Saftkeur
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May into June updates
🕑 Added 2023-06-09 20:56:52 +0000 UTCAn update post on 6/9. Nice
So hey! It's been hectic and stressful, kinda business as usual for this past while. But things! Stuff! I'll try my best to summarize and get you all up to speed on where I'm at right now.
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To belatedly summarize how May went, it was a much more stressful month than I'd expected, and oddly a productive-but-not one. Four pictures finished all in one month; the very much delayed Emma and Teena Twitter celebration piece, two separate birthday gifts for friends (why did they both have to be in May, so inconsiderate), and a return to the "squishy showoff" series with Kuchi at the helm this time around.
All in all, I'm pretty happy with how that turned out! Though I'll admit as well, almost none of that was as planned. I'd expected to get the Kuchi squishy showoff done in April, and I had a potential continuation piece for Bunny I was going to work on. Definitely no complaints at getting more done than I'd expected, just not the things I expected. Oops.
But that leads pretty nicely into June, now. A little while ago I posted a poll asking what sort of content you'd like to see; more sequences and sequels, or more variety of characters being shown. Things were a bit split, so definitely sticking with a bit of both, but overall it's got a pretty strong lean towards sequences and all that!
Something I've wanted to try more of for a while, and I'm planning to start with that earlier Bunny indulgence piece. What else is that tiny friend in for? How does the adventure play out? Usually I just write a little blurb and that's it, but for this I have a tentative 2, maybe 3 more images planned out to continue this little storyline onward for a bit. Hopefully the first of those will be this month!
What else? I'm working on a few 'doodle' pieces, more spur-of-the-moment ideas as I try to build up a better pace for actually finishing work. Lately I've just been getting stuck on far too much; art block or IRL struggles getting in my way, getting too caught up in perfectionist details, generally being my own enemy when it comes to getting art done. Hopefully I can loosen myself up and just let myself make more simple, enjoyable things. Got a quickie Kuchi piece that I'll share WIPs for once it's a bit further along, at least two new character designs and potentially some more for-fun experiments in that vein, and of course more with Bunny and her tiny blonde friend getting slorped on.
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And now for some more personal thoughts...
I've been having a lot of that sort of existential crisis with my work lately, trying to figure out what I'm hoping to achieve with it. Obviously I want to keep making stuff I enjoy and constantly improving at it, but there's a level where that becomes too much and I'm trying so hard that I get in my own way with things. It's been tougher to find the enjoyment factor in my work, even though I still love doing what I do; when I have ideas I'm really into but the thought of having to actually make the picture sounds miserably frustrating.
There's also a few... elephants in the room when it comes to the world at large on this stuff. Websites censoring more and more content, search bans, shadowbans, policy changes. I'm currently waiting for an update on Patreon's new age verification requirement for creators, since I'm not keen on giving them even more of my personal information if I don't absolutely need to; not when it's to appease credit card companies that are slowly squeezing down on any content that's remotely sexual, because who knows what comes next if this continues?
Ultimately, I can't let it bother me. It's just a frustrating source of background stress that makes it tougher to just work on stuff I enjoy, and enjoy it. Having to second-guess if this or that will be safe to post online, that sort of thing.
It's been on my to-do list for a while, but I'm going to continue researching and trying to get a personal gallery site set up, somewhere I don't have to worry about the content policies of X or Y social media site. I may also be looking into a backup option if Patreon starts to crack down on more things, if even Karbo is having to hide some of their content on here now then that's not great. My stuff is less explicit than many others' content, but it's definitely not any safer-for-work than theirs.
But anyway! It'll all work out! It's just a bit messy and difficult right now, and while I've been struggling with it, I want to do better in keeping you all up-to-date on where I'm at. I've been lagging on posting regular updates here and while this one's a bit of a long one, I hope it makes sense why.
More art to come soon! ^^
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Anna Kathryn
Wishing you nothing but the best as always. Take care of yourself above all else :)
