Important Update #4 - Computer Status as at 13/11/2020 (Patreon)

Okay, so I think I have a bit of an idea of how my computer is currently running.

First of all... change in loading speed

I have noticed a change in how fast my computer loads up when I start it up. Previously, it still continued to start up the same speed as it always had, even when I went through the two weeks of it being difficult to work with all the time.
At this time, the start up speed has begun to lag a bit, so that has me a little concerned. Other than that, it logs in about the same speed as it has been the past few weeks (slower than usual, but other than that it hasn't changed much).

Folders

During the first two weeks when it all started happening, it would take a long time just to load the contents of a single folder (about a minute per folder). If there were subfolders, additional wait times were to be had.
After the two weeks, folder load times returned to normal.
However, lately it has returned to taking it's time again, however not as long as a minute as of late.
Ultimately nothing too bad, as long as the folders load.

Digital Art

You guys would have noticed that I have uploaded the latest Wallpaper, which I got done fairly easily without much hassle. I didn't really suffer much in the way of freezes (though there were a few that lasted some seconds), but hardly any weird bugginess mid-stroke.
Yesterday, however, I finished my Pokéme piece - and after finishing that I had to save and shut down my computer pretty fast, as my computer started to kinda freak out.
The file itself is not as big as other files I have successfully worked with, however it does have many more groups and layers, given there are many in the character count.

At a guess, more layers and groups mean an unhappier computer.
Again, this is a guess, but my wallpapers have far few layers due to having only a single character, where the Pokéme piece had 9.
My more complex pieces use more layers, so that is a theory I already had, and it seems at this point to be the case.

Where does this leave the comics?

That is a really good question. While characters appear multiple times in the space of comics, the layers involved tend to be shared over the whole batch of comics, rather than each iteration of each and every character getting their own group and set of layers when it comes to the final line work and colouring.
That said, each character does get their own group and layer set when I am sketching the comic, so that I can make the necessary adjustments to the characters, move them about in the panel, adjust sizes individually in relation to the panel space and height compared to other characters... so yeah.
In fact, this could be a reason why my computer started freaking out initially during livestreams - each sketch has it's own set of layers and folders, though in this case throwing in the streaming program and that would not have helped.

I will revisit the comic subject a little later. However, if I continue with them, I may just resort to one at a time, not a whole batch (as I posed as a thought in an earlier entry).

Commissions

This is something I have been seriously considering, but I wanted to observe what my computer was doing, first.
First of all, I still have one commission remaining. I will want to finish that, first, and it will also be a good test for my computer to see if it is fine with it.
But so far, I think it might - fingers crossed.

After that, I am considering opening new commissions, with the intent of gathering additional monies so that I can put it into my little computer fund (though my car needs rust removed too ahaha).
These will not be complex commissions, probably a single character, tops.
I may even just stick with avatar-like commissions - some people like themselves some new icons now and then, and they are a bit cheaper as well! (Yes I do have a pricing plan for that, if you didn't know that, shame on you lol) :P
In this situation, however, I would take commission payments one at a time, maybe two at a time at most, just in case my computer is like "LOL NOPE *death by explosion*" so that I am not hoarding money with no way to make up for it. xD

So yeah. That is where we are at right now. :3