CherBear's Thoughts: March + April 2017

Hello everyone - 

 Hopefully it hasn't been too long since my last rant. I think when things start to slow down; I manage to find a groove but I'm not sure how long this lull will last BUT I am trying to get a few things done just in case - worse case scenario; I end up being busy for the next year or not. Either way - plenty to discuss perhaps.

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So I will save the lengthy stuff for last which is plenty of art related stuff & start with gaming first. Other than my hiatus on most of my games. I had posted up to date which games I'm currently active on - on a mmo scale; which is Love Dance Mobile & Audition. In-between all of that, my lil bit of indulgence so to speak has been Yandere Simulator. Granted it is still in a debug build phase, it's been a fun lil game to putter around & try.

- Yandere Simulator: Why? Why not? I had been seeing lil youtube videos of other people's gameplay & I admit, I was a bit intrigued. Finally; after awhile I managed to download and try the game. So far I've liked it & tried some of the things I had seen online and it been enjoyable.

- Love Dance: Recently I had gotten back into the game after my initial introduction by @Oddbrother ; it has been proven fairly interesting because since its a mobile game - its something more easily accessible on my day to day on the go.

- Audition Online [Redbana]: Oh goodness, its technically coming on 8 years for Redbana & a total of 10yrs [11yrs including beta] for the game on the North America server overall. I'd like to do something [maybe finally collab with Shoo if we can squeeze in the time] for it but I can't make definite promises this early on.

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Life ongoing; my poor Alienware laptop had finally kaput. I had sent it to a friend sometime in March to look into what was wrong & he told me ultimately in the end the motherboard died. So I gave permission to get it to functional but least to say I'm definitely appreciative [and owe him so much]. Why when I have a current laptop [and pretty much has better specs?] ... one word, sentimentality that I've had for it for 9yrs. What do I have purpose wise for it after all the repairs? A back up to my current laptop just in case...cuz knowing my luck.

Past that; I've been keeping busy, going out, trying out new recipes & been trying to plot out my plans properly. After my inner realization that I'm all over the place; not good - I gotta try to focus. I also am looking to try to find stable work after July realistically. So here's hoping. Other than that, I had sold my old truck finally; got it working & proof that its working so it was sold for a decent reasonable price. There's been birthdays, hanging out with family & friends...whew, as I said. I feel like I've been pulled around everywhere.

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As you have noticed; I've been taking steps forward somewhere artistic wise. I have set up my youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSkM6Yvkf4z-psS4gE2cq4A & had posted my first video. I still have plenty uploaded that I'm planning to post once a week but it doesn't mean I shouldn't be contiuing with video editing & uploading past livestreams - so no worries; its kinda a experiment to see where that goes. 

I look to fulfill this 'creator' itch by attempting to finish some designs to make & order all before uhm realistically in July. I think that's reasonable but we'll see.

I had been posting more artwork to be queued when I don't look at my deviantART. I in theory have things posted until June - I still have more to post up [ a lot of artwork done for Pacific PonyCon 2017 ] but apparently you can post at most 90 days out from the current day [ thanks uh core membership? ]. Rest assured you'll continue to see more stuff from me throughout this year. As long as I keep at it [encouragement helps ;) lol].

I also have been dabbling in sending some personal artwork out to friends & furthering out my options long term wise.

I look to catch every other social outlet fairly soon but give it time - if I remember to haha.

Will I be busy? I can't faithfully answer that until May. 

So...you can probably guess I do have plenty on my mind.

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Either way I feel fortunate for now but always feel like I can be doing more or wanting to do so much more. So I continue to venture forward into 2017 optimistic.

Thank you for listening to a lil art bear's rant. You may hear from me again hopefully by the end of this month. 

CherBear's Thoughts: February + March 2017

So new month; new thoughts ahoy.

General thoughts: I think finally I'm starting to slow down a bit but its good to not feel so busy at times. I've refocused on working on mainly catching up on a lot of things since I had put off everything since July of 2016. Granted I did self indulge with working on things I wanted to do or unplugging by playing video games - its mainly because after larger art projects & deadlines I just wanted something to do that didn't feel like a hard obligation. Granted; I do have other commissions that I am planning to work on - I've been doing them in small stints because I gotten a peculiar request to get a speed video of the progress so it lead me to experiment to a lil bit of video editing getting the hang of it but looking back at my prior livestreams ... as a typical artist I kinda cringed on the whole 'what was I thinking' at past artwork.

The few responses I did get has implied maybe I should be posting them on youtube of my past livestream sessions. I'll get into that a lil later though.

Artistic goals: So as I was mentioning earlier. I've been working on video editing of my past livestream sessions. I've started to upload them on youtube but everything has been kept private for now w/ the exception of sharing a video or two w/ a cpl of collaborators. If I end up doing enough edit sessions I may start releasing them on a weekly basis but that's in the future.

Other than livestream & video editing, I've been contemplating several things. Until I get my remaining commissions finished I'll be re-doing my commission prices. They've been re-written but until I finish what's on my current plate - I won't do anything drastic but quoting a familiar line "change its a coming".

My recent kick & obsession is I've been getting more & more of my artwork to become a bit more um...tangible. I had gotten art made for a daki pillow cover & that became a reality [yes that's on my bed]. I had recently shown it January & I had gotten more offers after the initial reveal of it. It led me to planning a list of what else I want made not only for myself but also consider putting out anything else - which leads to why I had been wanting to change my commission prices to include such uh merchandise? I'll be sure to take pictures of the daki cover, sometime along with my recent purchase - a hoodie w/ my designs on it. It turned out alright I think. As I had mentioned, my list, I wanna design & make 2 more daki pillow covers for my pillows, a phone case for my phone [its been long due] & a skin for something else. I'm attempting to space it out so it'll be a gradual reveal overtime. Granted I had already seen lil some of my other creations materialize [apron, a uh felt flag?, plushies & posters] these are strangely fascinating & satisfying.

Lastly, I've been contemplating finally getting my patreon account fully up - I had held that account for a bit but hadn't ended up putting anything else up mainly because I hadn't really thought of where to progress from there. I'd like to look into some other ppl's patreons & do some further research before I take a step forward with that.

In conclusion...It's been what's been lingering within my head.

I've slowly started scraping the surface of catching up on social media so hopefully you'll get to see more stuff on here. They've been on other parts of my social media [ie. instagram & twitter] & it's been a collective of 8-9 months which why I may have pulled back on my random & unannounced livestreams. I maxed out the amount I can queue on some places [ie. tumblr (300 posts) & deviantART (90 days worth of posts)]  but will be on other parts of my social media overtime.

So hopefully it'll be a progressive move forward & continuing to show what I can do. Not to mention, keeping an optimistic view of this year.

CherBear's Thoughts: Organizing in the new 2015yr

First off -

A late Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to everyone.

I do apologize for basically not being around. Ever since 12/12/2014, my laptop crashed once again & I had finally gotten it working a lil after Christmas. I'm still sorting & organizing but its so many files & I'm making a checklist of things I will eventually need because it seems like this has been an ongoing issue with my laptop I'll have maybe a year at minimum before the next serious BSOD crash. Basically - I got an error that's saying that I need to replace my HD/Video Drive for my laptop. For me to reinstall the OS is just delaying everything for 'bout a year roughly & its been a ongoing issue for the past few years already - so in short, a new external & thumbdrive in my future to move all files to then start a refurbishing process. I'm seeing the next time it BSODs on me - I'll pro'ally wipe & reformat to see if its a physical hardware or an internal software issue - so new HD for the laptop & perhaps replacing the overworked fans - better than the alternative plan of a new desktop w/ a laptop. 

I digress tho. Minus the few little money hardships, repairing a car cuz of getting into a crash & helping out in San Diego's first Hearth's Warming Eve event on 12/13/2014. I can't honestly really complain. I wish things could be better but I realize at the same time, things could be a lot worse too. 

My holidays have been good, spending it with family & calling out to family to wish them seasons greetings.

Hearth's Warming Eve 12/13/2014 I think went well. 

The New Year went smoothly & 6 days in, things have been calm - nothing bad but hopefully that means something good will be in the horizon. 

So I am looking to reorganize everything & mean everything. Laptop files, my art sites & such. Do I have resolutions? I would say yes if I knew I didn't have a nasty habit of breaking them - so I am just gonna take one step at a time with 2015, be optimistic, keep myself busy, go through this long list I intend on finishing & keep looking for job prospects. 

So even tho yes, I know my premium is ending soon - I will probably renew it, I've just been waiting for a promo deal to come up. Which means I either start posting the rest of my stuff soon or do the reliable good ol' waiting game.

Reflections of 2014, I've made plenty of new local friends, ended up fully embracing my inner brony/pegasister & overall I can say I'm content w/ all things considered on how 2012 & 2013 was like. 

Sadly I know later this month - I take time to remember someone who I lost that was very close & very dear to me, even though its been years, I admit, time has made it a lil easier - but I still remember her fondly regardless of bad times & conflicting moments we had. Hopefully my moods won't change too drastic around this time - if it does, I apologize ahead of time.

So as I end this journal - I'll try to end it upbeat. This has what essentially happened during December & me moving onto January - I'll try to be a lil more active but w/ me playing the catch up game again, it'll take some time. Be well & stay safe all.

CherBear's Thoughts: End of May...

While I write this - I write this in good faith that I in hopes of my lack of activity artistically was made up in with attempting to work on other aspects to help me progress forward. 

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I had ended up revamping all my tumblr blogs to my liking but it was a bit daunting due to reworking html code around current themes. Either way, please by all means, check those out when you have a chance, thank you.

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Past that, I've been doing more meet ups, went to a concert & working on more artwork. Mainly examples so I can push doing more commission work again. I've been trying to contact prior people but they haven't gotten back to me. I'll try once again & hopefully I'll get some response back.

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Personally I've just been stressed mentally & physically. I won't go into it but I will try my best considering how things are going. I'll keep on smiling & keep trying to move forward.

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Artistic wise - you'll see more next month but with the convention scene in full swing I'm not quite sure. Anyways - besides the major revamping of pages (and there will be more depending on the personal feedback I'm gonna get) I'll focus more on my artworks. 

That does wrap up May & I attempt to look on optimistically towards June. Take care everyone!