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Hello Journal,

At one point this past weekend I found myself saying “I’ve never kept a diary”.  That was true in that I’ve never kept a self-reflective journal for any length of time.  I happen to come from the school of documentation == evidence, and there was a time in my life when I was pretty concerned with evidence, especially in its physical, hand drawn/written for that I was not able to hide behind a password.  However my mind immediately wandered to all of the writing I’ve done over the years and how that has been in some way filled the role of diary or journal. It is that fact, among a couple of others that I keep publicly vague, that leads me to write this journal entry that I have been meaning to for some time.

As you all know I dabble in using a pencil for illustrative purposes from time to time.  Awhile back I bought a relatively inexpensive, small Wacom tablet and am endeavoring to incorporate the new tool into my wheelhouse.  It felt so awkward the first couple of times trying draw even anything rudimentary that I put it down and hadn’t touched it until a couple of weeks ago.  

The most recent addition to my gallery is the beginning of a sequence that I first started sketching 3 years ago, that I have recently been motivated to start working on again.  So, I decided that I could benefit from trying to trace the more basic lines in this first image using the tablet.  After some initial bumps that had to do with me thinking I needed to be using the pencil tool and getting used to how the cursor responded to me moving it.  

I’m curious how many others out there found it suuuper unnatural at first to use a tablet.  I’m not sure if it was the not looking at my hand but at the screen part, or if I was thrown off by the screen being larger than the tablet and thus a subtle movement of my hand seeming to account for more distance than I had expected.

The major thing I’ve noticed is that my lines are shaky.  It feels a bit like this is partially a side effect of my lack of confidence while holding the pen, but also due to an absence of friction on the paper giving me feedback through the tip of the pencil.

I am curious if anyone has any tips or advice on how to go about sketching on a tablet.  Any starting off pointers?  One thing that I have noticed in my pencil drawing is that I tend to draw a little smaller than think I should, and this makes it tough when I try to navigate certain things I fumble my way through like hand details.  Folks that use a tablet, when you are sketching, when are you zooming in?  Do you like do a rough sketch at 33% and then zoom in to 100-200% when you start adding details like facial features and the like?  What tool do you use when you are just sketching?  Any guidance is appreciated.

On a side note, writing has been tough lately.  I’ve become very busy, though I still do manage to carve out some free time for writing/drawing fetish art.  But I think an increased amount of stress in my daily life has put me in a place where focusing on fleshing out a story is more difficult.  Writing has always been a slow process for me, but it has become slower.  Drawing has become a little easier to jump back into when I randomly find myself with short bursts of lessened responsibility.  Writing will continue, so no worries if you have a WIP with me, just be patient.  Also I changed the main character’s name in the Groceries saga to Hannah.  Don’t ask why.

TLDR: Here are some versions of my latest drawing, at least one of these is a product of me using a tablet.  I would really like to start sketching on this thing and have the option to not be filling notebooks full of horny drawings for other humans in my vicinity to stumble on and flip through.  Leave beginner tablet-user encouragement

And for the sake of content, here is the original scan of the pencil drawing:

and the traced/redrawn version:

Wow, it has been over 2 years since I have updated this journal thingy. I am definitely no longer "playing" Calculus II and the Hotline Miami OST has been replaced with DJ Okawari and Battles.  I just posted my first story in 7 months, which is probably the longest I have gone without writing anything for DA since I found my way here several years ago.  As some of you know I have been writing lately, just in the form of butt-expansion focused script submissions to a certain expansion-related comic producer.  I do have several drawings in the works that I either need to finish or just post in Scraps.  I would probably write more if the opportunity to collaborate, particularly with an illustrator came my way, though I'm not exactly holding out, just lacking in ideas that I find interesting on their own.

As I was going through my gallery looking for something to update, I realized how many chapters of Resident Metroid I wrote for , probably my most consistent and reliable commissioner.  When my life settles into more of a routine, I plan on continuing that series with at least one more chapter free of charge.

Leave a comment or read something you haven't yet.  I'll update again sooner rather than later.

Well I posted the last journal entry before realizing that one needs a Premium membership to create a Poll.  And then I was too lazy to amend the journal entry, as I had already asked for people's input on the thing. *Doh*  One day I will upgrade, till then, I can only dream about the fanciful existence that I am sure accompanies the ability to create polls.

Anyway, the semester is almost over.  My last semester where I take more than 1 class at a time.  After that my employer will be satisfied with my credentials and bring me on full time.  A prospect which I thought I would be a bit more excited about when the time came, but rather I am considerably more excited about having the free time to read a couple of books that have been sitting on the nightstand for far too long and posting a little more around here.  I'm hoping to get to a place where I can add to a series that I have not in a very long time, as well as pick up the drawing pencil again.  I've got a couple of commissions coming down the pipeline, though slowly, and will likely pick up a couple more in the coming months.  If anyone is interested in commissioning a story, throw an idea my way, and I'll give my feedback.

So I've been trying to come up with some mundanely pedestrian settings for butt expansion to make an appearance.  I've come up with a few on my own and was going to make a poll out of it.  Things like the dentist's office, waiting in line at the DMV, a continental breakfast, would be appropriate.  if anyone would like to make a suggestion for an option, go for it.  Some of these settings I have thought might be appropriate for a magic bean allergy type of situation, so if you have input on that as well, go ahead and throw it out there.

So I have yet to actually advertise the fact that I take commissions.  One of the reasons for this is the fact that I find it hard not to develop a certain amount of detail and character development when writing a story.  I do have a couple of commissions in the works that I have not forgotten about, but they take time.  Time is something that I do not have a whole lot of these days between work, class, and a significant other (who I have somewhat recently shared some of my expansion related writing with, yay!).  That being said, would anyone be interested in shorter commissions that involve the commissioner giving me little more than a setting and maybe a character?  What is provided to me for a starting point is negotiable, some ideas will likely work better for this than others.  I have yet to really try to write something short working off of someone else's ideas, so this is a bit of an experiment.  Send me a note or reply to this journal if you are interested.