My 2025 New Year's Resolutions

 Happy New Year's Eve/Day everyone! AreKayHen here!

To kick things of 2025, I thought about resurrecting something I made in December 27, 2022 for 2023: a list of "New Year's Resolutions" in relation to me and my sole proprietorship, Pencil Artist Studio. (Why I didn't do one a year earlier, your guess is as good as mine.)

Just like last time, it will be a long list, but it will be all worth it in the end. Without further ago, let's get started.

• Firstly and foremost, there will be a new line up of OCs that I have been cooking up.

When I first started my digital art adventure in October 1st, 2020, I thought I would have a blast drawing my OCs continuously for a long time. Now though, with me struggling to find ways to continue to make art, me running out of ideas for non-OC-related ideas and saving the best what I have for later about these OCs, it's been tough to make them. So, to counteract this problem, I will be making a new line-up of OCs and FCs and have it all done by the end of 2025, if not sooner.

At this point, you're probably wondering what I will do with the OCs I made since 2020. Well, I plan to still keep them since I still have huge plans for them but, for now, I will put them on standby and have them "cook some more in the oven" until they are ready. Rest assured, they will return.

• Secondly, Pencil Artist Studio will be getting a new makeover.

 

These, along with my other logos and the platforms I use, will be having new design changes either now or within a week or so. The reason why I want to do this is because, not only do I want to improve on my graphic design skills, but I also want to chart a new course moving forward. See, I want to go up, do right and be upright. This is my new motto not just because my logo points that way but because I really want to rise, be morally correct and to be honest with myself, especially when we are in this crazily messed-up timeline together. Of course, I will not be perfect in the end, but I will certainly do better in what I do.

• Thirdly, I will be ditching Buy Me A Coffee and Twitter/X for something else.

It was a good run using Buy Me A Coffee and Twitter/X for my business. However, once 2025 rolls around, I plan to discontinue these. For Buy Me A Coffee, it's because it felt a little redundant using two donation platforms when I am better off with just one. For Twitter/X,... well,... to avoid unnecessary politics, let's just say it hasn't been the same as its conception. After those are deleted, I will, respectfully, be making a new Patreon account to eventually support creators I like once I finish planning the cost of it and I will continue the ol' Twitter spirit on Bluesky under pencilartiststudio.bsky.social.

• Fourthly, all* of the BSFE/Mature/17+ art I have made will be transferred to SubscribeStar Adult. 

As a way of rebranding myself and to show that I am a decent human being, I will be transferring what is BSFE art (*to the best of my ability) into a SubscribeStar Adult account. The subscription price I will place on this account will be a hefty sum of 36 USD per month or 432 USD per year.

• Fifthly, there will be changes to Toon Comm this year.
  

For commissions,

• Prices for the art mediums and techniques (e.g. 2.5D CGI, Pencil Sketch, Digital Monochromatic) will be reduced by 67%. 
• Additional characters will now cost only 15 USD and not 15 USD each.

For raffle bids,

• Raffle bids now have the additional options of Digital Monochromatic and Pixelated.
  

For art trades and requests,

• Art trades and requests have lost their Digital Sketch option.
• Art trades and requests will be available for only a quarter of a year from now until further notice. The good news is, though, is that you can start asking for art trades and requests this month, along with May and September. I'd say that is a good deal.

For everything else,

• Drawing real characters (John F. Kennedy, Mahatma Gandhi, Joseph Stalin, Donald Trump, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Dylan Mulvaney, Thomas "TomSka" Ridgewell, etc., etc.) will no longer be an option because, regardless if they were still alive or dead, it would most likely bring up controversy when a person is shown through another person's lens, especially a bad person's lens.
  
• You now only have four options of comic panels: Square/Rectangle, Rounded Square/ Rounded Rectangle, Pill or Circle/Ellipse.
• You can now choose between my personal art style, your or their art style to the best of my ability or both as a means to complete the art trade, request, raffle bid or commission.
• Pencil Sketch has been renamed to Analog Sketch for better descriptive accuracy.
  
• You can now have mechanical pencil in your Analog Sketch.
• You can now choose between Paint 3D or Womp when you want me to make a 2.5D CGI art piece.
• You now have the option to include private BSFE alternative versions for your trade, request, raffle bid or commission for 25 USD each. The catch here, though, is that a commission will accept up to three versions, and art trade or request will accept up to two and a raffle bid will accept up to one. Also, I'll need proof that you're 17 or older.
• BSFE art requested from Toon Comm will be private from now on.
• As mentioned earlier, Twitter/X will no longer be an option of communication going further.

• Sixthly, starting in January 2025, new editions of Au Naturel Doodles will now happen every two months due to creative exhaustion.
  

Don't get me wrong. I like making this series because it helps me experiment with my art style and other art styles. However, at this point, with so many responsibilities I have to be a part of and with me wanting to draw more than sketches, I believe the best course of action would be to make six editions every year instead of twelve. I hope you understand.

• Seventhly, last but not least, I will create a Neospring account for questions you'd like me to answer.

I mostly want to do this for giggles, kicks and curiosity. If you'd like to ask me questions anonymously, go ahead. I can wait.

With all of that said, note that I am not a perfect person. Looking back at my previous new year's resolutions for Pencil Artist Studio, it's pretty clear that I need to do better with my promises. However, since I know the promises I have made here are more feasible than the previous ones and I have accomplished two-thirds of what I promised in 2022, I think, no, I BELIEVE, completing these tasks will be easier done than said.

Any who, thank you for reading this post. Bye for now... and stay tuned.