Half a year since last entry, I suppose I should write something new for the two people that were tirelessly waiting for signs of life in other forms than "art".

College has been killing me last year. I've been going through a massive stroke of bad luck for a certain subject that resulted in me failing the course dramatically.
That combined with the constant stress of a few other courses (I was competing in the Microsoft Imagine Cup for one of them), failing to win my crush, and general discontent about my life led to the inevitable: depression.
Now, there's never been an official diagnosis, but when your parents both majored in Psychology you get pretty good at self-diagnosis.
I got sick of everything. Try to paint something you love? Five minutes later I'm screaming from frustration and delete it. Finish your 3D (which I did in the end and passed, even though I'm still not happy about the result)? Many hours of work resulted in only a slight improvement. Maybe code a bit for that programming exam, you can do that with your eyes closed? The very first compile error was also the last for the rest of the week due to not coding. All right then, you won, go ahead and start up a game. I quit 5 minutes later because of guilt (and an overheating laptop). Maybe clean up your room? Cleaning equipment broke down, so why bother?
...... I just realized again how much of a mess I was. Worst part was that I was constantly scolding people I actually cared about, working my frustrations out on them. I'm so glad they took it like a boss. If any of them is reading this: thanks for sticking with me.

Then, a few weeks before the exam, one of my teammates for the Imagine Cup steps up to me and says: "Dude, become a brony. You'll feel tons better after watching cartoon ponies for 20 minutes."
And so I did. I was familiar with the concept of bronies not being trolls or gay, and altough fandoms in general have never really been my thing I decided to give it a shot.
Holy shit. I never thought I'd be fond of an overly shy yellow pegasus, an overdramatic fashionista (BEST PONY imo), a dorky magician (okay, that one might have been possible), an overly competitive tomboy, a Texan or an ADD and Newton-redefining party animal. I felt happy, like I took some instant prozac as soon as I saw the intro of that show. Best thing of all is that the feelgood stayed without having to watch episodes on a regular basis. Some friends might look at me weird now and then, but as soon as they see me blasting Behemoth or Motörhead through the headphones they know it's still good old me.
Like one of them said: now we just know for sure there's one side of you that isn't entirely bent on darkness and the destruction/enslavement of mankind.
It also helped me shaking off the rejection I got from my crush. Normally one doesn't just get over a girl they've been in love with for over a year, but somehow I managed.

That didn't change the fact I was royally fucked for school, altough ultimately the end result could've been far worse. Next week I'm starting my next year, and it'll be relatively calm. I only have 3 big subjects in the first semester, and 2 subjects in the second. It's a shame I couldn't do more stuff of the 3rd year already, but so be it. Gives me more time to work on other things.

I've gone back to painting things more actively, and have grown rather satisfied with some of my work. Then suddenly a model asks you to paint her, well I'm very flattered to say the least.
I want to ask you people a question by the way. I'm currently working on that paint for the model, would you guys be interested if I made one of these walkthrough posts about it once it's finished?
I'll be showing my workflow and describing the few tricks I have up my sleeve, not to mention try to make a few jokes so people who're far above my level would still like reading it
Also, I'm thinking about changing my name one way or another. I've been known as YaVaho155 for ages, but let's admit it: it's a sucky name. Since the artist training ground on EquestriaDaily I've been using the name Yandalf more often. It's old and it was meant as a pun (I first used it in some game when I was about 10 years old), but it struck me it was actually a pretty clever name. Anyone out there who'd want to gift me a day of Premium Membership so I can change it, by chance?

Of course Diablo III has come and gone. Great job, Blizzard. You made me wait for 8 years on a game that was way below all standards in terms of lastability. I grew bored with it faster than any other game I ever played. I didn't even bother to play until lvl 60 (my main, Witch Doctor, is stuck in the 50s)! It's simple: after seeing New Tristram two times, the third time really isn't that interesting (and I searched every nook and cranny for random dungeons).
Good thing Guild Wars 2 has been amusing me very well for now (I'm still rather low-level: 25 on a Sylvari Necromancer and 20 on an Asura Mesmer). For the people who read last post and still wonder by the way: I got a CE, altough without the pre-order bonuses. Seems I pre-ordered a launch edition. Not that I really care, I have the statue, the art prints, the book, items and OST. Me == content.

I guess this wraps it about up. See you again in half a year! xD