Patreon rework and major changes

Hello! Hope you are all safe and sound and having a lovely week so far.

I've updated some of you in the Discord server, but might as well do it here for those of you who haven't joined as well as people who want to be informed even if they're not patrons.

I am thrilled to announce I'm starting making comics next month! I've never done anything so ambitious before, considering how much effort and time they require (and skill). I only have experience from a really scribbly comic I had to do when I was in college, but we were not giving any lessons for it so I didn't know what I was doing back then. I have been studying on a side and now I feel a bit more confident with the idea.
I will get in details later, but for now I will explain you the changes I'm applying to this platform and which affect some of you.

If you've checked the page recently, you may have seen the only showing Tiers are these ones:

What does that mean? - Since future projects such as comics and other explorations I'd like to get in (like Blender, which is useful for backgrounds) are incredibly time-taking, I have to stop doing monthly commissions included in Tier 4 and 5. This will allow me to open patron/current actual commissions like I used to do last year to cushion the impact of how my income from Patreon will drastically drop from this decision.

Since everyone pledging for these Tiers are in Discord, I've given them a "Founder" role so whenever I have some extra spare time I'll get in touch to give them some freebies to thank their incredible generosity so far!

What does change for the rest of the Tiers?

• New Spark tier: As you can see there's a new tier for Spark which is 1€. I lowered it from 1.80€ because even if porcentually speaking Patreon is really aggressive with this price I know there are some people who cannot/want to commit to a bigger money investment and still want to support me and get that Early Access and voting power. I love welcoming people in my community and I believe it's way more honest from me to set this to the minimum.
  I've cut NSFW content from them to keep said (not super often) work a bit further from my name. Even if I use a different pseudonym and signature for those I don't want a lot of people to find it out. Those who were already pledging as Sparks have been granted a "Primordial Ember" role which give them access to my NSFW-art channel in Discord since I think it's only fair!
  Since I cannot "move" you or "change" how much you pay once 1 person is pledging for a Tier, if you're a Spark please move to the new Tier! Patreon won't charge you nor take your current benefits if you move to a lower tier this month.

• Changes in Gunsmith: You don't need to move if you don't want to! This tier has now access to the art-feedback channel in our Discord server. I cannot promise I'll always respond ASAP since I cannot foresee how busy I'll get in the future, but I'll do my best!
  As an artist and a person who had the support of their parents I know art education is not-so-easy to access when it comes to institutions and resources are sometimes hard to find. It shouldn't be that way. I'm more than aware I'm no teacher and I still have A LOT to learn and improve, but I see knowledge as a right and not a luxury. This tier grants you a channel so I can keep a better track of you, but please be aware that doesn't make "my help" exclusive. I'll always help around if I have the time! Think about this like you're inviting me to a coffee while I give you my problem-solving insight, if you wish!
  You'll have now Early Access to future comics I make, including studies and technical drawings.
  Regarding monthly request streams, they won't change for now! Most of you are super chill with them so I don't get overwhelmed with petitions, but if this Tier grows to an extent I'll have to turn them into random pick in order to not spend a day doing like a dozen of them for the sake of my health or stop doing them.

• Changes in Pupil: You don't need to move if you don't want to! This tier has now access to behind the scenes of upcoming comics and other explorations I make so you can get a deeper insight of how I use references or approach things. That applies to illustrations as well!
  Regarding monthly requests stream, same statement as in a few lines above!
  Now please update your tier with your shipping address! Here's an article in how to do that. The reason behind this is if you accept that benefit I will send any books and compilations of my works to your address if you've been pledging for longer than two months! Please make sure data is always up to date! I will remind you on socials and in here but just in case I miss that, remember updating your address information if you're making a move. When time allows, I will also send surprise goods randomly to long-term Patreon supporters!
  
  
• Now for Pupils and Retinues: Few things can describe how thankful I am for your generosity. As I stated before my time management is going to get very crazy so I have to stop offering these, but I'll do my best to get back to you from time to time and give you presents!
  Since I cannot "move" you or "change" how much you pay once 1 person is pledging for a Tier, please move to other Tiers if you still want to support me! Patreon won't charge you nor take your current benefits if you move to a lower tier this month.

^ This is a really zoomed out preview of my manager. I think deleting existing pledges will cancel your subscription so if you want to stay, please do me that favor! Patreon is mean with UI sometimes so having the new tiers active only will make this screen look way nicer for me!

But Bri what if I want to support you further from Tier 3? - You can always set up how much you want to pay for a Tier, that applies to the whole platform, not me only. What does this mean? We creators set a base price for a Tier, but when you're in the payment screen you can set a bigger ammount if you want to. If you're already happy with your Tier but you'd like to support an artist more of what they're asking for, you can edit your Tier from your membership manager. Here's an article about how to do it! 

These changes will allow me to open commissions more often so I can both open them for the public when slots aren't fully taken by you and will allow me to set longer deadlines and not getting stressed every end of the month.
Not being commited to free monthly commissions for patrons will make me feel less anxious if anything happens in real life like recently ago, which makes me fall really behind on stuff. Even if bad things happen and I need more time to complete stuff, I'll still be able to send whatever I have because I think projects getting delayed are easier to understand rather than stuff that is promised within a month.

Now to get a bit more off topic but still keeping track of the things said here, I am personally very thrilled and scared already hahaha. Before getting into college I wanted to do comics, but my parents kind of convinced me to get a Fine Arts degree since they considered that would help me out find a job a bit easier.
One of the artists who has always inspired me the most (Noiry) has been always a comic artist, and since I really love storytelling I've looked up to her as a goal, skill-wise. I've always respected comic artists because it takes a lot of guts, patience and commitment not to loose motivation. They're passionate about what they do, but love is not enough, determination is also needed and also financial stability.

I want to share with you both my Destiny stories and other personal projects I've been cultivating for the past 10 years. Help me spreading the word next month. 

If you've read everything congrats! You're amazing and I appreciate your time! If you've only checked your tier's changes you're also amazing! Please make sure to do me these little favors if they apply to you! I like being as transparent and honest as possible specially with those who are supporting me and my work, so if you don't like these changes it's completely fine if you want to stop pledging! I never take such things personally so please please look for yourself first and don't stay out of compromise.

See you around!
Much love!

Very thrilled:
-Brighan