Sunset of BustArtist ? I hope not — I NEED your help!

TLDR: At bottom, but I hope you read all of below:

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I've been pondering this for a LONG time. And I HATE having to write this, but here goes. I usually don't give specific figures, but have done that on a few instances below this time.

My "career as BustArtist" is in deep trouble. Sales, memberships, income are all down while expenses rise. Income is even down with all the added work — I started Patreon in July 2019 and began accepting personal Commissions in February 2024 to help make up for the downturn that was becoming apparent. My work week has gone from 5 days/40-45 hours to 5-7 days/55-60 hours. And yet, incomes continues to decline.

I know a LOT of people are going through this in general, but for a niche artist in this community, my experience seems to be falling at a very rapid pace, especially in the last 4 years.

My wife and I are always quite frugal and don't overspend on luxuries. We moved in 2018 to a new state and cut our living expenses by 30+% due to moving from an area that had one of the most expensive parts of the country. We drive 2 cars that are 9 and 15 years old (the later needing even more maintenance currently). I upgraded my computer in 2022 with a 2020 model (compared to a 2015 model) but only with the HUUUGE help of a loooong-time, Breast Expansion contributor/creator.

And, as you read in my post in January 2024 », this decrease is in addition to other crappy things that have happened to us. Our major car repair I mentioned in that other post and some medical bills my wife and I have had (don't worry, nothing too serious, just getting older) and further car maintenance have grown our additional expense outlay for this year in excess of $11k.

The last few releases have shown a steady decline in sales. I've tried changing things up, adding a dramatic storyline, going back to my roots in B.E. ("grOwing Influencers"). Even the popular "The Ever-Expanding Universe" sales are dropping.

Patreon membership has also shown a decline, especially over the last year! On average, membership is down about 25% from 2023 after a steady increase since I began in July 2019. I had started Patreon when I first noticed some dip in my website's sales. I began this page this in order to offset this decline. It turned into a fantastic venue to be more deeply involved with my fans (probably 95% of all Patreon images come from the minds of my members)! There is more interaction and discussion than before. But this has changed noticeably in the last 18 months.

And with expenses increasing (website hosting; Patreon fees; credit card processor fees; PayPal fees; domain name fees; business taxes and filings; software purchases and subscriptions; Con attendances, etc), this is further taking a bite out of my income, which is what we ALL need to pay our mortgages, insurances, food, and clothing. Vacations? What's that? Weekends off? Not always.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE doing the work, and having one's own business is not easy and takes a lot of time. But the time is increasing (2018: 40-45 hours a week; 2024: 55-60 hours per week, which started as early as Aug 2023) and the bottomline income is dropping while increasing the work to exhausting levels.

In the end, my income is down since 2017 by 28%. Add in inflation, and my purchasing power is down 43% since 2017 (based on inflation calculators).

============= How can you help? ===========

1) Help me to promote my work 

Adding comments to say how much you enjoyed an issue or patreon image or commission in a public forum really helps. It shows new viewers or causal observers that my work is liked and worth a purchase. I am on Twitter, Patreon, Discord, Instagram, BlueSky, and Blogspot.

Share or comment; like and forward; spread your love of my work.

On that note, please remember that most of my work is paid for. If you want to share something of mine, makes sure of these things:

• It is an image or post I have already shared freely (not being a paywall like Patreon). This means I am allowing that particular image (and resolution) to be shared freely. (In terms of resolution, I only share low-res images).

• It is not something that is meant to be behind a paywall or purchased. Instead, you can share my posts with images, the "sample frames" that you see on Twitter, etc.

• What if you think an image is really cool and should be shared with a specific group? Don't. At least, not without checking with me FIRST. I will either ask you not to, and offer something else, OR, give you a "specifically altered" image that still gets the idea across but without all the benefits that YOU paid for (size, resolution, full image, etc).

• Or, you can just create a text post and describe your thoughts and likes.

2) Increase your contribution to my work, if you can:

• Increase your Patreon tier by one level.

• Add money to your Patreon pledge. You can Customize your monthly contribution in your membership, if you didn't know. For example, if you are in the $11 tier, you can change your contribution to $12 or more. You still receive the same benefits, but you can consider the extra money a "tip" on top of membership.

• ***** Make sure to purchase from ALL of your creators, and DO NOT PIRATE. PLEASE! ***** This is devastating in both time and money — hunting down and squashing these scum takes away from more art production time!

• Purchase some up-coming merch:  I will be releasing my "Art of BustArtist" 128-page art book that I produced for when I was invited to Exxxotica in November 2023 (through the incredible generosity of Demora Avarice » and her husband (who my wife and I have gotten to know very well and consider the friends). There will only be 40 copies available, and will ONLY be made available to Patreon supporters, at first.
        I will also be making available (at first, only with an Art Book purchase to simplify shipping) the 2 stickers I made for Exxxotica and the 8"x10" glossy print of my Demora Mermaid. Once all the art books sell, I may then figure out to continue to sell the stickers until my stock in depleted.
       In addition, I will be allowing the add-ons to the Art Book to be the 6 prints I made for SizeCon 2017 which I still have a stock of.
      More information on the Art Book, stickers, and prints will be made in about 1-2 weeks.

• I may start a Ko-Fi page for tips, but I'm not sure yet.

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WHY is this happening?

1) I think the BIGGEST hit is due to "A.I. images" (I refuse to call it "art") These have exploded in popularity and amount of people programming these images.

The output is much more than what I can hand draw. An AI programmer can produce many, many images in one day. I can't.

So, BA, you say, why don't you start doing AI?  

• Well, as I said above, I am working 55-60 hours a week, 5-7 days a week (then add personal and home life). I don't have the time to learn in a short period. I can't stop working in order to learn. It would have to be in addition to my current work load.

• I really detest the fact that this is all built on other's work. (And NO, it's the NOT same as artists learning from and being inspired by others.)

• Then my work would not be "mine". It will look like everyone else's. It will no longer be "BustArtist". I lose my work identity.

2) The incredible increase in creators out there. Hey, for a community, that's a good thing! I can't deny this. But it makes me less and less relevant and less discoverable. This is why I ask for help in promotion (as stated above).

3) Gaining new fans. This is very difficult with #2 above (number of creators), with the glut of AI, and the increased amount of forums, platforms, etc. This is where your help in promotion could help me! I also read somewhere that newer generations entering the community have different tastes, fetishes, etc. Maybe I'm becoming outdated and irrelevant? I'm ready to pivot, but I'm not sure how. I would not mind some insight from newer fans, or even other observant followers.

4) Pirates SUCK. Even worse are those who share on piracy sites.

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What happens if things don't work out?

So, sorry to dump all of the above here, but I needed to say it. So, what happens if things continue to decline? Well, I will HAVE to get a full-time job elsewhere, and my BustArtist work will drop to MAYBE 10% of my current levels (IF I'm lucky).

What will stop?

Most likely, the first thing to stop be the grOw series, it all it's forms. I will leave the website running, but no new content will be created. I won't have the time that is needed (it takes full-time work, over a period of 10-14+ weeks to produce 1 issue.)

Patreon MIGHT continue, but in a VERY curtailed format. I think I would have to go from 7 images per month to 1-2. Of course, that will mean a change in memberships tiers to reflect this.

Commissions may continue as they are. But I won't be able to produce 2-4 per month, more like 1-2 as I would only be able to work weekends.

However, I am sure that Patreon AND Commissions won't be able to happen at the same time. It's either one OR the other. I will have to decide the weight of each in terms of time and benefit to see which one wins out.

However, know that unless something catastrophic happens, I will make sure to complete the current Patreon cycle, or issue, or commissions before changing my schedule, even working all weekends if I should start a full-time job.

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WHEN will this happen?

Right now, I'm not sure — it could vary. I see the possibility of this happening as early as 3 months. If things go well, maybe 12 months. I hate to say this, but unless something drastically changes soon, I don't see me lasting past 12 months. I hope I am wrong. I was planning to continue to be "BustArtist" well into my retirement years (which is still a long way away).

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P.S. I won't be attending SizeCon 2025

Because of the above, the costs involved (and the return which has been next to nothing each year), and the fact that I am a VERY bad flyer, I won't be attending SizeCon 2025 which is on the opposite side of the US from me, about 3000 miles (4800 km) away. 

SizeCon has always been in the NY/NJ area until 2025, when it will be on the West Coast of the US. I used to drive (due to fear and cost of flying and traveling with all my booth stuff.)

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THANK YOU FOR READING THIS.

Thank you for your time. This is difficult, especially recently, to go through this realization.

I showed up in the community over 27 years ago, in 1997. My website and the first issue of grOw began in July 2005. This upcoming July 2025 was going to be my 20th Anniversary of grOw and my website, but I'm not sure if I'm going to make it. Patreon started in July 2019 and this past July was my 5 year anniversary, but I've been so busy, I hadn't had the time to mark it.

Again difficult.

Tears-in-my eyes difficult.

Sincerely,
BustArtist

=================== TDLR ======================

My "career as BustArtist" is in deep trouble. Sales, memberships, income are all down while expenses rise and my working hours increase. 5 days/40-45 hours to 5-7 days/55-60 hours. And yet, incomes continues to decline.

The last few releases have shown a steady decline in sales.

Patreon membership has also shown a decline, especially over the last year (down 25%).

This income decline and rise in expenses has drained my bottom line, while increasing the work to exhausting levels.

============= How can you help? ===========

1) Help me to promote my work 

Adding comments to say how much you enjoyed an issue or patreon image or commission in a public forum really helps.

Share or comment; like and forward; spread your love of my work.

If you want to share something of mine, makes sure of these things:

• It is an image or post I have already shared freely 

• It is not something that is meant to be behind a paywall or purchased. Instead, you can share my posts with images, the "sample frames" that you see on Twitter, etc.

• What if you think an image is really cool and should be shared with a specific group? Don't. At least, not without checking with me FIRST.

2) Increase your contribution to my work, if you can:

• Increase your Patreon tier by one level.

• Add money to your Patreon pledge. You can Customize your monthly contribution in your membership, if you didn't know.

• Make sure to purchase from ALL of your creators, and DO NOT PIRATE. PLEASE! This is devastating in both time and money.

• Purchase some up-coming merch: 
  >  "Art of BustArtist" 128-page art book made for Exxxotica in Nov'23. (Only 40)
  >  2 stickers I made for Exxxotica
  > 8"x10" glossy print of my Demora Mermaid.
  >  AND, the 6 prints I made for SizeCon 2017

• I may start a Ko-Fi page for tips, but I'm not sure yet.

=================================

WHY is this happening?

1) I think the BIGGEST hit is due to "A.I. images"

So, BA, you say, why don't you start doing AI?  

•  I am already at working 55-60 hours a week.

• I really detest the fact that this is all built on other's work. (

• Then my work is not "mine". The work will lose my work "BustArtist" identity.

2) The incredible increase in creators out there. Hey, for a community, that's a good thing! I can't deny this.

3) Gaining new fans. This is very difficult with #2 above (number of creators), with the glut of AI, and the increased amount of forums, platforms, etc.

4) Pirates SUCK. Even worse are those who share on piracy sites.

=================================

What happens if things don't work out?

I will get a full-time job elsewhere, and my BustArtist work will drop to MAYBE 10% of my current levels.

What will stop?

• the grOw series, it all it's forms.

• Patreon MIGHT continue, but in a VERY curtailed format.

• Commissions may continue as they are. But not 2-4 images per month, but only 1-2.

However, I am sure that Patreon AND Commission won't be able to happen at the same time.

=================================

WHEN will this happen?

Probably within 3-12 months, depending if anything changes over that time. I doubt I will be around in 12 months as a creator. I hope I am wrong.

=================================

P.S. I won't be attending SizeCon 2025

Because of the above, the costs involved (and the return which has been next to nothing each year), and the fact that I am a VERY bad flyer, I won't be attending SizeCon 2025 which is on the opposite side of the US from me, about 3000 miles (4800 km).

=================================

THANK YOU FOR READING THIS.

Thank you for your time. This is difficult.

I appeared 27 years ago, in 1997.
My website & grOw began in July 2005.
July 2025 was going to be my 20th Anniversary, but I'm not sure if I'm going to make it.

Again difficult.

Tears-in-my eyes difficult.