Blogs

Hey everybody! Here’s a site update and plans moving forward.

Web Stuff

I’ve been retooling things, moving content to it’s own custom post types. Still working on it and I’ll probably change how the portfolio displays, too. It’s been a little tricky figuring out what stuff I need to hard code and what I can edit through posts. I want to prioritize things so it’s not overwhelming for new visitors.

The Podcast

I enjoy doing the weekly hangout shows with Frank and Ian but it hasn’t felt like the NoRights Podcast for some time now. I’ve handed the reigns of that show over to them to host. They’ve started calling it TNT – Talk News and Trivia. I’ll have it on the site once I move some other stuff around.

I’ll be rebooting my own podcast once I get some episodes recorded. Expect them to be shorter and more topic-focused.

The YouTube Channel/Newgrounds Page

Animation is going to be my main focus. Most of my projects I plan on posting on my YouTube Channel – Animated shorts, Let’s Plays, game parodies, reviews, tutorials, time lapses, etc.

I also want to experiment with some more adult subjects and techniques so you’ll find these things on my Newgrounds Page as they’ll probably be more NSFW.

Blogs/Tumblr/Social Media

I like having a regular blog space as it helps me track progress. I just have to keep it from becoming an expectation to fail at. To that end, I think the main blog here will be for releasing things, site announcements, news like that.

My Tumblr will be my de facto WIP, yakety smackety, daily thoughts, stream of conscious, rambling blog. Really that’s what I feel tumblr’s good for, anyway. If you have anything bigger than 140 characters, post it on there and link it on twitter.

Speaking of my Twitter, the plan for now is to post screenshots there as I work. That’s a good way to mark a break and I’ll work on something else after progress shots go up to keep from burning out. I’ll amalgamate them on tumblr and maybe post collections of them here.

In Closing

At this point I’m lining things up. I don’t want to make promises or set deadlines. I just want to get in my studio and work.

Hey everybody, hope you had a nice Memorial Day weekend. I’ve been busy lately and I think it’s about time I catch everybody up to speed.

How’s Your Health?

I’m doing better than I have been in a long time. The anxiety’s been manageable and the ADHD meds have helped keep me focused. I took a bit of a work vacation that put some things into perspective.

Where Have You Been?

I spent a week in Calgary, Alberta, Canada hanging out at Quickdraw Animation Society participating in the Animation Lockdown event. If you’ve never heard of QAS, they’re a nonprofit artist co-op for animators. During the annual lockdown teams gather over the long weekend to make films in 48 hours. This was a great opportunity to travel, make some friends, and see if I could actually get an animated project done in time.

I present to you, Bottled Spirits:

I had to cut a lot of it to finish on schedule so I’ll be doing a longer, fuller version in the future.

What’s Up with the Site?

Before I left I decided to roll the site back to an earlier theme to make it easier to navigate. Then I realized some of the shortcodes I’d been using were from a plugin for the newer theme so I had to reinstall that. Since I got back home I’ve been trying to deal with errors and considered moving to a different system/host. That’s probably not going to happen given difficulties I’ve had importing the archives. I could really use a webmaster as the site’s held together with little more than duct tape and a prayer.

The front page should be getting cleaned up soon. I want it to be the hub for all my projects without getting confusing on where to go.

I’ve been seeing a therapist about my anxiety/frustration and they believe I might have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. This could explain why I have trouble focusing in the studio, even when it’s on my own work I care passionately about. I didn’t originally consider it an option since I don’t fit the stereotype of being hyper and I was a good student in school. Looking back on it a number of my problems could have built up as a response and a way to cope. I’m going to be starting medication that could help.

Also in an effort to improve my art and career I’ve signed up for online courses and a 1 on 1 mentorship program with Stephen Silver. I’m excited to have somebody I admire and respect guiding me along. May is shaping up to be a busy month as I’ve got a project I’m going to work on and an event I’m going to attend.

I spent the week testing out the new theme for my site and today I made it live. There’s still some bells and whistles to fine tune. I need to populate the portfolio more, which will be easier as I add new projects, and I’ll add posts to the front page once I sort out how to do it properly. I know I’ll be updating it more frequently than the old portfolio, which was the point. It’s still in that new phase though I’ve gotten the gist of how to post things properly. Things are going to be more image-heavy, as they should be for an art site.

Recorded an early podcast this evening with Frank and Ian. Tomorrow and probably a chunk of Monday are going to be spent working on the next comic. I’m looking forward to drawing again after fussing with WordPress all week. I’m really really looking forward to doing some animating once the comic’s up.