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Burlew

Long slow path forward...
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I have not drawn much this past year. Mostly because I've been focused on writing. I have a finished novel (UnFamiliar) which I plan to revise this year and hopefully move toward publication. It's an entirely daunting task, but a necessary step forward in my ambitions toward authorhood. I'm also working on a second novel in the meantime, which I hope to complete this year as well.

I have not precisely 'lost interest' in art so much as between work and reading and writing and all the little things that consume free time during a day, I just haven't made it a priority. Writing has always been my first love, and I feel no shame in granting it my fullest creative devotion.  It's somewhat traditional for me to make a one-hour landscape drawing each year and use it as my new avatar; I haven't done so this past month, though I hope to remedy that in the coming weeks.

Things change, but we must ever press onward. 

I've been thinking a lot about 'new year resolutions' and really haven't got any this time around. I'm pleased with my progress over the past years, content with my onward trajectory, and hope only to carry on improving.  That's not to say I don't have frequent bouts of irritation with my slow progress or lack of greater dedication, but those are lifelong goals which I feel would only be cheapened by attaching them to a particular year.

So, for the incoming 2019, I plan to continue creating. I plan to continue enjoying the creations of others, both visual and written.  And I plan to move, be it ever so slightly, closer to who I'm meant to become.

Happy new year!
I hope 2019 brings opportunity and inspiration to you all.


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First, I'm still fairly apathetic, but I keep realizing that A) I have done almost no art this year at all, and B) I need to practice faces more still.  So.  Like a while ago, I'm going to offer character headshot portraits.  This is a pressure-but-low-pressure sort of activity that may be able to ease me back into productive mode.  We can hope, right?

-Watching not required, anyone may request.

-As usual, I will draw whichever ones strike my fancy at the time, my inspiration and focus are fleeting things and I usually don't get through more than a handful before getting bored and wandering off.  No promises, in other words.

-Human or humanish faces only please.  Ears/horns/wings/kemonomimi-types are fine, no animals or full anthro.

-Please note that I'm very bad at drawing, so they may turn out really creepy looking.  It's just for practice, sorry.

-I may be experimenting stylistically this time, but here are some examples from my last wave of this project to give you a general idea of my skill level (or lack-thereof):
  Devin - Paintportrait request for Kyarite by Burlew Yssra Fae Paintportrait by Burlew Spireguard - Paintportrait request for Xovinx by Burlew Malkyn Paintportrait request for Cowgirl11 by Burlew

-Just leave a comment below to request; please include character name, description and/or reference image(s), and I'll add you to the list of requests. [Visual reference preferred, but I can try to work from written if that's all you've got.] If you want a specific expression, orientation, background colour, etc. please specify that along with the character information, otherwise I'll make it up myself.

-KidThePhantomTheif - you requested a pic of your persona last time, are you still interested?  I know it's been a while, but I'd be happy to give you the first slot this time 'round since I never got to you last time.  If not, sorry to bother you.  :D

CURRENT REQUESTS*:
Firebeholden
Prentis-65 (Pinkie Pie, begun)
SleepingAyumu

DONE:
Nothing yet this year, woo~


*Note: The list is to acknowledge that I've seen your request, not a promise that I'll get around to drawing it.  I'll choose at a whim from the list whenever I feel like painting something.  I probably won't get to all of them, if the past is any indication, much as I'd love to draw something for everyone.
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Been having a pretty apathetic year so far, not really drawing much of anything, not really writing. . . ignoring my responsibilities and groups.  A few hundred watch-alerts drop off every day, since I've been over the 10k limit for months, and I just don't care right now.

My computers are all fixed and working well, though I never did get Skype back up for some reason.  :s I just bought the slacker-backer for Deadfire, and have been finally playing Project Eternity I.  Is a good game, I would love to make a good game some day.  I need to become competent and amazing, but it's too much work and I don't care.

And I'm tired, and I should be at work prepping for tomorrow, but I'm not and I don't care.

Apathy is death?  Pah.  Apathy is the shortest distance between two points.

But I'm fine, reading and playing games, and getting my work done albeit slowly.  Just not much creative going on of late, nothing worth posting.  I need to practice faces more, particularly eyes, mouth, and expressions.  But I don't feel like it, so eh.
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I've had both the main storage hard drive of my desktop and the cooling fan of my laptop die within a month of each other.  I just got the replacement hard drive into my desktop, my primary art/offline machine, so I may be able to start drawing again soon. 

If I seem to be gone and not doing anything, that's why.  I have my logins for skype and many other things on my old laptop, which will be a complicated fix and may take some time.  And I'm too lazy/busy to hunt down and change them all, as well as being constantly optimistic that the situation will be resolved soon.  Apologies to all, if I'm awol, again, this is why.  DA is the most reliable way to communicate with me right now, as I can log onto that from work computers.

Work has been busy again, as is normal for january-march, so I may continue to be lax staying in touch for some time.  I'm sorry for yet another absence, this seems to be happening one way or another lately. :(

I did attend a lovely conference with my fellow staff people for work purposes, went out yonder, watched sunsets over the bay...  seen new places I've never been before.  Got promotional bags and pens.  All that stuff.
I felt a bit out-of-place, since my job is what I 'do' rather than what I 'love' so it wasn't like the writer's conferences where you instantly connect with everyone.  I don't know if I actually got much out of it that will be useful to our organization, but it was fun to get away for a few days.

I stayed up way too late tonight, gah.   Also, I have this terrible cold that isn't bad at all, except it's killing my throat and nose with all the coughing and dripping.  ugh.  :(

Life goes on.  I maintain hope that I'll be back soon, again. 
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2 min read
I'm writing today.  It's the end of Nanowrimo, and it was day 25 before I made it to the halfway mark.  I'm a bit behind, but I only need 17k to finish today.  I've done more than that in the past.
I just need to go sit down and not do anything else.

I got lost yesterday on the way home from the movies with my sisters.  It wasn't entirely unexpected, but it was certainly nerve-wracking, and the extra time spent lost left me without time to write yesterday.

I have been neglecting just about everything this month, and I apologize once again.  I'm much less responsible than I'd like to think, it seems.

But, I should be able to resume a modicum of normalcy soonish.  Hopefully.   Though I'll be back at work again, so who knows.

I've decided to just post my Netirium failstory.  It needs a good edit pass, at least, but I don't have the energy and it's been sitting on my drive since April.  Between that and the Infinium storyline that I'm finally reaching the climax of, I expect there will be a lot of long text submissions soon. 

I'm sorry for any obligations I've been ignoring.  I'm sorry for art I've promised that never materialized.  I still intend to do those things, but it's hard and it's all so heavy, I just don't know where to start.

Today, I write.  Tomorrow, we shall see.
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New year, new. . .? by Burlew, journal

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