In order of most to least important, here are the sites you should follow me on:

TWITTER TWITTER TWITTER: https://twitter.com/BigBalloonCat (I use my twitter so much, PLEASE consider following me!)
Tumblr: http://theheliumtiger.willinflate.me/ (Soon to be my main gallery strictly for my pictures/doodles)
Weasyl: https://www.weasyl.com/user/theheliumtiger
FurryNetwork: https://beta.furrynetwork.com/helium/
DeviantArt???: http://theheliumtiger.deviantart.com/

I'll be back once the waters are safe!

Important links:
-I just made a Trello. I will try to update this as much as possible https://trello.com/b/oFiL6dqh/heliu.....issions-status
-My patreon is still going! As a developing artist even a tiny bit of support is essential for me, and I am endlessly grateful for the ongoing support. https://www.patreon.com/Helium?ty=h
-I post doodles constantly to my twitter so please consider following me there, it gets much more use than my FA currently https://twitter.com/BigBalloonCat

Happenings:
-Debating college.

-I am becoming a cat again, and making Jingle into his own character. I'll post a new ref soon and update the one on display currently.

-I have been taking sketches and colored doodle commissions in streams regularly recently. like http://i.imgur.com/mGUyuBO.png and http://i.imgur.com/O8xyWhx.png respectively. If you want to reserve a stream slot please note me. It's $15 for a sketch and $25 for a colored doodle if you're reserving a slot (and an extra 5 for two characters) but $10 and $20 respectively if you manage to snag a slot in stream. However reserving it means you don't have to show up to the stream to get it!

-I will release a proper price sheet soon, especially for the fully inked/colored/shaded stuff. I'm only going to do this once my queue is more cleared up and I am confident in my workflow (I really do try to price stuff based on how long it usually takes me to draw it!). I know a lot of people want some extra glossy orbs though, and I enjoy having gas in my car, so I'll try to get everything ready asap!

-If I owe you art and it's not on the Trello, please contact me so we can work something out!

-As for my Patreon, I'm sending out an art pack for April before bed tonight and working on patron sketches on my own time over the next few days. I think I will stick to doing Patreon sketches outside of stream, and save the Patreon-pimping stream for the public request one. I never did a public request stream this month, but considering the circumstances I feel it may be appropriate to save it for when there's less of a backlog in my commission queue, and the atmosphere in turn will be more relaxed and fun (So maybe in a week or two then~ :P). Plus I'm still playing around with some raffle and game-style ideas that might make it feel a little more exciting!

That's it for now! Expect more art from me on here in the coming weeks.

I'm starting to get back to work after having my wisdom teeth removed, however I'm still getting adjusted to my Cintiq!

I just sent out a doodle pack for patrons who supported me in February. So far it's looking like things will be in line to host a public request stream during some time next month so stay tuned for that~

I'm also debating things to do for the upcoming $150 and $200 goals. If you've got any suggestions let me know!

If you haven't already, please consider supporting me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Helium

So I think I should submit a journal just to say what's going on. To make it brief, coming in the future:

-Finishing owed commissions/trades
-Opening a patreon
-Starting a pay comic (potentially)
-Learning animation skills
-Enrolling in college this fall (potentially)

I've also become a reindeer, and this isn't a temporary change either. I'm phasing out the old design of cat/tiger Helium and I don't know when I'll ever use him again. If I bring him back, he will have a new look, but most likely, a plump reindeer will be my new fursona.

I'm completely aware of owed art and I'm working hard on getting things taken care of. Getting the job I had at the end of last year threw stuff off a lot for me. No ETA on when it will be done but please don't be afraid to contact me about it.

Once I am ready I will be opening up a patreon. Maybe within a month. I will NOT be using patreon as a replacement for commissions, the most I will do is sketch request streams for patrons (and potentially everyone, depending on the amount of support) and possibly commission discounts. Nothing's set in stone yet and I've spent a long time debating certain ideas, but regardless I don't want to replace commissions with patreon or come across as those who enjoy my art have some sort of obligation to support me on there. I'd just like for it to help supplement commissions and give me a little extra breathing room to let me work on some big ideas I've thought up for this year. I also have no intentions of setting up a paywall for my art. If anything the most that will go on there are personal doodles I already don't post and have no intention of posting. Commissions and completed works go right on my usual pages at their usual pace.

I've been exploring some bigger project ideas that would really help me develop as an artist. One of those might be a pay comic (potentially even a collab one) with a mix of my own characters and some others that people might enjoy. Also, my new year's resolution this year is to learn 2d animation and attempt to animate something that I feel proud of. That would be entirely personal projects for the foreseeable future as to be expected. I don't even think I should hint at the possibility of animation commissions because it really doesn't seem realistic if I've got college coming up too.

Lastly I am thinking about college. I'm turning 20 this year but have no idea what I want to do still, yet I'm going to do something art related regardless. It'll be a one-two punch of getting some *actual not-self-taught improvement* and socializing with people in my area who enjoy art like I do and want to develop together. And of course the whole blah blah connections hook me up with a job whatever. I'm not focused on a career right now though, I just want to get as good as possible while I still can.

I am open for 3 slots and then I'll hard cap it for the meantime. (Technically I've been open but for under the table type stuff) No more sketches though

They will be for $50 one character or $60 two character colored and inked pictures like this: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/17408151/ https://www.furaffinity.net/view/17198042/ Can be suggestive but not adult. First come first serve.

I still have the YCH and a few other commissions to finish up so I haven't forgotten about them either. I just need rent money.

SLOTS:
-- xredpanda

Once they are filled I will be closed until further notice

Since I don't do it on twitter anymore why not ask me inappropriate questions on here

Ask Me Anything

Anyone going? Just like MFF, let me know if you are! I wanna say hi to everybody so if you'll be there then say so X3

Also I plan on bringing my suit, and wearing it around if I'm able, however it gets very very hot fast, so I can't imagine me going very long at all. But if I do wear it I will say so on twitter in advance

So I'm going to get back in the swing of things with commissions now.

Basically, what had happened between two journals ago and this one is that I got hired back on at an old job for about a month. Turns out the place got worse and worse since I left and they weren't reluctant to show how much they disliked the thought of me working there again, and them rehiring me was merely out of desperation. I quit the job again after they started imposing some strict rules which I was deeply opposed to and had a coworker quit in the middle of the day as well

I am glad I worked there again if only because I was able to get AC paid for, and get my parents off my case for a while, but I was miserable and I'm going to stay miserable if I can't get on top of stuff. I'm maybe gonna spend another couple days trying to get personal art done and then hop back on commissions. My current queue still has a lot of names in it so I'm gonna try to work through it and try to clear out the list before I take more. Only a couple people paid me prior to the break so after those are taken care of I may also clear out my list entirely and start over again. However, this time I am going to rework prices and probably have another option or two available for people who want stuff from me. Also I'm going to do a couple YCH auctions in the near future to help get the ball rolling (basically like I did last time I got started up on commissions) so stay tuned.

Keep an eye out for journals, submissions and tweets in the near future

I turned 19 today, cool stuff

Taking a break for a while. Won't be answering notes about commissions or taking on new ones til I'm feeling better

I almost had a mental breakdown last night from the amount of stress I've been having recently. I get noted every single day either about taking on a new commission or people asking about how their commission is coming along. I've been working on my commissions almost every day but I have to keep taking new ones on so I don't run out of money. It's something I knew would happen, but I figured I'd be getting things done faster. I haven't been. It also ends up forcing bigger commissions or ones that have already been paid for further down the queue as people request smaller and easier things to do which makes me feel like a ponzi scheme. But unfortunately I can't refuse because I really do need money.

Speaking of money, my parents have been the opposite of supportive since I did this. I've tried to save up as much money as possible, but because I don't have a "real job" my dad is now charging me rent to live here. It means that all the money I save up goes to his pocket now. I get nothing but food and gas and sometimes if I'm lucky, a game. No matter how hard I push myself I cannot make enough money to counteract how much I have to spend now and all of this is just more stress piled up on me. After a while, drawing's stopped being fun at all anyway. Now it feels exactly how I felt when I stacked boxes on a pallet or dropped fries in a deep fryer. So basically, it's a lot less money than a job for more stress with the only real benefit being more free time to spend on a computer. I'm gonna take a break and most likely get a job again so I can maybe actually get to AC and MFF, pay off debt and actually move out of this shit hole

It's unfortunate that I have to end up doing something like this, but it's necessary for my own sake. I've been operating on others' behalf for long enough that this community is starting to feel more like my job than a place where I can escape to have fun and that's a horrible feeling.

So now that I've got a few people in my queue, I'd like to tell you guys how I've been doing stuff as of late!

I enjoy keeping commission slots open for now (if it gets to a number that starts feeling overwhelming, I will temporarily close slots to take care of what I have to do already). I've been working on art every day so far, sketches for approval have been the first thing I do when I get to work, and once you approve my sketch, you'll be put in the queue for inks and coloring!

I stream on a regular basis now, so do check out my streams if you've commissioned me, or are interested in doing so soon! I'm not exactly an art machine, but I do take pride in what I do. X3 I don't have a set time and date for my streams yet, but usually it's late afternoon or evening my time, which is mountain time! I might have solid dates soon though :P

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them! I may have taken a much more professional approach to my art than I ever have before, but that doesn't mean I'm wanting to rush through stuff. If you commission me, I want you to be satisfied with what I draw for you first and foremost!

Finally, I've been looking into doing a patreon quite a bit recently, I'm not sure if I've got enough interest in my art to do one yet though. If you guys have any suggestions on cool perks I could do for patreon supporters though, you should let me know! I wanna have a LOT of cool benefits that can come to people who support me via patreon if I put one up, but I also don't wanna do anything that would be considered unfair to those who choose not to! I'm sure there's a happy medium somewhere :P

Anyway, thanks for the support and such guys. It's been a little stressful getting adjusted to all this recently, but the kind words, advice, and even just favoriting and commenting on my art does mean a whole lot to me! <3

Alright guys, I'm tired of having my slots open for about two minutes but I am not ready to quite yet to open up the floodgates for everybody just yet. So I'm going to open up the floodgates and pick about 3 at a time, basically just on a number of factors (mostly what I'm most comfortable with drawing to be honest).

I feel like this is the most fair because I've promised a few people commission slots for a long time but I still feel guilty about not doing the first come/first serve thing. I just wanna try alternate ways of doing it for now.

Commissions will be full color images once again. $40 base price for everything with a very simple background and few props. More details and more of a background will cost a little extra. Also, extra characters are +$10 each.

If you're fine with this (and actually read this) then you can fill out a form at http://goo.gl/forms/iD7ckDBDtK

I will contact you about it within a day or so and ask for payment upfront this time around. I'll still be sending approval sketches though

Oh yeah, last thing, I'm not taking anything adult this time around. Most I would do is something raunchy or suggestive

As my time working at my current job comes to a close (my last day of work is tomorrow night, the 22nd) I've been so anxious just to get it over with that I've been distracting myself with other stuff as much as possible, so nothing's been getting done on my end unfortunately. Once I'm out of there, my income for a while will be art exclusively. I'm planning on dedicating the same 40+ hours a week to my art, with almost all of that time being commission stuff, and perhaps a day or so a week to experiment and see what new things I can learn.

I'll be streaming regularly, at least one day on the weekend, and at least a couple times during the week itself. No matter what I'll be pushing for putting that same amount of full time work into productivity in my art, in hopes of increasing my speed, and getting better and better and having a more professional attitude about everything by the time I get into college or whatever I choose to pursue.

Once I'm more adjusted to taking commissions, I'll probably do away with the slots system altogether, but we'll see. I'll also be looking into other ways of making money through art and so on, like cool stuff I can do for a patreon if I choose to open one, a better way of doing auctions, as well as some other stuff I have planned. I'll also be streaming games and dabbling into animation and eventually 3d later on when I get the opportunity.

Now's my chance to make something of my talent, if I don't act now it's only gonna get harder for me. What I'm doing, like I've been told by my own father, is a really stupid decision but I'm committed to getting that guy to eat his own words. Putting ALL of my focus on art, rather than what time I have to do it on the weekends, is my best chance at having some real skill in whichever art-related field I choose to enter into by the time I'm finished with school. Wasted time is a LOT of time I'm never gonna get back so I see this sort of decision as not only necessary but urgent.

Plus, I'll enjoy being much more active in this community than I have been recently!

I'm starting off with only a couple slots. If you want to commission me, send me a note. I'm going by who notes me first, not who comments here first.

I'm only taking full color pictures, similar to this http://www.furaffinity.net/view/15310314/ starting at $40. If you want to add one extra character, it's +$10, and if you want me to do a little more background work than simple gradients or fast speedpaint, then it's +$5. (similar to this instead http://www.furaffinity.net/view/15506916/ )

Also, the 22nd is my last day of work so that's when I can start focusing on stuff full time, but this is just to tide me over with work for this whole week ahead of me. So this will take me up until next weekend to finish, keep that in mind.

And I'll send you a basic sketch of your idea for your approval, and at that point I'll request your payment, via paypal only. Tips appreciated, etc etc

Slots:
-- erfson
-- bloodhydra

I wonder if people think of my own artistic abilities as relevant anymore when I mainly have been commissioning art more than posting it up on here. :o I wonder how many people don't/won't realize I even draw, should they be watching me recently. Then again, is it that important either? I just like getting recognized for my own abilities, it shows there's interest and that I should keep striving for personal betterment.

Just a thought before bed!

If you're watching my account, you're probably aware of the fact that I draw a wide variety of fetishes. Up to this point I've basically drawn whatever I've been in the mood for, especially if it's something I'm not so experienced or familiar with, but now I'm wondering what you guys would want to see from me, as I have people watching me just for my inflation art, my mpreg stuff, TF, etc

So it begs the question, what do you want to see more of from me in the future? Blimps, object TF, balloonification, mpreg, or maybe more lewd things in general? Or is there something you'd like to see that I haven't done yet?

Who's all going that's watching me, and would wanna meet up for a chat at the con?

Also I'll try not to be super annoying about the con, especially on twitter, but I can't help it :x

So I got myself a ticket for MFF, I'll definitely be there. It won't be my first con per se though because I'm going to a local con (unthrocon) this weekend, however it will be my first time on an airplane, and my first big con where I'll be at a hotel, meeting up with people I know and so on. Also hopefully getting drunk. So this will be an interesting experience

I thought I'd end up working a part time job in retail but I ended up getting a job offer that was pretty hard to turn down. It's full time, so on the bright side I'm able to get quite a bit of cash, and all of the hard work is helping me feel good about myself, but two pretty huge downsides are that the hours I'm working are weird and I've got barely any free time anymore, aside from weekends. I can hardly get any art done, but I've been doodling here and there at least.

As for the money I'm making, it's enough to get myself moved out of my house, and into a place with me and one of my best RL friends. This move should be happening some time soon, preferrably very early next year. Soon after that I do plan on moving in a bear balloon named  northernzip with us and then it will be a balloon animal majority of 2:1 in the house! I do doubt I'd score anything more than an apartment, but I'm keeping my options open though. (Getting a small house would be absolutely amazing) But I'll just have to see how stuff pans out

Also I'm in the process of designing an inflatable suit to be commissioned here in about a month, maybe after MFF; if I'm lucky it'll be made in time for one of the bigger cons next year, maybe AC (or MFF if I decide to go to something like TFF instead, but as much as I dislike a lot about AC, it's hard to pass up a con of that size with so many people I know going to it) But I'm hoping suit is going to be pretty god damn big. I'm still indecisive as to whether it should be Helium or Methane though. Personally, I think it'd be cool to have one suit of, say, Helium, that's big and puffy, though not overly large, so I can actually go around in it at a con for an hour or two, while also having a second suit of Methane that's fucking enormous and not meant to leave the room it's filled in. Unfortunately suits are extremely expensive so as much as I'd like this, it probably wouldn't happen for a long time so I dunno meow

As for free time, no more vidya. Video games are a pretty big sacrifice though, just I honestly don't see myself doing much gaming anymore aside from some occasional stuff or weekends. But I'm still wayyyy into DayZ and I'll be playing CSGO and WoW pretty casually off and on for a while but it'll never be at the same level as before. I thought of myself as a huge hardcore GAMER DUDE prior to this job and now I'd rather spend free time talking with people and drawing. I'm turning into a fucking adult guys, help me :(

It's ironic though because I keep trying to upgrade my PC

Finally, I am -super god damn lonely- with not being able to chat with people like I used to. I really miss a lot of you guys, and I want to meet more people. Note me if you want my skype, and if you already have it shoot me a message some time, even at work I can still reply every so often

So I am really slow with art because I'm out of practice. I never really got into the swing of things like I did last year because I actually still have headaches and stomach pain that's lingered since january (I should probably go to the doctor again). I was working a lot previously, but I quit. Since then I've started college part time and I've been wasting my life away with csgo skins and need some more things to do, so I will be getting another job soon and that'll probably be part time as well. But soon I'll be open for commissions probably, I just need to be speedier with getting things done

I honestly have no idea if I'm gonna be able to go to MFF. I don't have money for it atm (all of the money I made from my previous job went into computer stuff and dota skins) but I'll be employed soon probably. Finals week is the week right after it, but I am told the finals will mainly be project rather than written test based so I might be clear to go without any real stress as long as I work on the things. But I'm registered at least, and I'm sure people will love being able to see me and my stupid ass long hair and hat

They have been threatening me and my family through my skype. I am just going to make a new skype in the meantime. Note me if you want it. I'm not going to use the old one again and when I can I'll have skype freeze the old one.

Any tips on what I should do to protect myself?

I can't login to my own account.

*Our Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un is looking outside of his window* Today is a beautiful day in the glorious Democratic People's Republic of North Korea

I turned 18 so I can draw inflated tits or dicks now

edit: thanks for all the happy birthdays and stuff! <3

inflate me maybe