It is with a heavy heart and an abundance of apologies that I must make this announcement. The time I feared would come has officially arrived.
I love making custom signature images for all you fine folks here at the forum, as many of you obviously know already. It's my own little way of giving back to a community which has given me so much. My own personal contribution to our friendly little forum. However, the time has come where the requests and expectations are getting far too numerous, and I simply can not keep up any longer. I have tried to keep up with the demand, but it's now out of control, and I feel like I am letting folks down by not being able to comply in a timely manner.
On top of the abundance of requests, I am also being faced with two new problems:
1. All of my creations come from base models. I do not hand draw any of these images. I merely manipulate them and add certain effects and details here and there. But I can not completely alter them to the often very specific details I am being asked to render. I don't have control of their facial expressions or their clothing or the positions in which they are posing. When someone gives me an exact visual, I try to find my base model that best suits their ideas and work from there. Rarely can I get one dead on to what was originally requested. Fortunately, I have always managed thus far to get close enough to satisfy the requester, but I have a horrible fear of my work being inadequate each time I send off a sample to someone. I absolutely hate to consider the possibility of disappointing someone, but with as detailed as the requests have been getting as of late, I know that time is coming soon, if it's not already come to pass.
2. I have a limited supply of original and base models. With each new signature I make, I try to be sure to use a model that no one else has on the forum. That way all are unique and individual, and it makes them that much more special for each of you that have one. But with so many currently out there, my supply is beginning to run low. Don't get me wrong, I still have plenty more to make signatures with, but if the current demand keeps up, I'll run out long before being able to make one for everyone who wants one now and in the future.
I don't want to stop providing this service here at the forum, but at this time I really need to take a little step back and recharge my creative wits a bit. I'm feeling slightly burned out and overwhelmed, and I'm afraid that will start to reflect in the images I produce. I'll hop back into the graphics pool soon, but momentarily I need a slight breather. When I begin fulfilling requests again, I do ask that you please keep in mind what I said about my limited manipulation abilities, and understand that I need a good amount of creative freedom in order to provide you with an image. Feel free to point me in a general direction...hair color, eye color, a couple ideas for positions and types of outfits, anything extra you may want in the image like a feather or flower or object...but please do realize the possibility of the image being EXACTLY what you described are fairly slim. I will always give it my best shot, but if an image I produce is not precisely what you were seeking, you must understand that while I tried my best, I can not perform miracles. I'm simply not that talented.
I feel like total crap that I'm feeling overwhemled enough to have to post this. I NEVER wanted it to come to this, as I love designing graphics and I've been having a blast creating the signature images. Nothing puts a bigger smile on my face than the joyful exclaimations I see when someone is thoroughly satisfied with a signature image I have created for them. But to prevent getting totally burned out on creating these, I really need to find my second wind. I also needed to vocalize my limitations while creating these to prevent future heartbreak....both for the person I must let down by letting them know their ideas are simply beyond my ability, and for myself, over my feelings of inadequacy when I can not fill someones order. When my self confidence goes down the drain, so does my desire to create. So I ask that you work with me to help me continue to offer this service to forum members.
I do hope you'll all understand. I feel as if I'm letting many of you down by merely posting this, but I'd rather the disappointment be due to my honesty about my limitations, rather than my inability to keep up and meet some extremely detailed specifications.
Thanks everyone. I'm sure I'll be back in the game soon. 🙂
Mimi
I love making custom signature images for all you fine folks here at the forum, as many of you obviously know already. It's my own little way of giving back to a community which has given me so much. My own personal contribution to our friendly little forum. However, the time has come where the requests and expectations are getting far too numerous, and I simply can not keep up any longer. I have tried to keep up with the demand, but it's now out of control, and I feel like I am letting folks down by not being able to comply in a timely manner.
On top of the abundance of requests, I am also being faced with two new problems:
1. All of my creations come from base models. I do not hand draw any of these images. I merely manipulate them and add certain effects and details here and there. But I can not completely alter them to the often very specific details I am being asked to render. I don't have control of their facial expressions or their clothing or the positions in which they are posing. When someone gives me an exact visual, I try to find my base model that best suits their ideas and work from there. Rarely can I get one dead on to what was originally requested. Fortunately, I have always managed thus far to get close enough to satisfy the requester, but I have a horrible fear of my work being inadequate each time I send off a sample to someone. I absolutely hate to consider the possibility of disappointing someone, but with as detailed as the requests have been getting as of late, I know that time is coming soon, if it's not already come to pass.
2. I have a limited supply of original and base models. With each new signature I make, I try to be sure to use a model that no one else has on the forum. That way all are unique and individual, and it makes them that much more special for each of you that have one. But with so many currently out there, my supply is beginning to run low. Don't get me wrong, I still have plenty more to make signatures with, but if the current demand keeps up, I'll run out long before being able to make one for everyone who wants one now and in the future.
I don't want to stop providing this service here at the forum, but at this time I really need to take a little step back and recharge my creative wits a bit. I'm feeling slightly burned out and overwhelmed, and I'm afraid that will start to reflect in the images I produce. I'll hop back into the graphics pool soon, but momentarily I need a slight breather. When I begin fulfilling requests again, I do ask that you please keep in mind what I said about my limited manipulation abilities, and understand that I need a good amount of creative freedom in order to provide you with an image. Feel free to point me in a general direction...hair color, eye color, a couple ideas for positions and types of outfits, anything extra you may want in the image like a feather or flower or object...but please do realize the possibility of the image being EXACTLY what you described are fairly slim. I will always give it my best shot, but if an image I produce is not precisely what you were seeking, you must understand that while I tried my best, I can not perform miracles. I'm simply not that talented.
I feel like total crap that I'm feeling overwhemled enough to have to post this. I NEVER wanted it to come to this, as I love designing graphics and I've been having a blast creating the signature images. Nothing puts a bigger smile on my face than the joyful exclaimations I see when someone is thoroughly satisfied with a signature image I have created for them. But to prevent getting totally burned out on creating these, I really need to find my second wind. I also needed to vocalize my limitations while creating these to prevent future heartbreak....both for the person I must let down by letting them know their ideas are simply beyond my ability, and for myself, over my feelings of inadequacy when I can not fill someones order. When my self confidence goes down the drain, so does my desire to create. So I ask that you work with me to help me continue to offer this service to forum members.
I do hope you'll all understand. I feel as if I'm letting many of you down by merely posting this, but I'd rather the disappointment be due to my honesty about my limitations, rather than my inability to keep up and meet some extremely detailed specifications.
Thanks everyone. I'm sure I'll be back in the game soon. 🙂
Mimi
Regards, Chris.
