#Drawtober is over and Extra Life is now in the rear-view. What to do? Well, we need to look forward. What’s changing in 2016, what’s staying the same. Where was I even going with this…?

Throughout the month of October, I took part in an annual event called Drawtober, the goal is to try and draw every day. Some call in Inktober. I’ve never been able to complete the full 31 day campaign, but I do try and draw as much as possible. You can see some of the work in the Extra Life page. Needless to say, I didn’t do any blogging, writing, or playing of them video games, as I was a little preoccupied. I did however draw all game-related icons, a little self-imposed rule. I’m still working on a final Borderlands piece involving 12 characters – the ink is done, but it’s not coloured.

Hitman Agent 47 – Scratchboard

Each update involved me posting a final rendering, as well as a time-lapse video of the work, from start to finish.

Following that campaign, I took part in a North America-wide 24 hour video game marathon called Extra Life. The goal is to play games, and raise money for your local children’s hospital network. this is my 2nd annual event as a participant. I was able to raise $715 this year (last year was $450). To kick off the event I played Prince of Persia on the PS2. When people started showing up, we switched to Halo, then #IDARB. To close off the evening/morning I switched to some GTA V, and then Tales From the Borderlands.

Now that those two events are over and done with, I must look forward to December, and closing out the year, and beyond.

Jade – Ink

I want to continue the blog, but change it up a bit. Up to this point it’s been primarily video game (Xbox) discussions, news, reviews, achievements, etc. I still enjoy writing about games, and this will continue, but maybe in a more specialized scope.

Currently my weekly routine has included: News, New Games, What I’m Playing, Reviews, and Achievements. Occasionally other features, short stories, conventions, etc, to fill the gaps. It’s a busy schedule to keep on top of. Appearing more of a job, less of a passion hobby.  Maybe I started to encroach my personal limits.

It’s hard to miss a website that doesn’t talk about news, and I like to as well – it helps me stay current, but no one is coming here to read the news, when you can get it sooner, in more detail, anywhere else.

Going forward, I’m going to be putting less stress on myself to get something posted daily, but post better updates. I’ll be combining a weekly news rundown and new games into one article on Tuesday. I’ll be combining What I’m Playing and Reviews into one articles on Thursday. This will be dedicated to Reviews, or Reviews in Progress/ Opinions pieces. And I’ll leave the Achievements alone on Sundays. It’s my favourite thing to discuss.

To add a personal touch, I’ll also be padding this space, livening it up, turning it into an artistic space. Writing coupled with drawing.

Drawtober really sparked my motivation, and now I have new projects to look forward to. I’ll be working with a friend on a small graphic novel, and I’ll be scripting and illustrating my short stories. I’ve decided to make my art a higher priority in my life again, and this will be my platform to share the updates – when there are updates to share.

Link and Epona – Acrylic on Canvas

So expect some restructuring of the menus going forward, as I align the categories, and expect some more art, I guess ;). I’ll be posting the time-lapse videos, as well as streaming my work on Twitch, as they’ve recently included an artistic portion to their platform.

All that said, over my 2 month break I played Telltale’s Tales From the Borderlands, Metal Gear Solid V, Battlefield Hardline, Telltale’s Wolf Among Us, and Shadow of Mordor, so expect some reviews throughout December.

Currently I’m playing Gears of War Ultimate Edition in co-op, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Halo 5, and Star Wars Battlefront, so expect some impressions throughout December. And I still have Assassin’s Creed Unity and Call of Duty Advanced Warfare to open, not to mention some of the big games I haven’t picked up yet, like Mad Max,. and of course, the big games coming out over the next few months.

I do like to keep myself busy.

-iRogan