Hey everyone. 2025 is not too far away from now. I thought that I'd make a journal that has things like reflections, plans, and all that jazz. Kind of an overview of sorts. I'll title each section off to help, cause it's gonna be a long one. I might bring up things I've talked about already, so if so, sorry. :P

Now, to start it off...

Commissions
First off, I want to thank those who have bought a commission from me and being patient. Means a lot. But I should also apologize to those that I've kept waiting. I don't have any excuse for that. While I do take some solace in that I'm no where as bad as artists who ghost their clients for months, if not years and keeps taking commissions, there's no denying that I need to do better.

A lot of artists have those days where they don't feel like drawing, which is fine. We're only human. But when it comes to commissions, since you're being paid, I know you have to be more diligent. One thing I've seen professional artists say is that you cannot wait for motivation. Obviously when you're working in the industry, motivation's not an option, but even for something smaller, it's not bad advice, especially since I want to get to where I draw a lot. Not to where I burn myself out, obviously.

Unfortunately, I do kind of suffer from perfectionism pretty hard. I've been trying to think of ways to break the habit, but it's easier said than done. Doesn't help that I'm an overthinker too. Perfectionism can really screw you over. I've even restarted drawings because of it. Another thing I need to work on. Obviously, you need to give it your all, but the main thing is as long as your client is happy, right?

Sleep is another thing too. I sometimes have my moments where I only get a bit of sleep and that throws my entire sleep schedule off for a while, which results in me feeling drained. Maybe it's because I'm thinking a lot that I have trouble sleeping? I just need to relax. I have fixed my sleep schedule before numerous times. I can do it again.

I have been thinking about my Commission ToS, and wondering if anything needs to be changed or added. I looked at many commission sheets from artists to try and get an idea. I'm not entirely sure. I honestly wish I could include things like shading and multiple characters as an option, but I honestly have very little to no experience in those. At least for now.

Well, when it comes to commissions, I guess the best thing to do is set up a schedule and put as much focus as I can into it. I like to use the Pomodoro Technique, so maybe I should implement that into it.

There's less than 10 days left in December, and I got commissions I need to finish. I need to get my tail in gear.

Art
One of the things I need to do is strike a balance between doing personal art, studies, and commissions. I have so many ideas stewing in my head that needs to be put on canvas. I need to design up to date pictures of Jay (both versions!), I've had this idea for drawing Jay in different themes like the skins you see in games like League. There's a lot I wanna do.

I admit I've also thought about doing muscle fan art, mostly of more obscure/underrated characters I like. Lot of artists, understandably so, tend to immediately draw whatever character is popular, and I'm not in any way against that. But I have seen characters that don't have a huge following get overshadowed in things like Patreon polls and it's kind of unfortunate to see. I still remember one artist (who draws both human and non-human characters) had a poll and chose Porunga as one of the options. He won, right? Nope. Came in last. I think one of the non-human winners was from Housamo, which if so, no surprise.

I need to also try dedicating some time studying too, and not just anatomy. While I do think my art is decent, I still lack a lot of things like most of the fundamentals. I need to learn perspective, light and shadows, and plenty of other things. It's not like I lack the resources to learn. Just, not sure how to approach learning these things. I'll figure something out, but if you have any advice,I'm all ears.

I will say the commissions have pushed me out of my comfort zone in more ways than one. Drawing certain body types, genders, species, and such that I've never drawn. Most of it I haven't even practiced yet.

There are other things I wanna tackle too, like pixel art. Primarily because I want to make things for Sonic Robot Blast 2 Kart and Dr. Robotnik's Ring Racers. I have friends who got their OCs created for their former, and it honestly makes me wanna include Jay. I could pay someone to do it, but I don't have that kind of cash right now. There's also animation too, thanks to sakugas and watching both recent western and eastern animation. I mean, anything from Flying Bark Productions (Rise of TMNT, Moon Girl, Glitch Techs, Monkie Kid, etc.) alone is inspiring, but also anime like Dragon Ball and Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken (season 2 plz). I have Clip Studio EX, and the Animator's Survival Kit. I just need to well, animate, right?

Social Media
I'm sure most have seen the huge exodus to Bluesky. I might've mentioned it, but I made accounts there a while ago, and while it isn't perfect, it's been nice. When it comes to Twitter, I haven't deleted my accounts, but I'm kind of on the fence about continuing to post art there. The whole thing with the AI (which I think turned out to be false?) and other events kind of gave me a reason to use the site less. Also Musk is an idiot.

I admit, I occassionly browsed certain users who mocked those who threw childish fits over things like pronouns, "ugly" women, etc. While it was entertaining to see them act like fools, it also made your brain hurt cause of the absolutely baffling opinions that makes you wonder how do these guys function outside the computer. It's just...Yikes.

I'm not gonna delete my accounts since that makes your username available to be taken. Plus there are still a lot of artists, both furry and not, that haven't made the jump yet. Though I might not post art there. Which sucks cause some pieces of art did very well, even getting likes from well-known people in the community. We'll see.

I have been wondering about Itaku. I made an account there a while ago, but stopped using it. Didn't seem like there was much traffic on there. Does anyone know what the place is like now? Is it still kind of quiet?

Life
I...don't have too much to report on here, and that's kind of the problem. I don't want to go into details about it, but to give you a general idea: I haven't made much progress with my life for a very long time. It can be due to things like procrastination, but I guess also things like I worry I'm gonna mess up badly. Even my nieces and nephew are way ahead. I've found myself thinking about the worst case, which isn't healthy. Losing my dad in 2020 didn't help either. Still hurts, a lot. Not that long ago I had a pretty good cry on his birthday. I'm alright now, btw.

While this isn't exclusive to the start of 2025, and resolutions are kind of a odd concept nowadays, I think my plan for 2025 is to get my shit together and live a better life; To become a better person. My dad told me numerous times that even after he passes on, I need to keep moving forward, and I haven't been doing a good job of that. I just have to stop doubting myself, accept that I'll make mistakes, and just, well...do it, right?

I also need to take better care of myself. Not that I have any health issues, but diabetes is something that has hit my dad's side of the family pretty hard, and I'm sure no one wants to become diabetic. Plus, I enjoy cooking, and I don't want to be limited on what I can and can't eat, y'know?

But yeah, there's a lot I'm missing out on like a bunch of games, food, and such. Plus lately I've found myself watching videos of people transforming their bedrooms into their dream rooms/gaming setups. I want to do that so bad now. :P

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There might be more to talk about, but this is pretty friggin' long as-is. I do also need to continue work on commissions too. I do hope everyone has a Happy Holidays, and also stay safe out there. Take care!

~JT