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The-Bradshacalypse

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Assuming you're still here, you might be wondering where the hell I've been for the past couple of months. Allow me to explain. 

Believe it or not, but I've actually been trying to write up a journal entry explaining my lack of activity here for the past month or so. This is probably attempt #5 or #6. Every time I try, I feel like it might come across as sounding a bit condescending to the deviantART community, but I think I've finally found a way to say what I mean without sounding like a total dick. Maybe only, like, 1/3 a dick. And, as always, if you're reading this, chances are I'm not talking about you ;)

To be perfectly honest with you, I just don't like deviantART anymore. I don't feel like I resonate well with the community anymore, and I would wager that they don't resonate well with me, either. As I've gotten older, my taste in art has changed rather drastically (I mean, compare some of my older stuff with my newer stuff, you'll see it). However, it would seem deviantART, in the aggregate, has not matured at all. I feel increasingly like an old man amongst a sea of adolescents (which I would bet is the primary age group of this site anyway). The older I get and the more refined my sensibilities become, the more I cringe at a lot of the art here.  

Let me tell you what I mean... 

Back in the day (about a decade ago), when I joined this site, I was 16 years old, still in high school. I was into what you might expect a teenage geeky nerd to be into; anime, video games, comics, cartoons, etc., and that's what I drew mostly. And that's what everyone else drew, too, so I blended in fairly well with the rest of the site. As years passed, I got better and better at drawing these things, even learned to draw in different styles (which seemed to impress a lot of people). Then once I latched on to a certain popular craze at the time namely Pony, my "popularity", for lack of a better word, sky-rocketed to heights I'd never experienced before in my life. Well, relatively speaking, anyway. 

But after a while, I noticed things started to change... 

At this peak, I thought what better time to launch one of my own creations, rather than relying on drawing other properties all the time? This is when I started trying to focus more on creating my own something-or-others, such as Sir Dufius and the Knights of the Unnecessarily Trapezoid Table, Stone Punks, etc. I thought surely that with all of this newfound attention that some of that would bleed over into my original stuff. 

It didn't, of course... 

And this is where I first started to realize something was amiss. People seemed to really like my other stuff, why didn't they seem to care for my original stuff just as much? After all, it came from the same person, so why? 

So after a long while, well after completing my first episode of Stone Punks, I figured I'd start doing what I used to do, namely fan art, to see if I could garner a little more attention once again. This was about a year and a half ago or so. This time, however, my "style" had shifted from the bland, generic semi-realistic anime-ish style it was before to an all out cartoony style, which I thought people would enjoy because I enjoy it so much. I just assumed most everyone loved cartoons. 

Boy was I wrong! 

But why, though? Why was it that, despite my efforts of improving my technique and skill, refining my tastes and sensibilities, and just letting loose and having fun, none of that seemed to pay off? Even latching on to the popular trend of the time (namely Undertale) I could not garner nearly the amount of attention I got in the past. What was I doing wrong? For the longest time, I kept thinking it was my fault somehow, that I'm simply not nearly the artist I thought I was. But the more I really thought about it objectively, the more it didn't make any sense, until I began thinking... 

"Maybe it isn't just me?" 

So I began really looking at where I've been uploading most all of my artwork, namely deviantART and Newgrounds. With my more refined tastes, I looked at the artwork here and there, and found it much harder to find stuff I actually really liked, or thought was executed skillfully. I found so much stuff that was plagued with unnecessary busy details, or used every color of the rainbow in a gross medley of what ended up looking like unicorn vomit. Other stuff used colors so bright and jarring it almost literally hurts to look at. Some, the composition was so bad you couldn't tell what was even there without looking at it for a second. Even stuff that was supposed to be funny just came across as cringey or simply unfunny, some stuff not even having a proper punch line. Basically, what I'm saying is that perhaps I've been "casting pearls before swine", so to speak. Or, to put it a little nicer, casting artwork before those who find it unpalatable or who lack the capacity to appreciate it for whatever reason. 

Now I'm not for a second implying that I'm some pinnacle of artistic integrity or anything (I mean, just look at some of the stuff I draw), but I do think I've improved and refined enough to know what's decent and what's not. At least, as far as this community is concerned. And I'm not saying that everything here is bad, not at all. All I'm saying is that the vast majority of stuff here simply doesn't resonate with my sensibilities, which may explain why my stuff doesn't seem to resonate with the sensibilities of the rest of the community. This would also explain why my old stuff to this day still get's all the attention where as (save for my animated stuff) my more recent stuff is often completely overlooked and under-appreciated. 

It would seem to me that deviantART is primarily a place for younger, beginner artists to come together to make communities with other younger, beginner artists, to display their artwork to. And I don't mean that in a disparaging way, not at all. A platform like this is absolutely necessary for one to develop as an artist. But what if you develop beyond the beginner level? Should you still stick around? In a teaching capacity, perhaps, but for any other reason just feels awkward to me, like a college student still hanging out with high schoolers or something. 

In essence, what I'm trying to say is that I feel like I've outgrown deviantART. I don't feel like I fit in with the vast majority of the community here, and I'm sure they feel the same about me and my art, so why stick around? So from this point on, deviantART is no longer my Internet home as it's been for over a decade now. I'm moving on to other platforms, starting with Tumblr. I've noticed a lot of former dA artists moving there, makes me wonder if I should follow suite (and also if they came to the same conclusion I did). But if you're not willing to follow me wherever I may go, fret not, for I'll still upload stuff here, just not everything and not as often. I'm not saying I'm giving up my deviantART account entirely, just not making it my main place anymore. 

Also, I've decided never to announce what projects I'm working on ever again. I feel like it'd be better for you and me both if I just keep my mouth shut until I actually have something for you to see. That way, you'll be pleasantly surprised no matter what I do, and I won't have to feel guilty not delivering on something I said I would do but never got around to doing it. It's a win-win. Now I might drop little hints and clues here and there, or just let you know what I'm in the mood for, but as far as announcing some big project or anything, that habit's a relic of the past from this point onward, I hope.

Whew! Glad to finally get all that off my chest. Now then, ONWARD TO DOING STUFF!! 
:iconthekingplz:

Oh, and don't forget to follow me on Tumblr if you wish to continue following my doings and things. 

TL;DR Version- I don't get deviantART anymore, and deviantART doesn't seem to get me, either, so why am I still here? Moving to other platforms, starting with Tumblr. Also, I'm not announcing projects anymore, for your sake as well as mine. 
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What's up, everyentity? Just poppin' in to let you guys know I'm still existent. I know it's been a while since I've even so much as come up with a new stupid poll to divert your attention away from the fact that I haven't been uploading as much artwork as I properly should be. I apologize for the lack of visual stimuli, I've been in kind of a rut as of late, not really having the energy or motivation to do much of anything. BUT, being bipolar as I seem to be has it's perks, because that just means that this rut won't last forever. In fact, it's already showing signs of diminishing. If that keeps up, that means that *knocks on wood* I'll be a lot more active for a good while. 

So anyway, here's some things I've had on my mind for a while that I'd like to do. 

Firstly, I want to actually start getting Shadows of Wiccumshire off the ground. I'm sure you all are sick of me teasing this thing with pin-up after relatively static and boring pin-up of characters from this hypothetical comic and want the actual thing already. Believe me, so am I. Like I've mentioned some time in the past, I've got the basic outline of the first chapter done, and started thumbnailing the first few pages. Now's just a matter of sticking to it and getting it done, basically. 

Another thing I've been interested in doing is little animated vignettes or micro-mini-short shorts. Some would be little shots of silliness, like animated comic strips or something. Others would be these slow, contemplative little atmospheric pans across various landscapes and things accompanied by music. One idea in particular I had was to orchestrate the dungeon theme from the original NES Legend of Zelda and animate Link exploring one of those dungeons in a way reminiscent of a scene in Samurai Jack or something (what with it's slower pace and all). It'd only be about 15-20 seconds long or so, and have no real "punch line" or anything, just an atmospheric little vignette to please your eyes and ears. Figured it would be a good way to really work out my animation muscles and perhaps even get pretty swole at it.  

Speaking of animation, I've got a fresh new idea for a silly cartoon series (surprise, surprise...) involving pirates and shit, and I'm really starting to like it. I'll be uploading some artwork for it shortly. As for the main character, imagine you take the disparate likes of Tetra, Robin Hood, Bugs Bunny, Shantae, my own Sir Dufius, any given kleptomaniac, A bit of Stimpy and perhaps a pinch of Monkey D. Luffy, and throw them all in a blender and hit the puree button. If you disregard the bloody massacre you just caused, that's essentially this character in a nutshell. But enough about that for now, you'll see her in due time. Also, this isn't the only cartoon series idea I've got, oh no. There's plenty more where that one came from, and I'll reveal them later. There's no sense in keeping them secret anymore. 

And lastly, some miscellaneous things include doing more stupid cartoony drawings, some more Jojo-style stuff (very fun style to imitate), perhaps some more concept art for my other misc. projects like Voice o' the Fae, etc. I might even dabble more in music, too (which would go hand-in-hand with the previously mentioned animated shorts). I'm also really wanting to go to town on my less-than-adequate YouTube channel and start that video series that's like half a decade in the making at this point, as well as finally start that podcast, maaaaaybe continue that stupid Let's Play I started (if anyone fu*cking cares), etc. 

DISCLAIMER: I must reiterate that all of these are things I want to do. That doesn't mean that I absolutely will do any of these things, despite the fact that I certainly should. However, before you despair, there is a good chance I'll do at least one or two of these things, so there's that. 
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Hello everyone, I thought it would be a good idea to let you all in on what I've been up to recently (seeing as that's constantly changing and all), and explain why I haven't been as active as I have been earlier this year. 

One reason why I've not been as active here is because I've been active elsewhere- namely the "real" world. What I've been doing recently is making actual physical artwork for the purpose of selling around locally (and perhaps over the Internet at some point) at local art festivals, flea markets, coffee shops, etc. Just little decorative things people might like to hang on their walls or something. One idea I have to do but haven't quite started yet is making pixel-art mosaics. I figure people might like those, especially fellow video game geeks. Also doing pen and ink drawings and the occasional painting. At some point I want to do little clay figurines and things too when resources permit. Perhaps I'll even upload scans and pictures of the things I make here. 

So that's been my main focus as of late because I figured that's probably my only real hope of making any sort of living doing what I'm best at. So far I've had absolutely no luck whatsoever pursuing Internet-related stuff like selling print comics, T-shirt designs, etc. so I've shifted my focus onto meat-space. Maybe I'll have a slightly better chance there. 

But while I'm doing all of that, I want to try some other stuff, too. I want to do more animated stuff, perhaps even make an animated short at some point. I've got a few ideas for some, and would like to try them out sometime in the (hopefully) near future. I've also got an embryonic idea gestating in my brain of a series of videos or perhaps even a whole YouTube channel that serves as a kind of resource for creative people, particularly storytellers. There would be videos ranging from practical advice like art tutorials to deeper philosophical discourses on the very nature of art itself, of storytelling, etc. What is art? What is the Imagination? Why are these things so important? Where do ideas come from? What even are ideas? You get the idea. 

Also, you may have notice I've started yet another video game project, this one called Voice o' the Fae

Voice o' the Fae - Character Concept Art by The-Bradshacalypse  Voice o' the Fae - Concept Art 2 by The-Bradshacalypse 
Now you might be wondering what about Shadows of Wiccumshire? Well, the reason I've made the switch is because for one, SoW was taking far too long to get anything done. The standing sprites of the main character alone took several hours in that hand drawn style. It would've taken absolutely forever just to draw up all the graphics, let alone spending all the time to learn to code the damn thing. What makes this one different, though, is that firstly the graphics are gonna be simple 16-bit style pixel-art (think ALttP meets EarthBound or MOTHER 3), and secondly, I'm not even going to concretize a plot, items, locations, etc. until I've developed a few game mechanics. In other words, I'm going to make the game before I even really work on the story. That way, I don't accidentally make a story that calls for game mechanics I can't pull off (like I did with SoW...). So basically, this game is just going to be a project for me to practice designing simple video games. 

And, of course, I'll still be doing some more silly cartoon drawings and whatnot here and there, but perhaps not at the same rate as I was before. And I might even dabble more into music as well. 

So anyway, these are the things that are on my mind at the moment. That doesn't mean any of these are things I will do for absolute certain, nor does it mean I won't change my mind at some point. If you've been following me for any given length of time I'm sure you already know that. These are just things I'm interested in doing at the moment. 
 
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Hello everyone. Sorry I haven't done anything for the past three or four weeks or so. I've found myself in something of a slump and not feeling quite myself lately. I had gotten into one of those moods where everything I tried to draw kept looking like crap. I have been trying to do stuff, but just wasn't satisfied with any of them. 

I think I'm finally starting to slowly come out of this slump, though, so I should get back to uploading stuff pretty soon. 

It's weird. It's almost like my psyche cocooned itself earlier this month (or possibly before), and is just now starting to emerge, refreshed and renewed. I'm starting to feel better than I have in a long time. You remember that sort of excitement about the future and the world around you that you felt as a kid that gets almost entirely dissolved during adolescence? Well, I'm 25, so I haven't felt that for a good solid 10-13 years or so until I started getting little hints of it just very recently. I see that as a good sign. If this trend keeps up (and I hope to God it does), I'm sure to become more productive and creative than I've ever been before. I'm convinced that one must first feel good before they can really do good... as far as art goes, anyway. 

Now, to get to doing something! 
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So, fairly recently I stumbled upon this little website called TeePublic.com, which lets artists submit designs for T-shirts, art prints, and iPhone cases. And, unlike CafePress (which is what I've dabbled with in the past), they actually allow artists to upload just about anything as long as it's the artists' original work, including designs based on other things (which really is the only stuff that has any hopes of selling at all). I rather liked the idea of doing T-shirt designs again, especially without the extreme limitations of CafePress, so I decided to open up a shop there

Welcome to the Bradshavian TeePublic Store!

Here's a list of all the designs that are available so far: 

Mature Content

Glimpse into the Mycosphere by The-Bradshacalypse
  Eye of Horus - ReDesign by The-Bradshacalypse  Three Virtues - ReDesign by The-Bradshacalypse  Secret to Everybody - ReDesign by The-Bradshacalypse  Potato- World's Dumbest Fruit -- Design by The-Bradshacalypse  Navi the Fairy by The-Bradshacalypse  Tatl the Fairy by The-Bradshacalypse 

It's not much, and most of these are either touched-up versions of older designs or other artwork retooled to fit on a T-shirt, but I've got a lot more ideas for designs and art prints and things and intend to manifest them onto the corporeal plane, so keep a look out for those. If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears.  
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