Update April 23, 2020
I'm literally blown away by all the response I got. 
I have now filled up a first batch of commissions. 
As much as will help me cover the initial bill. And as much as will be possible to deliver, considering I have to do those drawings in my free time (I have a regular job to attend as well).
I expect to deliver commissions somewhere over the upcoming 6 weeks.

Depending on the situation with the cat I might open up more commissions in the future.


Original post

Hey guys.

My beloved cat, Pepper, fell sick. I had to go take her to the vet. It's at this moment yet uncertain what's wrong with her, but she needed to get bloodwork done. I'm now looking at some quite hefty vet bills, perhaps with even more to come. So I could really use your support.





I'm opening up emergency commissions so I can draw to (hopefully) cover some of the cost I'll make.
Hope you're willing to help me out.

















Note; this is only a temporary thing.
For now 8 slots are open, which hopefully allow me to cover most of the initial bill.

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
7.
8.


If you can't afford a commission, please help spread the word.

Much thanks from Pepper and me

It's so tiring to hear people dismiss the ability to create art as sheer talent, and tell me they could never do the same as I do. What do you expect me to answer? That some divine being came down and blessed me with the ability to do art? And you haven't got that divine skill, so you never could do it, and we should all pity you for it? 

The truth is that there isn't much of a difference, except that I spend a lot of time creating art. I learned how to draw hands, because I've drawn hundreds of them over the last couple of years. I learned writing because I write nearly every day, and read books when I don't. I spend a lot of time creating art, and the rest of it looking at it. It's true, I enjoy doing art, and so it doesn't feel like 'hard work' to me, but that doesn't take away that it did take practice. A lot of it.

When I speak to talented people, no matter if they're artists, programmers, or whatever field they excel in... I always hear the same story. They spend a lot of time honing their craft. They often live and breathe it, and that's why they're so good. I see getting good as something similar as saving money for a big purchase. You have to work for the money, spend what you have to responsibly, and not give in to impulse spending. You won't save all the money you need in a month, just as you won't get all the skill you need in a month. You're in for the long game. Getting good at something isn't something that just happens. It's something that takes time, dedication, and persistence. It's true that there's some factor of luck and genetics involved, but no one ever got good at something without making it a priority in their life first. 

Leaving this year as a reminder to myself.

Drawing more detailed environments
Drawing more figures in perspective (Ref: www.posemaniacs.com/ ?) 
Drawing more hands & feet
Finish writing my 5175 short story
Joining#100headschallenge  (www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A_kQs…)
Joining AdorkaStock's DEJ 2019 (if organized this year)

If you're aware of any fun art challenges I might be interested in (geared towards improvement), please let me know.

First of all: Sorry to all of the people that entered that it took so long.
Due to the incredible amount of entries and all kinds of matters in personal life it took quite a while to judge the results of the 2017 improvement challenge.

What I first and foremost looked for in the entries was the amount of improvement, and the time it took to get that far. But even by those standards, the entries were fairly hard to judge. Second thing that I looked for where the descriptions underneath the artwork. I love seeing improvement. It inspires me. But it inspires even more to to see people share their process of how they got that far. 

So here are the long awaited winners:

 First place

JamesExcalibur with:

An absolute winner in my books. First of all; very interesting that it's made traditionally, and both in the same medium nevertheless. The time between the drawings is only 4 short months, yet it looks so incredibly much better. The composition is cleared, the colors are richer and brighter and the overall new piece has this kind of Makoto Shinkai anime background vibe. All while clearly showing it's the same environment. Very impressive, and congrats on this massive improvement!

 Second place

Necto-Clock with 

Note that both of the pieces fall into the one-year-timespan that's required for this contest. From the first to the last it's one hell of an impressive improvement. Most notable are anatomy and color choice, but composition plays a great role too. The last piece of art feels so much more alive than the first. The character has some kind of interaction with the background and the facial expression makes you wonder what kind of story there's behind all of this. All this within the short timespan of a year. Well done, and congrats!

 Third place

fluoroid with

I have to admit that I'm an absolute sucker when it comes to visual storytelling. I really love it when people try to put effort in not just making a piece of art technically correct, but also try to tell a story. The first piece does a great job already, conveying the emotions of the characters well through their poses. The second one absolutely nails it with the broken window on the background and the contrast between the warm yellow light and the cool blue glow. Impressive work!

Honorable mentions

(listed in no particular order)

Impressive entries that just didn't make it to the cut. 
You can still be pretty proud at yourself, though






All other entries can be seen here

About the prizes 

To all of the winners: I will send you your prize   as soon as possible. 
Please claim your prizes from our other people by sending them a note or a message.

A final thank you

There's one last thing I'd like to say to you and that is: Thank you! 

A huge thanks to  saltytowel, IdiotTwins, Glo72, MyMelodyOfTheHeart, TheKikkaKibaz, Kasperosm, JellyBX, VanillatheNeko, JaceB-Art, GuruOfNonsense, LoyalTea, lDestiny, cinalilli and Temporaryfind for donating prizes so generously. 

A huge thanks for all over the almost 200 people that entered the contest, and the many more who shared the link on here on DeviantArt and on other Social media websites. You all did awesome, and it was really hard to pick a winner. 

May the future bring you lots of improvement and awesomeness.

Have a nice day!