You may notice the lack of updates lately. I'm not dead))) Business is a bitch and the end of the year is contributing to it - have to close some contracts and working extra time. This is part of the reason it was this year I decided to try to make some living out of my art. I'm not satisfied with my wage and some extra change is really-really helpful. Honestly speaking, I decided to invest my time in gamedev primarily because this field promises the most revenue. Although it is obviously the most difficult medium to pull off and my current experience tells me exactly that. This is HARD! But I am determined and there's no way back now. Either I work for hand-to-mouth salary or invest my time and effort to become a developer, preferably a dev team :D * Also in this year I created Patreon and Subscribestar accounts. Not very much success in this endeavor, except one very generous patron and I am happy to have that :) * Tried making commissions. Not a bad experience I should say! But I way more interested in Patreon/Subscribestar model, because although comms kinda fun and immediately paying off, they cutting my free time I want to invest in main projects and people want to use PayPal and I hate PayPal. Besides, not much people want to commission me, so, meh :P * This year was pretty productive, at least on my terms. I made dozens of pictures, a little comics, Sylvia animation, some commissions, started developing a game and determined to make more! I'm hit 500+ on Newgrounds, and 200+ on both Furaffinity and Inkbunny. After just several months I gained 100+ followers on twitter which is also fine but I'm still don't feel myself comfortable there :0 * Still in search of my style. It is all over the place, but I don't want to come back to vector-based art. My goal is to find some middle ground between speed and quality, with emphasis on speed, because I need to produce a significant amount of material for the game and comics. I'm not a "single, very fine piece of art" person anyway, but based on my observations, high-speed low-render art requires a very good line art, which is not my strongest side. Practice is the only way -___-) * Writing takes time. Yeah, I know, shocking right?) Especially then you're not a native Eng speaker. But it is what it is. And, unfortunately, it sometimes go in conflict with art. I scrapped completely my first version of While and Roady comics because there's basically wasn't any comprehensive story. Same with the Pumpkin Valley in Woods. But now I got it!) Also I finished the core story for the big Sonic project I called "Mojo Fate" and I like it very much. Although can't even vaguely predict then you should expect alpha-version and I still didn't come up with desirable gameplay mechanics. I like how A Space For The Unbound looks, maybe something similar? Pure VN is an easiest way but I want something more engaging >:) * Loads of writing and my illiteracy slowly pushes me to inevitable - the need of a proof-reader. I have nothing to offer, well, I mean financially, but I can exchange that service for my art, I guess. Also I have no idea how to scout such companion, because I don't want this person to spoil my writings, or scam me or waste time on arguing or anything. Maybe I should look somewhere in writing communities or something, what do you guys think? :B * In conclusion, this year was a blast to me. Never in my life I generated so much content. But the hardest part is in the future - next year will test my determination and ability to turn my labor investment into a living :'D
Anyway, huge THANX to all my followers and I hope you'll have a wonderful holidays! Good luck! :D
