Back in 2006-ish when I first encountered ArtRage and this forum, I was blown away by the sense of connection with the development team and the excitement of helping to grow a new and powerful software. I had the privilege of participating over the years in alpha and beta testing as things grew. I made contributions to the tool presets, canvas presets and many of my most cherished feature requests became realities of ArtRage. As the world has changed and time has gone on, I have lost touch with the development team and the sense of direction I felt I had with regard to the growth of ArtRage as a tool set. I only preface with this because I want to find connection once again, but only if it is still thriving and in a state of growth. I am now on a path toward full time illustration with a side of online teaching. I plan to highlight my favorite digital painting software in a series of brief lessons which point up some techniques I've learned in my time making pictures. I want to be sure I am positioning myself well as I commit to these efforts and will only wish to highlight tools that have a future of continued development. One of the exciting aspects of Vitae, is the connectivity possible with other artists via the shared painting feature wherein two can paint on the same picture. I need explore that more fully.

If anyone (Andy I'm thinking of you) still has any interest in connection and catching up, that is what this post is about. I tried a couple of times over the past couple of years to reach out and got no response. The biggest thing that makes me ask the questions pointed at the vitality and future of Vitae, is its very close resemblance to AR6. I realize that goals change and teams change and that a company must make good choices for the health of said company. I still use ArtRage nearly every day and I still imagine it being central to my creative practices going forward. That said the competition for my use of pixels is becoming fierce. There are tools now that offer liquid dynamic flow (I challenged you with that thought years ago Andy) and that work with the underlying substrate to create very realistic 'natural media' results.

The long and short of this is that I have choices to make for my endeavors and it would help very much to have a frank conversation (speculation is fine) about what might be in store from future versions of ArtRage Vitae. I also recognize that nobody owes me a single word of response. I hope I don't come across as invasive or demanding.

I'm off to continue my work. I will watch for a response here or in a direct message and that will tell me everything I need to know.