EDIT: I'm a failure, but this link I'm told works: https://www.facebook.com/iamtrunorth

That should bring you to my page.
See you there!

After the fun and festivities at Rocky Mountain Fur Con (which was a blast, by the way!), I've been inspired to become more social with the rest of the fandom!

I've created a Facebook account, and I'd be happy to friend anybody who comes along to visit!
It's entirely blank right now... but through time! I'm going to be posting new pictures, sketches, Work-in-Progress images, and updates, as well as just chat with you all and become more active!

If you want to come find me, you can just look for Tru North on Facebook :D Nickname: Mar.

Hey everybody! I've been busy with an unfortunate family trip this week, but I have some good news!
I will be attending Rocky Mountain Fur Con in Colorado this weekend!! it's my very first furry convention EVER and I'm so excited!!

I won't have a booth or anything, I'll just be an attendee. But still!

If you see the guy with the beard in the gabumon hoodie and / or spinning poi? That's me x3 so come say hi!
And before you ask, no, you can't get the hoodie online, its custom made by my dear friend  inuzuma.brotherz

The cute husky next to me will be my boyfriend  Azul_snowpaw
He is friendly too.

I am SO EXCITED for my first ever convention! I hope to meet a few of you there!

I've been asked to create a banner or two for decoration for the upcoming Eurofurence convention!

Since it's kind of a big moment, my... *ahem*, my mother asked for a picture of it hanging at the con for her scrapbook >__>

So, if any of you are going, and happen to think of me when you walk through the con, snap a picture of the banners and e-mail it to me! My e-mail is on the top of my page.

I hope you all enjoy the con! One year, I hope I'll join you all there!

Just wanted to make a quick journal since I'm feeling excited about it!
I'm looking forward to a weeks worth of making a bunch of art, then my friends have been planning something special for me this weekend <3

In addition, it's  pauze's birthday this Thursday, as well as a bunch of other friends and furs I know this week~

Happy birthday to everyone out there celebrating this month ^w^

Hello everyone! Hope you're all doing well--

I just returned from being at Denver Comic Con this past weekend, which was an absolute blast, and while I was there, my friends were prodding me to get my own booth at a convention some time. My general excuse whenever the thought comes up, however, is that I don't have any sellable art! I do lots of commissions and a few small doodles for myself, but nothing worth sitting down at a convention booth for.
I'll be going to my first ever furry convention (Rocky Mountain Fur Con) this August, which will be pretty cool! I'll have a chance to check out other artist's booths while there, but I wanted to get your collective input first, in preparation for the future.

If I were to get a booth one year to meet many of you and sell some art, what kind of paintings would you like to see available? Having never done anything other than commission work, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
What kind of pictures should I focus on painting over the next year so that I have a decent gallery of art worth buying at a convention?

I'd like to know things like:
- Should they be things not posted previously online? Exclusives?
- What kinds of pictures/themes do people like to see/buy?

Since I'm trying to appeal to everyone, I would like to paint generic animals and scenes, not anybody's original characters.

Let me know what kinds of things you look for at an artist's table, and what you think would be sellable to the public so that over time I can start to build up an actual gallery worth looking through!

Thanks, it'd be a big help!

Hello, everybody!

I should really consider making journals more frequently than once every 3 months... but here's my latest update!
School has been going swimmingly this semester, but as always, it's time consuming, and I always manage to find myself protecting my fragile mind after a long night of programming by refusing to do anything productive until my precious few brain cells are needed again for the next project~ I have one final commission I'm working on right now for  Tygre13, but after that, I'll be trying to re-work how I handle commissions.

As I accept them now, I let my commissioners tell me what they like, and I (almost always) accept, because I just hate saying no to any of you wonderful furs :3 In the future though, I'm going to be trying to be more picky about what I do and don't accept. I feel that if I am personally interested or inspired for a commission, I'll complete it faster, with more energy, and believe that the quality will reflect the interest I had in the piece.

Lately I've been watching  Kenket just crank out all these gorgeous paintings, and I've been feeling really inspired to follow in her footsteps. Landscapes, life paintings, and purdy animals have been filling the canvases in my mind for a while now, so if you're wanting a commission from me, you'll have a better chance of getting accepted if you help me out!

Right now, I don't have any solid plans, or prices, and I'm really just rambling this down as I type it here, but:
I'm going to start trying to be more selective about what commissions I take on.
I do enjoy a range of subjects, but highly character-specific scenarios (your unique chimera character flipping pancakes in his boxer briefs on a lazy sunday) may get declined in order to pursue generic and widely appealing paintings (say, a snow covered tiger on the prowl in the snow).
I also would like to encourage speedpaints, or quicker, looser paintings for much cheaper prices!
I'd love to negotiate with individual customers for small 20 dollar pieces, or 30, or 40!
Painting images of your pets, or your favorite animals off a reference image!

Essentially, I want to break the habit of just accepting every commission I see in my inbox in order to work with more people to paint more pictures I have a greater interest in. When I do that, I find I take longer, I find excuses to put the work off, and I lose interest in painting for myself until the work's all over. If you help me paint what I want to be painting anyway, I'll work a lot better!

tl;dr:
I wish I were Kenket, and I wanna fight to get to her level! So, I am going to become more picky about my commissions in order to keep interest in my work!

PLEASE! Tell me if it would be desirable to post short, "Themes for this week only!" kind of events, such as "This week I'll paint your pet!" or "Give me your favorite animal and a mood, and I'll mix them into a landscape for cheap!" kinda deals.

I'm looking for any ideas to do faster, more interesting commissions!


All this being said, it's always a JOY working with you all, and I hope you have been enjoying a splendid March! Have a great spring, and I look forward to sharing more art with you all soon!

Hey all!! Just want you all to know that I am officially DONE with my Fall semester of school, and at the same time, I finished my LAST commission just over finals week (it took me all semester to finish the ones I accepted in August).

Therefore, I am OPEN again, and free to paint over the next 3-4 weeks before school starts back up again! I'm gonna be painting a lot more stuff for me, and for you, so let's have some fun this Winter, shall we?

Hoping you've all been doing well,

Tru!

I am still trudging through my current work, and I thank you all for your incredible patience with me and my work. I don't like to take this long for any individual, but school is ju--*rambles on about stress and excuses and pointless non-sense apologizing for his late actions*

I do have some news for UPCOMING commissions, however, which will likely start around the end of November (thanks to Fall break, and the like).
In the future, I am intending to only take on clean art for a while. I know people tend to love muscley cats and the like, but I always want to take some time to build up some more hard-earned respect. I want to know what you guys (and gals) think: I don't know if I should introduce a new format for commissions, where rather than letting the customer pick a very specific piece he or she wants, I could provide a subject that I WILL be painting, and let customers dictate the specifics of it, for example:

"This week, I'm looking to paint some pretty scenery! Give me a google-images link to a landscape you like, and an animal of your choice, and I'll paint them together!"

or

"Hey guys! It's Fall! Fall themed paintings of your characters throughout this month!" And then have like...templates or something.

Does anybody think that would be a fun idea? Or will that go unnoticed and unloved? You tell me. I just want to see if I can take a bit more control over the subjects that I paint, but I don't want to ignore my commissioners or put them aside. I think that could be a fun way to get unique, time-sensitive art that can be bought only during specific weeks, where I get to paint things that I want, and all the commissioners get to own something they got to put input in.

I'd be really interested to hear everyone's perspective on that. Anyway, I've gotta get back to art, so I'll talk to all of you again soon!

Cheers,

TruNorth

I know I've been relatively inactive on this site, and on the internet in general, as of late. I just wanted to take a moment to recognize and thank the last set of +watchers that I have received over the last month.

If you're a person who has started following my art in the last 6 or so weeks, THANK YOU! I appreciate your support and I hope I can inspire you with what I create!

For those of you who have continued to support me through the many months, thank you as well, I am so glad to have met you all and have earned your support. I feel honored~

Thank you very much,

TruNorth

Thank you to everyone who kept me company today while I painted. It's been too long since I've had a day to just kick back with my pen and paint.

I hope you all enjoyed!
Until next time

--Tru

For those who are curious, I'm still working. School has been a butt all 3 weeks now.

Currently on:  Raince

Up next:  raia (icon)((quick))  Sonic_Wolfe

Then:  Kuntos  Tygre13  ThunderGrey  EvraMalygos  pittbullpaw


I'm sorry for being so slow and unresponsive, I promise I'm not lazy, just busy. I should be completing paintings on like a weekly basis.

Scarily, thanks to help from Cheetahpaws giving me a shoutout and all my own wonderful fans, I've filled up like 2 months work of art already~ so I'll likely not be taking any NEW commissions until I've lessened the pile.

WOO! Go you guys, you rock! You'll have me very busy for the next few weeks while I figure out how to get rid of this stack :3

I realized I never formally posted a journal about this, but I am now done with my summer work, and am feeling refreshed and ready for art before the new school year swings in!

I'm open to receive commissions, and I look forward to working with the many creative minds in the future.

I've let my new watchers list get way out of hand, so if you've started watching me in the last... 8 weeks... I'll be getting around to thanking you personally soon.

So I thought I would use this time to paint beautiful masterpieces and expand my artistic range while enjoying some peace and solitude over the few months of summer, and to some extent I have! But let's be honest here... I've made like 3 or 4 paintings and used the rest of my time to go up 12 levels in World of Warcraft :I (almost to 90! It's a struggle on your first character)

I have actually enjoyed my time off though, doing some minor arts every now and again and working my local job and working out and seeing friends, so I really don't consider anything I mentioned a waste. I will be interested in doing commissions again soon though.

For anyone whom it may concern, my final day I'll be available to work at my local job is August 11, so that means the 12th I'm going to be up and running for commissions again! I might cave and just say "screw it" and accept commissions now anyway. I've been pretty happy as of late and feel refreshed enough to work for the internet again (woo, go internet! you guys rock <3)

Commission work is this really interesting phenomenon in the universe where other people actually give me money to tell me what I should draw, and push me to push my own boundaries. Artistic freedom is overrated~ When given the openness to decide what to draw for myself, I apparently do squat with it (as displayed in my recent recession from all online activity, FurAffinity and otherwise)
Yes that was partially meant as a joke.
The real meaning though is that I enjoy commissions, and though I should definitely work on painting more for myself, it is never that I don't have the time to do so, I just need to try.

So, I suppose that I'll open up for commissions again right now. (I know, changing my mind mid journal entry and refusing to just change what I said earlier? Weird right?) I'll just post a future journal in a while to formally state that I'm ready for work.
Commissions give me the opportunity to paint for others, expand my boundaries, try new ideas, draw new species, and earn some pocket cash while I practice and hone my skills. I'm actually pretty excited to get back to that.
I should just remember that I'm allowed to say NO when I'm asked for the 7th reference sheet in a row haha >___>

Anyway, hope all is well in the world with you all, and I look forward to painting more for you all and myself in the near future, starting.... NOW *beep*

Happy BIRTHDAY dear Marmaaaaaar~
Happy Birthday to Me <3

...probably.

I am planning on taking the rest of summer to start painting for myself, practicing painting from reference and improving my own skills as an artist. I have been asked recently for a LOT of ref sheets, and have more people asking me for them, and although I enjoy making them and they are good for giving me some extra money, I feel stagnated by only painting characters and images that I bring out of my own mind.

I'm still considering taking on more work later, but I think I wont be doing any more commissions until Mid August so I can paint some things and work on becoming a better painter.

That being said, I might be convinced to take this back or accept NEW commissions if they seem like they would be good for my practice. I could consider doing paintings of people's pets, or their characters in landscapes they give me by photo reference or something. I just am getting a bit tired of references and paintings that I have to pull entirely from my mind, rather than painting what I see and getting better by painting from life.

"Hey there folks it's Wednesday again!! this is our 5th week in a row!
so that means new stuff to purchase this week

on top of the amazing Limbo wallpapers seen here
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13645062/ & http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13690622/

there are also icon sets like these!
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13645016/

don't forget the amazing pinups him does like this one
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13464734/

don't fancy any of those and just want a simple single icon like this
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13464752/

nimroderick nimroderick is your dog!

but new for this week are the social media icons!!
even kyma has one http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13660858/"

Order Form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1hF.....6OHiU/viewform

-Roderick
http://www.furaffinity.net/user/nimroderick/ (Rod's FA)

Go check out his and DJ Recca's stuff tonight, he'd be happy to have you there!

https://www.kickstarter.com/project.....sts-fury-going

There is a FANTASTIC fighting game in the works by some talented people, and I would love to see this hit its goal and be supported through its production. As a massive fan of fighting games, I would love to see this on the market someday, and I think it there are a few of you out there that might agree.

If you wont pledge money, then SHARE this game with others, it can help them a ton!

I just realized how long it's been since I have made a journal update...and also how long it's been since I've thanked watchers... man I'm getting lazy.

Hello, everyone! Hoping your Summertime shenanigans are going well~
Upon completing my most recent commission, I started thinking about the work and dissatisfaction I've been having with my recent projects. To my own pleasure, it seems my commissioners are happy with their products, but as an artist, I feel I could do better. I have just finished two reference sheets and am about to work on a third, and I'm realizing that I haven't been giving myself much opportunity as of late to learn and expand as an artist. I'm aware that I've complained about this before, but it's a recurring thought. I am considering, after finishing the two commissions I still have lined in my cue, taking a portion of, or maybe the whole summer, off from working on commission art so I can focus on painting things for myself.
I do very much love commissions, they push me to paint new ideas and concepts that force me to grow as an artist, just like I'm looking to do with my own art, but very often I find I am painting things directly out of my head. My use of anatomy and lighting, coloration and textures all come from my brain and I'm relying very little on reference.
With the past 3 paintings I have submitted, I find that I've taken a number of hours more than I had wanted to finish, and I find myself getting frustrated and pacing around my bedroom as I make slow, difficult progress at times trying to figure out what to do in the painting. I believe that this is stemming from relying on my own brain for all my artistic needs, and I think that if I just tried painting some things entirely from reference for a while, I will learn more about realism painting by practice, and it will allow me to de-stress and enjoy my process while I work, rather than rapidly tap my foot to the floor in consideration of what to do to an ear or a foot.
I have been looking recently at a lot of Kenket's newer submissions, and also looking at various landscape paintings that capture what I love to see in art: color, lighting, atmospheric perspective, depth, layering of hues, and brushwork texture. Admittedly, I've been feeling fairly jealous at their understanding of light and color, and think I should follow through with my desire to just paint what I see.
This is ALSO important, for anyone who is actually still reading this long-winded text, as I am hoping within the next year or two, to get a table at a convention, saaaay Rocky Mountain Fur Con some August, and I really need to have some notable gallery that appeals to a general audience. I have NOTHING to sell currently, that I have made recently. Commissions belong to those that paid for them, and so I need to consider bulking up my gallery with more generically appealing art, like coyote furs in a canyon, or werewolves, or any number of paintings that are beautiful, non-adult, and eye-catching (I'd like to be known as an artist, not a porn drawer or general furry ref designer)
At the end of this giant schpeal of thoughts, I really don't have a plan of "Here's what I foresee in the future", more just an idea that I want to start improving again. My latest pictures and projects have shown me that I don't understand anything in painting well enough to bring them out from my mind alone, and I could cut down on stress, learn more, and build a sell-able gallery if I took the time to learn again through practice.
As an artist, I only ever want to improve. Maybe someday be that guy on the rocks of a beach painting life by the sunset...and adding animals in speedos to make myself smile.

I hope you all find things that inspire you as well, and are looking for ways to improve yourselves as well. Life is something where you never stop learning.
Have a great week, and I trust all is going well!

--Tru

Hello all,

I know I haven't been very active on FurAffinity as of late~ School has kept me pretty locked down over the past 3 or 4 weeks, and we're getting into the end of the semester now. It's been tough, but I'm still finding time to work on my art projects. For those of you who have purchased or are waiting on commissions from me, know that I AM still working on them, and I apologize for the delays.

As for my new watchers, I haven't gotten around to thanking the last 130 of so of you, and I apologize for that too. Each of your favorites and likes and comments mean a lot to me and keep me motivated as an artist, so thank you!

I hope everybody else has been having a fine week! I hope to show you some new art by the end of the week!

So my information was correct. Until Shynjy can get things worked out with getting a new computer for art, it looks like the marathon will have to be delayed. I have no idea how long, but we do still intend to have one! I'm sorry for the bad news, but stuff like this happens. In the mean time I'll keep entertaining you with various art stuffs I can crank out between my school work and social life. Things are busy and slow, but always productive.

Have a great week, all!
~Tru

---

Hello all~ I have some sad news.

An issue has come up with my friend's computer, and he is currently unable to continue making art. This poses obvious problems for the upcoming marathon. I don't have any fine details right now, but it might have to be cancelled or postponed until a later date.

I'll update this when I have more information

GOOD NEWS, EVERYONE! *Dr. Farnsworth voice*

I am currently in the process of setting up a new ART MARATHON with the talented and friendly artist  shynjy
For those of you who enjoyed my previous art marathon with the equally talented  nimroderick, I will be doing a similar topic with Shynjy this time, hosting two separate livestreams while we work on busts, icons, and pin-ups for all of you, through commissions that you can sign up for (in the future, after we get things sorted out).

The prospective date is March 21st, and we will hope to have everything ready for that date, though this early, dates are subject to change.

Prices for paintings have yet to be determined, but will be discovered soon, as well as a mess of collaboration example paintings and advertisements that are soon to come.
Keep your eyes open for new journals and submissions that might contain new information on this. We are still early in the stages of planning, but we are looking forward to a long night of art and fun!

For everyone that I have accepted a commission for, and for anybody biting their lip in anticipation of my next work of art:
I apologize for my tardiness in working on your paintings, school has kept me majorly bogged down, and the little free time I have each weekend usually gets spent elsewhere. I still am trying hard to make extra time to put the social stuff down and just power through some painting. Adult commissions are especially slow due to the existence of a roommate that I have to work around.
Just to say it though, I'm not dead, I'm still working! Next week looks especially busy for me, but thank you all for your patience and I hope you're having wonderful weeks!
Thank you,
Tru