🎊 Landy's (desert-mirage's) Guild Wars 2 Community Chest Codes Giveaway! 🎊

I’m hosting a GW2 Community Chest giveaway on my Sketchblog!

🌱 Click HERE to enter on my blog!🌱

Summary below:

- 5 Community Chest Codes!
- 5 Winners!
- Multiple ways to enter!
--- Twitter/Tumblr accounts NOT required!
- Ends September 27th at 11:59 pm (PST)
--- 19 days from when this journal is posted!
- Giveaway sponsored by ArenaNet (the studio behind Guild Wars 2!)

Feel free to let me know if you have questions or suggestions about the giveaway!

Good luck & have fun! ✨

Edit: Winner chosen! The winning comment was, "Playable Quaggan!" https://twitter.com/Landylachs/stat.....176811520?s=20

Thank you everyone for participating!

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One more day to participate in a 2,400 gem giveaway I'm hosting on Twitter!

To enter, all you need is a Twitter account, and reply to this thread with what you imagine is in the upcoming End of Dragons Cantha expansion: https://twitter.com/Landylachs/stat.....30256999018497

Ends tomorrow at noon PST!

Thanks to everyone who's already participated! This is the first gem giveaway I'm trying out on Twitter, and it's been really fun reading through everyone's replies about what they hope to see in the expac.

Edit: Sketch chosen, thanks for participating! Here is the chosen work for Hydrophagist's super cool character! https://www.furaffinity.net/view/39212613/

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I'm trying out a "Free Sketch Sunday" for fun!

If you're on Twitter and would like a chance for a free sketch, reply with an image of your character to this post: https://twitter.com/Landylachs/stat.....907164672?s=20

The artwork would be finished by the end of today.

Thanks and hope it's fun!

A new journal now that so much has happened since the new year's one! When I look back on any posts I made right after the new year, they were so cheery for the start of 2020! It feels silly in retrospect, haha - I'm sure everyone can relate!

I hope everyone is doing okay! It's been pretty surreal over the past few months. The area I'm living in now (SF Bay area) was one of the earliest places to go into lockdown - I think it's been about 6 weeks now? We're okay, fortunately, but hope everyone hasn't been too affected by everything that's going on, and hope things will gradually return to normal!

In the meantime, I hope everyone is doing as well as they can! I was on the fence and bought it very late, but I finally decided to try Animal Crossing a couple weeks back - oh my! I had no idea I would enjoy this game as much as I do! It's such a relaxing experience, and it really is a bit bizarre how perfect the timing for this type of game is during the current crisis.

If anyone here is indecisive on whether you think you'd enjoy the game or not, I'd recommend diving in! I was so unsure if I would like it or not, but it captivated me almost immediately. I wish I had tried it sooner, and there pretty much isn't a more perfect time to try it than now when we're indoors for so long!

Be well and stay safe all!

I hope everyone's enjoying an excellent start to 2019!

Apologies that I haven't kept this gallery updated! I'm going to try and keep it updated this year - I plan to start posting artworks over the course of the next few weeks!

Since I'm also occasionally asked, I thought I should mention this somewhere - I do check this profile regularly for any messages, even if I haven't been able to keep it as updated art-wise as I'd like! I've become mostly active on Twitter these days, but I want to become better with making time to keep my galleries updated, like here on FA! :)

Anyway! I hope 2019 is treating everyone well! I look forward to the new year! :)

I tried recording again a few days ago! It's unfortunately not anthro or animal related, but surely there are a few Zelda fans here? :)

I did a rough painting of Sheik, and you can watch the video of me painting it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtsCZ7ouGIU

Hopefully I can do another anthro related video sometime!

Hope everyone's having a nice summer! The weather's been so pleasant and cool lately. I'm actually wearing a long-sleeved shirt today! Bliss, it's bliss. I love me some long sleeves.

I MADE THE BEST LOAF OF BREAD IN MY LIFE

LOOKLOOKLOOK >>>>> http://lizliu.com/misc/2014-fresh-bread.jpg

I cook out of necessity but barely bake at all, so the fact that it came out so pretty, I AM VERY PROUD OF MYSELF. Also IT'S THE TASTIEST BREAD I'VE BAKED IN MY LIFE.

BUT, I can't take full credit for it. It's due to an amazing, overnight, no-knead bread recipe that's pretty popular among cooking blogs now. The recipe is completely FOOLPROOF and results in the most delicious, most tender-crisp crust, chewy-interior, and gloriously golden crust every time. AND, it takes minutes to prepare the night before, and the morning after, you just stick it in the oven for under an hour. It can't be easier than that!!

Here's the recipe if you want to try it yourself, and experience BREAD PERFECTION: http://www.the-baker-chick.com/2013.....artisan-bread/

Anyone else like to bake or cook? I'm always looking for new recipes to try. :D I usually just cook whatever will be fastest/easiest and that is moderately healthy. Link or write me a favorite recipe if you like if you have any! I'll add it to my list to try.

Sorry for this random journal post haha, but I'M JUST SO PROUD OF MY PRETTY BREAD and the recipe is so amazing I wanted to share it, if you've never tried that recipe before YOU MUST TRY IT, there are few things in life nicer than a warm, crusty loaf of bread with fresh butter smeared on top. Ahh, bread heaven. Bread nirvana. BREADVANA.

Also, sorry for the lack of artwork recently! Paid work's been taking up my time. I have a few ideas I'd like to finish when I have the time, though!
Hope life's been treating you excellently! :)

Finished last month's queue, so commissions are now open again. :)
Check my Commissions Tab for info.

Slots:

1) Taken (finished)
2) Taken (finished)
3) Taken (finished)
4) Taken (finished)
5) Taken (finished)
6) Taken (finished)
7) Taken (finished)
8) Taken (finished)

Instructions & Process Info:

1. Reply to this journal or send me a note with ref(s) and/or a description of what you'd like for an exact quote. If there's a specific style from my gallery you'd like me to paint in, include the link(s) with your message.

2. I'll reply to your message with an exact quote. If you confirm the quote works for you, I will book you a slot. I will send you a note with payment info when it is your turn.

3. Payment can be made 1/2 at the start and 1/2 at the finish, or all upfront. I start work as soon as I receive the first payment.

4. I will send you a colored sketch for you to approve and/or ask for changes before I begin the painting process. I can send additional WIP's after that at your request.

5. Turnover from the time you send your payment to the final painting is a few days/under a week, unless it includes a complex background, in which case the estimated turnover time is under 2 weeks. I will automatically send you updates every two or three days for this kind of complex commission, and you can request minor changes at each WIP stage.


Additional Info & Terms:

- Payment is through Paypal. All prices are in usd.
- Clean work only, romance is fine. <3 Ask if you're unsure.
- All commissions stated above are private commissions. For commercial commissions, please note me for more information.
- Clients are not allowed to resell the artwork.
- High-resolution jpg and web-sized jpg will be sent to you by default.
- Other formats are available upon request (ie: png)

If you have a question, ask in this journal or send me a note.

Happy New Year! I hope you had a marvelous holiday and new year filled with family, food, friends, and shenanigans. :)

Such a pleasant time of year, and now we're in the middle of that huge snowstorm the tv anchors have been freaking out over all week. Here it turned out to be very fine, powdery snow, the easiest kind to deal with. :) And very pretty.

Over Christmas, our two pet cockatiels hatched a clutch of chicks. We originally had a single cockatiel and single sun conure, but earlier in the year we took in an additional cockatiel because a family member could no longer care for her due to health issues. When we first took in the female cockatiel, the male one tried fruitlessly to court her but she stoically ignored him. Good! I thought, we didn't want them to breed. I checked online and read that cockatiels are among the most easily bred parrots. Uh oh. But days and weeks went by and the female showed no interest, so I thought we were safe.

Not so! It took several months, but the male eventually won her over. And now look at the results!

Here's the oldest chick at about 10 days old: http://lucernity.tumblr.com/post/72.....m-the-previous
(When I see the chicks, I can't help but think, "Real life skullbirds!!!")

Here's the same chick when it was a day or two old: http://lucernity.tumblr.com/post/72.....ick-hatched-by
I've been told it looks "scary" or "alien," which is understandable, b-but ... baby chick! It is automatically cute. ;__; Look at the tiny wing. ;____;

Three chicks in total have now hatched. We don't think the fourth egg is fertile, as it's been several days since the third chick hatched.

We've been monitoring the nest, and the parents have been excellent, spending all their time tending to the little chicks. I've read up on cockatiel breeding, and the chicks look healthy and normal (despite their alarming appearance at birth). The oldest one is just enormous now, the picture doesn't convey its breadth at all haha. We've been giving the parents a variety of fresh and nutritious food, such as eggs, soft mushy rice, cooked and raw greens, and also seeds and millet. They also go crazy over bread for some reason, but we try to limit their intake of it, as it seems to be the least nutritious out of everything we offer them.

We'll probably keep one of them, and the rest we will give to one of two breeders we've bought our birds from over the years. Both of the parents are from the same breeder, so it seems to make the most sense to give them to the same stock they were born from.

We will need to try to discourage them from breeding again, as it wasn't our intention to breed them. And we tried out best to discourage them! We destroyed countless makeshift nests they tried to create - underneath shelving, atop the cupboards, even behind the refrigerator (!). They were most persistent, and they came a little crazy until we eventually let them have a corner with a makeshift nestbox we put together.

Has anyone else had any experience breeding birds? If you do, we'd love some advice on how to discourage them from breeding again! We tried limiting their light exposure, too, but one family member wasn't very strict and would sometimes watch television (on a low volume) in the early evening hours in their room. I suspect this may have triggered their breeding instincts. Either that, or giving the female too much soft food (she loves eggs and soft rice too much!).

I stumbled across my original livestream test videos for the middle bird in this submission: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11973846/

Decided to edit the footage and post it to youtube for fun!

It can be watched here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xNIAeuhIMs

I'm happy I finally have a video to add to that previously unused account, haha.
I plan to add more in the future. :)

If you watch it, let me know what you think about the speed. Too fast? Too slow?
Video quality-wise, I'm afraid this is as high quality as I can record on my computer. Any higher and my PC lags terribly. :(

I can't believe Thanksgiving is this week! What are you guys doing for it? Visiting family? Or will you be shopping? Or do you not have Thanksgiving where you live?

I'm visiting my uncle's family that day, and need to make my butternut squash soup the day before. :) My 3-year-old niece will also be there, and I think she's going to be the only one who is not either an adult or married, I usually enjoy visiting my younger cousins, but I'm told my niece is constantly 'glued to her ipad,' and as such, I fear it may be a boring time.

Anyway, if you celebrate it, I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving. :)

I'm from http://Landylachs.deviantart.com
It's been mentioned to me to join furaffinity for a while, and finally, here I am.
Looking forward to meeting new people and new art. (: