Important: Changing Times

Changing Times

Hello all!
Just as a warning, this journal is going to be a bit of ranting followed by an announcement. The rant is just general info about my situation so there is some good background information in there, but if you just want to skip to the announcement, you can scroll down to the asterisks below.
Within the last week, the sequence of events has gone like this:
1. My Dad's cancer, which they thought they'd successfully removed, has instead spread to "many different places" around his abdomen. We're waiting for biopsies.
2. My desktop bricked. Apparently for my motherboard, the ASUS x99 deluxe, this is basically what they do. Mine has actually been functioning longer than they do for most people who ever had one. I can either buy a refurbished one for a ridiculous amount or I can get a different motherboard, but I'd have to sacrifice my processor because almost nobody supports it.
3. My Grandpa had a stroke. It was minor and he's back home now, but it was still disruptive especially along with everything else.
4. My Wacom Mobile Studio and some strange setting within the (increasingly and embarrassingly terrible) Windows 10 recent updates list that don't like each other. I spent several days diagnosing and attempting to fix the problem before my tablet was in functioning order again.
In regard to numbers 2 and 4, I have to say I've been having a truly distressing amount of issues in relation to my computers and, most especially, Windows 10 and it's wanton forced dispensations of garbage updates. It seems like I literally can't go 1 day without a system message popping up telling me it's time for my morning prayers to the Update Gods. I can at least make it so I have control over the updates, which many people don't have access to depending on which version of the OS they bought. But when I ignore the messages, they start coming more and more often until I can't stand it anymore. I really don't need my OS wagging its finger at me like an old granny every fucking morning.
Windows has always had a bad track record with many of their update practices and certain versions of the OS have been generally despised, but usually you can at least use an earlier version until a better upgrade is ready (e.g. me using XP all the way up until decent reviews started coming out for Windows 7.) I have used Windows since the days of 3.1, when I could only boot to windows through DOS. In all my time working with computers and art, I have never seriously considered leaving Windows until now, and I have to be perfectly honest, with the way things are going lately, my Steam library is the only thing keeping me with them even now.
Overall, I've had a pretty troubling holiday. I'm sorry I'm behind again on BLFC commissions, I will be working hard trying to get them out by early next week. I'm also very sorry that there haven't been much in the way of updates on my Patreon page. Things kinda ground to a halt, so I've got to get some momentum back. I'm going to be doing a YCH to hopefully get back on my feet and get moving forward again, and afterwards I will also be opening for commissions. This brings me to the announcement.
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I need help. It's as simple as that. I don't work well alone, I need other people to be involved and working around me to make me feel like I've got more of a purpose than just drawing at my computer. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE doing art. It's just extremely hard to do when I'm depressed and overworked fixing computers and talking with commissioners and doing my accounting, and every time it takes longer and gets more complicated and by the time I'm done, I've spent hours working but I haven't gotten any art done. I can't keep doing things this way.
I've spent a while in talks with some non-artist (but still furry fandom) folks and I've been testing with some other artists. I'm bringing on an agent (which will not be news to some of you,) and I've got some people now to help me with accounting, IT, and posting to my online accounts.
This is the big one: I'm also bringing on a colorist. I tried to do this some years ago and the other artist and I were not really a good fit. I decided I wouldn't try again until I had already found someone who was good to work with. I believe I have found that artist, and I will be making introductions soon. Outside of the furry fandom artists often work with an assistant (or several) or they work collaboratively with other artists. Even some of the best furry art has come from collaborative efforts. I think I will be happier, and the art will be better, if I try to create a similar situation for myself.
Obviously this is not an easy decision for me, and I know that a lot of people out there won't be happy that I'm generally not coloring my own art anymore. Let me just say, I will still be the art director and the drawings (anatomy, poses, and expressions) will still be up to my standards. And if anything I really believe that after we've worked together and gotten used to the workflow, the shading will be better than mine ever was. I've never been happy with my shading style; those of you who have watched me for a long time will probably have noticed that shading is the least consistent thing about my artwork. Simply put, I'd like to focus on making my drawings, the anatomy, poses, expressions, etc, better, and honestly I'd rather give my drawing to someone who I can trust to take it and make it better than I'd have time to myself.
I will still announce when I open for commissions and update art as Tsaiwolf, but the commission itself will be handled through a new joint account, to be announced.
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F.A.Q.
(is it bad to call a section a FAQ section when nobody has probably asked me these things yet?)
Q: Will you ever color again?
A: Yes. I just don't want to have to color everything all the time anymore. I will probably frequently color my own sketches that would not be released as a finished piece of art and also do color designs for characters and scenes.
Q: Will your art get worse or look less finished?
A: No. I'm very particular about the style and I've found someone who looked at my art process, then turned around and on the first attempt did it better than I had.
Q: What about the Patreon you just started, what happens now?
A: I know that due to circumstances, some beyond my control and some not, I have not had as strong a start with Patreon than I had originally hoped. With extra hands to help I will continue to maintain the Patreon account, and will be able to spend some more time streaming. However I will be working with my colorist even on comics and similar projects in the future, so Patreon would no longer be supporting just me, but me and my team. I don't know how long it will be before you'll see collaborative work on the Patreon, but I'll keep everyone updated as much as possible.
Q: Will you still interact with us now that you've got an agent?
A: Yes! I've had to figure out some workarounds until I can get my desktop PC fixed, but currently I can still stream. Though some things (comics especially) would be only privately available for streaming to Patrons, I also want to do public streams. I'm sorry that I will probably be less available for chatting with people on Telegram, but I'm at the point where I'm getting a bit inundated with random greetings and people wanting to know when commissions are going to open (most of the time I don't know, it depends when I finish the ones I'm trying to work on now.) So if you get on the streams, I'll be able to respond to questions from the chat. Moreover, with help on the backend I think I will be able to stream quite a bit more often and at different times throughout the day and night. You might even be able to hear my beautiful voice!
Q: Does this mean your prices will be going up?
A: For the moment, no. Hopefully with 2 people working on it, we should be able to get more work done in the time allotted, so my current prices should stretch a bit farther. We may end up making minor price changes later on but nothing is currently planned.
Q: Will this lengthen the time it takes to get commissions done now that you will be doing collaborations for the time being?
A: The opposite! In theory we will be able to get twice as much art done as I can alone. Possibly more now that I can hopefully spend less time thinking about some of the other aspects of running a business.
Q: Do you have any examples of art you have done with them?
A: Yup! Both the images attached were colored by my new colorist.