Dear Art Blog,

Quite a bit of time has passed since last I wrote, so I figured now would be as good a time as any for an update. Well for starters happy new year. That’s right. 2025 has come and gone, and it’s now the year 2026. What’s that? Last time I wrote was back in April? I know I know it’s almost been a year since last I wrote, but honestly not a whole lot has happened. Also, I’m just really bad at updates.

Gouache

This past Christmas I gifted myself a gouache paint set. It was a HIMI brand and it was very affordable. It came with a bunch of colors, a case, and even some brushes. Excellent for a beginner such as myself, and I still had some mixed media drawing pads laying around. Now did I make anything? No. I didn’t even open the paint.

I’m pretty bad about art supplies because I usually buy a bunch and never end up using them. I usually have these daydreams or aspirations where I learned to paint traditionally, but alas I never seem to have the patience for it. Who knows though. Maybe 2026 will be the year for gouache.

Mattress

I purchased yet another mattress. I may or may not have brought it up before, but I have pain in my lower back. It’s not debilitating, but it’s a pain I prefer not to have. Last year I purchased a new mattress to replace my old one because I thought it was contributing to my back pain. I had that old mattress for over 10 years, so it was definitely time for a new one. My back pain more than likely actually came from poor posture and lifting from work. I was hoping that the new mattress at the time would help with recovery, but I don’t think it did.

This time around I bought the absolute firmest mattress available. I tried it already, and yes it’s super firm. I’m pretty upset about this though because now I’m down several hundred dollars for buying a mattress that didn’t even help me. The fault is my own for just not being more careful at work. Here’s to hoping that this new mattress actually helps my old dying back.

Work

I’m still at the same job. Yuuuuup. This will be my sixth year at this place making this my longest lasting job. I would say that I’m actually depressed. I go into that office mad as hell, and I think about quitting all the time. Quitting is like every other thought. Hmmm what’s for lunch? Quitting sounds good! Oh it’s time to go home. Don’t forget to quit on your way out. Yay it’s the weekend. Quit quit quit quit.

If there is an impressive thing about myself it’s how long I’m willing to tolerate an unpleasant situation. I’ve always been a complacent person. If I fall into a job I usually stay there for a while until I get let go. I make very little effort to dig myself out of the hole I’m in and I think that’s because I’d rather be uncomfortable with something familiar, than experience the disappointment that comes from job hunting. This of course sounds insane because why would you stay somewhere that makes you feel unhappy? I guess I’ve always known what I had to do, but I just procrastinate with things that do make me happy. Such as drawing.

Twitch

I’m still doing the livestreams much to my own surprise. I’ve been livestreaming fairly consistently for about nine months now. I think this is pretty amazing because I have discipline and commitment problems. I just find it really difficult to stick with personal goals.

I mainly stream on the weekends where I have the time and energy to do so. I’ve gotten a few regulars which is nice, and I’ve built a fairly impressive overlay if I do say so myself. I didn’t really think I’d stick with livestreaming because I wasn’t sure if it was going to have a good return for my art. Nine months and with a few regular viewers I have to say it’s been really good.

Livestreaming has been fantastic in motivating me to create new content, and also helping me become more consistent at making art. I think I’ve made more illustrations during the last year, than I’ve had in all my previous years. Livestreaming has become something I very much look forward to doing every weekend. I feel more productive, and perhaps even a bit happier. I think having a space to chat and complain a bit has been pretty good for me emotionally.

Commissions

A few months back I received a VGen invite code from a fellow artist I met on Twitch. Thank you NoovaArt! If you haven’t heard of VGen, it’s an online marketplace where you can find artists offering various services and products with a focus on human made content. I decided to go with VGen because it seemed fairly simple to set up, and seems to be building popularity as the new and upcoming service for artists.

I’ve opened up commissions for the past month or so, and I had a total of zero clients. I will admit I probably priced myself higher than most other artists on the platform, but I feel as of now that those prices are fair. I’d imagine as I continue building up a portfolio and reputation online that people will eventually want to commission me. At least that’s the thought. I’m going to stick with my prices for now, because lowering them is generally not advised. Here’s my VGen link, https://vgen.co/chukchan. If anyone has any feedback you can message me on any of the social media platforms I’m on.

Fourthwall

I decided to go all in on using Fourthwall as my “support me” platform. Fourthwall not only acts as my online store, but also as a platform for exclusive content and donations. Basically I’m trying to simplify things for people by using an all-in-one platform. Instead of going to Ko-fi to make a donation they can just go to my Fourthwall instead, and while they’re there maybe buy one of my products. See what I did there? It makes a lot of sense because you want to make things easy for your customers. I know I know I’m a genius.

Now despite my genius I haven’t actually made much revenue. A good chunk of the costs goes into buying samples, and doing giveaways. Year to date I’m pretty sure after I subtract the expenses from the revenue I’m in the red. While not ideal I do want to do this for the long run, and that does mean not making any profit sometimes. You can check out my Fourthwall at https://dearartblog.shop/. Yes, that’s a custom domain name for my Fourthwall, because you know…the name of the blog. Genius. I’m a genius.

2026

I’ve been thinking about making an illustration book for a while now, and I was thinking 2026 might be the year I start. I will admit the outlook doesn’t look good. It takes me about one to two weeks to complete a single illustration. This is factoring in the time consumed by the job and commute. My big fear in trying to make an illustration book is that it would take several years to complete especially with my current schedule.

I’m not comfortable with quitting my job to pursue something that has so much uncertainty. I think ideally I’d work on the book and share it on my Fourthwall. By adding more exclusive content maybe more people will decide to support me there. I’d share some of that content for free on social media to help spread the word of the book. If enough people support me on Fourthwall then the possibility of working on the book full-time becomes more realistic. Might not work out like I wrote it, but it’s a nice thought.

With how things are currently I might be better off making short series. Maybe a small book or a zine. I don’t know. I’m really just winging things. I think my 2026 is basically the same as my 2025 goal. Draw stuff that I enjoy, and draw lots of it.

Thanks for reading,
Chuk Chan

P.S.
NoovaArt’s Twitch channel
Commission me on VGen
Follow me on these social media platforms

Six Months In

Dear Art Blog,

It’s been about five or six months since my last blog post, and I thought this would be a good time for an update. From my experience the six month mark is usually where I begin to slip. This is the point where I would take extended breaks because I think I deserve it, or run out of steam, or just come up with an excuse to not do the hard things.

I’ve been playing around with sleep schedules trying to find the best time for me to work on projects. In the beginning I tried waking up early to get about 2-3 hours of work in, then I jumped to staying up late, and then back to waking up early. These schedules actually worked decently well depending on whether I actually got enough sleep. Go figure. There would be many, I mean MANY, times that I slipped up. Nights where I should have been in bed I instead spent working late, or watching youtube videos, or dreading what I’m going to do with my life. As you can imagine I didn’t sleep a lot. By the end of the week I’m a sleep deprived mess.

I slacked on my health as well. I’m the heaviest I’ve ever been at about 210 lbs. I’ve exercised on and off, but of course there’s little benefit unless there’s a regular schedule. The only health habit I’ve managed to stick with recently is eating healthier. My current diet mostly consists of salads and fish, though there’s always the craving for something sweet which is my biggest vice. I’m also experiencing some joint pain which is probably due to getting older, though a bad diet and years of not exercising has probably played a part.

As you may have seen from some of my previous posts I have managed to produce some work. Right now it’s just Gothfield and Loodie illustrations, and oh boy is the turnaround super long. I can probably produce a rendered illustration in about a month. It feels as if there’s not enough time, or I’m just too slow produce illustrations fast enough. Probably both.

I am trying to put some things in motion so I can keep what little momentum I have going. I created quite a few visual assets so I can get back into doing livestreams. I haven’t done a livestream since 2020 and back then I was mostly playing video games. Let me tell ya. Those livestreams were awwwwful. Back then I tried streaming four days a week, and on certain days I’d go for streams as long as 9 hours. WHAT WAS I THINKING! I think if I were to stream again it’d be more art focused, and NOT 9 hours long.

I’ve set up a Ko-fi account to offer premium membership content. I don’t expect anything from it for a long time, especially with how long it takes to finish an illustration. At this stage I’m mostly experimenting with Ko-fi to learn how to best use it, and also just to get things started. In the event that someone does pay me for my illustrations, it’ll give me proof that there is value to what I have to offer.

I took some vacation days from work as I was getting pretty close to a breaking point. I was becoming overwhelmed with waking up early everyday to pursue my passion, and having to deal with the tedium of corporate life. I definitely feel the stress getting to me a bit, but I’ll just take it a day at a time. Just like with my illustrations, I work on them a day at a time and eventually they do get done. With that in my mind perhaps that’s how I’ll be able to reach my goals. A day at a time.

Thanks for reading,
Chuk Chan

P.S.
Here’s my Ko-fi page where I share behind the scenes content of my illustrations.