December 2021 Update (Patreon)

Ok, sorry for the really late update but I've got a bunch of family stuff going on and it's been really on-and-off this month.  I've mostly been working on practice and side projects for the past couple weeks as I realized around Thanksgiving that I was in much more danger of burning out than I originally thought.  This project has turned out to be enormously complicated and every time I get closer to the end it's like I discover a whole new pile of work that I didn't expect.  Plus to add to that, my personal life is just sort of stressing me out.

A couple months ago I said I was shifting my attention to only work on Gorgon and now I realize how big of a mistake that was.  Not having another thing that I can work on and release in a short time frame really messes with my head.  Even if I release previews, they don't make me feel as though I've finished anything.  Pin-ups are really my only way of doing small projects, but even then they have to fit into a certain format and I usually don't spend more than a day or two on each.

For a while I wondered why my productivity was starting to fall off but then I realized just how much I was beating my head against a wall.  For example I'd go an entire week just animating three minutes worth of facial expressions without much to divert my attention.  For those who haven't done that, it can be a mind-numbing experience.  The less engaged you are in this type of work, the less optimal decisions you make, and the more time you end up wasting.  You start to forget things, re-do choices that don't make any sense, pixel-fuck, etc.

So I'm just gonna be pausing the Patreon this month to take the time to practice, work on some other projects, and deal with a bunch of personal stuff without any deadlines to hit or obligations to fulfill.  Pausing twice in one year is unusual for me, so I hope I don't make a habit of it.