Thursday 3 August 2017

He finally did it!!

Yes yes, I've been talking about it for well over a year, ever since the power problems began in the country I was living in, that I would move to either Canada or the UK. Well I'm now in the UK! Some folks didn't believe I would really do it, not even my own family! So yeah, I get that a lot. I always take my time. I'd rather get things right, and perfect, than wrong and sloppy. Same as my comics and my 3D projects, I take my time and get it right, but I always complete it! I am a stubborn man :D

Oh btw the country I was living in? Malawi.
BUT even though I always take my time, I hope things will change now and I can finally start producing on a more regular basis. I had to wave my home in Africa goodbye because it was becoming impossible to develop myself there. Firstly there were some big problems with my family estate. Its a long and boring story. They say family always come first... there is a limit to that rule. There were other issues too, but yeah, boring personal stuff. But then there's also the country.

Since I returned there in 2010, the country has steadily been going downhill, mostly due to mismanagement, bad governance, apathy and rampant corruption. They were warned years in advance that they would be confronted with power and water problems because of the combined effects of population growth and climate change. But they did bugger-all, nothing, nada. Instead all the money went into Universities (that nobody will use), expensive football stadiums, and an expensive inland port that is now crumbing unused for the last six years because of really bad planning and management. All purely done to get re-elected. Its a sad affair, especially for the local population... whom I began to find rather apathetic at a certain point. When a government blatantly steals from you, and does nothing to stop it, wouldn't you get a huge mob together and storm their palaces with torches and pitchforks? Not here. They just re-elected the same party.

Can I blame them? fuck no of course not. These guys are as poor as shit. Man they are broke. They have nothing, but you won't immediately see that. They live in extreme poverty and misery, and still they're happy. The justaposition has formed me, and you could probably see it in my work too. I've buried so many of them and their family and friends in he time I lived here because of malaria, AIDS and fucking Cholera, that it might explain my lack of manners, disregard for etiquette, and sense of urgency and impatience towards bad management and people that hinder the fun time of others. Life is short, have fun, be stupid, be silly... be outrageous.



So as you can imagine it wasn't a very inspiring environment for me to work in. And then of course the results of this apathy and corruption: no power, sometimes for weeks during the day. I must have spent well over $5,000 on petrol for the generator last year and even more on batteries. Sometimes there wasn't even water. People were walking kilometers with buckets on their heads fetching from cholera-infested puddles because the local water kiosks were dry. We even saved up water in our bathtubs to share with the local village. Luckily the rains came early in 2016, but that brings a whole different problem: lightning. Badly maintained Transformers and electricity poles getting hit = no power for days because the one truck they can afford to send out has to fix twenty-seven poles by itself... while the managers drive around in the latest BMW. Its such a shame because it is really the most beautiful country in Africa.  

So yeah, I was a porn artist in Malawi. Although Porno and Erotica is illegal there, I could probably have lived there without much of a problem because they're hardly capable of dealing with their own corruption (nor interested), let alone one dude making naughty pictures over the internet. But yeah, it would just need one guy with some problem to spill the beans on me and suddenly I will be an overnight sensation because I'm a white guy making porn in Africa. Headline fucking news, yunno? So I wasn't going to risk being made a sensation of either.

So, bye bye Africa. 

Hello UK!! I traveled with 50Kgs of Computers, my cat, 20Kgs of harddrives as hand-luggage (shh), and underwear. I left all my clothes behind with unaccompanied and had to buy new clothes once I got to the UK haha. Many of my friends were all worried that they would confiscate my hard drives at customs but I wasn't worried at all because I've packed many times heavier in the past with my hand-luggage. I even traveled right after the London Bombings in 2005 with 30Kgs of hand luggage haha! also hard drives and laptops! Once in 2002 with cymbals and a jackson guitar. Piece of cake. 
So yeah also my cat. Man those fucking animals need their body weight in paperwork to get shipped to the UK its incredible, and I had to start months in advance too!!! So much paperwork its crazy. Compared to me with just one flash of my passport and boom I'm in. Never mind Brexit. So yeah my cat obviously hated the journey. I did stop over in another country in Africa and I was called over the intercom to come remove him from his cage so they could scan the box. I asked them if they were mental. But yeah it needed to be done. So I removed him from his cage in the middle of the cargo area with like 30 dudes standing there watching me clutching onto my cat (who by the way was very happy to see me). But anyway, he arrived safely and thanks to all the preparations he didn't have to go into quarantine! I could take him straight away. My girlfriend awaited me, we hired a car and drove to Manchester. A week later and my cat is totally happy, it did take him a few days to come out of hiding though!



So now...

Well now I've been here for a few months and although things are going very well, man it taking me some time to set up again. Things are different here and all the crap from Malawi is catching up to me. I made some bad decisions back there and now I'm paying for it. TaB in DS was one of them. Man I spent well over two months trying to fix shit with TaB DS. Guys I don't use DS. I respect it, its great, but I don't use it. I have no authority there and the last damn thing I should do is release products for DS. Iray does things differently and transmapped conformed items have no place in the world of DAZ, that's clear. None-the-less TaB for DS didn't do too badly, many folks still seemed to figure out ways to put it to good use. But one thing is for sure, it wasn't designed for the prefab art market. TaB is an option, an addon, an erotica artist's plaything, was and always will be. And I need to stay well the fuck out of that world and not touch DAZ Studio anymore with a ten foot pole, I spent more time fixing shit with TaB for DAZ studio than making TaB for DAZ Studio. So no more of that shit. I'm just going to raise expectations and disappoint people... well some then. I will provide 'options' for my DS friends ;) more on that later...


I have been desperate to get back into comics but the only way I can guarantee that is by finally completing Project E (also most definitely for financial reasons). But I confess I am VERY reluctant. This content war thing is getting ridiculous. Stupid in fact. Poser's market share on the content side of things is at an all down low, but Poser itself is thankfully still going for it regardless. I kind of hope that Project E will kill off the whole content dependency thing, because I am beginning to develop a hate for the word 'content'. Its almost a currency, or some commodity on the Stock Exchange that has no artistic value whatsoever. In fact I've been making my own content again since I came to the UK. 








Guys this is art, its about fascination, story-telling, inspiration, motivation, amusement, entertainment. Poser started the whole content war, but DAZ perverted it. They have taken all the fun out of it for me. Now its like some urgent fucking duty for me to make shit for this market. Guys, pick up a paint brush, a camera, a crayon, a fucking piece of charcoal if you have to, ok? and remind yourself that this is about captivating the people that look at your shit, either by humor, or awe, or fascination... or just stupid happy fun. Make your tool your own, and don't let DAZ decide how YOUR art looks like! Project E, when she comes out, will be your tool. Don't let her determine your art, let her help you with it.



Here's the deal

So, down to brass tacks. Comics are going, but slowly. Project E is taking priority, mostly so I can get that bitch out of the way. Poser needs it, I need it, and ya'lls asses need it. No idea if it will be any good but fuck it, we'll see. I've redone a load of her since I came to the UK: her hands, arms, back, face, vagina even. She's down to ONE abdomen (like V4) purely to get her to scale properly (don't worry the girl can bend VERY well). Rigging is redone, UV maps have been perfected, and I'm about to start with the morphs. Guys I want her out the door a.s.a.p. I wanna get on with my life, but I see the need for a proper figure in Poserland, and fast. So I'm prepared to keep at it. Please be patient. 


My DS friends. Listen, like I said above, I don't use DS and I need to stay well the fuck away from it when it comes to official products for the thing. But I know there's a few of you out there that want PE happening in DS. Well, I have a plan for you, but please remember, its a Poser product first. If you're cool with that, then we can play.



So yeah that's basically it, oh and please check out my Deviant Art page which gets updated frequently with silly fun renders for ya'lls amusement! 




Hugs n kisses!

3 comments:

  1. I'm glad to hear you got yourself settled! I had a feeling that legal worries were what kept you from revealing where you lived, and yup, nailed it. In any case, I'm looking forward to seeing more stuff from you!

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  2. Thanks for the update on PE and for your adventures moving to the UK from Malawi. Looking forward to even more great stuff from you in Manchester!

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  3. I didn't know how much of a risk you were in living there making porn, but I guess I never asked, and the less I know the better. Obviously I'm glad you're safer.

    I'm glad you're able to pick up the slack, and provide for Poser users who've felt ignored, but at the same time you know how I feel about this. All too well, I'm sure.
    I continue to feel it is important to mention that "political correctness" in art in any form acts as a disease diminishing the purpose of free expression. When art acts as a slave to political correct rules, political correctness - does not not allow for free thinking, nor full conversations, or complex understanding. Binary thinking is what people do when they act as robots instead of humans.

    That's a BIG CAT! LOL. Pretty.
    I love cats. I used to have a whole flock outside, but they're all gone.

    Hopefully now that you're able to do comic content faster you'll be able to have more fun with it.

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Hey, because of a sudden influx of spam, I need to moderate comments from now on, unfortunately. I'll try find a work-around in the meanwhile. Cheers!