Holy Cannoli, folks as I type this I am looking out the window at a scene that would have been very VERY welcome not two weeks ago: snow is falling in great fluffy flakes and the ground is white with it, the air is wintery and all anybody really wants to do is curl up inside and relax. Yes my christmas weather arrived late, something that has happened only once before in my memory. Bummer.
However!
Christmas, though somewhat lessened is spirit, was enjoyed, family was seen, presents were exchanged and bellies were filled with fantastic dinners, buffets and pot-lucks. Also my christmas morning heralded a new age, the age of the TABLET! (fanfare!) Yes I have a tablet now and hope to move all of my fetish drawing onto the computer from now on. No paper trail. Commissions will still be drawn with a pencil though, at least until my skill with a tablet catches up to my current skill with a pencil and paper.
New Years was nice too, just me and a couple friends hanging out and ringing in the new together.
Anyway that's all I can really think to say at the moment, other than commissions are open again and to say I hope you all had a wonderful holiday.

-blackshirtboy

---Commissions---
For info on commissions including prices see: [link]

SLOTS *FULL*
1. Tsuyoshi-kun /Paid/Sketched/Done/
2. 455510 /Paid/Sketched//
3. singory /Paid/Sketched//

Well the commissions are done, the shopping is done, the wrapping is done and so all that's left is too wait for tomorrow night. I should be excited, and I am of course, but I don't feel that usual "Christmassy" excitement that I'm used to. Yes, over the past couple days I've felt my Christmas spirit begin to wane and I know why: snow, or a lack thereof. As usual everywhere around Toronto is a horrible swirling cloud of whiteness and we are unaffected, unlike usual, there would normally be quite a bit of snow on the ground by now. This deterioration of spirit was salvaged somewhat when I woke up this morning and found it snowing outside, but I immediately slumped back into my funk when I checked the weather and found it was going to rain on Christmas. Fsk.
But I refuse to be beaten! A spark was made when I saw the snow falling today and I will fan that spark with all my willpower and turn it into a roaring Christmas Spirit or my name isn't M-uh... blackshirtboy!
Ha.
On a related (?) note, though I have finished the latest batch of commissions I will not be opening the slots until January 2nd as it is the Holidays and this place will be crawling with family and other people. So I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of my fans, watchers and favouriters, thank you for your patience and your enthusiasm. Have a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year.

-blackshirtboy


---Commissions---
For info on commissions including prices see: [link]

SLOTS *Full*
1. tf-tg-favs /Paid/Sketched/Done/
2. Carsis /Paid/Sketched/Done/
3. Happy-TGer /Paid/Sketched/Done/

Happy generic wintertime everyone, and by that I of course mean Christmas. Honestly it crushes my soul a little every time I hear "Holiday-time" or "the Holiday season", these aren't even new sayings but you can just hear what's implied by them every damn time. Nowadays when somebody says "have a happy holiday" what they're really saying is "I'm slowly killing Christmas, you punk!"
Ah right, I know, it's all in the spirit of not leaving anybody out during this wonderful season but it still bugs me a little. Or it would however I am far too excited to be bugged, yesterday as I got off the train to walk home from my last class of the year I looked up and saw that it was SNOWING! Man was that awesome, the sky continued to spout flurries for the next couple hours and then petered off before dinnertime and none of it stayed on the ground but it definitely means that Christmas is barreling down on Toronto at full force. Already I can feel that cool, wondrous crisp to the air, the subtle rise in energy and emotion and most of all the aesthetics of the city have started to change. Reds, Greens and Browns now adorn most shopfronts, wreaths and holly and fake Santa's deck the streets with boughs of merriness and soon it will all be framed by fantastical swaths of white. In a week, maybe two, the scene outside my window will have transformed into a fairy tale.
I took some friends to another friends house on the weekend and they already had a tree up, we ended up just hanging out on the couch in the dark with the tree lights on, basking in the holiday awesomeness. Ironically me and the friend whose house it was were the only ones who cared about Christmas as the others were Russian Orthodox, but whatever.
Good Golly I can't wait, Christmas is coming, the very bestest time of the year and if any of you disagree then may Santa smite your face off.

In other, more Serious Business kind of news: I realize that $40 is way too much to charge but that was meant to sort of start up discussion about what it should be. That didn't really work out but I do thank those few who did reply and post their thoughts on the matter. In any case I maintain that $15 is way too low so I compromised and raised the cost ten dollars, which means $25 for a sequence and $30 with colour. Single pages are still $10. I will try to raise the quality of my work accordingly.
And the slots are open again


---Commissions---
For info on commissions including prices see: [link]

SLOTS
1. tf-tg-favs /Paid/Sketched/Done/
2. Carsis /Paid/Sketched/Done/
3. Happy-TGer /Paid/Sketched/50%/

Alright so the latest batch of commissions are finally done, I wasn't sure about them but two-thirds of the clients seemed to like them so that's alright. This coincides with school basically being finished, all I have left to do is one project which I will finish today and an exam on friday which will hopefully be as easy as the mid-term (it probably will, it's art history).
So onward to business, and I fell really bad about what I'm about to say... write... but it won't be set in stone, I am asking the opinion of my fanbase at large. After three batches of commissions I feel like I now have the hang of them, how to fill out the invoices, managing my time to get them done etc... but I'm beginning to think that $15 is a terribly inappropriate amount to ask for, taking into account the money I'm spending on school not mention on friends, how much effort that goes into getting the commissions to the commissioners in a relatively quick amount of time, $15 is just not enough for the effort I put into these and I just started to realize that. So that's what I need your opinion on, I feel tentative about charging more because I've never felt that my drawings were worth more, so I ask you: Would you pay $40 per 8 panel commission?
AH! Before you run from your computer in a fit of rage let me explain that with that $40 comes:
-NO additional colour fee, though if you want it in black and white then I will shade it exquisitely.
-An additional step in the commission process where I will scan the light pencil work and send it to you so you can make absolute sure I'm doing it right, my sketches are very rough and so it is difficult to get a real idea of what's happening.
-The black and white lineart of your commission sent along with your finished version at the end of it all.

OK so it's not much but to me it justifies the absurd price hike. So now it's up to you, please leave comments... commenting on the decision, slots will be closed until a verdict is reached.

Whew what a tremendously shitty few weeks I just had. The semester is indeed coming to a close for me but criminy is it ever coming to a close with a vengeance! Thankfully that huge wave of projects has passed and I remain to tell the tale, I still have several more huge projects to wade through before christmas break but these are spaced out enough so that I won't feel the need for another panic attack until I start christmas shopping with a week left to the big day.
Commissions continue to be fun, don't get me wrong, a happy island in the middle of a raging homework ocean. Yes they can be annoying and finicky and tedious but in the end I find that it's something I really enjoy and that only gives me confidence that I'm heading in the right direction with my life. Aside from that there's not much else worth noting, life is fine, I'm on good terms with most people in my life and they are with me, cruising along at a nice pace. I manage to balance schoolwork, "this" stuff and time enough with friends and in my book that's a tremendous win.

And of course, with three more commissions out of the way it is my honour to reopen the slots. Come one come all and all that.

---Commissions---
For info on commissions including prices see: [link]

SLOTS *FULL*
1. raelbunny /Paid/Sketched//
2. Tsuyoshi-kun /Paid/Sketched//
3. schmen /Paid/Sketched//