I'm beginning to wonder if all this faffing around with Painter is really worth it. A drawing that would take me half an hour in traditional media takes hours.

With that in mind, I spent an hour or two the other night trying to revive my old Yoken markers with the aid of a bottle of isopropyl alcohol. Not a lot of luck, unsurprisingly, given they're over fifteen years old.

I'm considering investing in new ones. There's a new brand called Mepxy which I really, really like, and they're not too expensive - nearly half the price of Copic.

Should I make the investment, and just go back to using traditional media? Decisions, decisions.

While I work full-time as a graphic/web designer/illustrator-type person, I'm also studying journalism/philosophy, with the aim of becoming a (professional) writer.

One of my projects is a furry/science fiction story cycle. I've uploaded a snippet from a story that just came to me the other day. If any of you would do me the honour of having a peek, and giving me your honest opinion of style/prose, etc., I'd be very grateful.

I sat down with Painter again on the weekend, and I think I'm starting to find my mojo with it. I think I just have to try out all the brushes until I find ones that click. For instance, one of the coloured pencil brushes I find is great for doing outlining. It's a matter of having the time, I guess. Once tomorrow's exam is out of the way, that's one less thing I have to do, as opposed to things I want to do.

I need to force myself to pick up pencil and paper every day or so, just as I'm trying to force myself to write every day.

Okay, I'm slowly getting my head around how this site works.

Today I worked out how to turn the mature filter off.

Oh, myyyyyy ... and I thought all the artists I was watching were such nice people ..!

Glad I found out better ;)

As is my usual practice, I have been doing FA with FA (ha ha). I've uploaded some of the drawings I've been doing, but those are mostly life drawings. Other than that, I've been too occupied with work and study.

One thing particularly furry-related I'm up to at the moment is writing a presentation for a panel at AICon, in Tasmania next March, on "A history of Anthropomorphism, and the origins of the Furry Fandom".

I've been learning some interesting stuff.

Ok, I've just created this FA account, I'll eventually figure it all out.

I'm an illustrator who hasn't actually illustrated for a long time, channelling my creativity instead into graphic & web design, and writing.

While I've been aware of the Furry subculture for years, I've recently taken more of an interest in it, partly due to knowing some furs, and also from writing about the scene as a journalist.

As a writer, I've become interested in exploring the possibilities of anthropomorphic characters in story-telling, and this in turn has reawakened the long-dormant illustrator in me.