TL;DR: I'm changing my artist handle from Pig to SepiaFlux. 🦑

I am not abandoning this page. I will continue uploading art here like normal, and wait for the day when I can change my username instead (heard from a little bird it could happen soon, I HOPE, but you didn't hear it from me... BUT PLEASE I NEED IT LOL)
I will slowly be changing over all of my other pages to SepiaFlux where I can!


- Explanation -


While working on this piece that I'm using to announce this change, I used the time to take the opportunity to reflect on my Pig handle; where it started and came from, all of the years of history I've built up under the name Pig... My old pig fursona... Everything.
Over the years I've faced many frustrating blocks with using the name Pig. Being both easy to remember and hard to search for has been a big annoyance in particular... But with the creation of my Pig character/mascot 2 years ago, I thought I was going to keep it for good, as Pig helped me connect with the identity immensely and feel comfortable with it to an extent.
Though at the same time, I never felt like even with the character that I still adore, that the handle represented me, or my work. And then I created Sepia and it kind of snowballed from there, but in the background of my mind...
I never really "chose" the name and only got it by chance/for fun after asking staff a long time ago if I could take over the username that had been inactive since 2006. Initially, on other platforms, I had gone by Pigdragon, which was my username I chose for playing Minecraft when it was still in beta, based on the pigs and then evolved into pig-dragons I used to doodle in school after reading Lord of the Flies hahaha.

So even though "Pigdragon" and I go way way back to my childhood, "Pig" has really always been kinda foreign to me. Honestly, I'm not sure why I didn't try changing my name sooner. I guess my young self was proud to have gotten the simple username back when I asked for it with zero regard of any long term plans, and then I got in so far with it after so many years that I felt I couldn't abandon it in fear of alienating the audience I was building.
And now here we are! With my audience and client base that I have successfully and very proudly built, I finally have confidence to face making the change without facing too much damage to my ✨numbers✨.

This kind of change as a very emotional/sensitive person who connects themselves to their work personally is honestly terrifying and with a shaky (to say the least) sense of who I am as it is, it would be impossible for me to settle on a name and be 100% confident in it, though funny enough... The name I've landed on reflects even that part of me, so, I feel it's as perfect as it could get.
After tentatively introducing the name to one trusted person, and then another, and then my smaller circle of Patrons first and getting support from them, I slowly changed the branding of my Patreon to reflect the new name, as well as my stream... and website domain.
After sitting with these changes over the past month, I slowly felt the fear turn into excitement and confidence for blazing a new trail forward for myself! I wanted to make extra sure of this.

SepiaFlux! It checks all of the boxes I wanted.
In Sepia's reference sheet here, I explain a bit of why I love and resonate with cuttlefish so much. Sepia (plural Sepiidae) is the family scientific name for cuttlefish, and also a name I like the sound of a lot on its own even removed from the amazing animal!
And Flux meaning flow, or in a state of change. What better word to describe my work? I couldn't think of a better one!
My favorite thing about my own work is the huge array of subjects I happily try to master, as well as different styles I have fun with and frequently change up. It's always changing, and I love it! It's me. Also has maybe a bit of a vibe of transformation stuff? Which I am a big fan of drawing too, yknow? Especially taurifying HEHE >:) some of my most "successful" work is of turning characters into different things like genderbending, taurifying, pooltoy-ifying, etc!!
Together they make a totally unique *save for one guy on insta and tiktok LOL* username that I feel is still easy to remember.

I know change is annoying and new things are uncomfortable, BELIEVE me. But I hope you can all eventually warm up to my new name and get used to calling me Sepia from now on! :) 🦑