Update Update (May 2018)

Just to preface this - and in lieu of my usual "Ah I haven't updated here in a while, have I!" - I'm doing monthly update posts over on my Patreon, and those are generally set to public! I'm going to try and remember to post more updates here as well, it just likely won't be monthly stuff.

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Straight into it! I've been having a rough time of things lately, this whole past year to be quite honest. I'm trying not to delve too much into that sort of stuff; I think it can be important to acknowledge when things are going poorly, but at the same time, I think it's important to maintain positivity as well. I'm doing my best to strike a balance of those things.

The big news at the moment for me is that I've (finally) made the move over to a new SSD for my computer, fresh Windows install and everything. It's gone relatively smoothly so far; there's always snags, but nothing that's been insurmountable, just a few instances that led to anxiety spikes and slowed me down for a day or three. DAZ Studio - my primary software for my 3D work - has been the biggest offender, and to try and keep that story short: my hope is/was to take this opportunity to move up from DS 3.1 to 4.10 (a few years' worth of version updates), but unfortunately my old 3.1 scene files can't be loaded into any newer version of the program, and that means not only every full scene, but all of my character bases and other such essentials. I'm stuck with 3.1 for the time being.
I've got a new plan for going forward, however. My scenes won't transfer, but everything else still can. It's a tedious process but all those old scenes can be re-built and re-saved in the newer version and newer formats, which might one day put me on the forward track again. I'm not going to rush into it - I'm already struggling to produce work, and taking a few months solely for re-building everything piece-by-piece would crush that even further - but I was already in the process of updating my characters slowly over time, and if I just take that slow and ease from 3.1 to 4.10 (and onward) it should work out.

What else? I still have a lot I want to do, and to catch up on. The crowdfunded Tharja drawing stalled out big time, but I'm determined to see that through; I don't want another shadow hanging over me like that. I'm overdue for a new drawing tablet, on that note, though I'm hesitating to throw down a huge amount of money for a big one like a Cintiq, and not particularly eager to delay that larger goal by purchasing a smaller tablet in the interim. I'll be needing a replacement for my laptop sooner or later as well, which also has me stuck; do I go for something like a budget gaming laptop, in the hopes that it'll by nature be powerful enough to do some art on too? Do I skip the laptop idea and get something like an iPad instead, for portability and being able to doodle right there on the screen? Or maybe I just accept that my primary uses will be web-browsing and watching anime, so a cheap thing will do just fine. Again, all of those options are not small investments for me so I want to choose wisely where I spend my money. Whatever I buy, I won't be planning to upgrade from for a while afterwards.
Commissions are a subject that ties into all of this. I do need the money. I'm not in any dire financial straits at the moment, but buying any of the above digs right into any semblance of savings I've got, and I'm really badly poised to deal with any serious financial issues that could arise. I don't know how or when I'll be able to get back into commissions; I'm tired of giving people a constant "soon!" as a reply. It probably won't be very soon. But it'll come, eventually.

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Those are my two main subjects of interest for the time being. There's some personal stuff as well that's been slowing me down, but that's for the most part summed up as depression and frustrations. (I'm not particularly inclined to discuss that here, but for those who are curious of such things, you can dig around to find my personal Tumblr blog.)

To sum up a little...
- "New" PC install, still hurdles and snags, but slowly, surely, I'm making fresh progress on upgrades and improvements for my work. Which is a tedious task, but also a little exciting!
- Some stall-outs on existing projects, but they're still there. I've got my eyes on equipment upgrades to make my life easier and try to cut out some bottlenecks in my work, as well as just giving me new things to be excited about.
- Commissions: on the horizon, but not necessarily getting any closer. I'm hoping for sooner rather than later, but at this point the only promise I can make is that I do intend to get back to doing commissions.

I hope life has been treating you all well! Summer's coming in, here, and while the heat is sometimes unbearable, it's my absolute favorite season and I am looking forward to every bit of it.