Where I've been and what's to come in 2018

            Once I finally managed to post that return-piece I drew specifically for the return of my art online, it officially marked the amount of time it had been since I'd posted anything. The last time I posted my art here was on November 30th, 2015, and here we are two years later, when I posted It's Been a While, Hasn't It? on December 9th, 2017.

            It all started with highschool, really, I'd say. Highschool was so time-consuming that I didn't even have time to keep my social life together online, and things started slowing down and piling up 'till the point where I had to just leave it alone. I now really wish I could've kept posting, of course, but I'm thankful for the good grades I got during highschool, in the end.

            Once I graduated highschool back in May of 2016, I actually then had to get right to work on finishing up with a homestudy art college I had been working through, which I had started during highschool (I know, I'm crazy). It was the final portfolio that I had left to do, and to my surprise, it actually required 5 pieces rather than one, as all the previous lesson booklets had required. I knew this would take much, much longer than I'd expected... and it did. Being the perfectionist artist that I am (I'm working on that), it took me 5 months to make those 5 pieces. It payed off, obviously, and I got 100's on all those pieces, but... yeah. 5 months.

            Then, with that out of the way... I wanted to get back to the Youtube channel I had started right when I got out of highschool, just before beginning that portfolio. It had already been 6 months since I'd uploaded there, so I of course put out another video as soon as I was able to. There were... quite a lot of technical issues when first starting out, with using a computer that couldn't handle much of the game-capture, but things got much smoother once my family got a new family laptop which actually runs well! Jeeze, finally. c'x
            But, alas.... Youtubing took much, much more time than I had thought it would. To record, edit, and upload videos properly, and to make each individual thumbnail for them... it took all the time I had, and even then, I was only uploading one video every two days. It took me a whole day to edit a video, and I had to let the computer export it across the entire night (It literally took that long, yes. A whole 12 hours, most times). Then, I had to do it again right after, and also somehow fit thumbnail-making into the week, somewhere. It was... quite a lot of work, to my surprise.
            I did this for about... 3 months, I think? 3-4 months, and then I picked it back up later, a bit, for another month before stopping again. Right after that first 3-4 months of trying Youtubing out, I decided that it was much more important to bring my art back online, and to start drawing again. That's when I started clearing through all the messages that had gathered, here on Deviantart. c:
            And then, once enough of them were cleared through, I began trying my hand at drawing again! It had then been 10 months or so since I had drawn much of anything, and thankfully, I wasn't rusty at all! I was surprised by this, but I was then able to get right to work on that return-piece, having finished it before this new year arrived. Hoorah! <3
Now that I'm back from the family trip I just went on, I think I'm finally ready to try what I've wanted to try for a very, very long time...

Art commissions!~

 

That's right, folks. c:<
If I work hard enough this month, I'll be able to open them up before February's here! I've got to decide on prices and make a Terms of Service for them, but... yes!! I know so many of you have wanted to commission me, the chance is finally just around the corner!

So, I'll be working on getting that ready in this month, as well as getting a WIP ready for the first MAP I've ever joined. It'll be my first time trying animation, but I really, really want to try it, and I think participating in this MAP will help me learn! Wish me luck~ ;D

So, with all that out of the way, future plans.
            In this new year, 2018, I actually do plan on bringing some life back to my Youtube channel. I'll continue with the gaming aspect of it, for now, but I plan on doing animation for it more, later down the road. If any of you happen to enjoy watching others play through story-based games now and then, rr... please subscribe to my channel. I'm lonely and need more motivation to make videos. <v<;;
www.youtube.com/channel/UCyBHB…

            But yes, there's that, and I plan on uploading all the art I haven't posted from the past 2-3 years! There's... a lot that's not posted, seriously. A lot. You guys have seen, like... only a fraction of my art, and I am very sorry about that. x3x;
During all this, I'll be reading the Book of Mormon! Going on a mission for my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is still on my mind. I haven't finished as much as I'd like before going on one, yet, but I'd still like to go on one. I'd much rather build a testimony of the Book of Mormon first, though, and hopefully I can read through the Bible, as well, before giving some serious thought on whether or not to go!

            So, continuing Youtubing, reading through the whole Book of Mormon, uploading all the art I haven't uploaded from the past 2-3 years and making more through commissions and other things, learning animation... ah!
I'm definitely eager to get to know more of my own followers, as well as meet many more others and build friendships! I'll be bringing full activity both to here, on Deviantart, and to Furaffinity as well, and to other social sites that have been sitting without activity for far too long. This is gonna be a biiig year for me, I've just gotta work hard to get to where I want to be. c:

Hm.... but alas, this journal is WAY too long, now. If anyone has literally read through this entire thing, thank you so much. Wow. .3.
.. Heck, put "paws are the best" into your comment on here if you've read through this entire thing, I guess, so I'll know.

I can't wait to draw more and share my work with the world, this year. Thank you, to all who've stuck around for so long with so much inactivity, and welcome to those of you who are meeting me for the first time! 'Tis good to have you here~

-Sincerely, your friendly neighborhood dragon,
               Griff~