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CalamityKangaroo

Chris Vanderford
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Hi, folks! I've finally adjusted my pricing from being stuck in the 90's to being more in line with the 2020's. (Only took me a couple of decades.) I also simplified it a bit, just to make things clearer and easier.


And it's just in time for Christmas, too! If you'd like a piece of art to give to a friend or loved one as a gift, now is the time. It's going to be first come, first served; so if you want something in time for the Yuletide, sooner is better than later. In fact, I'll need any Christmas orders in by Dec 15th to be sure I have enough time to draw them. I'll cut it off at that date, or possibly before if my list fills up enough. Like I said, sooner is better.

If you'd like something, but don't need it by Christmas, I'm still going to keep commissions open through the end of December, too.

Commissions Open!

If you're interested, please send me a Note. The chat feature is nice, but it only notifies me if I'm on dA, which I'm usually not. If you send me a note, it'll ping my tablet, so I'm more likely to respond in a timely manner.

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---Update---

October has come and gone, and so too has this chunk of commissions. I still need to decide on the new prices, so commissions are closed until then. I hope to have the new prices up soon, so I can re-open commissions for the holidays.

----------------------------------------

That's right, folks; I'm not dead yet! I've just been busy, and DA's sadly a bit of a pain to use since Eclipse doesn't play nice with my computer. Go fig. Anyway, I'm going to have to raise my commission prices soon, so I figured I'd open up commissions and give everyone one last crack at the lower rates; so grab 'em now while you can! I'm not going to limit the number of slots this time; it'll be first come, first served, and I'll just cut it off when I feel like I have enough. I'll be raising my prices at the end of October for the holiday season, so you've got until then to hop aboard the cheap train! If you're interested, just shoot me a note and we'll work out the particulars.

Commissions Open!

(Also, if you see this Journal, let me know how easy/hard it was to find, since the new format might bury stuff, and let me know if you think I'd have better luck making a deviation out of this, or posting it in the status thingy, or whatnot.)

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This is it folks... The last few hours of dA. Every time I've talked about this before, I get people in the comments begging me not to leave... So, for the umpteen-bajillionth-and-a-half time, I am NOT leaving. I'm not going anywhere, I'm staying put. It's dA that's leaving... Eclipse is not dA, it's replacing dA. It's its own thing, and will have to live or die, succeed or fail, on it's own merit... And only time will tell. But DeviantArt's time is clearly at its end. And so, to say a final, fond farewell to this site that has meant so much to so many of us for so long, I thought it would be only fitting to revisit and update the Decade Retrospectus I posted just a year or so back. If you don't want to read it all again, the new stuff starts at 2019.

~ [originally written August 29th, 2018] ~

According to that nifty little bar at the top of my DeviantArt page, I've been on here for ten years now. It was this month waaay back in 2008 that first I sojourned into this vast artistic landscape called DeviantArt, full of majestic, high mountains and lofty towers... and also deep, dark dungeons no mortal should ever dare enter... And it's been quite the journey ever since. DA was the first site I ever started posting artwork publicly on the internet. (I had shared some on sites such as Myspace, back when that was a thing, but only my friends could see it.) Looking back, DA marked the beginning of my artwork and cartoonery becoming an actual career. So, I thought it might be fun to look back into my gallery and take a look at how I got from there to here, and how far I've come...

2008: The Beginning

Calamity Kangaroo by CalamityKangaroo Kaitlin Kangaroo by CalamityKangaroo The Barron by CalamityKangaroo Croc by CalamityKangaroo Professor Platypus by CalamityKangaroo
These were the first pictures I ever uploaded to DA. They were supposed to be introductory profiles for my characters. They're also proof that I too look back on some older work and cringe. All the basic parts are there, but the proportions are wonky, and lack a certain dynamic, organic quality. It doesn't help that back then, I did most of my digital work in a vector program, and not even a particularly good one. It was PowerPoint. Yes, that's right. I did vector art in PowerPoint.

My hand-drawn art at the time was still very rough as well, and I wasn't very good with a stylus yet, either...
Calamity Kangaroo Desktop by CalamityKangaroo
Looking back, the eyes seem too small, and his ears and muzzle are too big... And the lines have all the wobbliness of Charles Schultz with none of the accompanying charm he got out of it. But enough critique for now. Had to start somewhere, right?

iProf by CalamityKangaroo
Do you remember those iPod ads where they used silhouettes? I remember Walkmans. Now iPods are even obsolete, thanks to everyone's fancy-schmancy phones. One thing that hasn't changed over the years though, is that I can't resist a good parody.

Helping Hand by CalamityKangaroo      Stormy Waters by CalamityKangaroo
During this time, a longtime friend of mine was going through some troubles, and I drew a few pictures to encourage her. I've long since forgotten what those troubles were, but these remain as probably the best stuff I produced at the time. The boat one still holds up fairly well, and I'm still pleased with how the waves turned out. The terrain on the first is pretty solid as well, but some of the shading, especially on the characters, still needed work. I should probably re-do that one at some point, because it's kind of sweet. (If ever I can find the time.)

kangaroo-kathy and ixzidian2031 were my very first watchers. (They both happened around the same time, so I don't remember which one was technically "first.") ixzidian2031 was the first person ever to comment or interact with me at all. I went on to get a lot of positive feedback from a lot of people, and so I stuck around...

2008-2009: Animation Aspirations

Big Words by CalamityKangaroo
This was the first comic I ever posted to DA. It was however, far from my first comic. I had been drawing comics with these characters since middle school, and had other characters ranging from dinosaurs to an overall-clad rabbit that I had drawn comics of dating back to before elementary school. I believe I may even still have some of those buried away in a box somewhere. I'd scan some to show you, but don't feel like digging, and I've misplaced my shovel.

Calamity Gripes at the Buzzard by CalamityKangaroo
Comics are great, but the plan was to do animated cartoons someday... Still is. It always has been. 20-year-old me was still a bit naive about what all that entailed, though. Sure, a single guy can pump out crude flash animations on a regular basis, but to hit the quality standard of the Golden and Silver Age cartoons I grew up with was too big a job for just one person. 20-year-old me wasn't aware of that yet, so he played around with it for a bit. It was through these excursions that I began to understand what an undertaking it would truly be...

Buzzard Bait Title Card by CalamityKangaroo   Chompers Title Card by CalamityKangaroo Noir Nonsense Title Card by CalamityKangaroo
I created title cards and wrote scripts, and even did some recording and storyboards. What little animation I did do proved far more involved and time-consuming than I had anticipated. I gained a little perspective...

Also, thanks to that "Noir Nonsense" title card, I also gained a good friend. I got involved in a conversation with an interesting gal in the comments regarding Humphrey Bogart, fedoras, and old movies. Her name was Jenan, better known 'round these parts as TheJenjineer, and thus was forged a friendship that has spanned all these years, two continents, and an ocean. It's ironic that she's gone on to become one of my closest friends, despite being literally the farthest. Being a cartoonist, I appreciate the irony.

Professor Platypus in 3D by CalamityKangaroo  The Barron in 3D by CalamityKangaroo
My cousin, at the time, was playing around with modelling and 3D animation, and so he got me to try a program called Blender. I made a couple of 3D models of my more simplistic characters, and we even played with the idea of making a game. But alas, neither of us had the coding knowledge necessary to make a game actually function, so that never went anywhere...

2009: Improvement

Buzzard Bother by CalamityKangaroo  I Lose More Hats That Way... by CalamityKangaroo  Invasion! Title Card by CalamityKangaroo
People always ask me how to improve in art, and I always tell them "practice." Time and experience are the best teachers. Sometimes, it helps to try something new. Sometimes, it helps to go back to basics. Sometimes, it helps to do both at the same time. Vector is nice for getting perfect curves and linework, and is also helpful for comics and animation because you can edit and re-use assets over and over. But it was still missing something. I had gotten better with proportions and construction in my hand-drawn work, and it was time to parley that into the digital realm.

I began taking photos of my pencil sketches (I didn't yet have a scanner at the time) and I would import them into PowerPoint and ink/trace over it. (Up to that point, I had essentially "drawn" it from brain-to-screen in vector.) The result, as you can see above, was much more solid characters. I also began using Photoshop more often to add or tweak things I couldn't do in vector...

Mad Genius by CalamityKangaroo Random Characters pt1 by CalamityKangaroo Gone Fishin' by CalamityKangaroo
As my Photoshop skills improved, I found that it was just easier to draw directly in that. Gone were the wobbly lines of before. I'd gotten the hang of my stylus tablet much better. And my linework, whether solid or sketchy, seemed to have more life in it. And so I began transitioning more and more to Photoshop.

As my abilities were improving, I also had the pleasure of meeting Febilian (Ephriokko at the time), a budding artist to whom I was able to pass on some of what I'd learned; doing what others had done for me, and thus "completing the circle"... yadda, yadda... "Circle of Life"... something... Mufasa...

SteamPunk'd by CalamityKangaroo
Also in 2009, we met our then-unnamed steampunk heroine, Gidget. Unbeknownst to anyone at the time, she would go on from an interesting character design to a recurring off-and-on side-project.

2008-2009 seems like a particularly prolific time period for me. Part of that is because a good chunk of it was stuff I had done prior to hopping on DA. One thing's for sure though; it was a very formative part of my artistic journey.

2010: Community & Growth

Lesser Known History... by CalamityKangaroo  Brain Blast by CalamityKangaroo 
With the support and additional inspiration provided by fellow artists and friends like TheJenjineer, Thyloguy, BluebottleFlyer, and Febilian, I continued to experiment with new things and work on my freehand digital work. Having other artists to talk to, bounce ideas off of, and find inspiration from, helped both me and my art to mature.

Clockwerk Armour by CalamityKangaroo  The Kingdom of Boredom by CalamityKangaroo
Looking back now, TheJenjineer seemed to have the most influence on my art at the time. Her adorable and/or whimsical work sparked my imagination quite a bit, and I found ways to incorporate that into my cartoonier style.

Sonic Zoom by CalamityKangaroo
It was 'round about this time that I also outed myself as a Sonic "fan". Like most of us artistical types, I draw characters and pictures from various things I like; like Looney Tunes, Animaniacs, and yes, even Sonic. I had been reluctant to share the latter however, because of the stigma surrounding "Sonic Fan-Artists", especially towards people on this site. I finally got to the point however, that I was comfortable enough with you folks, and I thought I had a substantial and varied enough backlog, that I could avoid being pigeon-holed. Also, the picture was just really cool. Since then, the occasional Sonic art has been good for blowing off steam.

Dialogue Test Animation by CalamityKangaroo  Five-Finger Discount by CalamityKangaroo
Meanwhile, still toying with animation, I got my friend Nicole to start doing voice work for Kaitlin, and played around with pencil tests. No vectors, no shortcuts... Drawn frame by frame. This is around the time I realized just how hard and time-consuming proper animation can be.

French Trail Mix by CalamityKangaroo
Finally, this strip was my last major vector piece. Like before, I drew it freehand and then did ink/paint in PowerPoint. I still use vectors sometimes, but it's usually either for things like icons, or for geometric backgrounds that require a lot of straight lines or angles. I will also use vector on occasion if someone wants something to be easily resizable or if it's a web asset. But nowadays I work almost entirely in Photoshop or on the page.

2011: Blowing Off Steam

Gidget Part the 1st Cover by CalamityKangaroo  Gidget Page 1-12 by CalamityKangaroo
In 2011, burnt-out on animation and looking for something to get my creative juices flowing again, I began work on my side-project with Gidget. The comic took up a large portion of the year, and was a refreshing break from "the usual." Knowing next-to-nothing about the "steampunk" genre going in made it a fun and interesting experience. The comic ground to a halt on a bit of a cliffhanger, sadly, as I became more involved in other projects again. She's still stuck around though, and been a fan-favorite ever since. I'd like to revisit it eventually, though not necessarily in comic form. I think it would be cool to make a game out of it someday, because I think the storyline I had envisioned for her would work well for something like that.

Nuts 'n' Bolts by CalamityKangaroo  Nuts 'n' Bolts Colored by TheJenjineer
Similarly-themed, we had a fun little coloring contest based around my two mechanically-inclined characters, which TheJenjineer won. (My biases aside, she won by vote. She really is just that good.)

Behold the Wizthard! by CalamityKangaroo
If "The Looney Tunes Show" gave us nothing else, it gave us this... And that alone makes it all worth it.

Brochure Cover by CalamityKangaroo
And finally, a brochure cover I did for a youth camp, containing what's probably my best vector work. Compare this thing to the stuff at the top of the page to see how much of a difference there really is.

2012: Changes

Fight for Right by CalamityKangaroo  Fighting Fate by CalamityKangaroo
2012 was a rocky time for me. Lots of personal turmoil. I draw Sonic stuff when I'm moody. I think it's because, out of all the cartoony stuff I like, Sonic more often explores deeper themes than comedy cartoons tend to. I also try out new things like rain or glowy effects; Sonic = experiment time. I often learn things that I can take away and use elsewhere.

Kaitlin Dialogue Animation Final by CalamityKangaroo
I finally finished and polished up this animation, which took me a couple of weeks. That translates to one second of animation a week. I did the math, and that's when I finally figured out it was unfeasible for me to produce a full-quality animated short myself. I was going to have to create or join a studio. In the meantime, comics were something I could do solo...

2013: Dungeons and Doorknobs
The world was supposed to end in 2012, but it didn't. Silly Mayans.
Mosaic by CalamityKangaroo
(Mayan relief depicting the end of the world. Found in the ruins of Tikal, circa 527 BC.)

Dungeons and Doorknobs: Dragon Ride by CalamityKangaroo
On the heels of a rather crummy year, and after my realization about the futility of animating solo, I decided to change gears and re-focus on comics, which I could do myself. Adapted from what was originally an idea for a short, "Dungeons & Doorknobs" seemed like the perfect candidate for the comic strip treatment. Thanks to the density of comedic moments, it was easy to find punchlines to break it down into strips at. Also, my previous experience telling an ongoing story with Gidget helped me translate a short into a "gag-a-day" (more like gag-a-week) format story arc. Things went well, and it got a great response. Snaub the "Proper Dragon" became an instant hit.

Valentine's Day 1 by CalamityKangaroo Movie Monsters by CalamityKangaroo
"Dungeons & Doorknobs" took up pretty much the whole year, along with a few other holiday-related comics. 2013 wasn't just a shift of gears, but the beginning of really buckling down and getting serious about things.

2014: Becoming a Con Artist

Lineup by CalamityKangaroo
Back in the summer of 2013, I tagged along with a friend of mine to my first ever comic convention. I knew of artists who went to these things, and decided to see what it was all about. Visiting Artist's Alley, there was of course lots of superhero and anime stuff, neither of which is really my bag. But then I saw booths like willterrell's and Thomas Clemmons' with more cartooney stuff, and I knew it was something I needed to try. I went to a small mini-convention in a local comic shop in February of 2014 to test the waters, and things went wonderfully. I even met my now-close friend and convention cohort Kim Conley that day. (She's the one who needed the eye surgery you all so graciously helped her with.)

Darkwing Duck by CalamityKangaroo Failure is Always an Option by CalamityKangaroo Pinky and the Brain by CalamityKangaroo
I spent most of the year producing content and preparing for the conventions. I drew up all sorts of things, which made 2014 very productive, though not necessarily on the comic front...

Dungeons and Doorknobs Cover by CalamityKangaroo
I did however put to print my "Dungeons & Doorknobs" comic in book form to have available for the conventions as well. All the conventionry was great for meeting tons of people and getting my work out there, and was a huge step to becoming a more "professional" professional artist.

2015: Commissions & Patreon

Tasmanian Devil by CalamityKangaroo Marvin the Martian by CalamityKangaroo
After beginning the convention circuit, and also realizing that people were willing to pay me more than I thought for my silly pictures, I wound up doing a lot more commission work thanks to the exposure. I began re-focusing my online presence more toward places like Facebook that reach a much bigger and varied audience. Sadly, that meant less activity on DA, as well as less in the way of comics.

Pauper by CalamityKangaroo
Near the end of the year, I discovered Patreon, and decided that might be a good way to supplement my income so I could cut back on my commissions and have more time to start doing comics again. Ever since the success of "Dungeons and Doorknobs" I had wanted to keep it up, but other business had kept me from it. So, I began preparing for a Patreon launch early the next year.

2016: Stranded!

Stranded! 4 by CalamityKangaroo  Stranded! 10 by CalamityKangaroo
Optimistic with my Patreon launch at the start of the year, I put aside and closed all commissions and went back to my comics, marooning Calamity, the Professor, and resident pilot the Barron on a small desert island to fend for themselves. Prof. Platypus' sanity slippage, lampooning "Lord of the Flies", "Lost", and "Castaway" all simultaneously, brought in some good laughs. "Survivor" and "Gilligan's Island" failed to escape unscathed, either. And neither did our heroes, even though they were there for a grand total of a day and a half...

Ariel by CalamityKangaroo  SuperSonic by CalamityKangaroo  Darkwing vs. Underdog by CalamityKangaroo
I had also improved vastly in my shading abilities with some fancier artwork produced for cons. Again, compare the shading on these pieces to the stuff at the top of the page...

2017: Mindcraft & The Candidating Game

The Candidating Game Pt.4 by CalamityKangaroo
Groucho Marx once said, "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." Politics is always crummy, but never in my lifetime had it been crummier than the mess that was 2016. And who better to completely eviscerate the whole ordeal than Croc? Funnily enough, this idea existed long before the 2016 election, inspired loosely by the Bugs Bunny/Yosemite Sam short "Ballot Box Bunny" and my own observations about the utter uselessness of politicians on both sides. The timing was just too perfect not to pull it off the back-burner and use it to lambast the whole thing.

Mindcraft Pt.1 by CalamityKangaroo
Realizing that my send-up of political nonsense might have been a bit too on-the-nose for the time, I decided to go a lighter and much sillier direction with "Mindcraft". The first strip was a re-do of one of those old stand-alone strips I mentioned doing way back in middle/high school. I decided to take it to the Nth degree by having Prof. Platypus' little trick backfire terribly and spend the rest of the arc trying to convince her she doesn't really have powers. I wasn't sure just how to end it, and I didn't come up with the role-reversal trickery idea until about halfway through, which gave me the excuse to have her actually start "manifesting" her powers despite the fact she doesn't and was never supposed to have any such powers in-universe. The trick ending seemed to really tickle people and make the whole thing funnier in hindsight.
Put 'Em Up by CalamityKangaroo
Gidget also made a few more appearances in 2017, in both a train "sculpture" and this picture, that I was very pleased with. I tried a couple of new techniques, and I also figured out how to make a Photoshop document have a transparent background. (Long story short, I have an old version that doesn't allow transparent backgrounds. But, if you leave the background layer "off" and save the PSD, you can upload that to sta.sh and it will generate a PNG "preview" image with transparency that you can then just save directly. It was circuitous, but it worked. (I've since upgraded to CSP, which can just save that way by default.))

CalamityKangaroo Contest Entry: Gidget's Gadget by 3FangsPirate Gidget by TheJenjineer
Gidget also showed up in both the winning submissions in what became the fun and surprisingly popular Sketch-Finishing Contest that year, submitted by 3Fangs and TheJenjineer respectively. (Again, votes.) I'm still working on collecting enough sketches for a round two on that one. The two of them also gave me the opportunity to voice the lead male character in their podcast "Saffron and Peri" as well as various other characters, including a goblin, a mad scientist, and a space pirate. Fun times...

2018: New Venues

The Barron's Hangar by CalamityKangaroo  Professor Platypus' Lab by CalamityKangaroo
This year's been pretty slight for DA so far. Things got very tight at the tail end of 2017; I'm a terrible salesman, so Patreon didn't work out like I'd hoped. All that time spent on comics, instead of commissions and other paying work, hurt the ol' pocketbook, so I've had to work double-time on commissions and for conventions. Additionally, I've spread myself out further on the ol' interwebs in order to try and reach more people. I've begun posting to webcomic sites like Webtoons and Tapas, as well as the continued development of my own website, which is functional, but as-yet unfinished. It's a lot to keep track of though, so it diminishes the time I have for DA. That's one reason I'm looking forward to getting the website fully finished, because it'll act as a hub of sorts that I can use to manage all the other stuff.
Outback Antics by CalamityKangaroo
I did manage to produce a few more one-off comics, before my comic production kind of petered-out entirely...

Extreme Makeover: Lab Edition by CalamityKangaroo  Party of None by CalamityKangaroo  Stargazing by CalamityKangaroo

I wouldn't say I've graduated beyond DA per se, but it's become just one of a multitude of platforms that I use to publish my work. This site will always hold a special place for me though, as it's where I started; and the encouragement and camaraderie of fellow artists, fans, and friends here have helped shape me into the artist... Nay, the person... I am today.
Some friends I've made, like TheJenjineer, I'm still close with to this day. Others, like Febilian or BluebottleFlyer I still talk to off and on, but nowhere near as much. And others... Others I hardly talk to at all, if they're even still on here. There are also constantly new fans and watchers I meet every day that I wish I knew better. A lot has changed in the past decade. We've all grown a bit older and wiser; not just as artists, but in life. I guess that's why they say art imitates life. Or is it the other way around? Either way...

2019: Working and Planning

Most of 2019 saw me working on a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff, that I sadly couldn't show here on DA. I've also been working off-and-on on the next OUTBACK adventure, which, rest assured, is still down the pipeline. I might even consider doing an Indiegogo to get that off the ground...
I also landed a major project designing the artwork for a card game, that was and still is eating up a huge chunk of my time. Of course, since it's a job and still a work in progress, I sadly can't share any of that currently, either, but I'm looking forward to being able to share it when it comes out.


I did take the opportunity to do a little work on my YouTube channel, since I finally figured out how to screen-record without it eating up all the memory and processing power I need to draw properly. Still no luck in streaming, but it's a step in the right direction, at least.

Jeepers by CalamityKangaroo
The back half of the year was a lot more productive for DA... After drawing a couple of comic covers, I finally transitioned from Photoshop to Clip Studio Paint; a far better tool for my purposes. In order to learn and get the hang of it, I finally took on the age-old challenge of Inktober. (Which became Inktovember for me, because it took me longer... Thank goodness it didn't run into December, because "Inktovecember" just sounds clunky and ridiculous.) It was a lot of fun, and really helped me to push myself.
Hallowe'en Gidget by CalamityKangaroo  Yuletide Gidget by CalamityKangaroo
I also drew up a couple of holiday-themed pictures with Gidget, but that was about it for 2019.

2020: The End.
Hoo, boy... Where to begin?
2020 started out as most new years do, full of hope and potential for the year. It wasn't just a new year, but a new decade... The chance for a fresh start, and a second "roarin' twenties" to swing into.


  Then, in early February, my Dad's already-severe mental condition worsened.
The rest of the month would be spent in-and-out of the hospital,
and when the month ended, so too did his time on this Earth.



Take a Chill Pill by CalamityKangaroo
In the aftermath and uncertainty of all that, Corona hit, and the world went mad. Now on a shoestring budget after my Dad's passing, and the costs associated with that, the basic essentials we needed to rely on to merely subsist were all snapped up by panic-buyers all hoarding for some perceived apocalypse. I work from home and am a bit of a hermit; quarantine means nothing to me... But things were now tough anyway for other reasons entirely.

Springing Into Action by CalamityKangaroo
April was looking up. Things were settling down, hardships waning, and everything finally in order and taken care of regarding my Dad's passing. Sure, we were all still shut in from the virus, but like I said, that didn't effect me too much. It gave me the opportunity to relax and decompress a bit from the mess that had been the last few months...

Goth Gidget by CalamityKangaroo
And then, the news of Eclipse and DA's final days hit. Great. Fantastic... Just what I needed right now. Thanks.

-----

...And so, it all comes to this. We stand at a precipice; the vast unknown stretching out before us, and all that is old and familiar left far behind. Thus ends this chapter of our story, as all things must. Nothing lasts forever; all things, both good and bad, must eventually come to an end... such is the way of things.
But, just because a chapter ends, does not mean that the story is over. We must all turn the page and read on, in order to see what happens next. Regardless of what is to come, be it good or bad, the future is yet unwritten. And whatever circumstances may come our way, our future is what we choose to make of it.

Farewell, DeviantArt.
I tip my hat to you, and thank you for giving me my start, for all the opportunities you've brought me along the way, and for all the kind and wonderful friends I've met over the years that I would never have met otherwise.
It's been one heckuva ride.Cheers with Champagne Emoticon
  ~ Chris Vanderford


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Y'know, fun fact: In ancient times, an eclipse was often seen as a bad omen or a portent of ill things to come...
...Just something interesting to ponder.
Ctrl+Z by CalamityKangaroo

Also, Gidget's back to normal now! I actually had some people concerned that I was serious about her goth redesign, despite the sarcasm disclaimer I put in the description. (Apparently a lot of people don't read what's in the parentheses, so ooh-ee-ooh-ah-ah, ting-tang walla-walla-bing-bang.) I had the idea to use her to personify ill-advised redesigns, at first in regard to dA, but ultimately taking a jab at so many of the current trends in redesigning beloved and iconic characters. And, like any good piece of satire, it seems it was mistaken by some for the real deal. Ultimately, though, it's nice to know that people have grown attached to her enough that they objected to the prospect, however sardonic it may have been. You always want your characters to connect to people, after all. Also, it was kind of fun to come up with the goth design, because that's very much not my thing. It's kind of ironic, because when I first designed Gidget, it was also a learning experience about the whole steampunk thing that I knew very little about at the time. Steampunk has grown on me. Goth... eeh, not so much. It was a fun excuse to experiment, though.

But, enough about that! It's time to revisit the Eclipse situation and my further plans. I have two Major Announcements:

1) You can now sign up for my Email Newsletter!
If you really want to keep up with my art, I implore you to sign up! In an uncertain sea of social media currents, this is the only way you can be absolutely sure not to miss anything I create or post. I plan on doing a monthly update to make sure you good folks know what I've been up to. It'll also give me the opportunity to show off some of my works-in-progress that you typically don't get to see. I've been very busy lately, but I haven't really had much to show for it because so much of it is still unfinished. I'll also probably start sending out smaller individual email updates whenever I start uploading comics on a regular basis again.

2) I am officially opening up my Discord Server to the public! dA's biggest advantage to me is you folks; the wonderful community I've been able to connect to in my little corner of dA. Whether this site sinks or swims in the coming months, I encourage you all to hop on there so we can all stick together one way or another! Some of my good friends on here like TheJenjineer, 3Fangs, and Febilian are already there to welcome you and make you feel at home. Furthermore, there's a place for us all to post our awesome artwork, in various states of completion, so we can all enjoy it and encourage one another like we have here on dA for such a long time now. And, if you just like my art and want to hop in there to lurk and keep track of what I and my colleagues are up to, well, then that's just fine too! I really just want to foster a group with the same sort of creative camaraderie we've always had here on this site.

Finally, I have some thoughts, suggestions, and useful information I thought I'd share with you folks before the grave Eclipse and dark dawn. (Bonus points to anyone who gets the reference.)

In the days to come, I plan on downloading backups of all the art I've posted to dA. Over the years, lots of stuff has fallen through the cracks and gotten lost in the dustbin of time, and there's a fair amount on here that I don't have the original files for anymore. If you've been on here long enough to be in the same boat as me, I suggest you do the same. I've heard about some quality-loss issues with the new Eclipse, and I worry that might damage or corrupt the quality of the file you can download, too. And, unlikely as it may be, if the worst-case-scenario happens and the site folds entirely because of this, you wouldn't be able to access it anymore at all. It's always best to do your due diligence, and besides, it's just nice to have a backup anyway.

Another thing that might prove useful in the long-run, while you still can, is to take a few screenshots to document pre-Eclipse dA. That way, we'll all have it for reference in case Eclipse wants to try re-implementing some things after the fallout and they don't have their original source code for reference. (They're so bull-headed about this, I wouldn't put it past them to scrap the original code entirely once they switch.) Furthermore, in future "what features would you like us to add?" updates, we'll be able to pull them out for reference as well. Or even just to prove to someone new that, "Yeah, we did in fact used to be able to do that." Sort of a documentary time-capsule for posterity, if nothing else. Proof of what once was, like the pyramids at Giza, or the crumbling columns of the Colosseum.

Furthermore, a dedicated dA user has developed an addon that can be used to re-format Eclipse into a more palatable layout. It cannot, sadly, restore any missing functionality, but it can make what's there easier to navigate and digest. I plan on trying this when the new site rolls out, because as I said previously, I haven't the time to re-learn everything, and this seems like an okay bandage in the meantime. It's a telling state of affairs when an independent developer has to come up with a patch to make your professionally-designed website function properly and intuitively... But that's a tirade for a different time.

In addition to that, a few promising alternatives have emerged, one in the form of Artrise, and another in ArtSpacious:

Artrise, (which is apparently pronounced "Art Rise" and not "Artreese" like I originally thought) is an art website that's been in the works for awhile now. It takes a number of cues from normal dA, but seems to be even further customizable. The interface has a very crafty feel that screams "art" even more so than dA ever did, and it certainly doesn't scream "sleek postmodern minimalism." It's pretty far along, and they have a number of promising screenshots, but I wasn't able to find a concrete launch date, so only time will tell if it's a viable option.

ArtSpacious (which is apparently pronounced exactly how you think) is a newer endeavor put together by dA alum directly in answer to Eclipse. In addition to maintaining current functionality, they seek to implement improvements that the dA community has been requesting for some time to deaf ears. It's extremely ambitious, perhaps even too much so, as it seems they're vying to cram everything and the kitchen sink into it. This, coupled with the fact that it's a brand new project, makes me skeptical about it's ultimate viability. And if it does turn out to be a good option, it won't be for quite some time, as I'm sure it won't launch until well after ArtRise already has. I do admire their effort, though. This is what happens when you back a bunch of creative people into a corner... We create something. We're not like other social media communities that just have to swallow what they're given whether they like it or not. We're artists; outside-the-box thinkers. If you give us something we don't like, we'll just say "no thanks" and go figure out how to make our own the way we want.

As things develop, and if either of those options prove more comfortable to me, I'll probably hop over and shift more of my focus there. As I mentioned before, I'll not abandon dA/Eclipse... I just might move my headquarters elsewhere, while still maintaining Eclipse as an outpost. All of this, of course, is going to depend on how things shake out.

Finally, perusing the discourse surrounding this, I stumbled upon this article that I thought was very enlightening regarding our current situation. So often we get so focused on our own little corner of things that we forget about the bigger picture; none of this happens in a vacuum, after all. The modern internet zeitgeist is very contrary to the very foundations upon which dA was built; A world where quantity matters over quality, where stick-figure comics like "XCKD" or "Cyanide and Happiness" garner massive attention and following, while beautiful and far more time-intensive artwork falls by the wayside. The problem is with our internet consumption more so than with dA... They're desperately trying to be more relevant in that atmosphere by embracing the exact anti-art and anti-quality trends that have been hurting the site for awhile now; like hugging a cactus in hopes that it'll stop poking you. And ultimately... sadly... from what I gleaned from this article, specifically the end of it, is that if dA would just stick it out a bit longer, that very uniqueness that has it on the outs at the moment might actually prove to be it's saving-grace in regards to so many people getting burnt-out and feeling flooded by the never-ending feed that has become the internet for so many. Perhaps dA should double-down on what makes them different, rather than homogenizing in an effort to keep up with their "peers." (of which dA, as it currently exists, really has none.) Anyway, it's an interesting read, and provides some context that I feel makes the current direction, though I still might disagree with it, make more sense. In much the same way you might be able to figure out after the fact why you made a mistake, not justifying said mistake or making it any less so, but at least explaining it, and perhaps equipping you to avoid such mistakes in the future.

Anyway, that's all for now. It's ironic that, at least for me anyway, this Eclipse thing has actually made me more active on here than I have been recently... Just for none of the right reasons. I suppose it's true what they say about not realizing what you've got 'til it's gone... or in danger of going, anyway. After so many years here, it was always sort of just "there"... It gets easy to take things like that for granted. I intend to continue being more active on here right up until the 20th... To cram in as many things I've wanted to do but never got around to, and to milk as much as I can from this site that has been my art home for so long, and helped me launch my career. Nothing can take that away from me, and no amount of change or uncertainty can ever Eclipse it.

See you folks on Discord! And my first email newsletter will probably go out at the end of May, so keep an eye out for that, too!
  - Chris V.
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Wow. I just went back through my journal from the beginning of the year for this... Oh, sweet, naïve early 2020 Chris... With his cute 1920's slang, all hopeful for a new decade of Roarin' Twenties... Well, the twenties roared in, all right... like stinkin' Godzilla. Stuff done happened... We're only a third of the way through 2020, and it feels like we've lived a whole year already... Sheesh!

Anyway, before the next minor apocalypse darkens our skies, I figured we could all use a little lightening-up, so here are the results for the Coloring Contest from the beginning of the year. I figured it was overdue. (And besides, I finally picked out the right print of paper towels to use as flags on my TP fort, so that's done.)

I didn't get too many entrants this time, even though I extended it, but darned if I didn't get some fantastic submissions.
So, without any further ado, we'll start with the runners-up:

Thunder Mountain colored by :iconfebilian:Febilian 

It's simple, but very atmospheric, and really captures the feel of the original drawing. There are some very nice backlighting effects, and if you click on through and zoom in, you can see a nice, oil-paint style to the shading. I've seen Febilian come a long way over the years, and this is some of her most solid colorwork.
Now, now... You didn't think for a second that we were going to get through this list without the amazingly talented Jenan, did you?
She chose a very interesting cool color palette for this one, that's completely different from what I would have imagined, but still just works so well. Her coloring is always stellar, especially her textures. Check out the texture on that stone! The glass looks so very glass-like, and it's just so beautifully done all-around.

Which of those was 2nd, and which was 3rd? Gosh, I don't know... You decide.
And now, for the pièce de résistance, numero uno, foist place... Drumroll please... The winner is:









Clockwerk Ruins colored by :icon3fangs:3Fangs 

Clockwerk Ruins By Calamitykangaroo by 3Fangs
So, at this point, I'm debating between the two previous entries, waffling back and forth... and then Sara decides to make my decision easier by dropping this and... I mean... Just look at that!! I have no words! It's gorgeous!... All the little details... the glowy effects, the light filtering through the branches, the mottled pattern on the ground... She even drew the gnarled trees in the background... Holy crud. I can't. I can't even. Heck, I can't odd, for that matter. And I'm usually very odd. But, just... Wow.

And, as if that wasn't enough, she also dropped this little bonus nugget she did just for funsies. It doesn't factor in (or even need to, clearly) but it's just too nice to not share, and they do go together...
Gidget (inks And Colors) by 3Fangs

Finally, I have to give honorable mention to Wolfmage90 and gremyarts for these two nifty entries:
    Calamity Kangaroo and the Temple of Yarn by gremyarts
Foghorn Leghorn's always a classic, and had to be fun to color, and I've got to tip my hat to gremyarts for choosing to tackle that quilted beast I drew, with all it's patterns and little details. Quite the undertaking, and a bold choice.

There you have it. There may only have been a few entries, but the quality was stellar! I love them all, and would love to see more! The contest may be over, but if you're looking for something to do to fill your quarantine time, feel free to slap a coat of paint on any of my ink drawings over yonder! Just be sure to share what you've got, because the degree of skill and creativity all you fellow artists bring to the mix never ceases to amaze me, and just helps spark my imagination and drive me to create better artwork myself. Together, we're all like a resonance chamber, bouncing off each other and becoming better because of it, and that's awesome!

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