afford it.
As much as it pains me, I have to prioritize bills over my backlog. I can't finish the backlog if I lose power or have no food to eat. This is the only way. Luckily, I was hired by a small business to do some illustrations and graphics for them, which should help greatly having ends met.
Also, to increase and maintain productive momentum and fight depression I decided to use Inktober as an excuse to make sure I draw every day. I'll do simple, quick drawings - to not steal time from important work - as a warmup before commission/backlog work, starting today.
Finally, I'll try to update you all much more often on my progress. I want you to see that I'm really trying my best to get above the waves.
I need to fix my life finally and move on. I want to experience life without depression and constant uncertainty. I want to be a productive, reliable artist commissioners can expect good turnaround times from. And there is a long way to go.
Thank you for reading.
Storm
Smol update & news
General | Posted 8 years agoHey there! How are you all doing? This is just a small update on what's up with me.
1; I'm likely to be hired for a commercial project! If all goes well this will cover most of my living costs for months, which would also mean I can comfortably focus on my backlog without worrying about bills. Wish me luck!
2; I'm mostly working on a large YCH comprising the majority of my backlog, so I work very little on anything else until that's completed.
3; Yesterday did a little birthday gift to a close friend (uploading soon) - this resulted in a new, light, soft style resembling a drawing colored with watercolor. I plan to offer this style in the future!
4; Sadly, at this point the chance that I can make it to EF is minimal... :( Even if the job in point 1 works out, I can't save up enough in time. I'm extremely disappointed because I love this year's theme... but I don't think I can do anything about it.
P.s.: I'm interested in your opinion! If you didn't yet, please look at this question and poll. Thank you!
Smol update & news
General | Posted 8 years ago Hey there! How are you all doing? This is just a small update on what's up with me.
1; I'm likely to be hired for a commercial project! If all goes well this will cover most of my living costs for months, which would also mean I can comfortably focus on my backlog without worrying about bills. Wish me luck!
2; I'm mostly working on a large YCH comprising the majority of my backlog, so I work very little on anything else until that's completed.
3; Yesterday did a little birthday gift to a close friend (uploading soon) - this resulted in a new, light, soft style resembling a drawing colored with watercolor. I plan to offer this style in the future!
4; Sadly, at this point the chance that I can make it to EF is minimal... :( Even if the job in point 1 works out, I can't save up enough in time. I'm extremely disappointed because I love this year's theme... but I don't think I can do anything about it.
P.s.: I'm interested in your opinion! If you didn't yet, please look at this question and poll. Thank you!
1; I'm likely to be hired for a commercial project! If all goes well this will cover most of my living costs for months, which would also mean I can comfortably focus on my backlog without worrying about bills. Wish me luck!
2; I'm mostly working on a large YCH comprising the majority of my backlog, so I work very little on anything else until that's completed.
3; Yesterday did a little birthday gift to a close friend (uploading soon) - this resulted in a new, light, soft style resembling a drawing colored with watercolor. I plan to offer this style in the future!
4; Sadly, at this point the chance that I can make it to EF is minimal... :( Even if the job in point 1 works out, I can't save up enough in time. I'm extremely disappointed because I love this year's theme... but I don't think I can do anything about it.
P.s.: I'm interested in your opinion! If you didn't yet, please look at this question and poll. Thank you!
[POLL] - Large uploads or smaller?
General | Posted 8 years agoRight now my artworks are scaled down to 1800 pixels on the longer side. This means in full view you can see fine detail, but on the other hand, it won't fit on most screens and you have to scroll. I could instead resize to something like maximum 1200 height, and maximum 1600 width, but that means less fine detail.
So I wonder, do you guys prefer to see the fine detail, or you would rather like to see it fit on the screen?
[ Vote by clicking here! ]
You are also welcome to leave a comment if you would like.
Thank you!
Quick update - Commissions will open soon!
General | Posted 8 years ago As you may have noticed, I haven't been very active lately, so here is a quick update on what's going on.
First of all, I keep working on my backlog, which includes a large YCH and some artworks for a few commissioners. This is my main priority still. I'm preparing an update on the YCH soon.
However, in the meanwhile my pockets ran empty which means I'll have to take on some new projects to cover expenses while I work on finishing existing projects up. I'm still considering what is the best strategy to cover my expenses without delaying the work on existing projects too much. Once I came to a conclusion I'll write another journal and announce commission opening. Also the opening will be limited, as I don't want to take on any more new work than necessary.
Finally, sadly it seems very unlikely that I can make it to Eurofurence this year. I would need to gather lots of funds - I don't even have a ticket yet - but I have to focus on finishing existing jobs, I can't take on a large amount of new work until I'm done with my backlog. I still have a little hope, but for now the most likely outcome seems to be that I'll have to give up on EF this year, which would sadden ma greatly since this year's theme is ancient Egypt, which I love so much. :(
Thank you all for being my Watchers and/or Commissioners, or if you just favorit-ed something or made a comment. It means a lot that people are interested in my art, and it gives me strength to push forward and stay positive. Thank you!
First of all, I keep working on my backlog, which includes a large YCH and some artworks for a few commissioners. This is my main priority still. I'm preparing an update on the YCH soon.
However, in the meanwhile my pockets ran empty which means I'll have to take on some new projects to cover expenses while I work on finishing existing projects up. I'm still considering what is the best strategy to cover my expenses without delaying the work on existing projects too much. Once I came to a conclusion I'll write another journal and announce commission opening. Also the opening will be limited, as I don't want to take on any more new work than necessary.
Finally, sadly it seems very unlikely that I can make it to Eurofurence this year. I would need to gather lots of funds - I don't even have a ticket yet - but I have to focus on finishing existing jobs, I can't take on a large amount of new work until I'm done with my backlog. I still have a little hope, but for now the most likely outcome seems to be that I'll have to give up on EF this year, which would sadden ma greatly since this year's theme is ancient Egypt, which I love so much. :(
Thank you all for being my Watchers and/or Commissioners, or if you just favorit-ed something or made a comment. It means a lot that people are interested in my art, and it gives me strength to push forward and stay positive. Thank you!
Spring is here - work awaits
General | Posted 9 years agoFinally Winter is over. The Spring brings warmth and sunshine - which also means it's time to start the work in the garden and on the house. There is a lot to do, and I'm still far from being healed from my depression so I have little energy to distribute. I can't both paint and work outside the same day.
As some tasks can't really wait, this means I'm inevitably slowing down with art for a while. I'm not happy about this as I wanted to finish all existing commissions as soon as I can, but if I don't start the preparations for rebuilding the garden and fixing up the house now I won't be able to do it for another year.
I will work on gradually increasing my daily work hours when I do art to speed things up a bit.
Thank you for your continued patience!
Moving here from my old account! (and why?)
General | Posted 9 years ago I just moved here from my old account 
---storm---
Why am I moving?
My name was always just "Storm". It isn't very unique, but I chose it for personal reasons. Sadly it's usually already taken on various platforms, just as it was in case of FA. So I came up with the stupid idea of mimicking my signature by adding three dashes before and after it. It sounded fun at the time...
When I started becoming more serious about art I realized I need a name that is unique and that is most likely still free across platforms for me to register. The idea came from my Second Life name - back then you had to chose a last name from a list, and I chose "Engineer" because I loved steampunk. So I thought, I already have this name in SL, I could just use that for consistency! A quickly Google search revealed that it's also pretty unique too.
I registered this account on FA as a placeholder, and for a while was hoping that FA implements the much requested name change after all, but it never happened... Now that I'm getting really serious about making art and my name is starting to get out there I decided to bite the bullet and manually migrate to this account.
What will happen with my old account?
It will stay there, with all the existing art, scraps and favorites. Journals will be mostly pruned, and "MOVED" warnings placed around the account.
My latest artworks will be re-uploaded here while scraps and older art stays there.
Will anything else change?
A few things. I already had some plans, now that I'm doing the move it may be the right time to also get these under way:
- My TOS will be reworked. The old TOS applies to existing commissions and the new one will apply to new commissions.
- My pricing and commission info will be greatly reworked. I improved a lot since my first pricing scheme was created, and also my techniques changed so it just doesn't work anymore. Again, existing commissions stay under the old pricing, but new ones will go by the new prices. Until the rework is done, commissions are temporarily closed, except for some experimental slots I'll open soon.
- I'm going to move from Notes to Email for communication because FA Notes are very unreliable - they can get lost completely, or stay in the sender's Outbox "unopened" without ever being delivered to the recipient, making the sender think they just didn't open it. Also, if FA goes down again for whatever reason, communication would be completely cut.
- I'm finally setting up my personal and portfolio websites. The personal site will have a blog where I write about all kinds of things from stories of my past travels to articles on art related subjects.
So what's next after the move is complete?
First of all finishing existing commissions, doing some experimental ones to help in reworking my prices, then reopening regular commissions once the new TOS and pricing is ready.
In the long run I want to focus on art research, study and practice to improve my art skills faster, and working towards saving up funds for Eurofurence as well as some art related investments such as courses or hardware.
---storm--- Why am I moving?
My name was always just "Storm". It isn't very unique, but I chose it for personal reasons. Sadly it's usually already taken on various platforms, just as it was in case of FA. So I came up with the stupid idea of mimicking my signature by adding three dashes before and after it. It sounded fun at the time...
When I started becoming more serious about art I realized I need a name that is unique and that is most likely still free across platforms for me to register. The idea came from my Second Life name - back then you had to chose a last name from a list, and I chose "Engineer" because I loved steampunk. So I thought, I already have this name in SL, I could just use that for consistency! A quickly Google search revealed that it's also pretty unique too.
I registered this account on FA as a placeholder, and for a while was hoping that FA implements the much requested name change after all, but it never happened... Now that I'm getting really serious about making art and my name is starting to get out there I decided to bite the bullet and manually migrate to this account.
What will happen with my old account?
It will stay there, with all the existing art, scraps and favorites. Journals will be mostly pruned, and "MOVED" warnings placed around the account.
My latest artworks will be re-uploaded here while scraps and older art stays there.
Will anything else change?
A few things. I already had some plans, now that I'm doing the move it may be the right time to also get these under way:
- My TOS will be reworked. The old TOS applies to existing commissions and the new one will apply to new commissions.
- My pricing and commission info will be greatly reworked. I improved a lot since my first pricing scheme was created, and also my techniques changed so it just doesn't work anymore. Again, existing commissions stay under the old pricing, but new ones will go by the new prices. Until the rework is done, commissions are temporarily closed, except for some experimental slots I'll open soon.
- I'm going to move from Notes to Email for communication because FA Notes are very unreliable - they can get lost completely, or stay in the sender's Outbox "unopened" without ever being delivered to the recipient, making the sender think they just didn't open it. Also, if FA goes down again for whatever reason, communication would be completely cut.
- I'm finally setting up my personal and portfolio websites. The personal site will have a blog where I write about all kinds of things from stories of my past travels to articles on art related subjects.
So what's next after the move is complete?
First of all finishing existing commissions, doing some experimental ones to help in reworking my prices, then reopening regular commissions once the new TOS and pricing is ready.
In the long run I want to focus on art research, study and practice to improve my art skills faster, and working towards saving up funds for Eurofurence as well as some art related investments such as courses or hardware.
Detailed Commission Info 2.2
General | Posted 9 years ago
For information and price please email me at: [ commissions[at]stormengineer.com ]What themes can you commission from me?
I'm willing to do:
♞ Clean, mature and explicit, hetero, gay, bi, orgy
♞ Mild/medium BDSM, several kinks and fetishes, forced sex, pseudo-rape, rape fantasy
♞ Fighting, mild/medium violence and blood
♞ Many other things...
I'm NOT willing to do:
♞ Vore, unbirthing, absorption, infestation, corruption etc.
♞ Transformation as a fetish
♞ Gore, torture, humiliation, excessive violence and blood
♞ Hyper, macro/micro, musclefur, unnaturally fat or thin
♞ Digimon, Pokemon.
♞ Eggs, tentacles, crazy genitals
♞ Herms in nude or erotic setups. Sorry, nothing against you, it's just not my thing.
♞ Underage, babyfur, pedophilia
♞ Anything potentially illegal
♞ Many other things...
Generally, I will not draw scenes I personally would not enjoy to look at, and there are some things I won't draw that are against my views. I only work in a realistic fashion (no toony, chibi etc.), and in my personal style. For more information on what I do and what I don't, and why, see the document below:
[ Storm's artwork preferences ] (NSFW)Commission slots
Since I'm offering my commissions on several sites, to avoid having to update it on every site separately, slot info is available on Trello, following this link:
[Open slots and commission status]Prices, commission types and examples
Prices outlined on my Commissions page or on my Price Sheet are only guidelines and do not constitute an offer. The actual price is discussed when a commission is requested and depends on factors like complexity, special requests, etc.
[ Commission prices ]Please do NOT ask for free or discounted art. Art is my profession, and I do not work for free.
Terms & Conditions summary
By requesting a commission you accept my TOS!
TOS Summary:
♞ Prices are in USD. Payment via PayPal invoice. 50% in advance, the remaining upon completion. Finished art is delivered after the invoice is fully paid.
♞ Refunds are proportional to the work already completed and may be subject to a termination fee. You are paying for my time and work, not for the end result.
♞ A sketch will be shown for approval, additional WIPs may be shown. Major or unreasonable revisions cost extra. If I make an error entirely on my own fault, the fix is always free.
♞ I keep ownership, copyright, moral rights and commercial rights of the artwork, eg. I can sell prints and merch with the art. Commercial rights for you are NOT included by default - they are available at extra cost. Third parties can share and distribute the art as long as they credit me, don’t change it, claim as their own, or profit from it (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
♞ Consent is needed from everyone whose OC(s) are to be depicted. This includes gift art.
♞ You can use it as avatar/profile pic/Facebook header etc.
[ Full Terms and Conditions ]About me 4.0
General | Posted 9 years agoI'm very bad at keeping things short, but I tried. If you would like to know more, feel free to ask! You can comment here, or leave a shout, but please save Notes for important matters such as commissions.
My life in short
I've born in 1986 in the People's Republic of Hungary. My father was a stuntsman and actor, and my mother was a programmer.
I've spent most of my childhood and teen years in poverty, and been victim to heavy bullying due to my undiagnosed Asperger's Syndrome and other disabilities that made me fail to fit in. I rarely had any friends so I spent most of my time drawing.
In secondary school I've learned electronics because the adults convinced me that art is a nice hobby but you can't make a living from it. Eventually though I couldn1t take it anymore and quit inf favor of art school. I quit my first art school due to it being extremely bad, then quit the second too due due to depression and anxiety, and because I felt like it's just holding me back.
For many years I barely did any art. I tried several jobs, always ending up with a mental breakdown from anxiety and depression. So for several years I was mostly unemployed.
In 2011 I was so fed up with my life and everything that I signed up for a volunteer project in Ladakh, once one of the Western regions of the Tibetan empire, now the Northern-most region of India. Thanks to generous help from a person I barely known after a year I was able to do it. I spent 50 days in India with no plans or arrangements, and less than $200 money. I walked across the Himalayas for a week, through passes and down a glacier, been to remote monasteries and seen large Buddha statues covered in gold, silver and precious stones. AFter lot of adventures I've returned home as a different person.
Sadly after my trip things went badly again, and I was once again mostly unemployed and suffering from depression and anxiety.
Finally in 2014 I have decided to get back to art and become serious about it. But things were bumpy at first, to say the least.
In 2016 I've attended my first furry convention: Eurofurence 22! After that I got hit by a small financial disaster which again hindered me a lot.
It's January of 2019 when I write this, and as of now, I have been doing commissions inconsistently since 2016. Right now my goal is to stabilize and rethink my art career and lay the foundations of financial stability and keep improving my art as well as my productivity.
Likes, dislikes, hobbies and interests
I'm curious about almost everything and love to learn new things. I know a little about many things, a bit more about several, and relatively lot about a few.
Right now my main interest is classical painting, rediscovering the lost knowledge of old masters and applying it to digital art and the anthro/furry subject.
Likes/interests:
Traditional and digital art, photography, architecture, science, Linux, Free software & Open Source, history, philosophy, oriental religions (especially Daoism), nature, travel, adventure and exploration, alternative medicine, Eco-friendly lifestyle, DIY, inventing and problem solving, programming, some of the new technologies, different cultures, martial arts, weaponry both old and modern, sweet white wines, cheese, tea, coffee, traveling, eastern cuisine & cooking, engineering, steam engines & clockwork, incenses and aromatic oils, herbal medicine, typography, museums & classical art galleries, pipes and cigars, walking sticks, waistcoats & pocket watches, antiques and many-many other things. I can also play a mouth harp and native/traditional types of drums including shaman drums and African/Indian drums.
Dislikes:
stupidity, bigotry, hate, rudeness & ignorance, “modern art” & “conceptual art”, fast/junk food, cigarettes, alcoholics & junkies, modern fashion & trends, politics, broccoli, most loud noises, cities, hunting, Facebook, Windows, Apple
Trivia
♞ I'm of the INFP personality type.
♞ The name "Storm" is of personal/spiritual origin.[/b] I use it everywhere, even IRL. I adapted the form "Storm Engineer" to create a more unique name which is a must for artists.
♞ I'm a Winged Unicorn. (I prefer that term over "alicorn", which is a misused word.)
♞ IRL I'm male, but I have both a stallion and a mare side. While IRL I mostly accommodate to my physical gender, I can call myself Genderfluid. In artworks and in Second Life I may appear either as a stallion or a mare, or even shapeshift from one to another.
♞ I'm polysexual and polyamorous.
♞ My equine forms are not characters of their own, simply a representation of myself. I don't RP.
♞ One of my life's loves and goals is traveling to faraway places but as a traveler or adventurer rather than a tourist. To not just see the World, but be part of it. I also want a professional camera so I can take photos of these places, people, and other things of value.
♞ I'm involved in many things related to horses, such as horseback riding, ethology, violence free training, natural equine health care and alternative medicine. I'm spiritually connected with equines.
♞ I'm by definition a pagan, and I worship the Goddess of Horses - but I could also be called Taoist/Daoist since there are many similarities between Daoism and the way of The Great Mare. I'm tolerant towards every faith and view as long as they are also tolerant towards me. Spiritual talk is welcome, religious debates and attempts to convert are NOT!
♞ I'm a vegetarian (eggs and dairy products are OK) and an enthusiast cook. My reasons for being vegetarian are primarily spiritual and ethical. For the same reasons I oppose fishing and hunting. Just respect it, I do not wish to argue.
♞ I believe in freedom of religion, speech, thought and choice, equality of genders, sexes and orientations, skin colors, nationalities and so on, as well as animal rights.
♞ I don't RP anymore. I'm sorry, it just doesn't interest me at all since I started openly being myself.
♞ Please leave me out of politics, sports, hate, Nikon vs Canon or Xbox vs PS flames, etc.
♞ I smoke old school smoking pipes with flavored tobacco, and rarely, cigars or cigarillos, but I hate cigarettes. I also occasionally use an e-cigarette or smoke my nargileh (Arabic style water-pipe).
♞ I have a great appreciation for fine cheese and good sweet white wines. I just love late harvest and Tokaj Samorodni, but my real favorite is Tokaj Aszú.
♞ I'm old school in many ways and often feel out of place in our modern society. I generally favor old and classic over new. I love antiques and am a steampunk as well.
Photos
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/18142675/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/18142755/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/18142806/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/18142873/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/18142921/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/18142974/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/18143067/
Favorite artists
I'm inspired by way too many furry artists to list them all here, not to mention that the list keeps changing as I go forward on my artistic journey.
My biggest inspirations however are old classical painting masters - most importantly my "holy trinity": Caravaggio, Velázquez, Rembrandt - as well as professional artists who are again too many to list, but to mention a few names in no particular order: Steve Huston, Bobby Chiu, Carla Ortiz, Craig Mullins, James Gourney, Jonathan Hardesty, Nathan Fowkes, Sam Nielson, Marco Bucci, and many others.
Naughty things
I don't think sexuality should be a taboo. It's natural, and an important part of our life. So I'm not afraid to talk openly about it.
As mentioned above, I'm bigender, I have a mare and stallion sides. Most of the time I'm in stallion mind state, though. I'm bisexual/polysexual and a switch with both sides, and versatile with my stallion side. I tend to be more dominant as a stallion, and more submissive as a mare. Bot in the end my preferences shift with mood and level of trust, and I usually adapt to my partner.
I'm mainly interested in equine species, most other ungulates, and a bit in canines. I can be picky, and as with other things, my preferences fluctuate with mood.
I'm into BDSM and a bunch of kinks. I especially like bondage and playing a bit rough. Once again, preferences fluctuate.
There are some things that are a big no-no for me, and I expect everyone to respect this. These include: all forms of gore, vore, mutilation, torture, hyper, micro/macro, underage, and more.
For a a more exhaustive list of my preferences please see my F-ist, linked below. If you don't find an answer there, feel free to ask. My IRL preferences apply as-is to my anthro representations as well, so the list reflects both. Note: My preferences are still changing as I try new things, and I don't always update it so it may be a little outdated at any time.
More: [Storm's F-List]
I'm also here: [Storm's FetLife]
P.s.: Check
fa-groups for groups and icons!
FEuw3s A++$>++++$ C->++ D>m+~ H+ !M P+>+++ R+++ T+++ Sp+ RLA a+ cl++ f++++ h++ i+++ j~ p+ sm+++
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