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: January + February 2017

More thoughts through January & into February --

Realization: I find myself bouncing all over the place due to the creativity & thoughts, thinking its a good idea & the intention is there but the follow through is always short. So I'm gonna attempt to focus & set out what I do intend to do this year & enough of this "Oh I'd like to do this..." & just do it.

Its been quiet since all the madness of Pacific PonyCon 2017; which is good cuz then I can focus on the commissions finally, I have 4 so I won't take on new ones quite yet until I finish. After I finish them; I do plan to do fix my commission pricing slightly & show the other styles I'm capable of but apparently I do not show or do not have examples - I wanna show the potential flexibility I do have even though my highlights are what is currently seen. Not to mention I want to add actual specifics because what I had been doing the past 3 years.

What am I attempting to focus on? Designs for t-shirts is one. Offering other alternative purchases of product. Also, a youtube channel that may or may not focus on just my livestream sessions but gaming though honestly I haven't really gamed much outside of Audition atm & the others are Pokemon Go & Pokemon Sun / Moon - but I have taken the first step & began the fun process of learning video editing. I'm contemplating structuring my Patreon account finally too. Not to mention; last but not least. Catch up on all the wonderful artwork on all social media branches I had produced but not posted due to Pacific PonyCon 2017.

Either way; realistically - I am looking for work too; just I know that route usually means my artwork takes a backseat ... it might not be the case the second go around but y'never know. I just know that's what I had observed during the brief stint of working a few years ago.

Anyways - I am being optimistic into 2017 & continuing to progress forward; I'm forever grateful to those who've shown their love & support this far & into the future because without that, I really would question why I've done this so long. Granted...I've given those reasons before its always nice to hear it every now & then...its silly but its the lil things like that which fuels the fire & gives one's self drive to continue.

Valentine's Day is coming up! I hope to chat a lil more 'bout my thoughts after that! Until next time ~ take care!

CherBear's Thoughts: 2016, 2017 + PPC2017

First off: I want to wish everyone a late Happy Holidays & Happy 2017 New Year. I have plenty to cover but I had been extremely busy, which can be seen good or bad depending on who you are.

 Last half of 2016: Well considering my LAST journal entry was San Diego Comic Con 2016, rest assured I had been busy but also been busy with artwork too. August was a good month, my birthday month was satisfying ( thank you btw for all the birthday wishes ), October; during Halloween was fun as usual, November; was a bit of juggling around on where to spend Thanksgiving & December; was some interesting coordination with Christmas & New Year. Art wise - I had always been busy working on something, whether it was for Pacific PonyCon or needing a break to draw something else that didn't need a deadline. Mostly, I had been attempting to do in-game livestream of my artwork which turned out to be super fun. You'll eventually see the madness of random artwork along w/ Pacific PonyCon artwork since the event has passed.

New Year 2017: So a question into the New Year, other than totally having a Animal Crossing New Leaf moment, playing Pokemon Sun / Moon & on occasion Audition Online Redbana - what are my goals for this year. Strangely, it was to learn something new albeit; I can always learn some new strange fact on a random whim but I mean a new technique, revisit animation, something along those lines, continue to thrive as a artist. 

Pacific PonyCon 2017: Now the last part I would love to discuss. Thankfully this year, I fell more behind the scenes which I did not mind. It was held over at the Wyndham San Diego Bayside. I won't completely get into everything but overall, it felt very warm, folks had a lot of fun & everyone enjoyed the event from what I can tell. All the artwork deadlines were met right up to the day of the convention & managed to squeeze artwork to be featured as a banner for Equestria Daily. I was able to catch a couple of events; not to mention I made a exclusive poster print donated to the charity auction which was held on the 3rd day & saw our honored community guests, voice actors and a lot of the attendees. After all that was said & done, the positive feedback from social media outlets & volunteers looking exhausted - I think ultimately in the end it was worth it. Will there be another year? I guess we will have to wait & see.

CherBear's Thoughts: San Diego Comic Con 2016!

San Diego Comic Con 2016 quickly approaches!

I know - I simply passed up Anime Expo 2016 but from what I hear, depending on who you hear it from & where they were coming from, overall, 100,000  unique attendees? Good for them.

San Diego Comic Con has been a Christmas in July thing not only for me, but for friends & family. I really look forward to it. With the convention contract extending to 2018, I look forward to see where this goes considering I've been going since well..forever haha! I've seen it transform into an event that spills out into Downtown San Diego & its something you're either going to have to have fun & enjoy the scene or stay clear of if you're not big into large crowds. 

So that's where all the silence has been, I've either been busy wrapping up projects & assigning projects for another convention. 

Then I gotta make sure my place is ready for family who'll be crashing with me during the convention.

Taking some of today & into tomorrow to just prep some artwork I had worked on to be posted during my week hiatus. While enviously watching other folks play Pokemon Go.

Don't worry, I haven't completely surrendered to the overwhelming hype...yet, I'll see after the con since I really need to get in gear with other things...curse you priorities.

As for some other things, I have been drawing but on & off on my sketchbook. Ended up writing too & a good friend ended up sending me some awesome stuff while he ends up moving to start a new life. I wish him nothing but the best & hope that this life change doesn't break the contact.

I'll try to document my day to day at San Diego Comic Con though, so by all means. Be sure to follow my twitter [ @LilCherBear ] & Instagram [ lilcherbear ] to see what I manage to see & try to catch as much of the scene not only within the convention but outside the convention too.

I'll wrap up the month with thoughts & hopefully squeeze more drawing in. Its something about the convention scene that inspires me to be creative.

But for now - I am alive! And look out, there's a pikachu right behind you.

CherBear's Thoughts: Nearly a Decade...

Today fulfills thoughts about April.

Undoubtedly, I have been busy with various projects but today I finished as I am about a day away from headings up to BABS Con this weekend [which I'll talk about when I get back on Monday, Tuesday at the latest.]. I take the time to recognize today as thoughts over a game ... yes a game. Weird? Petty? Strange? Well ... keep reading if you are interested on why. What game do I speak of? Audition Online Dance Battle - Redbana, yeah that game. A little backstory, I started playing since Nexon October 2007, today marks the start of the game on Redbana. Now, you must ask why over a game that isn't nearly impressive graphically & game play compared to all the current games out there, whether its on a console, PC, Steam, w/e. Frankly, I often get the vibe from my cohort in crime Milotic, [a guy who I met through this game] why I bother when the game by the company had been so poorly managed & potential of it growing was wasted. Why draw anything...why recognize anything...in recognition of a game that even the community within had crying out for the day when the game finally closes. It's simple really, its out of love for the game, not the company. Like other games such as World of Warcraft where the community, had celebrated finding their significant other & people they end up refer to as 'friends' even when they're miles apart. This game, is no different. I spoke to some people from Audition that I managed to keep in touch, I sincerely asked, "Who have you kept in touch with after a decade since playing this game?" Some have said they kept in touch w/ a lot of them, some have said only one other. You then realize after talking about that question w/ them & the memories you guys had shared [...whether they're good or bad...] that whatever degree it is, you guys have still been friends all this time. Now, whether you cherish the idea of friendships or not is completely up to your preference. For me, I think I have found myself appreciating the fortunate situation only because the feeling of being alone is very plausible...unless you're all for it...its a lil sad w/ all the bad things that go on in the world today. So I celebrate today; I reminisce the memories from it, its for the love of the game & more importantly the friendships of people I didn't expect to have - I still have today. And even though we don't constantly talk 24/7 or see each other, cuz lets be honest - life can get in the way...its as easy as saying hello & catching up in-between days, weeks, months & years then going back to doing your own thing but know that there will be a next time where you can do it all over again. If this is silly, well hopefully you didn't read it to the end. Now if you didn't & feel the same way in a similar situation, that's great & hopefully you reached out to say hello to a friend cuz you never know - you might have just brighten their day when everything in the world for them had somehow went wrong.

CherBear's Thoughts: End of March

Greetings everyone! Hope folks had safe, good, happy & everything type of holidays that past since my last journal post. It's been a while. Granted I've been posting & not posting on & off, getting a cold & next thing I know...its April?!

Plans: Regardless - it should start picking up w/ more artwork w/ Pacific PonyCon granted I also have a commission to work on too. Either way, I have started getting back into my art groove. Not to mention I am fueling my own fire to wanting to start more personal projects I always say I plan to do.

Conventions: I missed Hanadoki unfortunately, WonderCon too & I think that's it. BABS is coming up, I may or may not go. Also, EFNW too but that's highly unlikely.

Either way...

That's what's been happening since my last journal entry. Keeping it short & sweet & hopefully will be able to post more up since I do feel better.

CherBear's Thoughts: Pacific PonyCon 2016

It's been a while, I know since I wrote anything, I've been extremely busy & for good reason too. But this isn't about that, we're here to talk 'bout Pacific PonyCon 2016 that was held here in San Diego, CA Jan 8th-10th.

First off, I am exhausted but its a good kind of tired considering what I went through. This is technically my first pony 'themed' con & the reason I say its a good kind of tired is due to the fact I heard & spoke to folks that went had said they had a good time. As an off note: I was able to see both sides of the coin per say.

Day 0 - Set up day was pretty standard, as many of you may or may not know, the venue was held over at the lovely Kona Kai Resort & Marina. It's a lovely place to stay & albeit a small capacity I think made the best of it to make it fun overall for every attendee. Things were able to be set up smoothly & ready to go for the next 3 days. 

Day 1 - As it started to roll around, I admit I didn't realize I would be having a morning routine going for the next 3 days. Not that I didn't mind. Other than the early morning prep chat & waiting to throw in my contribution into the con I was able to walk around & check out the whole hotel. Saw where the vendor hall was, the CCG room, the video game room & KFA room. No worries, I was able to check out the panels...not like I didn't have a choice...heehee. Rest assured I did get to see what was to come for the next couple of days. It was nice to sit on some community guest panels [got to introduce myself to Keyframe] & sat in on the VA panel w/ Andrea Libman, Peter New & Rena Anakwe. My day did end late but can't stop there, there's still 2 more days to go.

Day 2 - Well...spoiler alert, I had known I was going to be apart of a how to panel featuring SoCal artist & well, yeah...I ended up being on there. Oh, but before I go on, the morning routine started as usual, got to wander around the convention before having to go to well yes, my panel. Albeit, it was a small turn out, I guess it couldn't have been helped considering we were stacked against 3 stronger panels but I look at this as the bright side of practicing public speaking. I think all 4 of us were nervous 'bout talking & wasn't even sure how to talk out into a room. Who was I with? Well, Star Sketcher, BrownWolf & Stephen Luque. Either way it was a learning experience [for me it was fun too] & I am better prepared for next year. The rest of my day evened out to standing in on a few more community guest panels & the VA panel once again. I could tell the kids were having a good time & were happy to ask the VAs their questions. Was able to say hi to Eile Monty [which btw I think it was neat to have this small venue, she randomly showed up here & there] & shook hands w/ Nowacking. During later into the evening, I think I was able to say hi to Tony Fleece [kinda surreal] & finally got something to eat for dinner. The day ended late & as much as I wanted to party, I had to rest up early because I had a long early day tomorrow for me. 

Day 3 - Final days always seem to be one of those, "I can't believe its almost over." kind of feeling. The morning started really early because I had to prep pack then take care of some important things before starting to sit in on all the panels. Strangely a bit cold but it was fun to see the panels. Charity Auction was always fun, the community guests had more panels [said hi to ToonKritic] & finally feedback & closing ceremony. Once after all things were said & done, we cleaned up, went to our own after party & reflected on the con.

Overall, I won't lie, there was so much I didn't begin to mention that happened. There was a beach party, 3 wendigos pinata breakings the past 3 days, lots of kids were there having fun at the KFA room, The Party Cannon on Day 2, Kids Scavenger hunt, other community guests I had seen, I could go on - but as I said early on - it was a good kind of tired knowing & seeing that folks had a good time this weekend. I do look forward to the next Pacific PonyCon!