Star-N-ZeroMarine

As a Tugs fan I have seen things go from a show hidden by obscurity to seeing people discovering newfound magic in the blink of an eye.

 5 years ago the long thought destroyed character props from Tugs were sold to a team of fans who, at the time, called themselves The Star Tugs Trust.

And in that 5 years they have gotten both praise and at times scorn put on them via social media outlets. One of the most poisonous ones I have seen is Twitter. 

As a non twitter user I do not usually see the bile spewed out in the comments there, but one day I decided to have a peek at the Trusts twitter feed. And my word there is a lot of ungrateful misinformed fans out there! Most of what I saw was in reaction to a ‘mystery box’. But also there are other points raised time and again like criticism over the care of the props and ‘ignoring’ overseas fans.

While I understand much of this outcry comes from love of the show, and a want to be involved some of you really need to think before you type!

Let us look at one thing first the models ‘deterioration’ and how they are kept.

As someone who has been to many an event let me tell you what I have seen firsthand and been told by the staff themselves and not ill informed keyboard warriors ‘comparing pictures’...

The deterioration of the props is due to two things, moving them about and previous hasty repairs. Most of the Tugs when they were first discovered were in a dreadful sate. Zip was in bits and Big Mac was deck and superstructure were badly broken. The previous owner did a great job of repairing them but used a cheaper glue to stick parts back on to the props. And as they have been moved to do events the repairs have come off. Once funding is there they all will get full restoration, but for now only the neediest are getting looked at. This explains how some tugs are now looking ‘worse’ however they are just old repairs falling off over new damage. Some things might be old cracks getting larger this is true. But the Trust are only human they cannot see the future. The last thing they want is to see them become worse. And as time has progressed extra measures are now taken when moving them to minimise further damage. (Which begs the question as to WHY so many want them bumped around the damn planet but that’s a bone for later on!)

A quote I saw on Twitter was how the props are “left in the open” and “exposed to the elements” and “they let fans touch and pick them up” I can tell you this is all RUBBISH. Those props are not allowed to be touched by anyone. (There have been some VERY RARE instances of people holding characters, but this was done with the utmost care) There are some over eager fans who are very touchy, and like to remove the hats or nudge the heads , or put things on their decks ect. This has now mostly been stopped with more vigilance and putting the tugs behind glass. When they not on display they are stored in their boxes and in a secure facility away form the elements

This brings me to the next point, another recent spew of hate over recent reveals over the festive period. A lot of overseas fans have been VERY vocal over the Tugs going to Australia, Europe and the USA. And how the Trust ‘ignores’ overseas fan.  To quote some of the users.

“Tbh you guys need to take passion with international fans and stop treating us like animals locked in a cage in a zoo. Stop this lying bulls**t and start acting more dedicated to those who treasure tugs”

 “So basically this is an announcement about a future announcement. For something happening that I can’t attend cause I’m in the U.S....Why would you hype it up so much when it’s not even a real announcement?”

 

Now granted this is only 2 of what many might say are the most negative comments,  but there were lots of similar negative remarks, and responses in agreement to said comments. But a lot do come over like the trust doesn’t care but in reality what can they do? There has to be some common sense coming into play from these so called ‘fans’. They can’t just release all the info they have or things they have found for free on the internet, it almost defeats the point of keeping things special and they lose ways to raise funds to restore the props via special events. If its all online for free why would anyone come to any of the events i f there is nothing new to see ?

And in spite of the whining over the “lack of care” shown to the Tugs props, many seem eager for these fragile props to be flown over seas!

Fact is it not only would cost a fortune to arrange any trip, it would be a financial suicide to do. Something the original producers of the show did was spending money they never had, they over spent on budget, and Tugs never made its money back (amongst the other issues).  Fact is most other fans groups outside the UK are spread VERY THIN over vast areas. Making it border line impossible to have any event pay for itself. Too few fans spread over a vast area makes it VERY hard to find an suitable venue to make it viable for as many as possible to attend, and there fore worth a trip. Take the USA is a HUGE continent to 'tour' it would cost literally hundreds of thousands of pounds may bordering a million if you wanted to tour each state! and there may well be only a few fans in a few states.. when you break it down it's not worth doing, even if the idea is nice. Then there is just FINDING a venue which for an obscure British show in the USA would be pretty hard to do! It's probably hard enough to pull off here in the UK ! It's not a case of not wanting , or not caring.. its reality and practicality. The reality it wold probably be far cheaper for the Trust to fly fans over from other couturiers than for them to visit you ! ( and before ANYONE take this out of context this is me talking and not anything they have ever said )

So now I put it to all the fans reading this. What would you rather the Trust did? Spend money they have not got trying to take the Tugs around the world? Potentially costing them so much they could all end up in real trouble. Or risking serious damage to the Tugs.. Or spend any money they manage to make on preserving those props? And making sure that they are still around in the future?

 I know when they launched the Trust they said they had plans for over seas touring, but this was prior to getting those props, prior to seeing how truly delicate they are, prior to seeing how hard they are to move around. And I’d feel there would be no shame on them in admitting the ‘world tour’ may never happen, at least for the foreseeable future. Those props and their safety must come first.

While I understand HUGLY how frustrating it must be to be unable to contribute or be a part of something so far away. You have to realise the logistics of it all.

I mean speaking personally there are things unique to other countries I’d like to see, but I don’t expect them to be brought to me! Much like precious works of art some things need to stay put and move VERY rarely.

I will side with the overseas fans to a degree, as someone right here in the UK I can’t attend half the events due to costs! So I agree something must be done in some way to allow more involvement, but ‘touring’ the props is NOT really the way, at least for now. The repairs and additional security within the boxes (custom fit foam padding for example to help with stability) are much more of a priority. And they can’t do this restoration without support guys!

Even on Twitter some fans are debunking their own arguments with some hating on not getting their ‘Tour’ and a few posts down others saying how the props must stop being moved about because they are being damaged! What do you guys want? Suppose that saying is true.. There is just no pleasing some people!

All it looks like to me is petty jealousy and self entitlement. How many overseas fans honestly chip in with regular donations, or buy merchandise off the Trust to further support the restoration? I’m willing to say a few but a tiny fraction of the total number.

But you know what. In spite of the petty few most in the fandom are good souls, who only want the best for the brand and its maybe THIS passion leading to some typing and not thinking how their negative words impact those in the Trust or those who help them. These are people who are trying their best with limited resources to do right by those props and to do right by the fans. So to see so much hate spewing out is just awful (usually by fans working themselves up over nothing, or being fed lies by other ‘fans’). It must be so hard for anyone involved at times.

Nobody is perfect. And I’m sure there are many things the Trust may admit they should not have done, said or implied and so on. They are only human it’s how we learn, trial and error.

And I think it’s getting the encouraging fan mail, fan art, kind comments, donations and other forms of support that must make it all worth it in the end.

Haters are gonna hate. There will always be those out there who think they are owed everything. And it’s these same few who contribute nothing, except criticism. There are always those who will only help if they get something out of it. Or feel unless those props are brought RIGHT to their door step they won’t bother to help at all.

And there are the many others who help because they just want to see something they love thrive, even if they can’t make it to see something they helped fund or support.

Truth of the matter is this; they at the Trust are under NO obligation to do what they do. Those props COULD have been split up and sold to private collectors. Locked away and NEVER seen again. Much like the faces sold on Ebay .... (bar those now accounted for) They could be private playthings or worse yet they were just thrown in the bin! But they shelled out a lot of personal money and time to try and let as many as they could reach (finding venues to host an event for an obscure show is hard to do people!) see the props up close. But for some out there that’s clearly not good enough for them!

And now the group are considering opening up the doors to allow more fan involvement. Again something else they don’t need to do. But their first mission statement holds true, they brought and saved the props for the fans. And sure there are fans all over the world, and there are ways everyone can be involved. But the petty whining of a small few is NOT going to be of much help.

The fact is Tugs was a UK show. And I think the UK is where the props should stay. But not out of greed or ‘ignoring fans’. More so out of practicality and the safety of the props. Much like how the props from Theodore Tugboat are in Canada it was a Canadian show. And they have always been there as an attraction.I don’t think they have ever moved or 'toured' them despite Theodore being pretty popular when he was on TV worldwide. The only thing that did tour was the life size Theodore Tug!, the props have always been on permanent display. The display of the props are a REASON to go Halifax in Canada  Well to Tugs fans I say this: the Tugs props are a reason for YOU to visit the UK. Much like how Uluru is a reason to visit Australia or the Golden Gate Bridge is a reason to go San Francisco or how you need to go to the Louvre in France to see the Mona Lisa. Not everything is able to come to you, regardless of if its portable or not. There is always A LOT more things to factor in than just money....

‘Big Mickey’ in Thomas – Tugs revival on the Horizon ?

When I first saw the leaked Image of the formerly faceless dock crane in Thomas and friends, my heart sank somewhat. I was slightly concerned at yet another prop (like the breakdown train) being made into a character, mostly to sell toys over actual purpose or need. Even if the characters in themselves may be entertaining.
And there was the big glaring issue over what the crane used to be before it was used in Thomas, but we will get to that later.

But there was also the issue over his potential name, with a lot of Thomas fans calling him Big Mickey off the bat. Then the episode aired and I was happy, disappointed and confused. I was happy as the introduction was done in a funny way. I was disappointed as it added a lot of fuel to the fandom fires of the Tugs/Thomas crossover notions. And confused for two reasons as that tiny part of the docks now have 3 cranes working on it, it’s a bit crowded if you ask me, and for what? a fan service nod ? A nod to a Thomas staff member who works hard with Star tug Company?. A Tribute to David Mitton? What was the point in it? And the second lump of disappointment was his name. He was DIRECTLY called 'Big Mickey', this to me was wrong. Calling him ‘Big Mick’ or Mickey alone would have been enough to give fans in the know the nod, the nod to the show where the original crane prop came from. By naming him the same as his Tugs namesake can only put the idea in people’s heads he is the SAME character, and thus perpetuate the same universe and crossovers notions.

My thoughts on this idea are: Look at Thomas and Tugs as similar but not related. Look up what a sister show and spin off ACTUALLY are. A sister show is a different show, with different characters set in the same ‘universe’ as another show. A spin off however, is taking a character or location and then giving it its own series. An example is Family Guy, The Cleveland Show and American Dad. Family Guy is the main show, the spin off was the Cleveland Show. American Dad is a separate show but set in the same fictional world as both of those shows. There have been times in Family Guy and American Dad where they have gone to locations and met characters from each other’s shows. And one American Dad episode featuring a hurricane washed up all three main characters homes together, showing they all inhabit the same world. YES I understand they share Seth MacFarlane as a root creator but they had different writers and staff on each show, it’s why the humour, music and character depictions differ in them.
Another one would be Casualty and Holby City here in the UK. I cant recall what show came first but one is the main show the other is it's 'sister show' Holby General is the hospital where both shows are set with one focusing exclusively on the casualty department, the other the whole hospital.
TUGS is not a spin off OR a sister show to Thomas... it never was.

Another point is just because the two shows shared some staff (most of the staff on Tugs were new to the production and were not involved in Thomas in any way previously.. some BECAME Thomas staff after the fact however) and a production crew does not make them ‘related and in the same universe’. A lot of the staff who remaind the same for S1-2 of Thomas were brought back due to a good working relationship. Look at how many times Tim Burton has had Johnny Depp as his leading man... don't mean all the films a related! He was chosen, most likely, based on a good working relationship prior. Same goes for Clearwater choosing Mike O'Donnel and Junior Campbell for the music in Tugs or maintaining Albatross Models for some set building , they had worked with them before and it worked well. It's such a same that just that act alone of same producers and musicians and so on have lead to Tugs still reaming firmly in the shadow of another show... another show that Clearwater were in not in anyway involved with it's creation or direction.. It was the Good Reverend and Britt who hold that to their name. Look it up I read that on S1 and 2 Britt and even Rev Awdry had final say on everything form the look of characters to the look of sets and how the episode played out. (you can see Thomas and Tugs as related in personal cannons and fanfictions, that’s your right to feel that way and it’s not wrong)

Tugs as far as I can tell was designed from the ground up as its own show in its own world. You can say it drew inspiration from the world of Thomas, from a visual aspect and how it was animated. But when something is popular it’s often imitated, look at all the Pixar film imitations taking character ideas or plot ideas and making subpar copies, would you put these things in the Pixarverse ? I highly doubt it. But I'm willing to bet Tugs as we saw it on TV, is not how it may have started on paper.

Bob Cardona and David Mitton clearly had a bold vision for Tugs, it was their own world and they were no longer constrained to the ‘rules’ imposed by someone else’s world.
Hence Tugs was a show far more realistic in its tone, the characters were more realistic in their appearance (weathering for example over the pristine plastic on the Thomas models). When Clearwater were producing Thomas for Britt Allcroft for season 1 and 2 they had only one real rule, take one of the original books and bring it to life As stated above Britt had the final say on everything and that it met HER vision, and at times met the Reverends approval as well. And you see in the first 2 seasons. they are VERY close to the books from a visual and story aspect. The characters look identical to the illustrations in the books, and the show is almost a word for word depiction of the written text. The drama that was there ( Flying Kipper, A Close Shave ) was written in the book so it could be put into the show ( but in latter episodes with original stories such things were ‘phased out’ to keep things in line with a safe preschooler environment). Britt and Clearwater had to work within a pretty ridged formula. This was mostly so the Reverend Awdrys world was not spoiled. And it was part of the deal that Britt could only adapt stories that appeared in print. IT must have been stiffing when your head was full of ideas.  Most Thomas fans tend to agree that when the show strays too far from ‘the norm’ or did things that tarnished the Reverends work they voiced opposition.(Granted not all the changes were bad, but even the shows current writers see a lot of merit in going back to the source material for inspiration).  

With Tugs being 100% their own vision in their own world ClearWater could go to town free from the restraints of working to someone else’s beat. Free to create their own world, characters and story's and have control over ALL of it, no more running to who you worked for making sure what you were doing was ok.

Something that CastleVision ( a 50% right holder in tugs at the time I believe ) did in their promotion of tugs on VHS was to slap the tag line “From the producers of Thomas the Tank engine and Friends” on top of the cassette tapes. This to me was done to get people on the Thomas hype train interested in a similar show. It’s done still to this day with various other shows and for the most part it works.
But it was also like a double edged sword. As it put the idea in people’s heads it was just 'Thomas with boats' or a 'rip off'. But given its more gritty tone and feel it also was not in the same kid friendly world as Thomas either. So it was jarring and even scary to a lot of kids who told by mum and dad it was the same.  When you tell a child something is LIKE something they know, they expect it to be the same. Kind of like when you try and get them to eat new foods, you tell them the new thing is like something they like, to get them to try it.
And on that analogy when the new food is very different, like telling a child who likes peas that Swede are the same as Peas to get them eating something new, only for the kid to had the taste of Swede. Yea Swede is a vegetable but a different kind. It’s the same sort of thing with Tugs and Thomas. They are the same kind of show type, anthropomorphised vehicles, BUT with two different flavours, different kinds of audience demographic.

BUT in the defence of trying to use Thomas as a hook to launch Tugs, Thomas was a lot better when it was seasons 1-5 ( and the most recent few CGI seasons with Team Brenner at the writing helm) I can watch those even now and they don’t feel too babyish. Everything after it began to really push the Pre School factor to its limit.
Fact is had Tugs made it big in America (at a time when Thomas was yet to grace its shores properly, so It may well have escaped the 'Thomas' stigma it sadly suffers today given how many in the USA find the show..) and gotten its season 2 the tagline used on the Videos would have been dropped altogether as Tugs would have been established as a brand in it's own right. No longer needing other examples of Clearwater Features past work to carry it. Food for Thought there.

But let’s get back on topic more. Lets break down the 3 points some have raised over the Point of Big Mickey in Thomas, a fan nod, nod to a staff member, a Mitton tribute.

Fan Service nod

The Idea I have here is the character is named as he is not because he is THE Big Mickey from Tugs, but because older fans and fans of Tugs will know where the original prop crane came from and the character the prop once was. But the 'New Mickey' is not the REAL Big Mickey.

Staff member nod

Most people know that Sam Wilkinson is the Railway Consultant on Thomas, he works hard trying to keep the railway realism there and seeing that things are as accurate as possible (Break vans on trains!)  He is also a staff member of the Star Tugs Company so he works very hard there as well, making sure the exhibition is as good as it can be . And he is probably working on a world of stuff behind closed doors. So this could have been something of a nod to him as well, naming the crane after the Tugs character, because they know of all the hard work he does with the STC.

A David Mitton tribute

Another idea by some fans was that it was a tribute to David Mitton. A ‘ joining of two shows he created’ was one quote is saw that’s inaccurate as he only created one of them !. Others saying he would be proud to see this, I think there is merit to that idea. Part of me may thinks he may have been happy to see that in some way part of a show he loved and put his heart into (Tugs) gets to live on in some way. But then there is that other part of me, the other part that saw just how much more passion he clearly had for Tugs as it was his own show.  And that part of me that thinks that he would turn in his grave at the idea of his characters being stuffed into someone else’s show. BUT I’d hope he’d see it as a reference to where the original model crane came from and as a testament to his show that the new crane was named in honour of that.

So what does this all mean for Tugs? A Thomas crossover? A revival?  Well let’s look at a cross over first.

Crossing over two unrelated shows is not unheard of. Going back to Family Guy, it was crossed over with another Fox show The Simpsons.  This was done only with the blessing of the producers of the Simpsons Matt Groening , James L Brooks and Al Jean. But with Fox publishing both shows it may have made this idea even easier. So could it be done with Tugs? I highly doubt it. First of there are the rights, which for Tugs are scattered all over the place. Second thing is the redesigning of the Tugs characters to ‘fit’ the Thomas universe ( put a tugs character next to a Thomas one and you would say they look similar but different). Going back to the above example little needed to be done as the style of animation was so similar. But the two sets of characters till looked jarring next to each other and 'out of place' together. The design of the Tugs characters is pretty different from any in the world of Sodor. The Tugs characters have hats and even hair, and the style of their faces is also different.They would look out of place in the world of Thomas. And Tugs wont be Tugs if it's characters are mutated into ones to fit Thomas' world.

So what about a reboot and revival of the brand? Well this could work IF the rights somehow materialised it becomes a real possibility. Recently the TV show Thunderbirds was rebooted. And by all accounts it’s doing well. So Tugs rebooted right could work. But Tugs (as many fans like to say) is a great show based on its own merits.
So surely it is strong enough to just come back as a brand new show?Not tucked up inside another pre existing brand?

The reason I am personally against a Tugs /Thomas merger is I see it as selling Tugs short of its potential and it's a down right insult to the vision that David and Bob had. By going into a preschool brand like Thomas you automatically have certain restrictions imposed on what you can and can’t put in. And it restricts how your characters can behave, and how story's are constructed.
BUT by raising the bar to the kids/family bracket, there are FEWER restrictions for story and characters. I see it as a travesty that so many are willing to see Tugs nerfed just for the sake of getting it stuffed into Thomas, and maybe allowing a love for both shows to cloud their vision. (I’m not totally ragging on Thomas the standard of the show has gotten SO CLOSE to bordering family viewing in recent years, and that’s impressive for a preschool brand.But given the recent shake up on the show, It does make you wonder if Tugs is better being free of such things.)

 TUGS could come back, as a standalone brand, and it could do really well... it needs the damn chance to try at the very least. I know right now some are going to pounce on me about the failure of Tugs as a brand, the poor sales of VHS tapes and so on. News flash Tugs could well have broken out form the shadow of the Thomas brand, and the reputation the show has as being ‘Thomas with boats’. Had the bankruptcy of TVS not happened and had CastleVison not jumped the gun with VHS tapes (they released some BEFORE the show had aired on TV, thus lowing the shows value to broadcasters. AND they slapped that tagline on them making many see the show as some kind of rip-off production) things may have been different, it was the combination of these things ( and others factors i'm sure) that led to the fate the show had. Not because the show was bad, in fact it was VERY well received by critics at the time. I wrote about this before in a previous blog on SiF when someone got my back up saying Tugs main down fall was its ‘lack of simple stories’. I was fed up of people assuming and saying Tugs failed because it was not Thomas that it was not part of Thomas and so on. Its failure was plain bad luck with the finances and how it was marketed. Even in the 80' critics noted that Tugs had a BIG shadow to emerge from with Thomas. kind of like how all CGI kids films seem to be held up to Pixar as a benchmark comparison in terms of quality. Given Tugs similar nature to Thomas, from a visual aspect,it made sense to compere the two to a degree. And even back the TUGS won out on its writing and filming quality. It was BETTER than Thomas according to some critics at the time. So it REALLY makes me wonder what could have been had a season 2 been possible...

Even now so called fans seem to think, or come across to me at least, that he ONLY way tugs can come back is as part of Thomas. That Thomas is the PERFECT way to re launch Tugs back to the main stream.  And sure that may be the easy way to reach a big audience fast.But it does not mean its the RIGHT  audience, and it does NOT guarantee success. They tried that with Tugs with the VHS tag line, and it's marketing I don’t think it helped much if anything it hindered it.
Even with the financial issues had the show taken off it would have made it’s money back, been sold to America (again at a time when America did not have Thomas at all) another broadcaster would have been found. And another partner in their venture may well have invested in the brand. If you had any love for the show and truly thought it was as good as it was, then you surely must have faith that it can stand alone. That it is strong enough on its own merits to come back, and that it does not need to ride another’s coat tails to success.

So what about a total reboot of the brand? I have sat here and spouted that I feel Tugs can stand alone, so the only way for it to do so is a full reboot and re-launch. And I think this WILL work if done right.  A recent example of such reboots are Dangermouse and Thunderbirds. Both were well received with both garnering second and third seasons to be produced. What both have in common were they are not 100% like the original shows that inspired them. They took aspects from them, added in some new touches and made sure they appealed to an audience today. Some changes are relationships or personality alterations. Others are the addition of new characters and locations. Thunderbirds noticeably saw the dropping of some characters and the addition of others, while some old school fans did not like the new version as much, the modern audience did.

And that’s the key here. Tugs would need to be changed to come back (the nostalgic part of me hates saying that but it’s a fact) , not all the changes will be drastic, but some might be. A modern audience must be kept in mind. Tugs could keep the 1920’s setting and characters. But some characters would have to be changed to meet modern expectations of kids/family tv (looking at you Izzy!). The shows would need more action and less idle time to keep the pace up so as to not allow for boredom. It would not be a huge change that’s for sure but the changes would be there. For if Tugs were to come back it would need to be in the same market and time slots as the new Thunderbirds I’d think ,the preschool market is so competitive and saturated (and Tugs was not preschool brand really, it was for older kids ) And with new Thunderbirds as a bench mark for what could be possible, it opens up a lot of scope for development beyond what would be there in the more restrictive toddler market and time slots.
The original Tugs was regarded as very much like the original Thunderbirds in terms of its more mature writing and tone. And I think if it was done right Tugs could appeal in its own right as a show to a new audience, much like how then reboot of Thunderbirds has done. It was a criticism of the new Thunderbirds that it had been designed for a new audience and not a nostalgic one, and that was the RIGHT thing to do. Nostalgia is fine but it won’t sell as much as the audience is often smaller and not likely to grow, plus how many adult fans would sit done and watch a new kids show? That will not make ratings. Whereas going in for a new audience that WILL watch and make ratings grow will make the show more successful.  Both the above reboots worked because they took the essence of the originals and gave them a modern influence, and it worked really well. It also showed the core of the originals was a strong foundation on which to build. Tugs could have this as well. And it could do it all without being anywhere near Thomas and Friends.

But let’s be real, without the Rights to Tugs nothing will be happening any time soon. If the appearance of the New Mickey in Thomas might lead to a Tugs revival and reboot, (outside of Thomas) then great. If at best we get to see the Tugs rights sorted and the 13 original episodes end up on DVD and nothing else happens, great. But if it leads to some big cooperation sucking up the rights and turning the show into something it’s not and ruining it for the sake of money, that’s not so great. If Tugs as we know it vanishes only to come back as something inferior, that’s not great. The rose tints need to come off if we really want to do the RIGHT thing as a whole, not just pander to fan nostalgia. Pandering to only one group of people is financial suicide; you want the broadest audience possible. Casting the net only towards the Thomas fans is setting the bar too low and could cut off lots of potential fans.

 

A full reboot designed to cater to as large a fan base as possible, not tied to Thomas is in my idea the best way forwards. I'd rather that Tugs remand resigned to the history books, if only to preserve it form falling victim to a sub par revival.

Been a long time but It's high time I list off some updates.
It's been a long time since I have posted any art on here and there is reason for it. I have been side tracked. Gaming is sucking up my focus, as is financial worries ( nothing bad just renting on a part time job is a worry as you never know when the rent is gonna be hiked up ) So I'm constantly unfocused over what i'm up to.
I am still arting away however . Got several personal Tugs images half baked ( personal as in just me tinkering about for fun.) Just need the time to cook them. But I have also been asked to do some paid work, and that art is whats sucking up all my 'free' time. It's not bad as hopefully in a few months I may have something to show for it.

As for other things like commissions/requests. It's still a pay to play thing. Artists cant work for free we have bills to pay ya know . And for me it's also if i can draw it as i'm ony good at certain things ( good at monsters n dragons , suck at trains or cars n people ! )

Till the next art post or update Peeps ! 
( also thanks to all the likers n followers I have on here you are all awesome ) 

If anyone gets someone called Phetiamwantip adding them and they say their name is Wikia block them.. Their behaviour is nothing short of disturbing. They randomly followed me on here and said they liked some of my tugs stuff..fair enough. They then sent me MANY notes the first asking me to write a story on Top Hat being kidnapped. I was going to send a pissy reply saying how I had little motivation for such a lame story idea, HOWEVER, I politely said that I could not do that. They then sent me many notes saying

" But do it for me I'm your first best friend.
You won't let me be disappointed will you? "

Clearly This is either a creep of someone with some level of learning difficulties. So I decided to just Ignore them in the hopew that the message would sink in and they would stalk someone else. But they persisted began random comments on my art asking to be friends ect.. So I had no choice but to block them.
While I feel bad for doing so but I found their behaviour to be just too disturbing..

This is just a heads up for anyone else who might get this person adding them.