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Wip’s, Current Progress and Life Update
🕑 Added 2023-04-30 16:24:45 +0000 UTCGreetings, vikings!
It's been a while since the last news and there are quite a few things that I want to update you on. Each topic (besides the next one) has a tldr should you want to have things summarized or don't have the time to read all of it.
Next Poll and WIP's
The images you see above are all new scenes that I have been working on over the last few months. Nearly all will be part of the next poll that will be released tomorrow. These WIP's contain the preview of the characters that will be used, the scene itself, the rough post-processing, but leave room for further variations and tweaks.
Once the new poll winner will be announced you will be able to comment your wishes and requests for the chosen scene.
The images with Dani Nakamura from Callisto Protocol are part of the commission which I'm currently working on. The commission will include SPH but there'll also be variations without this theme.
Life and Work
TLDR: I was pretty close to burnout and need to change things to get back to my old frequency of releasing artwork.
Some of you may have noticed my reduced activity, especially in the last few months of last year and the beginning of 2023. There were several reasons for this and I really appreciate all of you who supported me during this time. Thank you all for that.
Now to explain what has happened. I finished my Master's degree around the first few months of 2022 and went straight back to my day job. Since I'd already used up some of my vacation days to prepare and study for my Master's, there wasn't much time left to take a break between work, looking after my parents (which took up more of my time last year due to other reasons), working on my nsfw projects, and maintaining relationships with my friends. This quickly led to a stagnation in my projects as I found it more and more difficult to come up with creative ideas and the motivation to work and finish them.
I decided to change things and sought professional help as it was all becoming too much for me - nuff said, I felt burnt out. Since then, my therapist and I have been working on getting back on track, which has meant doing things more slowly to make sure I don't fall back into some of the bad habits I've picked up over time. The first completed project with Judy now marks the beginning of a reset in the way I want to handle my nsfw work, my social media and the way I keep you up to date.
There are three things I have changed to improve my workflow:
1. Community Polls
2. Commissions
3. Activity on Social Media
Community Poll Rework
TLDR: The new polls will give you an easier preview of what to expect when you vote for your character, and also let you decide on the setting of my next projects. It also allows you to share more of your wishes and desires to influence these projects in the setting they are already in.
I have learnt a few things over the last few years while working on all the projects that have won the votes here on Patreon. Although I enjoyed working with new characters, I found that I sometimes struggled to get the right idea or inspiration to achieve a level of quality that I was personally happy with. In the end, I always aimed to release a scene with the character you voted for, but there were times when it took more time or effort to get it right. This affected my workflow and my overall motivation and enjoyment.
So I want to change the way I handle community votes. From now on, instead of letting you decide which character you want to see - without even knowing what kind of scene it is - I will share several projects with you. These are projects that already have a set scene, a character and a preview of the lighting for the final image.
Whenever I have an idea or some kind of inspiration for a character and a scene, I prepare it in between working on current projects. This allows me to stay creative and motivated, as these situations usually happen at moments or on days when I wouldn't be working on my projects anyway. And even though it would make it seem like I was "working" more, it would feel more like what it was for me in the first place - a kind of hobby. I'll also do my best to include characters that I haven't worked on yet, to keep a nice mix for you to choose from.
This means that I will continue with the polls, just in a different way. And every time I finish a project that came out of the poll, I can quickly share more scenes with you, including the old ones. This means that you don't have to worry if the scene you voted for doesn't make it, as I may still be working on it in the future, either as a poll winner or as a project I want to finish myself.
Commission Workflow
TLDR: I will reduce the number of commissions I accept at any one time and focus on one commission at a time.
I also want to change the way I approach commissions. I noticed that my initial way of being open to most characters and scenes - seeing unusual types as a challenge rather than a hindrance - made it difficult for me to work on them. This became more and more apparent to me as I struggled to find good inspiration and to keep myself motivated as I worked on these commissions.
I tried to work around this problem by working on two commissions at the same time. There have been times when this has helped, but there have also been times when I have had even greater problems with lack of inspiration for both.
So I want to change the way I handle my commissions. From now on, I will greatly reduce the number of commissions I want to take on at all. I will also be more selective about the types of scenes and characters I accept. This will take the pressure off of me, as I won't have to think about all the commissions I have left to do, and will make it easier for me to maintain my motivation for the projects I'm working on.
However, I still have a few commissions that I have already accepted. All of you for whom I have already promised to create a commission will be notified as soon as possible, in this case as soon as the commissions before yours are completely finished. And each of you can be sure that I appreciate your patience, especially for the long time you have already given me.
And for those of you who are waiting for me to open up my commission slots again, I must ask for even more patience. I don't know if I will be able to open them again this year, but I expect it will be towards the end of 2023 or the beginning of 2024.
Activity on Social Media
TLDR: I can't be as active on all my social media as I used to be. I will still read each of your comments and messages, but I ask for your understanding. This will make it easier for me to continue a steady workflow.
Like I said before, I assume you have noticed that I wasn't as active as I used to be, neither here nor on Twitter or my other social media. This was mainly due to two reasons, one of course being my reduced number of releases but more importantly due to me not being the type of person to be that active on social media.
In the last few years I have forced myself to be active on Twitter, Patreon, Discord and all the other platforms, but every time I do it really drains my willpower and in the end my motivation. It's hard to describe, but I think I'm pretty much the same kind of introvert on social media as I am during the day, where I enjoy meeting other people but need time to recharge.
This leads me to reduce my activity on my platforms, which doesn't mean that I don't read each and every one of your messages and comments, it just means that I don't respond as quickly as I would like. In this case, I really rely on your understanding and acceptance to be patient with my updates and replies so that I can continue my work and continue to enjoy working for you.
I think that should cover everything for now. I hope it has clarified some things and made it easier for you to understand where I want to go with this in the future. As always, feel free to comment or message me if you have any further questions or want to discuss anything else. I look forward to sharing more wonderful artwork with you and wish you all a great start to the new month!
