The issue here is I DON'T want to make an announcement, because I'll be beholden to it. So, instead, I'll just say how I feel (as opposed to what I may or may not actually do).
I want to retire from DA, FA and IB. I do not want to draw anymore.
That said, I've felt this way for at least a year or more now, and (obviously) I'm still here.
I did make a drawing of Mae running along the seashore with a fox cub. It was a bit of cfnm as Mae wore a bather but the fox wore nothing. ^^
The cartoon was cute until I looked at it. I had the two holding hands---not romantically, but rather Mae was dragging the fox along to something good up ahead. But, alas, I decided I'd drawn the characters too close together; perspective-wise, Mae's arm (the one dragging the fox boy) appeared a bit short.
So I got my crayons and made this shell picture instead. ^^
So, yeah, I destroyed it (good riddance), but you can still see some parts of the drawing (God only knows what some can do with a computer---someone reading this is probably removing the cross-hatching already). :3 I do this with a lot of my unpublished art, mostly so it's not taken from the dumpster (we have nosey neighbors).
Anyway,
Pencil...
The featured pencil was sold (likely) through a dollar or discount store (sold two for a dollar, perhaps three-for). I'm unsure of its vintage, but it's probably from the 2000s or the 2010s (ie, it's neither new nor old).
The pencil has images of shells, starfish and sand dollars on its barrel---the sorts of things one finds dead and rotting on the beach after a receded tide. ^_^
HYPOTHETICALWATCHER: "We want to see $50 Eagles and near-extinct Eberhards. Keep these cheap pencils off our feeds!"
I will feature anything I want to, first and foremost. Second, this pencil has a story. :3
I worked in estate liquidation though most of the 2000s. Omitting many details, I left that job in 2009 to do other things.
Well, on the night of Christmas Eve 2022, my old bosslady from my estate job knocks at my door. She has an estate sale planned for early January, but the house the sale is to take place in is a nightmare (the owner was a hoarder), and labor is short. Hence she asks if I can help.
I had only two days I could offer, albeit, it'd been a while since I'd done that sort of work (for those wondering, my present work is in elder care, but I won't be more specific than that).
Cutting to the chase: the house was bad, but we've seen much, much, MUCH worse! XD Still, we hadn't much time (and back in my days on this job, there were several of us working---this time around, it was just me, my bosslady, and a woman volunteer).
For those who don't understand the job, I'll provide an example...
Our clients were usually either persons who were moving (and had more stuff than they could take with them) or inheritors of an estate (ie, a house, with everything in it that needs to be cleared so the house could sell). We would come in, estimate the value of the stuff in the house, and (if the client agreed to the price) we would buy the stuff to sell at our store ...which entailed packing up everything sold to us (often everything in the house, including the trash) for transport and processing. Most people have thousands, and thousands, and THOUSANDS of things---an estate generally requires several days (if not weeks) to fully clear (and, again, that's with a full team of people).
These days, the store is open only for special events (which are usually themed---it's kinda fun!), so the bulk of our sales occur in the actual house of the client (ie, we host an estate sale). We bring a truck, some tables, racks, tubs and so forth to the property, process everything on site, and open the house like a store (the average sale carries on for several days; the client gets an agreed-upon percentage of our sales). To visualize it, look around the room you're in now (presuming you're at home) and imagine setting it up like a little shop in which everything in it (ie, your possessions) is for sale (your clothes on this rack; the $0.50 stuff on this table; the $1 stuff on this one, etc., etc---now imagine your whole house set up that way). ^^
Sounds easy and fun, right? ...no. ^^
For context, this is ONE load of stuff that we can't sell at the house, so was loaded onto our truck ...there are 60+ bags full of clothes here; the boxes contain books (mostly religious and self-help/home remedy type stuff): https://sta.sh/015k0fxqq7sf
A chunk of that will end up in the trash once the sale is over and we've had time to go thorough it a second time (yeah, I forgot to mention the client wants the house completely empty after our sale ...something we initially didn't agree to do).
It was found in the attic, whereat were layers of rodent droppings, carcasses, and empty acorn shells---I honestly thought the rabbit was real, and had every reason to think so! D:
...So what's all this to do with the pencil?
I found it while cleaning up and asked if I could *have it. I just wanted something from this job site---a memento if you will, that I could share with my watchers. :3 There was another, far better pencil (a 'Radiograph' from Kohinoor), but it was ruined. :p
*no, I'm not THAT cheap---I was doing this work for free (per my own choosing); I would have paid for the pencil if asked to.
"I do this with a lot of my unpublished art, mostly so it's not taken from the dumpster (we have nosey neighbors)." - I guess they must really like your art if they dig through the trash to get it! XP - But seriously, I did the same with drawings I wanted to get rid of.
"I do this with a lot of my unpublished art, mostly so it's not taken from the dumpster (we have nos
Never know when someone's gonna decide stealing identities is fun (which is why I shred bills, etc). As for art, I dunno how someone could use it against me, so I mark it out (which is fun to do, anyway).
Never know when someone's gonna decide stealing identities is fun (which is why I shred bills, etc).
Cool fun story and funny rabbit. Cool pencil! Also...tease! And im really sorry to hear you still want to quit drawing but you gotta do what you gotta do to be happy. Going to estate sales is fun
Cool fun story and funny rabbit. Cool pencil! Also...tease! And im really sorry to hear you still
A wide circle and a small circle stack to form a potato sack, and a large circle placed on top becomes the head. An ellipses drawn (about) 3/4 down the head circle forms the cheeks. Taper the body to the neck, and erase guidelines. Add legs/feet and arms. The head needs a mouth, nose, ears, eyes, and buck teeth. It is wrong to leave any of these out (esp. the mouth)---watchers will complain! D:
Delineate the striping; add fluff as desired.
That is my way.
A wide circle and a small circle stack to form a potato sack, and a large circle placed on top becom