uguardian

It's taken a while, but I've finally cleaned up my Featured gallery, moved some other things around, and generally set the stage for uploading new stuff. In the previous journal, I mentioned that I feel like my own stuff has grown stale. This isn't too surprising - you work with the same tools for twenty years, you're going to feel hedged in. So, what's coming up next is going to be a bit different than what I've posted in the past. Recently I've been studying some art movements that have attracted my attention, most notably AbEx, or Abstract Expressionism. I'm planning on shifting towards this art style myself, and I've already found some tools that will help with that - specifically, I've purchased a virtual reality painting studio, and I'm learning how to paint using it. Lastly, I may or may not start uploading AI generated art; I've been experimenting with it for a few month, and while I like some of the output, I'm not entirely sure if I should post it here or on a new

Let me begin with a quick TLDR summary of what I'm going to be saying here: I've decided to return to DA, though I don't know how active I'll be. During the past few months, I've had a lot of time to think about how things were not too long ago. A lot of the places I've frequented over the years are now gone. Some had fragments of their histories locked away in the vaults of the internet archive, but others remain only in memory. It's not just the loss of the websites and their content that's been bothering me though. It's how fragile online friendships can be too. Because these places are gone, I've lost touch with more people than I can even name. Even if I only followed them, it was nice to see what everyone was doing or what they hoped to accomplish. I've also been thinking of some of the art I've done over the years. Some pieces stick out more than others, but there's always been that sense of progression. Lately it feels like my stuff has grown stale, and there's been a

Those following me may have noticed the sudden stop to my uploads. Normally, during a drawing challenge, I manage to upload something each week, even if I eventually finish said challenge several months late. But, 2020 ended in a very chaotic manner, and 2021 is looking to be more of the same. But, I'm not posting this journal to whine about my life. This post is about something that's potentially more relevant to y'all on here. Put simply, I haven't been enjoying my time on DA lately. With each new update, the website has become increasing difficult to use, and in turn, the less I want to deal with it. I'm also somewhat annoyed at the way the staff have been overworking the PR machine, brushing aside concerns and complaints from long-time users in favor of praise from new users who have never seen the old site. These days, I've mostly been hanging around Tumblr or Fur Affinity, as both of those sites keep things fairly stable, listen to their users, and attempt to keep things