Good afternoon all, just a quick update today.

Yes I am still here on FA. I haven't forgotten about this site, even if I have been inactive these last couple of months. Since lockdown I have found it exceptionally hard to be creative and fulfil those promises I made at the start of 2020. With finally everything easing and time still of work I should be able to jot down some more journals about my current situation over the next few weeks.

Sorry about the hassle.

LP

Good Evening FA. I am writing this journal quite late into the night so I only plan to be brief, I promise.

So lately I have been wondering where my place is within this Fandom, struggling to find myself amongst so many creatives I view and interact with online. (Although, don't take this the wrong way. I am not leaving this highly creative Fandom I adore!) It would be for this reason that I haven't posted much here on my account, both art or journals. Perhaps my searching for meaning here is restricting my creative flow. I need to go about this differently moving through 2020. I will be sure to elaborate further in the months to come.

On a positive note. Over the last year I felt like I had excelled growing more as a social person. My plan now for 2020 is to find more about who I want to be, who I am and my career goals for later life. Referencing my previous journal you can read how the struggle has interfered with my Art too. I do have a bunch of ideas in my head I would love to put to paper honest, but, I feel like before I can go ahead with any artwork I need to first discover "me". A broad topic. Whether that be in the form of my interests, Sexuality, art direction or just general personality; I have so much I need to learn about myself. Growing up I rarely explored anything about "me" instead often just affixing towards pre-defined goals, never diverting to experiment. So many useful questions left unanswered that could have been a huge benefit to my career skipped or ignored outright, leaving its apparent bad influence throughout my many artworks; come to think of it, perhaps that's why I can't finish anything... huh.

So in 2020 I plan so much more. Even if you don't see it right away on FA or my twitter, in the background know that every day I am trying to learn more about myself.

So until the next journal, I will sigh off for the night.

Lp

Since our last journal I would love to say that I have these last few weeks been devoting my time to my new artwork ideas and revelations, yet honestly I have instead been struggling with my foe motivation. Despite a new PC and new built confidence in my social interactions I still find it particularly difficult to explore my ideas onto canvas. Instead I have made a positive effort to focus on my writing skills, an area I believe is still in need of so much work.

I don't want to promise anything if this streak continues, but, I do want to set out to do some more personal projects before the end of the year. I would love to make something for Confuzzled 2020, perhaps an art piece to add to the auction? Maybe a full turnaround of my character Galwyn for future commission work? There's plenty of ideas and plans I want to explore and achieve.

On a personal level. I am finding my life now at the age of 26 full of important decisions that have to get through to be a better person. From sexuality, career, and life goals. More and more I discover new and increasingly difficult daunting questions I much answer. That's life I guess. Don't expect me to talk too much about these personal hurdles. My art and social interactions are my focus here on FA. On a side note I must check back on my other networking accounts and do a small journal post on each.

Anyway, until the next time.

LP

I am feeling very tired tonight but I wanted to write a short blog post update before I go on off to sleep.

It has been a fair few months since my last large scale update and I have lots to share in a short amount of words. I will list them below with an explanation (might be edited at later date)

1. Confuzzled Post - As this post has been many months in the making with no clear date I have decided to postpone the idea. Instead I will make a sub-category of blogs with the title "Road to Confuzzled 2019" with elements of lessons learned and taken away from the details I wanted to write in the original blog post.

2. Fursona - Since my last design I have been indecisive to how I may evolve the look of the character I made. I believe all the aspects I want are there in the design, still there is so much I could improve on in my opinion. A proper turnaround is needed.

More to follow.....

Starting this update off I already know that I have been less punctual than I let on in my past entries. It isn't all too uncommon, I often go days without posting anything including on my social media accounts. Just likes or favourites. So to help I decided last week to take some time off sketching and work, facing the blank page too many times had started to give me headaches. I knew I wanted to draw but because I had been consistently working for the last few weeks I was in need of a well deserved break. To recharge the creative batteries. And now I'm back!

With the my break over and out of the way for a while, it is now full steam ahead working towards digital artwork. I plan to design two smaller projects to start with, one for a good friend as an art trade and the other as a well deserved thank you gift. Both would only be A5 in size. Thinking of printing them out too if they want to.

Next on the list of updates would be my new Twitter account. Separate from LostPlatformer, this account would be centered around the Furry Fandom and artworks. Based of my Fursona Galwyn.

I had detailed on the new account that I will be writing a post-mortem about my experience at Confuzzled 2019 with a list of improvements I need to make for next year. One example I can share is my unwillingness to relax and have fun, something I hope to remedy as I learn more and meet more in the Fandom. This should be out by the end of the month and will be quite lengthy.

Anyway that's all I have for today at least. Until another time in the future. LP

Before the con I thought that my experience would be full of long drawn out periods of time between panels where I would find myself alone. Thank goodness then that this was no ordinary con, my fears up and vanished, this was a Furry Convention after all! 😊

Starting on my first day I felt incredibly welcomed by the community. Avenues of interesting discussions helped find my place within Confuzzled and the creative fandom as a whole. I am pleased with myself that I took the risk and went this year. I should take more opportunities like this more often. There were Furries from all walks of life, so very friendly and excitable no matter who you met. Hands down the best independent experience of my life!

If there is someone I should thank it would be the Furry named TechKat. You helped me understand the inner workings of the fandom, history, how to relax, networking and mingling with fellow Furries. My huge confidence boost is credited to you! Hugs through text. Kudos!

Wittering on (new favourite phrase) , I had a fantastic time taking in the whole experience of the con and all it had to offer. I went to so many panels and stage shows I lost track of time most days. My average time I stayed awake was 1:30 am, for four days straight! It was a relief then that the beds were so comfortable.

My favourite panels this year were centered around Board games, art and writing. As someone looking to
GM in the near future I found all the details and points proved very useful. I even took part in two separate D&D adventures which were equal parts fun and challenging. My newly introduced party were all there for the journey, discovering new friendships as I rolled for initiative.

My favourites events include to name a few: the banner brawl, the roundtable, Uncle Kage's story hour, Anthropomorphic anatomy, effective writing and talking commissions. It's a shame I didn't go the Fursuit Dances.

The panels had a nice change of pace from the norm by allowing time to hear stories from the listening audience and bringing them all into a wider dialogue to help define the panelists points. I have a whole notebook full of scribbles and notes throughout the whole entire event. Chuffed.

If there were some points I need to address personally for next year it would involve my shyness and relaxation.

I am fine with one off conversation, what I struggle at is prolonged friendships and catching up. One example involved the couple from my second D&D session. They approached me a day after the game, one in an Angel Dragon suit. I froze after saying my hellos, an awkward silence filled the space between words. I should have in hindsight went into a open conversation and asked about her suit. But I didn't, we left each other awkwardly and made our separate ways. I am so disappointed with myself. At least I had a hug and met them a second time.

Another area I need improvement on is my personal relaxation. I spent the whole convention in the mindset of learning, constantly noting down never taking my pen off the page. I love learning, seizing any opportunity to understand a little more of a subject, but this isn't uni. I should have balanced my learning and relaxation more. I took the initiative to move forward in this mindset on Monday and it proved to be one of my best days at the con. If I didn't take the advice, I wouldn't have gone and loved the Fur-e-oke at the end! Who knew that the fandom had so many talented people!

I only brought up the point up briefly but I want to reiterate that the Fandom is so friendly and welcoming. So many instances during my time I either started the conversation or was talked to out of the blue. Confidence really fuels confidence, just saying a simple hello can go a long way to help welcome somebody fit in. My favourite conversations came from talking whilst standing in queue or eating food. Who knows what you may have in common!

I will never forget my time here! 😊

Thank you Confuzzled! See you again next year. Perhaps I may even have a tail to swing!

So far so good, I am throughly enjoying Confuzzled this year! So many great panels, fellow Furries and events! Going to make early preparations for 2020 at this rate.

Yet for all the Good brings I do wish I could be a little more flexible and relax a bit. For context I have been treating the conference as a place to learn and only that, and much like I did with university I find myself never going off to explore the Confuzzled Furry con lifestyle. Missing great friendships and activities as a result. If talked to directly or engaging in conversation I'm fine, but when it comes time talking to someone out of the blue or taking photos I freeze. Considering every negative possibility is effecting my chances at many wonderful opportunities. I'm feeling disappointed in myself.

At least I have the best roommate I could've possibly had with TechKat this year. Anyway it's getting quite late. I will continue again tomorrow with some stories. Lp

Hello again watchers! (the irony is that I have none) This time I'm writing on the bus on my way to Birmingham NEC.

So updates. I have a few. First off the list is that I have finished my character ready for the event. About time! I will post up the avatar image when I have a more stable connection. As stated before the Characters name is Galwyn and the species is Pine marten. I am giddy with excitement as this is a really big step for me. Normally I say I'll do something and end up not particularly happy with the result. The change of circumstance this time is that although I can see flaws in the design I am motivated to keep working at it, I have very big plans in the future for my character. As I would expect with anyone's first character in the Fandom.

Second topic on the list is the schedule for Confuzzled. I have made a badge to make it easier to find me. I'm very friendly so come by and have a chat, I would love to know about all aspects of the fandom. Sometimes I get a little too passionate, as my fellow university class would say when I give a presentation. Of course there are some avenues I will not cross, I'm still twitching after encountering some up on FA. The NSFW kind. Generally open.

My schedule will cover panels and events that deal with art, animation and games. This is my second time here at the con, my first for an entire duration. Can't wait to experience all that Confuzzled has to offer. Furthermore I am very much looking forward to the Role-playing games and board game events, I even brought my own cursed dice. (I forgot to bring my lucky rubber chicken foot).

That's all for now. See you at the event! Lp.

Hiya everyone!

Just wanted to jot down some smaller updates today before I go on to do my Pre-Confuzzled journal next week.

First on the list is that I am almost done with my very first character, my core fursona. The iterations have nearly come to an end and I am preparing a ref sheet with full colour. Just a few tweaks here and there. I will be posting up the scraps up on either my Weasyl or FurryNetwork account. It is so refreshing to be working on a character for me and practice all my visual development skills.

Second on the list. Confuzzled. I have been steadily been preparing for the event which includes items to take and a schedule for the whole event. I have been talking fairly often with my roomie for the con Techkat and slowly piecing together events we could do together amongst other smaller things. I can't believe Confuzzled is only 1 week away. I am giddy with excitement!

And that's all. I will possibly keep updating this entry with little tidbits and thoughts that wouldn't be included in the larger journal next week.

Until then.

LP

So that went dark fast. I love to usually explore my recent watched artists list to see who they too have liked, but on this one occasion I was met with a mixture confusion and disgust. I have my FA account set to SFW by standard but when one afternoon I recently missed clicked the settings tab and set the function off. I was taken back by the amount of truly NSFW content on the homepage. I do want to understand but some artwork just goes over the edge for me. When my watched artwork tab suddenly rose I went to have a look, and again I was set back in both awe and befuddlement. I do not judge, everyone has there thing, but when a clearly talented artist has devoted so much of their time to design and lovingly paint a normally perfectly innocent scene, but now with the NSFW version shown this artwork depicts now the two wearing used diapers I have to draw the line.... The detail of the piece was astonishing, but heck if I am saving that to my favorites because it makes my eyes feel so unclean and dirty. I have the image ingrained at the back of my mind forever haunting me. I know about the sub-culture behind this, from my own discoveries and word of mouth, they're harmless for the most part, but geez if this didn't shock me...

Something to take away from this whole blunder, do not turn off the SFW tab or be prepared to have innocence ruined. At least for the most part it's colourful.

Lesson learned. Ugh....

With the clock counting down to Confuzzled2019 ticking away I am well on my way to making all the necessary preparations ready for my first full length Furry convention. I have my Fursona in development, a schedule outlined and a list of important art supplies and necessities noted down. The only part that I was left in the blue about was my roommate for the event, that remained true until a little while ago... I will be going with a fellow furry named TechKat to join me on my adventure to this con.

I was overjoyed when TechKat reached out to me after the staffers at Confuzzled arranged and encouraged us to start a dialogue between us. We have only briefly talked through the odd chat, slowly but surely we have begun to ask questions about ourselves and why we wanted to go on off to the convention this year. There are a few topics we still need to discuss, I bet we’ll be thinking about new topics all the time once we have become to know each other more and more. As this will be our first major furry con this will certainly be a experience for the both of us!

As for a development of my fursona I am glad to say that the final vision is starting to take form. I am rather long winded when it comes to my design work, often making pages and pages of sketches and interconnected doodles. Fantastically after all this time being part of the Fandom I have a vision in my head of the type of character that I want to represent me. At long last! The initial sketches are being finalised and style revisions are slowly being implemented. I am sure I will have some artwork to share by the end of April. Finally my very own Fursona!

When I began writing this journal this evening I thought it would only be a paragraph at most, briefly laying out my plans, now concluding on my forth on reflection I have made so many steps forward since my last major entry. I am going to count this as a milestone and as a structure to base my future journal entries on. A major journal entry moving forward will cover leaps forward (or backward) whilst the smaller will only cover discoveries and scraps. I believe if I write to this format I will find myself more motivated to write more and more. I will be allocating into manageable chunks rather than going into the mindset of including a bountiful collection of updates for each and every journal.

Lp

Good evening FA! Just a quick update about current goings on.

So firstly great news! I am all caught up with my commissions! Took me long enough honestly.

Moving forward I can now devote more of my time to my artworks and finally upload some art. I want to start by completing some ongoing projects I had before the commission work now that I have more time. But I want to reassure you all that Fursona/furry art will be uploaded by the end of April. you have my word. I'm going off to Confuzzled so I need a badge or some kind of artwork to show off my character. Which brings us nicely onto...

I'm going off to my first Furry con! Well, that's not exactly true as I attended last year for a single day. This time I am going to be there for its duration. I will share more in due time. I am currently awaiting my Confuzzled selected room share to come in contact so we may plan and get to know each other a little bit before the con starts. I am very very excited!

I will share more info in the coming days as well as some insights into the character that I am designing.

Until next time. LP

Just a quick journal entry before the end of the month.

Currently I am working through a number of CV updates and general improvements to help further my career in the creative industry sector I wish to go for, so I apologize that I haven't uploaded any art like I promised in my last journal. Through my research however I have learned that I should gear my artwork towards Visual development instead of the broader title "concept artist". This has been my Main Priority over the last month, stopping everything until that one job was finished. So now......

Good news!! I have started to explore a little more into my character and done some basic revisions and sketching. I do take my time when designing characters, so do expect artwork bundles from time to time going through the methods of my designs. It's just how I have been taught :) Galwyn will come to light eventually! that I can promise.

On another note... Have you ever browsed through FA with the SFW tab on and still run into ever so subtle NSFW artworks cropping up on the page? I know I have, I can't unsee....

Until next time. LP

Good afternoon all on FA. Currently today is my scheduled social network update day. I want to get into the routine of sharing little snippets and ideas I have been working on here on Fur Affinity.

So since last time I posted I have been exploring the FA site in depth, filling in my preferences, settings and learning to use the site to the fullest. On first experience I found that the site is fairly broad with many many differently themed posts going up each hour; actually it is quite hard to catch up sometimes without the proper criteria selected. I have followed a few random artists that I liked the artwork of and have just added my temporary avatar (previously made in a rush for confuzzled 2018). My plans moving forward are to I have a "finalized" design for my Fursona. I have been giving it some thought whenever I had a break making notes and drawing some draft sketches of certain features I would like this character to have. Very rough at the moment but I am glad to say that I have a rough outline made. Next step will be to fully flesh out some silhouettes and styles over the coming days. I should have something to show by the end of next week by the earliest.

As stated before, I am new to this site so expect updates in a gradual pace once I got the hang of features and networking here on FA.

LP

After setting out 2018 to be a year of new experiences I have finally delved a little deeper into the fandom to learn about who I exactly wanted to be going in. I knew I was an Artist, that is an absolute fact, but after looking into the fandom over the last seven or so years and discovering many new artists, musicians and animators I adore I had almost I forgot why I initially intended to become a furry. Taking a step back I planned my year accordingly, making notes and reading up any materials I could find. And so a year later and one con on my belt I have now decided to jump straight in and explore a little more with the knowledge I acquired…. But I didn’t expect it to be so, well big.

Over the next few weeks I plan to fill out a little more of my profile and start building up my artworks here on FA. Now that I am on the site I can see if I could find a few of the fantastic people I met during my time last year at Confuzzled, in preparation for this year!

I am so very excited… but what to draw first :) I believe my fursona is in need of a rework...