Big updates? Overhauling my Patreon, A Discord Server, general what's going on and plans.

Hey y'all!

These last months have held a lot of different things on my mind, and I've been in need to re-organize and re-prioritize some of it. I've been getting overly occupied with administrative, legal, and bureaucracy situations that I'm breaking my head on and are just draining me. But I realized maybe I'm putting the carriage before the pony... timing wise at least. There's been things I've put off or had plans for, for years, it's time I get to some of them.

So first a summary of the topics I've written down to focus on first for now, and I'll go into detail on these further down the post.

• Discord Server
• Patreon Overhaul
• Commissions
• Physical products/merchandise
• LiveStreaming
• More General Status Updates
  

Discord Server

Starting with this one, because it might be the one to tie in most with everything else. I want to change some things for better or more interaction, feedback or sharing with y'all.

I find myself often reluctant to make a whole new post for things or updates I think are too small. While I can typically use Twitter for that, not everything I'd want up on there either. But it'd be cool to share stuff more informal, just a quick link or image drop of a sketch I got going on in a Discord chat. Or just talking about more secret plans, like product or activity plans. Or topics for a Patreon poll?

Or just easier casual interaction. I know I've had just casual talks during a livestream, but those are timed. And having a talk or discussion on Twitter or DeviantArt just doesn't always flow well. A Discord Server might be the best in between. I can be a bit elusive to interact with, and while I won't be perfect at least Discord should offer the easiest way.

I've already spend time setting most things up for it, and it should be about ready for a launch. Patreon has a bot to automate the roles, and I've been figuring out how I want it used and available. It'll probably be Patron Only, at least for the time being.

As with all things in this post, I'm always open for some feedback on these ideas. We're all meant to be a part of it right?

I'll make a dedicated post for when I'm opening the Discord Server. Very technically I did create it years ago... but eh, you know what I mean right?

Patreon Overhaul

Probably the biggest and longest standing plan is to do a proper overhaul of a bunch of different Patreon elements. I've played around with some rewards or activities in the past (which I do want to make more regular again, such as the polls!), but they've mostly been sporadic testing the water. 

I might use the Discord Server a lot for feedback on some of the choices that need to be made, or just feedback on my plans. Hence I mentioned the server first.

Visual Update

As it stands now, I still have Pledge Tier images back from when I first made my Patreon years ago. I've been thinking for years on what I'd want to do for them, fun little Apple theme, or perhaps Nautila, or bananas, or something.

It also goes for my description. Albeit that doesn't necessarily need images, it could if appropriate.  It's HTML compatible, so embedding and all that stuff is possible. Maybe I'll need some help with that, even if just to save some time. (I need to learn to ask)

Pledge Rewards

A bit of a mixed bag. It's both a tip jar and an exclusive behind the scenes access. Patreon has been a big driving force for my art for years thanks to everyone's generosity. Especially so these last two years. It's been hard for me to find the right flow that works for me, lots of thinking over the years, but it's time to give it a proper look over too.

This one ain't gonna change overnight, aside from the Discord Server Access. And perhaps some rewards will be temporary, but I also want to include more regular activities. Themed months, polls, etc. Hopefully a place for y'all to talk about stuff like that will help make that easier! Much easier to spitball ideas in an exclusive chat room.

I've already toyed around with some of the Time Lapse and WIP (timed) exclusivity, hinted at ideas for postcards or such in the past. More on physical merch in its own section. Perhaps Q&As or tutorials are a good option too. I've done art panels at cons, had tutorial moments during streams, share art tips on Twitter and such. Could be fun too.

Goals

My Patreon goals are outdated, not accurate any-more.  It's on my list for an overhaul. Even if it can be kept simple, it's a good tool I could potentially use. I could keep it at just achievements, or have it actually unlock new activities or trigger other things to do!
If only I had a Discord Server for easier discussion on that.

There's different ways I can look at goals. Financial stability is one maybe most important for me personally, but goals could also be community goals. Of course could see if I can have a mix. Patreon allows them based on either financial or patron count if I recall correctly.

Commissions

Oh the exclusive scoop on my Commission Status right here?! I did briefly tease I've been thinking about commissions again, back on April 1st. But it's definitely planned in some form. I just gotta decide on what form and the pricing, and if possible also Patron preferential treatment/discounts.

It's a bit of a pro and con at same time having so many art styles in my gallery... It's much easier to focus on just one style only. But even if I do, then I'd have to choose which one?! It'd highly influence the costs too, and that's one I've been mulling about too.

I used to do commissions years ago, but the problem I had was I did not just painting but also the full design process before it. I'm more likely to do simpler YCH (Your Character Here) now-a-days, with parts specifically left to 'artist's choice'. It's because it'll probably be simpler and faster to get going for both artist and client, and also cheaper.

Commission Pricing

No final pricing yet! But they will be in Euro €.
As I mentioned it'll depend highly on the style, and I'd be curious to everyone's reaction on these as well. Whether they sound fair (even if you can't afford it) or fitting for the topic.

I'm planning on making a visual list to highlight which style I'd give which price range.
For now, to give a rough ballpark for the highest I've been thinking at €1000+ for 'fine art style full-body complex outfit/dress design'.

Once I make some reference images with price range and commission type I may throw them out on public for polls. Not just for the pricing, but type of commission and art style as well! i.e. If there's a lot of demand for a specific art style, I might do a run of that first.

Physical products/merchandise

Ok, this one I looked into more the last year, but is also one that gives a lot of legal and administrative head-aches. Setting up a PO Box and stuff, easy. But managing inventory, legal documentation, shipping costs, packaging, (Dutch) consumer and business laws, factory communication, security, etc. all that quickly adds up when trying to figure out the most efficient and optimal choices.

I've been sitting on some potential product ideas. Or just some postcard designs. Maybe I should first start with some postcards, small, easy to package, hard to get damaged in transit (although, shipping companies will find a way). Easier logistics overall.

I am also worried if some of y'all are prepared to pay a lot of shipping fees... It gets expensive real fast, even for relatively small items.

If not for the fact I really like seeing my own work printed on something, I might not have considered this as much. But for some products I'm thinking it'd be easier to have a 3rd party website handle it all, for example InPrnt for posters. Posters are amazing for conventions, but become a pain when shipping individually (or just expensive). Lots of different things to consider.

Anyhow, it's something I do want to do something with, but it's not fleshed out yet. More discussions needed. Weighing my options.

LiveStreaming

The last two streams were both Birthday party streams, with friends. It was fun to do those and I hope everyone who tuned it enjoyed em too. I definitely am going to try and get both of them for a proper 3 artist party, theme or challenge stream.

I haven't focused a lot on streaming on the regular (yet), in part because my mind's been so occupied with... well.. everything in this post and more. But I don't think it's ever going to be fully gone, I've done them since 2013, I ain't stopping em now. Just a bit slower and reconfiguring them a bit.

Right now there's two type of streams for me, the planned themed ones and the general arts. The planned ones I really want to get friends. Maybe tease them into more frequent plans as well, to mix some solo with duo/trio streams. Or plan events or challenges live?!

There's potential.

But there's also the topic of monetization during streams. I have not set up donations for them, but I did have Patron Pledges pop up. I did partial overhaul of my stream overlays a couple months ago, but it still needs some more work.

Sometimes I do feel conflicted, I like streaming on Picarto because of the multi-stream merged chat atmosphere. But to make it sustainable, I do see a lot of artists on Twitch for their financial infrastructure. While I've entertained the thought, I've not yet decided on anything changing in that regard.

More General Status Updates

Hope everyone is staying healthy and safe. I've got my first vaccine shot couple weeks ago, will get my second early August. I'm still mostly still biding my time until then. Trying to catch up with some life stuff in the meantime as well.

I'm not the best at creating a sustainable financial atmosphere out of my art yet. These last years haven't really done that for a lot of people I guess. Seeing my sector (Dutch Artists) being hit with 75% loss of revenue nationally, is weirdly comforting knowing it's not just me, but also worrying that I'm very much living that too. I've not been able to fully adapt, but hoping the listed topics here will be a step towards just reaching some stability and trying to get my mental state in the right place again.

Coming from 2018 and 2019 I felt like I finally approached a stable point, but that's all gone into uncertainty. I did want to change things up in 2020 (before it was 2020), but not like this hah. But the biggest stable part I appreciate is all of y'all. I know, sounds sappy, but having a community of familiar names to go to is comforting, a regular audience for my art, and just having some form of confirmation that my art is worth something.

I hope to be able to continue building something and being a part of things with my art as well, while I keep trying to improve some of my shortcomings. There's a lot of things possible out there and hopefully we'll get to a lot of them!

*insert all the other things I know I probably forgot, but will hopefully remember at some point in the future*