Thanks for the submissions all~ :3 I've got plenty to choose from, I'll get 10 picked out and a schedule of approximate due dates. I did 3 extra early birds last week already~

The ones who aren't picked I may reach out to after this first wave to see if they're still interested <3 so fear not if you didn't make the list! I've been known to go through and finish up extra slots.

I wanted to give an update of how I’ve been lately for those that care to read :> At the bottom there’s some information about where I want to go with my art and policy changes if you want to skip the personal stuff.

TL;DR I feel like things are a lot better and I’ve got some intriguing problems on my plate.

Personal stuff:

For the past 5 years my life has basically been ruled by my mental health medley. (Depression, Anxiety, ADHD, OCD) In January I moved in with a generous friend to a different state. My depression and anxiety actually got a bit worse at first but are now much better. The anxiety is barely a problem anymore. The skills I learned in years of therapy finally started working. I feel very blessed and I’m very grateful to all of my friends for being there for me through it all. I’m under a lot less stress, I feel a lot more secure despite higher expenses, and I’m slowly learning how to be more responsible and consistent. I feel bad often, I fail to do what normal people seem to do so easily. It’s very difficult for me to work, do regular habits, and sleep regularly. It makes me feel like a big weak adult child. But beating myself up for it, my family riding my ass, only ever made it worse. I feel like I’m finally starting to see how I can get a handle on it and make it better, and that’ll be a huge step for me if I can start to show some real consistency in my motivation and applying myself :D

In light of all these changes I’ve felt bizarre, like I’ve awoken from being asleep for years, maybe my whole life? There’s so much that was lost in those past 5 years of being depressed, so so many habits and lessons from art college I neglected or forgot. I keep remembering them slowly as I start to study art again and try to accept and apply conventional wisdoms. There so many broken terrible OCD-fueld beliefs about what I can or can’t do with my artwork. I’m starting to see a lot of connections I wasn’t able to before and coming to accept that a lot of the ways in which I viewed the world and artwork that I was so very sure of are just flat out wrong. I wasn’t looking at artwork very often because it was painful to see other people succeeding with theirs and perceptibly couldn’t with mine, despite having studied so much and putting so much passion into it. I felt like I had failed myself in my art journey and every year was just more and more weight and lost time. In other areas of life, I had felt resistant to do a lot of things like exercise or breaking away from the computer because my ability to see the beautiful things in life and actually feel how pleasant they are was so numb, checking messages and playing games were the easiest sources of happy brain chemicals I could actually get out of myself.

But now I’ve been able to engage with those things again. And accept some sacrifice of my time from games and sitting around repeatedly refreshing browser pages, and put some of it towards exploring around the neighborhood, and reading art instruction books and watching videos. I’ve changed how I interact with games, I’m trying to play less of them where I just grind for progress and feel goods and trying to expose myself more to things I find visually inspiring and have great stories. And watching let’s plays on games I’ll probably never get around to playing which my anxiety wouldn’t allow me to do before. Adderall fueled a lot of weird obsessive tendencies and anxieties I picked up that have stayed long after I stopped taking the meds. I need to get back on something though. Without meds some days it feels like I’m trying to think through a pillow.

I’ve been looking at art again and taking notes. It’s still a little painful, I feel saddened about the lost time and I’ve felt a bit lonely in that. I have improved much in the past 5 years but I’ve also neglected a lot of things I really cared about in art, and I still often feel like I’m not speaking in the voice I wanted to. That’s a familiar theme if you’ve kept up with my other journals haha. I’ve shared this feeling a lot with people and they’re quick to remind me that I’m a great artist and I shouldn’t feel bad about my work, and this is true and I do see it. My skill doesn’t actually protect me from the pain of feeling like a failure, the taste is as bitter as it always was. I keep telling myself I need to push forward and grow despite, and I appreciate my friends looking out for my wellbeing. Unfortunately I can’t help but wish sometimes someone would just tell me that they really understand how much it feels like crap to be years behind where you wanted to be. That those feelings are valid. I really did fall short of my goal and I can’t pretend I didn’t. but it’s also okay that I’m not where I wanna be and I can pick up and do better. My journey isn’t even close to over.

---

Planned changes to my art and policies:

Stylistically there shouldn’t be anything drastic or unexpected. I’ve been playing a lot with shapes and lighting lately, so you might expect some stronger angles and stylizations out of me, and more dramatic lighting, which is in line with what I’ve been pushing for for a while now. I want to allow more of my inspirations to influence my work, I want to work on both on making quick presentable sketches, and my paintings. I won’t be doing very refined line drawings or sketches as often. Most people claim to be unable to notice the differences anyways and they kind of drive me nuts to work on.

I foresee as I keep going that things will start to become a little more regular in terms of pricing and types of slots offered. I’ll be less afraid of taking themed commissions and other things I was wrongly convinced were somehow “uncreative” or “selling out” (thanks depression and amphetamines for the turbo beliefs) I also want to start offering slotted YCH commissions and some other things that’ll make me easier money, so I can both give more opportunities to commission me and spend more time on my personal art and characters.

I will be taking on less illustrated porn commissions (sex, doesn’t include tasteful nudity). I really burned myself out working on them a couple months ago and I’m going to keep it mostly to sketches and speedpaints. I’m also planning on increasing the price of NSFW artworks just a bit

I want to work on my quicker styles to make cheaper commissions more accessible and presentable.

I’ve also been a little paranoid about my speedpaints? I’ve seen with other artists some watchers can’t tell the full illustrations apart from the quick paintings, or will even accuse the artist of being lazy for not rendering out the speedpaint to the level of a full illustration (??) and since they’re both full colored painted works, I’m not sure how to make it clear that there’s an intentional difference between them. Particularly, I don’t want new watchers to stumble over my speedpaints and not understand that there’s better cleaner artworks I’m capable of. But I’m not sure it actually matters or that there’s anything that can actually be done about that besides labelling them all “SPEEDPAINT” :V

---

Thanks to all those that have read through this and supported me emotionally and financially on my journey. I’ve grown so much, I love ya’ll, and I’d be nothing without people to show my work to or put apples in my fridge.

Mane

https://twitter.com/FuckmyPizzass/s.....97622902214661

I've set up a poll so yall can vote on my next YCH :3 I plan on there being a lot of slots available

the comic that has sarah in it :V I made fanart and then didn't even link to the fffds;lhfdjhffuckin comic xDD and nobody pointed it out

https://www.furaffinity.net/view/40539427/
https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery.....7451/Long-Hike

here yall go~

https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9817412

 akrolayn needs help affording mental health care. their work is really solid! their old account  Geodis has a lot of really solid artworks in it and the content might interest some of yall :>

I don't usually announce these here, but I've got a good one going and it'll be up for two more hours~ there's over a dozen nice people in here to chat with, come hang out! ends at 2100 CST

https://picarto.tv/Maneframe

Hey~! I'd like to keep things short here. I'm behind and a bit tired but I wanted to put out some updates~ I've touched on everything here in more detail on my telegram channel: https://t.me/ManeframeArt

First off, my move has been successful and it absolutely would not if not for the donations from very generous friends and watchers. I'm very grateful to be here and I already feel like my mood has improved much ;u; and I have a lot of hope for where things are going. I feel I have more capacity for control in my life than in years.

Secondly, my grandmother passed a little over a week ago and it affected me very deeply. I'm doing betterish now and I think I'm ready to get back to work. I wasn't expecting how ill and physically fatigued the grief would actually make me feel. it was the most I've experienced in my life thus far

Third, my commissions are in a weird spot right now. I've had a lot of changes in the work for a long time on my art and I finally feel like I'm starting to get a handle on pushing them through. most commissions will be small openings available only on my main telegram channel, again: https://t.me/ManeframeArt . They are technically closed for inquiries but I'll still hear and accept ones that fit my interests and studies very well.

I've laid out a curriculum for myself that I'll be following over the coming year that I feel good about, and as many commissions as I can manage will be focused on it. I've had a lot of art things I've been wanting to figure out for literal years and I'm tired of avoiding it all

Hope ya'll are well~

I hope everyone's had a Mare-y Christmas, and a happy holiday season thus far~

I have an announcement to make here; I've formally made plans to move! It'll be to a more trans/furry positive space with a friend and in better living conditions than I'm in now, and I feel very blessed to have the opportunity.

Unfortunately, for the time being I'll be leaving most of my things behind until I can afford to come back and move them in 6-12 months. It'll just be me, Kitty, my PC, and whatever fits in a couple luggage. I'm working hard and cutting it pretty close to cover the costs of bills and Travel, as well as the extra time it's taking to make all of these arrangements. My hope is that after living somewhere I feel better about for a while, my mood, productivity, and income will all see a boost~

If anyone would like to donate for me to have a little more breathing room with bills or to afford more supplies and equipment to take some of the stress off my shoulders, I would be super duper grateful ;u;

http://paypal.me/maneframe
https://ko-fi.com/maneframe

Thanks for reading~ I look forward to publishing more artworks for y'all in the coming years. I've been experiencing a lot of exciting changes in my artwork and motivations and I'm very glad to have so many awesome friends and watchers along for the ride~

Just an update from last month's journal~

I mentioned I'd be taking a break from my style to try and clear my head. after the first attempts I realized this isn't going to work as I'd hoped and the problem ran deeper. That anything I would try that involved design or artistic merit I would judge myself harshly for. I've been congratulated a couple times on the 'new style' and I wanted to clarify that it's.. sort of yes and sort of not what I was intending to do, haha~

I have dealt with perhaps 40% of the problem so far by buying a physical sketchbook and using it as a therapy journal and doodle book. it's been a strangely painful process at times, but it's also nice since I can doodle without worry of having to show anyone, and it's kind of a pain in the ass to do so with it being physical.

That said, I have still been experimenting, but less in an opposite direction of where I want to be, and instead redoubling my efforts directly into my interests, tackling that which I was unable to do so before out of fear, and some have been very successful, and I feel very blessed and gratified in that wise.

I'm not out of the woodwork yet, but I can feel a future more plainly now where I'm able to produce and produce often that which I care to do

Thank you for supporting me, all~

if you wanna see what I've been up to, none of it has made it to FA yet. it can all be viewed on http://maneframe.art

I would like to return to FA as my main platform, I just find myself intimidated about posting because it takes a little more effort than drag and drop. I know that makes me sound incredibly lazy >w>;;

I've been working on myself and my post-graduation depression for four years now and I realize I'm not getting very far. My art improves but slowly, my day-to-day life looks pretty much the same as ever. the habits I commit to rise and fall, the results are fleeting. I always have an excuse, I always bargain with myself to avoid this or that. I progress, but so slowly. It's a comfort zone, but I yearn for something else.

I love art, I love it so much that it crushed me when I didn't reach where I wanted to be after college. and since then I've been getting steadily more and more jaded with my work, I've improved leaps and bounds in 4 years in some ways, and then none at all in others. I'm always holding back. The same goes for how I live my life as well. I've gone through a lot of changes this year, and I like where it's going, but my life and the fruits of it are still fundamentally the same as they have been, and I realize if I don't change myself and my course, I'll never get to where it is I wanted to be, or have the life, stability, and health, and peace that I want to experience. I'm tired of feeling so feeble that it hurts to walk, I'm tired of lying around for hours every day, I'm tired of dodging my work, I'm tired of living on scraps and pretending that I feel alright about it all. I'm tired of pretending that I don't have at least somewhat of a say, despite the horrors of the world, to grasp some of the beauty within it and not let go.

Painting in the style of concept art industry artists speaks to me, but it also contains immense baggage. I've put so many crippling expectations on it. there are dozens of things I want to learn and emulate myself, to align my work more to my tastes in what I like to look at, but for years now my attempts to get there are laden with fear and anguish that I can't get it to all click into place. that I've lost my ability to just calm down and enjoy the ride of getting there. and that I dismiss all of the good qualities of my art because it doesn't have these shapes, this texture, this look, those values.

After this current round of commissions, I will be taking a break for 1-3 months from my usual style. I think if I had a break to work on things in a way where I care much less about the specific technique, perhaps it'll re-teach me how to keep calm, and just create. to explode and experiment without the pressure and anxiety. I'm making this journal to let everyone know what's up in case there are concerns; I'll more than likely go back to my usual after. I don't entirely know what style I'll be doing, but I've got some ideas. It'll likely be more in the vein of lineart-flats-shades. something that feels structured and low-stress for me to replicate technique wise. This isn't to say that it's any easier than painting, which also has clear and consistent techniques and processes, but I've beat myself so much over it that I lack the clarity I need to discern it when I see studies and instruction. anything that I might learn from is usually covered in a cold fear that I don't know what I'm doing, instead of an intrigue to try it myself.

The hope is I can take the calm I learn from something else, and bring it back into my main body of work. to turn expectation into interest, to turn passion from deprression back into engagement.

If you're interested in supporting my artwork and health during this venture, or getting a special piece of artwork in a way I might not open to do again, please feel free to reach out and contact me:

Telegram: https://t.me/maneframe
Discord: Maneframe#5725
email: maneframe.art[at]gmail.com

if you are a commissioner that has an idea in my pool (where I pick projects from), you're also eligible to still have it done in one of the new experimental ways. But otherwise, for now, everything is on hold. I will be contacting all individuals that are exceptions to this by tomorrow.

And as usual, I'm still very much alive and active, FA doesn't see as much of my posting as I'd like (I hope to change that for reals quite soon)

TL;DR: There will be some temporary changes to commissions and art styles, im grateful to all of those that bear with me as I try to improve myself~

I love FA! I miss gallery sites. I think twitter is a blight on artists and mental health ;V BUT, here's some places where you can find me, just in case~

I'm most active here: http://maneframe.art

I don't post much art on twitter and don't use it much, but if FA goes like.. down down, it's the best backup anyone in the community has right now:

https://twitter.com/Maneyframe

In case this takes off:

https://www.pillowfort.social/maneframe

Want to leave a quick update here, It's been a while. I leave some quick blurbs on how I'm doing more often on my telegram channel if anyone wants to dig and read more: https://t.me/ManeframeArt (as well as having hundreds of unposted artworks up for viewing on there)

I'm been up and down for a while, I've been making some huge breakthroughs on my mental health. around feb - march I was feeling almost fully okay and functional 'again' if I ever really was in the first place. I was able to ween off my meds and did quite well for a bit. It didn't last for too long though, COVID being a thing has deregulated me very much, and I haven't been taking care of myself. my income has dropped drastically as well. I probably need to go back to seeing my therapist, but I'm on different insurance than I was before and I'm not sure how that'll go nor can I afford it right now

That said, I've been figuring out some things about how my mental health relates to and revolves around my art. I worked out a couple bugs recently on how I expected too much from myself, those are still a work in progress. The big one at the moment is my passion and dedication. Idk what word to really use for it, but it's been gone for years now. it's more than a simple burnout or art block. when I first hit my depression 5 years ago I started stumbling with art too, and I think they're very strongly related. prior to then even through blocks or burnout I would still end up drawing for fun within a few days, always had ideas, even love-hate enjoyed working on assignments I didn't personally care for. Art was just the thing and I had a drive to always go pick up a pen. Some things happened to me in school and it just all crumbled on me and never came back. I had assumed it was the depression veiling my feelings of desire to draw, but I'm finding evidence that it may be the opposite; changes in my beliefs about drawing took away my meaning from my work for myself and now contributes to my depression, in tandem with environmental and financial issues. I'm looking into it, and may be opening slots or contacting clients privately that might wish to work with me on experimenting and figuring it out, whilst still getting me some very much needed income.

Edit Edit:

Still saving up! in the meantime I got a cheap 400 dollar XP-Pen 22E with the donations. it's been helping my hand a lot having the larger screen, though I really miss the tilt sensitivity. Thanks all that made that possible and still do for the future upgrade ;__; I've been emailing the big third party brands to try and keep in touch for when 4k tablets are coming out

- - - - - -

TL;DR: hand hurty but in stable condition, want giant tablet, have wanted giant tablet for years, I'm poor and this year will be poorer, would be immensely blessed by donations to help me along.

Post:

Hey all~

This is not a financial emergency, but a long term concern. My hand has been a bit sore lately working on these paintings. I notice during certain parts of the process it's worse than others. I tense my hand a lot when trying to be accurate in a small space and like to view the whole canvas at once.

I had tendinosis for 18 months a few years ago, it put me out of work for almost half a year, and I can't afford for that to happen again, so I have to take things at a fair pace so I don't hurt myself

I would like a larger tablet, specifically the cintiq pro 24 non-touch edition. I've looked at all my options including the off brands and cheaper 1080p tablets and that's the one that fits my specific needs best. Big screen, high res, low parallax. It's a machine I could see myself working on for the next decade

Unfortunately at my current pace it'll like take me 1-2 years to save for it. This is keeping in mind that I age out of my health insurance in April and will have an additional 400-ish in bills per month just to keep on my meds

I make 17k annually and have a pretty decent cost of living for my area, I don't get a lot of extra spending money. I'm sheepishly asking for donations if anyone's able to help me fund the tablet earlier. Anything that gets sent with a message noting that it's specifically for the tablet fund will get set aside, and I'll have proof that I'm still holding onto it at any point in the future it's required of any donors. I'm good at hanging onto money that needs set aside and making my bills on time :3

I hate to ask for this so overtly, but I'm feeling a little discouraged that I'll be able to make my work space more comfortable in any reasonable time, and I find myself wondering if I'd be able to work more hours if my hand or back didn't tire so quickly hunched over my tiny screen

The cintiq and some extra equipment I'd need to rearrange my monitor situation will probably cost $2400 USD. The tablet itsself was marked down to 1200 for refurbs on black Friday but I didn't get lucky enough to have one available for me to finance before they all went out of stock.

I'm trying to avoid getting into debt for it if I don't need to

If someone wants to donate, all of my usual payment options are available here; https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1....._XfvQ/viewform

I would also be willing to work out a long term art-repayment plan under certain circumstances but it smells a lot like debt. I'd really want it to be geared towards something fun and experimental and beneficial for my learning/direction if I went that route. Contact me if you have inquiries :> thanks for lending me an ear and for all y'alls wonderful support~

---

Update: I've been given 220 USD so far ;3; <3 10% of the way there, and I'm feeling very grateful. Thank you so much. I look forward to the day I can paint all day all week all year with nice big strokes~

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Contact info:


Telegram: Maneframe
Discord: Maneframe#5725
email: maneframe.art[at]gmail.com

work that hasn't made it to FA yet: http://maneframe.art

And more free unposted adult works: https://t.me/ManeframeArtAD

I have all new write-ups and a bunch of friends and good artists listed up now you can all take a look at :D

https://www.furaffinity.net/user/maneframe/

Hey all, I'm trying to take more commission of these types :D Especially especially the first ones. The time frame for these is within the next month but very well may be started and completed by next week. They'll be done between my larger projects, 5 slots open to start, I choose based on interest in your idea/character if there's many responses ;> additional inquiries may be accepted as well or queue'd up for next time, so if you're interested, speak up!



Figure Study / Gesture Sketch Pages: $60+ USD Preferred, No Limit

Expect $15-25 per individual image, clothed and unclothed variants count separate but won't add up together for $50 for the budget. I use reference models for these and adjust for anthro proportions and body types. Expect fun, classical, artsy poses, or perhaps fighting/action ones if we dig up figure references for them (I have some if you're feeling something themed). These are my JAM right now and I'd really love to take a bunch of them :D

Example: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/32942906/
Clothed Variant of one: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/32942938/

- - -

Wing-it Sketch Pages: $60+ USD Preferred, No Limit

Expect an average of 12-15 dollars per image across the whole page. some will be more or less, but they'll pretty cleanly add up to that amount, so you know about how many to expect given your budget~ These are done as wing-its and for this price-point I can't guarantee specific compositions or poses, however, I can work off of a series of ideas you have for them if you're willing to have my first-shot takes on them :> For something more reliable and specific you'll want to order individual sketches

Example: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/32942351/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/32942783/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/32942500/

- - -

Individual semi-refined Sketches: $35-65 USD based on desired quality.

Additional characters wildly variable in price by idea. expect 30-40 per

Example: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/32943108/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/32943223/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/32943124/

- - -

Painterly Bust Comms: 80 USD

Chest/shoulders up, like a classical bust, as opposed to a half-body

Example: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/32941840/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/32941968/

- - -

Smoothed Painted Bust Comms: 130 USD

Second step to the above, takes quite a bit more work :>

Example: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/32942063/

- - -


comment here, note me, or send me a message on your preferred platform if interested! Feel free to make inquiries, I don't bite! To speed up the process of replying to those interested, if you could send me links to the character(s) you're potentially considering or all your characters if unsure, that would be dandy :D As well as the type and amount you're wanting to go for. As always with me, I'm comfy with over-budgeting if you wanna make sure we have extra lying around for me to work with or for additional sketches/refinement. In a lot of cases with max budgets I don't end up using them, but they make everything very cozy

Contact Info:

Telegram: Maneframe
Discord: Maneframe#5725
email: maneframe.art[at]gmail.com

SLOTS:

1. - open -

2. - open -

3. - open -

4. - open -

5. - open -


- <3 Mane

Telegram FINALLY added the ability to view public channels without an account, so now any and all of your can take a peek through over 1000 image submissions, hundreds of which haven't been posted to FA, to see what I've been up to these last couple years.

A decent amount of these I'd like to get posted up eventually, but for now, the telegram channel is my most active platform and where I put absolutely -everything-

Check it out here~!

https://t.me/ManeframeArt

And thanks for taking a look~

- Maney

- Still going to therapy
- On a mix of Adderall (ADHD) and Trintellix (Antidepressant) that's working much better than my other med combos. I've been pretty stable on this one for a few months
- I've been making and accepting a lot of changes lately
- I'm starting to feel better
- Stuff is still a bit of a self-management struggle but I'm pissing away a lot less of my time compared to before
- Commissions are still rolling in regularly
- I just don't post anything >.>

as usual, I have several hundred unposted sketches and pieces available on my telegram channel (it's just easier and faster to drag and drop there as opposed to anywhere else: https://t.me/ManeframeArt

My recent piece has some announcements in it if you wanted to check that out

Updates about what you guys can expect from me in the near future:

- I still wanna get into the habit of posting to FA and probably twitter regularly. I've downloaded postybirb to make things easier on myself. that's the hope, at least.
- I've thought about accepting on help from someone with more freetime / motivation to make posts for me, but I don't know if I trust too many people with my account info, and the ones I would are definitely too busy to consistently burden. is.. that a common practice or am I just fuckin lazy? I think I might be lazy
- I want to move my business towards a few things: Character design, adoptables, asset/object + Environment concepts, digital sculpts/high-poly models, and continue to offer pinups and illustrations. I'd like to theme some more of my work in sci-fi/cyberpunk directions, as well as fantasy RPG stuff. It's my belief that you only get commissioned for what you post. I get more commission requests than I can fulfill at the moment, so I'm looking into policies that will encourage hedging projects in the direction that I prefer to work/theme.
- You'll occasionally be seeing more sexual content from me than before, but I'd like to keep it limited, so I won't be accepting too many porny commissions, and I may up-charge for them or be pickier about the content than I usually would.
- I wanna have a stronger social presence here. I keep ignoring looking at friend's work and other artists I look up to because it's been hard for me to keep up with everything. I still dedicate several hours a day to trying to work on myself, and I get easily sidetracked and lose a lot of time on distractions. I've been particularly stuck on time management for a while now, it's a very difficult skill for me to get a handle on

Anyways. I wanna let you guys know that I really appreciate all of you, and I really love seeing your comments. I still check FA daily for new ones~ I'm very chatty and glad to hear from yah. It's easy for me to isolate xP

I do stream decently regularly as well: https://picarto.tv/Maneframe

TL;DR: I'm definitely not dead, I'm still working fulltime, I just haven't been very active outside of telegram or picarto

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/29127452/

I've opened up some impressionist themed commission slots! $65 USD (and a couple other options), Check link above n-n The slots and info are all listed there

There's like 40 of you I haven't thanked yet. Been a little extra busy the past couple weeks. But welcome! Always good to have more around

if anyone needs to contact me for a commission or anything, feel free

Telegram: Maneframe

Hey all, I've been wanting to write another journal for a while

I'm not doing so hot. I've mentioned it a few times before, but it's been a few years since I started being not-hot, but I'm realizing just how deep it all runs. Some quick bullet points:

- I got a new place
- I'm going to therapy regularly
- I'm learning a lot about myself and my depression
- I'm struggling financially to keep my head above water
- I have the work, but I feel so bad that I shut down and have trouble doing it
- I'm thinking of streaming regularly again and doing small in stream commissions
- I may be getting on ADHD meds soon, which will hopefully be a boon
- I'm considering getting a part time job. I don't want to, but I haven't been mustering the strength to support myself with art alone

I've been meaning to post here more often, I just kinda keep neglecting it. I post everything I do on my telegram channel: https://t.me/ManeframeArt

I always appreciate everyone's patience. Comments on anything always make me feel good, I love hearing from yall.

Hey all!

I've been wanting to get back into the habit of consistently posting and hanging around FA more. Here's some life updates:

- My tendinosis no longer keeps me from drawing, but I have to take extra care of my hand
- A couple months ago I got onto new meds that have been working really well for me
- I started therapy and that's also been going well for me
- I moved into a new apartment, which has been stressful in a couple ways I didn't expect, but I'm getting by
- My work on the Roarbeast Dragon Avatar for Second Life is progressing well, and I'm excited that we're getting pretty far through the project
- My finances are doing a lot better, but I'm still cutting things close because of the increased costs of living here as opposed to bumming at my parent's place (it's a very toxic situation that's very unhealthy for me to be around)

So hopefully you'll be seeing more of me soon! I'm still alive and well. I've been consistently working on art. Most of what I post goes on my telegram channel, for any of those that are interested in looking. there's a little bit of NSFW on it, mature warning: https://t.me/ManeframeArt

Thanks for sticking around and understanding n-n

Thanks so much guys~! <3 Four figures! wow o: I've really enjoyed my time here so far, and I've made a ton of amazing friends. I look forward to spending a lot more time in the community~ <3

Also, where did the new like 30 people come from today? o: did someone do a shoutout somewhere that I didn't see? o:

Thanks again so much!

- Maney

! - Take care of your damn hands - !

I've made a journal about this before but I'd like to make something with more clarification and information. A year ago I started to get pains in my drawing hand, up through the backs of my fingers. They were pretty hefty pains that basically came out of nowhere. If I kept my hand still, it felt fine. But if I tried to draw or use my mouse, there was a constant dull pain, and it would worsen as I used my hand, and would grow into feeling like someone smashed the insides of my hand with a hammer. Not a fun time. So I gave it like a week and it didn't get better. Doctor visits, online research, and a few purchases later, I learned that I had some form of RSI (Repetitive strain injury) in the tendons in my hand. There's tendinosis and tendinitis, and I wasn't sure which I had at the time. For those who don't know: Your hand is mostly made of tendons, not muscles. The muscles run through your arm and connect to them. Tendons take about as long to heal as bone. So injuring one sucks complete freakin' ass.

Luckily, most of the treatments for all of these types of injuries are pretty similar and it's easy to get ahold of things to help. Equipped with stretching routines, an arm brace for sleeping, a new mouse, and some finger extension exerciser bands, and a month off of art, I started my path to recovery. I did play games, but only with my left hand. After that month, I was able to start drawing, only an hour or two every few days. But I basically had to, because I didn't have any money left for bills, and drawing is my only income. I don't recommend this for people with depression. Just take care of your damn hand, if you rely on that thing to keep you from dying, losing your ability to use it is confidently crushing.

Well after 3-4 months of pain, and it hadn't decreased much, I looked more into treatments for tendinosis, since it seemed to match my symptoms better.  carrot , Bless their heart, reached out to me and shared some of their experience with their own pain, though in a different spot, and how they used to handle it. Paired with some research, I started a routine or working out my hand with careful attention to a process called eccentric loading. Which is when you lower a weight slowly after lifting it, to make sure the muscles never actually stop lifting it and go lax. I found immediate solace through this method. I couldn't find a workout for where my hand hurt, so I made up my own, filled my backpack with books, and lifted it, and modified what I was doing until only the spots that hurt lifted up the weight. After doing this, every day, my pain would decrease to a sore numbness, and I was able to draw for longer. Stretching after the workout also helped decrease my pain. I was still very limited in the hours I could do, but it was working!

After 6 months and I still had pain, It was definitely tendinosis, which can take 6-12 months to heal while on a proper routine. Fast forward till now, I've slowly been able to work more and more. I can play games without pain now. I can draw without pain. But if I skip my exercise, I do have soreness come back. And if I don't stretch, I can feel my hand tense up and throb sometimes. But for the most part, I'm no longer limited in my hours.

I'm sharing all of this because I don't want other artists and gamers to have to go through what I did. It's horrible, and depressing, and very easily preventable. Stretching your hands regularly can help prevent a whole host of injuries, including different forms of RSI, Arthritis, and Carpal Tunnel.

If you have no idea how to do this, here's a good resource: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn7qUkydEHg

If you have soreness in your hand, especially a spot that's commonly sore after long hours of drawing, it's not too hard to come up with your own stretch, and totally viable. Just grab your fingers or hand and bend them around until you feel the sore spot stretch, don't pull it too far, and just hold it in a spot where you can feel it stretching for a good 10-20 seconds. It'll feel a little weird if you've never stretched before, but it'll help over time.

But seriously! Best to prevent this stuff before it happens.

I was going to thank everyone but my new watches are gone from my inbox? o: I must have bumped something. So thanks to the ones of you that followed in the past week! Welcome aboard :>

I have no idea where all you guys came from, but hey!

Out of curiosity, if any of you fresh eyes see this, how did you stumble across my work? o: Did someone post a shout-out somewhere?