In case any of my six subscribers were wondering where I've been for the past few weeks; no, did not drop off of the face of the Planet(minecraft). I have simply been working on a new project - a 16x16 "elegant realism" texture pack of the tentative title "Wet Paint."

Now, I will admit part of the reason I stopped skinning in favour of the larger texture pack project is that I've been feeling a little frustrated with the lack of community interest in my skins. I feel like every time I submit a skin, it gets buried in a slush puddle of mediocrity (though I can't objectively say whether my skins are further contributors to this slush puddle or whether they are gems being lost in the shuffle). Since less people make texture packs, I am going to try to complete and submit my own, shamelessly advertise it on the forums, and try and get myself onto the reel. Is the goal ambitious? Yes. Is it possible? I don't know. The reel is so temperamental, and though getting onto it is basically a ticket to recognition, it is not a sanction of actual skill - just popularity. Regardless, I do like what I have done of the texture pack so far and am using the work in progress when I play Minecraft.

My progress on the texture pack so far:

• Almost done the terrain.png (mostly just the nether blocks and rare blocks like enchantment tables and brewing stands left to do)
  
• A quarter of the way through the items
  
• Done four mobs including this one
  
• Done miscellaneous bits like sun/moon and particles
  
• Yet to begin items and armour
  
• Yet to begin GUI
  

And one last thing (thank you if you are still reading this, I appreciate your patience) - if anyone is the slightest bit interested in seeing what I have done of the texture pack, please comment and say so. If I see enough interest, I'll post some screenshots for you. (Though the TP itself will only be released when I consider it a 100% complete redesigning of the look and feel of Minecraft.)