Hello gang!

I've had this in the works for a while but finally got around to getting it done. The BeanieArt store is now OPEN!!
http://shop.beanieart.com/

If you've ever wanted to pick up some of the Six Pack or Pimo comics or merchandise I've had at cons but missed the chance, now you can order it online! All payments run through Paypal so you can checkout easily and securely through your Paypal account. Right now the store is only set up to handle shipping to the US and Canada; if you are in another country and want shipping there, just e-mail me or message me and I'll look into shipping costs and we can figure something out! :)

ALSO ALSO - if there are products you'd like to see, let me know! I'm thinking about what else I can add. Poor PIA has very little merch right now. I do have prints but I'm not sure if people are really looking to buy prints anymore?? Tell me your thoughts!

I've been juggling a lot of things lately... I don't usually get into a lot of things in my personal life, but it feels like things have been non-stop for the last couple of years. I know you are all waiting for comic updates, and so am I. About six months ago I was able to invest in some new technology upgrades. I promise it is in the works and I will get back to it.

In the meantime, to follow up with that and why the store has finally launched, I'm opening up for commissions again to offset some healthcare bills! Anthrocon is coming up (no I will not be there) so if you're looking to add a new conbadge, I'm offering digital badges for you to print out yourself~

Full color with background digital conbadges, 3x4in, 300DPI, $35:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2341681/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2454184/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/220383/

Also, because I love doing them, I'm also taking character design sheet commissions - 3 views (as needed, pick from 3/4, front, back, and side), basic shading and highlights - of course has palette of flat colors for easy picking for future art!
$75 if you just want an existing character worked into a sheet (includes a sketch stage and 1 revision); $95 if you want my help fleshing out a new character! (includes a sketch stage and up to 3 revisions on the sketches)
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1809737/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1793320/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1809737/

If you have something else in mind you can give me a buzz and see what we can work out.

Thanks friends!! Have a lovely one~

Hey guys! It's tax season and that sucks! I'm opening commissions! No slots, no limits - just post what you want and I'll PM you where to send the Paypal to!

Flat color digital - 5x5in 300DPI, $15.
Examples: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1804314/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1804077/

Full color digital (flat or no background) - 5x5in 300DPI, $35
Examples (dimensions are a bit different but you get the idea!): http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1804314/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3412831/

Inked digital commissions, 8x10in 300DPI, $20.
Examples: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3521171/

Add an extra character (or multiple extra characters) to inked commissions for $10 per character:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3476897/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3250440/

Full color with background digital conbadges, 3x4in, 300DPI, $40:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2341681/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2454184/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/220383/

Character design sheets! 3 views (as needed, pick from 3/4, front, back, and side), basic shading and highlights - of course has palette of flat colors for easy picking for future art!
$75 if you just want an existing character worked into a sheet (includes a sketch stage and 1 revision); $95 if you want help fleshing out a new character (includes a sketch stage and up to 3 revisions on the sketches)
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1809737/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1793320/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1809737/


If there's another type of commission you're looking for, send me a PM and we can chat about if it's doable and a price quote. I'm happy to work with you, just throwing out the most common commissions I get asked for/people actually buy!

So Six Pack should update pretty regularly from here until the end - this chapter is the last, down from two after some tweaking. It may not be 24 pages like the rest have been due to the tweaking ("Tweaking?" "That's what he said." "T-W-E-A-K... I-N-G. Tweaking.") but it will carry us to the end and hopefully wrap up all the dangling strings, even if you aren't fully aware there are... dangling strings. Sometime in July the story will end, 11 years after I launched the comic, an even dozen after I started working on it.


After that I will get to PIA. My new chiropractor is AWESOME and has me feeling great but I have some continued concerns about the number of hours I spend sitting at a desk in front of a computer. I'm trying to figure out a way to bust through inking pages faster and not sure if it will mean a stylistic change or not. I'm still mulling it over and trying to find a solution. I have also been hacking that story to pieces and changing a lot of things, so the launched 13 pages may get a bit of t-w-e-a-k... i-n-g also. I will keep everybody updated on that one when I get back to it.
And for the love of God I hope it doesn't take me a dozen years to tell Pimo's story.

so some of you may have noticed I haven't been updating six pack for a few weeks. It wasn't intended to go on this long, but I have done something major to my back making it extremely painful to sit at a computer desk. problem: my day job requires me to sit at a computer desk. So I go to work all day and sit then come home and am in a ton of pain.

At the same time the pain started, my chiropractor broke his wrist. He is off work until into March. I did go see another chiropractor in the meantime and that helped a LOT (previously I was having a lot of neck and upper back pain too, radiating down through my arms, and that has gone away), but that only helped out my back for about a day and a half, and then the pain came back. I have been contemplating going back in to see him again, but I just got the EOB from my health insurance and it looks like that is going to result in a nice hefty bill. So I can't afford to go see this guy again and will have to wait for my regular chiropractor, who gives me a break on charges because I have routine visits with him.

The idea was to work on the comics as much as I could and slowly get the pages done piece by piece, being late but not super far behind, but it's just not working that way. I can lay flat on the floor and use my phone or my laptop to type, but I can't really lay flat and draw (or use photoshop to ink and letter comics.) and basically it's looking like that is going to be the case until March, assuming my chiropractor can help me out quickly once he gets back.

I am still working slowly on pages and have actually considered just doing some shoddy laying-on-the-floor inking over the original sketches to upload that but I haven't tried it yet to see how it will work. basically, they will be uploaded when they can. I am really hoping to spend some frequently short periods of time working this weekend but I can't predict how I will feel or how long I can sit at a desk. we're also predicted to get snow this weekend and regardless of how awful my back feels, that might mean snow shoveling, which just means more pain (which is actually how this all started.)


tl;dr: my back is really messed up and I am in lots of pain, my paying day job takes precedence over the comic, I will do the best I can, but no idea when things will update regularly again.


really sucks that this happens right when we're at "the good part" of the comic.

For anybody who's been keeping tabs, I re-vamped the Six Pack website a bit back and said PIA was next. PIA wasn't as pressing since it's a) only 13 pages long and b) all 13 pages were still up on the old software. I got around to it this weekend, though:

http://pimoisawesome.com/

Just changes on the back end, really, and a few cosmetic changes.

I don't have a date for you on when I'll be getting back to PIA. In case you missed it, Six Pack is re-launching in July and I think there's five chapters left (I'll have to pull everything out and look again, it's been a while.) It's not super far from being done and will probably have a twice weekly update schedule; at 24 pages per chapter, that's a little over a year. I'm not sure if PIA will be started before it's done or if I'll pick up there once Six Pack is over. We'll see!

This afternoon I was stunned to find out about the passing of one of my friends, FrostDemn. Before you think this is an April Fool's joke, which I initially thought, it is not. He left this world last week and I'm delayed in finding out as the word is getting out amongst the online world. I wish more than anything it were a joke... but it's not.

He came to me as a lot of my viewers have through Six Pack of Otters... but unlike a lot of people, Luis always seemed genuinely interested in - and was kind to - me as me. Beanie the person... not Beanie the artist of this comic I like. So we got to be friends.
We were Twitter pals, a privilege I don't extend to many. So even though we weren't "close" the way some might define friendships, in fact he got to see parts of me that I don't air in public or to most people. And always always always was he kind, despite that. There are ugly waves that run through that might push some people away, and in fact have - but he never had anything negative to say. And he never bailed on me either. It would have been easy to... but he didn't.
We were friends.
And maybe if you didn't know him, you also didn't know he was funny, like straight up genuinely funny. He made me smile, giggle, and laugh, even when he was just talking about video games or MLP or whatever.
Also we shared a love of meat... and bacon. And anybody who shares my love for meat and bacon is all right in my book.

The truth is, if you didn't know him, you missed out. And while it's sad that I've lost a friend, the bigger truth is the world is now a slightly worse place without him in it. Because people who are so genuine and kind are rare... people who are full of goodness and love and choose to share their kindness and happiness with the people around them are not common in our world. Not everybody has that light in them that is infectious and can make people smile, but he did. I was blessed to have him in my life, short though the time was, because he spread some of that joy to me.

And I am sorry for all of our mutual friends, because I know you all have also been touched by the happiness he had to share and we are all feeling this loss. I wish I had something to say that would help take the pain away or make it better somehow. All I have is the lame suggestion of going forward from here remembering the kindness he always showed and trying to project some of that ourselves.


It will take a while for me to figure out how to really process this, how to really truly believe it actually happened, how to come to grips with never seeing any more of his funny comments, the fact that we'll never talk again. But right now I just really want people to know that he was straight up a truly wonderful person, and will be sorely, sorely missed by all his friends and family. I think it's important for people to know that.

So my poor desktop, Herbert, had a major meltdown two weeks ago. The hard drive was keeling over, which is easy enough, but apparently the motherboard either went with it or was trying to KILL the hard drive as it went.
Luckily enough, I have finally gotten smart about my hard drives. The dying drive was just my OS drive, and all of my files are a) on another drive and b) backed up.
I also managed to get a clone of my drive created before it died, but I had a lot of crap installed too, so I'm basically only cloning back on what I want/need and making a fresh start of my OS. No big deal. But do you know how much of a PITA it is to have to type in all my passwords and shit again?? I take autofill for granted. Also, not anticipating my computer would go bonk, I packed up all my installation disks and stuff and relocated them at my new house. But Herbert is still here at the old house! So I can't install hardly anything until I go to my house, unpack some boxes and find my boxes of discs, and bring them back here. Whomp whomp!

(We also missed Pimo's 21st birthday while my computer was dead, but don't worry, I have a sketch I'll be posting once I get Photoshop and everything reinstalled here.)

Now that my desktop is back, I can get back to working on fixing up my comic websites, both of which are broken right now and were ridiculously annoying to try and fix on my ancient laptop that I was using while Herbert was down and out. After I get the websites fixed up again, I want to make a concrete plan for when Six Pack will relaunch. I intend to finish it up first, then re-launch PIA after that with some re-drawn pages. I have a general date in mind, but I want to nail something down for sure. I just need to get some other stuff done first (like fixing up my new house and MOVING IN might be nice. Also I have a half-marathon to run in a month and the training is eating up lots of my free time.)


I also decided I want to finally upgrade my hardware... I'm still using the same teeny tiny Wacom I bought when I was I think 16 (holy cats!!) - I'm grateful it has lasted this long for me and still works, but I really would like something newer and nicer. I'm not holding out hopes for an Intuos, but the newer Bamboos look pretty nice. So I'm going to do a commission run/sell the comics and prints and charms I have to try and raise the funds for it. I don't think I can do it via Kickstarter because they want you to raise funds towards a finished product, and I don't think "finally finishing my webcomic" counts (they seem pretty picky.) So I'll probably just do it here.

So WATCH THIS SPACE for more exciting things than me rambling about how much I love my dear sweet desktop and how everything I own is old and broken.

Hey guys,

Some of you may have noticed that Six Pack and Pimo is Awesome both no longer read that they are indefinitely on hiatus. They technically still are, but I intend to get back to work on them shortly. Six Pack is nearly finished anyway, and PIA is of course just starting. I would like to get Six Pack ended and then move on to PIA.

My question for you guys is that I'd really like to open a Kickstarter for the relaunch. Right now I'm paying for hosting and stuff out of my pocket and I of course make no money from the webcomic. (By the way, I'm still desperately in need of money to help pay my dog's large vet bill, so if you guys want a commission, now would be a good time to ask about one.) I'm not asking for handouts or free money, I'm asking you guys to help me work for some money.

So basically my question is this: what kind of gifts would you guys like for donating to a Kickstarter? As far as merchandise goes, I have charms, printed comics of issue 1-3, and a handful of prints. Of course commissions are always an option too.

And the big question: would anybody even do this? I think there are a handful of you out there who would help out but you guys already have all the merchandise I could offer for the lower levels. And of course for those of you who have helped support Six Pack in the past by buying the merch and commissions from me I already am super grateful and don't expect you to continue to fork over anything, particularly for stuff you already have...

just putting the feelers out. If I can get the kickstarter going and get some cash in the bank, I can ease up on working my second and third jobs and actually devote time to drawing (and writing, in PIA's case) again and get this done. I would like to tell you guys the rest of the story at some point, I really do

Ask me ANY question about ANY of my characters and I'll answer.
Probably.


Don't ask me about Pimo's sexuality because I'm not telling.

Because why not. I'll do Beanie, I guess she's my "fursona."

1 - Do you and your "fursona" look alike?

In the basics, yeah, since she was designed to be me. Hair is the same, ear piercing is the same, I give her my body type... so yeah. Oddly enough, more than once people who've met me at cons and go "Are you Beanie? You look just like your character, I thought so!" So I guess I do!

2 – Do you and your "fursona" share attires?

Yup. Except Beanie has usually gets a hoop on her ear and I just wear a stud. (Actually, have I been drawing Beanie without the earring lately..? Oops.) But yeah, clothes are exactly the same. Very t-shirt, blue jeans, flip-flops kinda girl and Beanie is just about always drawn in that.

3 – Do you share the same sexuality as your fursona?

That's sorta strange since Beanie is supposed to be me, so why would she have a different sexuality..? Of course.

4 – If you hadn’t already made your fursona look like you, if you would to change how he/she looked like to make him/her look more like you, how would you think he/she would look like?

I guess she already looks like me so I don't think I'd change anything.

5 – Did you work hard to develop your fursona? What is the (brief) history of your fursona?

Not really. I love collies so I picked a collie, and then I made her look like me. I guess Beanie is not really a character the way others are (Pimo, Simon, et cetera.)

6 – Do you and your fursona share relationship status?

Uh, gosh. I guess so? I don't really draw mushy relationship stuff outside of my actual story-type characters, but I suppose if I were to do so, I would represent it through Beanie...

7 – Do you find yourself jealous or upset if you get paired with someone you don’t like or your partner does?

...huh?

8 – How would you like your character not to be used?

Porn would be a no.

9 – What’s your fursona’s specialty?

Well, since she's me, I would say "being awesome."

10 – At a score of 1-10 how much are you and your fursona alike?

8, I guess. I'm not a collie. That's the only difference. That's supposed to be the only difference, anyway.

Because I've been in a meme mood apparently.



Name a character that you know I write/draw or have written/drawn, and I'll tell you:

a. What initially prompted me to write/draw them.
b. One of their best traits.
c. One of their worst traits.
d. How easy/difficult I find it to write/draw the character.
e. The moment where I feel that I truly captured the character.
f. My plans to write/draw the character in the near future.