It's around that time, while I'm not sure whether or not I'm doing it this year, here's my AF page:

https://artfight.net/~Jade-Everstone

Mind the cobwebs, still haven't updated my characters & their refs

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On being unsure. I just graduated college 🎉! & while I'm so far avoiding the post-college-crash I might want to use the summer for life things, like working on my license, job hunting, commissions (which running during AF is against community etiquette). That could also mean limiting or not doing Artfight this year to make sure I have time for that.

I also think it's important to acknowledge some information that's come out about AF itself (Notably, mod negligence & favoritism issues). While it hasn't completely deterred me yet (for reasons below), it's left a bad taste in my mouth & is part of why I'm a bit wary this time. (thread with more info)

I'm still considering as for me it's been one of the highlights of my summers & a great excuse to keep me motivated/not completely crash and test the skills I've picked up over the year (casual art trades are also a big plus). So while there's things i'm wary of, I still would like to participate (regular art trades/comms/etc. are hard to come by during July afterall). I'm basing whether or not I'll join on how many people I know are joining, as well as any other issues with AF that might pop-up

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That being said, here's a few notes for this year

• Participating or not, Keep in mind I might be slower with my attacks! I have a lot to pull together in terms of life things & other projects. So I don't want to stretch myself too thin.
• This year I'm still looking out for Megaman FCs (& megaman-esque characters)
  

Long story short, I'm loosing two of my biggest platforms this year & with me being a tiny-er artist trying to spin this into a career/struggling to build an audience as is I could use all the support I can get, even if it's a little

(a tl:dr Elon's twitter nonsence is concerning & idk how long that site will be viable. and DeviantArt made an extremely artist-hostile move & opted everyones art into an AI generator)

So yeah, here's my current socials:

• Toyhouse (you are here)
• Newgrounds
  
• Tumblr (new!)
• Twitter (even if it's collapsing i still use it)
  

• Site link
  
• Neocities profile
• RSS (for those who subscribe to them)
  

• Itch.io (where i plan on hosting comics, zines, supporter packs and other downloadable things.)
• Commissions Carrd (open indefinitely)
  

I'm opening comms so I have a source of income and extra spending money while I'm finishing up my senior year at college.

Forum thread (https://toyhou.se/~forums/71.art-marketplace/338436.-jade-s-commisions-2-2-slots-open-)

Carrd (Same info + ToS) (https://jade-everstone.carrd.co/#)

ArtFight soon be upon us, and I'm making my return😈

https://artfight.net/~Jade-Everstone

As of posting, I'm wrapping up making new art/refs (or tweaking old ones). I've also added back the ArtFight tag for characters that'll be up this year, so you can snag refs if the site goes down ( here )

+ extra stuff Idk how to organize/announce:

• Over on my coding account I made an ArtFight-based User HTML! There's only a theme-friendly version for now, but once the teams get announced I'm making themed versions of the code for that: https://toyhou.se/16393601.-f2u-artfighter
  
• This year, I'm looking to draw robot characters, especially Megaman FCs and Megaman-esque characters!
  
• Unlike last year + 2019 I'm gonna be more inconsistent with attacks. Mostly to take it easy + to allow myself to do more experimental art
  

Cross-posted from my code/resource acc

A thing I've wanted to do for a while, dropping a list of free  software i've used and/or heard about. Not sure if one of these already  exists on TH, I mostly wanted to make one as a passion-project thingy

Many  of the programs given the spotlight are paid, some far beyond the  average joe's price range, others adopting predatory subscription models  Coughcough Adobe.
With how advanced and fleshed out free  and/or open source programs have gotten, I think they deserve way more  time in the limelight. Infact, several of the programs listed here are  considered professional-level!

So reguardless if you're looking  for a place to start or just want to try something new, I hope this list  becomes handy for people who stumble across it

https://toyhou.se/15494381

This  list is meant to be updated overtime. I'm keeping it unlisted for now  because it's technically not a character/is a list of off-site  resources. 

Btw, I am open to suggestions for more programs to  feature, even if I haven't tried or can't try said program! The main  criterias for suggestions is:

• Has to be art-related in some way.
  • Examples: Drawing/painting, & Animation. Writing, Music & Video editing also count.
• It has to be free or have a free non-trial version
• It can't be a default/pre-installed program (so no programs like MSpaint or Notepad)
• Can't be a piracy link. The focus here is what's already available for free

I prefer program recs. to be made in the comments of the free software list, just to keep things organized: https://toyhou.se/15494381.jade-s-free-art-software-list/comments

Edit: another update: seems the staff quickly picked up no one wanted that type of content on the site & has banned it/made a statement https://buzzly.art/news/clearing-the-air

however, the fact it did blow up this much & some staff did try to excuse it keeps me wary of using the site

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Edit 3/17/22: holy shit I was right to stay away from the site after that. Took down all my art off that site & bc they didn't add a way to close your account I'm just going to delete/remove all links.
I'll also link this thread as it's a pretty huge masterlist of what's going on/reciepts: https://toyhou.se/~forums/11.general-off-topic/282392.buzzly-has-a-big-yikes-update

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A small update on my Buzzly account: unfortunately after recent news, I don't feel comfortable using the site and will be dropping it as an active place

for context: the site staff are ok with incest & nazi imagery in a romanticized content & have been doing mental gymnastics to excuse not banning it (comparing it to just gore art for example)

EDIT: Link to a thread with screenshots/more proof https://twitter.com/horseangst/status/1490524003903041537

I am disappointed. I've avoided "DA alternatives" because of bs like this at the past & I set aside my gripes to give this place a chance.

It's still a wait-and-see bc  this just got out, but after this I'm going back to not trusting new platforms, especially "DA alternatives". Think of it this way, joining older sites like Newgrounds has been great & I don't regret it. Meanwhile every "New art site" like Artfol, Sheezy, and now Buzzly gets into shit/has a catch within less than a year of being out.

School's starting this week for me so I wanted to squeeze in a few updates bc Idk how much time I'll have this semester

• Put a few more OCs in the retired folder
  
• Switched profile codes for some of my characters to newer ones. I feel like these are more clean
  
• Removed songs from most character playlists (or removed playlists altogether). Music I associate w/my characters changed since I last touched them + many of them featured music from creators I don't want my work associated with anymore.
  
• Updated main profile. It was the same since last year's Artfight so I just wanted a light re-theme based on MH!Prisma
  
• Started using the 'Joobverse' tag for my characters! This is an OC universe I want to base several stories & shorts on so I'm tagging the characters that are/will/may show up there
  

https://jade-everstone.neocities.org/!

long story short, I've been meaning to make a portfolio site of sorts for a while now (that wasn't a carrd). Mostly for more professional use & to have another place away from big social medias to host my art

Even though I got basic stuff down, I still consider it a work in progress. This site's subject to receive updates and layout changes as I see fit, add content, etc. I also plan on keeping this just a portfolio site for now

was suposed to post this earlier this month but since this was partialy built for a class assignment there were a few things I needed to remove that were only there for the project's sake

Related to medibang's recent moves, while I 100% think making people pay to access their old files is scummy, I think it's appropriate to remind people to back up their files locally. Whether it's on your computer, or in an external hard drive incase something happens with cloud/online services.

For desktop users, buy an external hard drive! At least 1tb to start (more if you do larger projects like 3D or video-related things). Right now (at least in the US) they can be found easily in stores and online. 

NOTE: when buying USB storage i recommend sticking with known brands. Off-brands or 'too good to be true' priced storage devices has less storage & can delete data. I'll link one of Atomic Shrimp's videos on this with a better explanation (+examples!)

I also don't have a solution for backing up android & IOS files (tried with medibang & ibispaint, medibang also locked that behind a paywall & android won't let me view ibispaint files...)  if anyone has solutions feel free to comment

The reason I encourage backing up files locally is because of situations like medibang's changes. Loosing access to cloud files is as easy as loosing internet access (or services locking you out) Having it locally will keep it accessible even if internet services fail 

Last semester, I took a storyboarding class to learn a bit more on how to 'economize' my workflow/plan and work efficiently. It was an intensive class ngl. I held off on posting some of my work from that class since I didn't want to spam-post a ton of boards + I wanted to see what other PDF hosting options are out there. But for now, they're being hosted on DeviantArt: 

https://www.deviantart.com/jade-everstone/art/The-Big-One-storyboards-891101259

https://www.deviantart.com/jade-everstone/art/Average-Art-Store-Trip-storyboards-891100753

btw I'm still open to better PDF/board hosting options (DA's PDF viewer doesn't work on some devices) so if anyone has any recs, feel free to drop them in the comments