About the next tunic art and future!
Added 2023-08-15 15:39:58 +0000 UTCSo i've been experimenting quiet a bit and wondering also about how to save my business cause things are bad. Thx to you guys i still make some money but with my posters not selling it's not enough for a living and i have nothing else. So i need to finds ways!
Firstly, i think i need to find a way to give you some actual exclusive art cause my patreon is not bringing people enough obviously. It should be progressing, it's been stagnating or shrinking for 4 years. So exclusive content. Now, 2 problems of course, not kiling myself with too much content to produce, and also, how to promote what is just for you guys outside of here without showing the pic :p :p ???
Maybe doing some series of shorter work, character based and showing just some of the series but not the entire set! Would also allow me to ask you for more direct comissions, i have some ideas for different priorities for different pledge maybe (like the lower pledge the more you have to wait basically).
Which bring the matter of art style to! I'm having a ton of fun and i do (in my opnion) way better stuff in pixel art now. But there is the obvious problem of pixel art not really being 4k nor hd lol, which kinda kills the benefit of you higher tiers so i couldn''t just do that, and it also makes everyone with mininum photoshop skill able to upscale and print it by himself :p Problems!
But i may have an interesting solution there, while being pretty unique and modern!
So, that Tunic art (as it's my third in 1 year :p) is going to be the good occasion to experiment for me with an interesting artstyle and maybe more character based! You should like it i think!
Cheers you all and thx again for still supporting me ;) Lots of things to come, more good stuff and more privileges!
Comments
My thoughts: Discovery: I discovered you in ~2010 on Deviant Art. Over the years I've always looked there for new paintings and to see your catalog. Exclusives: I've been your Patreon supporter since 2018 but only recently logged in to see that you post content here. I didn't know/care about exclusive content. I just want you to keep creating. If you put more of your paintings behind a Patreon "pay wall", I would assume your fans would pay more (I would). It might allow you to more directly monetize your art. Painting style: I like that you have a mix of traditional style and pixel remasters, but my favorites are the traditional style, because it's less common to have video games done in that style, and of all people doing it, you are the best. I hope you don't transition to doing mostly the pixel style. Physical reproductions: for home decor, I think RedBubble posters suck. If you worked with a set of artists on the backend who could produce reproductions of your paintings in oil, and sold them on-demand for $1000+ a piece, I think there would be demand for it. It's easy to try, given it's an on-demand business. See businesses like 1st-art-gallery and vangoghstudio.com for inspiration; there are many artists on Etsy doing similar things. I recently emailed you about this and was disappointed to learn that I couldn't get an Orioto-sanctioned physically-painted reproduction of your paintings. This year I've commissioned several specific paintings for my home from various artists on Etsy and elsewhere and paid $500-$1500 per painting (I would pay more if they charged more). Commissions: similar to your patreon commissions (via polls), individual commissions have always been a staple of the art world if you have wealthy patrons in your audience. I've thought of a few specific scenes in games that I would love your take on that I might approach you about some day. It's the least scalable monetization method, however.
Phil Crosby
2023-09-20 21:37:38 +0000 UTCThe watermark i don't like that really much but i decided to release a crop version now and work in native widescreen so the patrons will have the full picture.
Orioto
2023-08-25 12:01:07 +0000 UTCHey so i'm indeed late wit some profiles, and i'm updating this week hehe, artstation and devianart. For displate it's a mess they remove and reject most uploads now :(
Orioto
2023-08-25 12:00:26 +0000 UTCI feel like there is still potential to increase your visibility. - Your online presence is rather fragmented. Some of your profiles are extremely out-of-date. DeviantArt and ArtStation haven't been updated for more than a year. Your Displate profile (which is where I found out about you) only has a fraction of your work. You sometimes use the name Mikaël Aguirre, sometimes Orioto. - When searching for Mikaël Aguirre on Google, the first result is the out-of-date ArtStation page. The second result is Instagram; which I personally despise, which has a horrible user experience and which also seems to be out-of-date (can't check because Instagram sucks). All other results for Mikaël Aguirre are either out-of-date or concern a different Mikaël Aguirre. - When searching for Orioto on Google, the results are much better - the entire first page is filled with your accounts and some of them are up-to-date. However, the first result is DeviantArt, which hasn't been updated for a year. The most eye-catching results are DeviantArt and ArtStation due to the preview images Google shows, and they are both out-of-date. - You use a watermark/signature in your images, but it is pretty much invisible unless you explicitly try to find it. Also, the signature is "ORIO". Searching for this on Google leads to no relevant results. This means that if anyone stumbles upon your work in the wild (a copy on Google Images, a wallpaper website etc.), there is no easy way to find out about you. - Searching for either of your names on DuckDuckGo or Bing leads to even worse results than searching on Google. This means that it's a) hard to find out about you and b) easy to conclude that you are inactive. I feel like posting the artwork to DeviantArt/ArtStation is much easier than creating it and it would increase your reach. Also, to my knowledge, there are sites which push you higher in the search results if you upload regularly and frequently. At least Pixiv (Japanese website for anime and gaming artworks, also used by Western artists) does. Further ideas on how to provide more incentives for patreons: - As stated above, you will probably want to have a bigger watermark/signature with much higher visibility. An incentive for paying fans (Patreon, Redbubble etc.) could be versions of your work without said high-visibility-watermark, e.g. only with the same type of signature you use right now. - Instead of just reducing the resolution, you could additionally crop the free image. "More image" is always a good reason for a patreon subscription.
Rothschwerth
2023-08-21 00:16:53 +0000 UTCOoh, didn't know that. I got to know about your art here on patreon already so I guess I can see what you mean about the difficulties of promoting the content 😅 I wasn't aware about the 720p versions, apologies! Thank you for the reply, and also for your work, I really appreciate it. I hope your art will get more reach and that you'll be able to keep on it for many more years to come!
Monimena
2023-08-16 17:47:45 +0000 UTCI was doing that before patreon, but it's complicated cause then you have too much things to promote you know, patreon, posters, wall purchases, and people don't read informations already.. I already give a 720p version for the non patreon audience :p That's enough for most of them it seems haha! But having exclusive content is definitely the right way i think.
Orioto
2023-08-16 17:33:07 +0000 UTCI wonder, would it make sense to sell the wallpapers individually as a single purchase, besides being available to patrons? Like, maybe some people would be interested in paying once for one artwork that they really like 🤔 Also using a smaller resolution preview for people to see them (like, 720p?)
Monimena
2023-08-16 17:30:39 +0000 UTCI'd love to do an artbook but i would need a publisher!
Orioto
2023-08-16 16:41:58 +0000 UTCIt never really work for me cause i don't work in one cession and the process is not as interesting as it's not straight painting!
Orioto
2023-08-16 16:40:59 +0000 UTCOh yeah, thank you. Even tho on public I couldn't find it on google image and I didn't remember this one lol.
Eric Zucconi
2023-08-16 07:16:48 +0000 UTCThere is Golden Door https://www.patreon.com/posts/golden-door-77348168 and the wondeful Polygonal Adventure https://www.patreon.com/posts/polygonal-hd-65722652
Maicon
2023-08-16 07:04:38 +0000 UTCI suppose, I'm not helpful since I liked nearly everything you did so far. I have no reason not to support you and your pixel art is very nice. However, I'm very much pro experiments. Regarding posters: I only have so many walls where I can put your artwork and I bought a second mousepad for my office as well. :D If you are going to create a character series or the like, maybe you can sell stickers or buttons? I would also buy an artbook where you put together your most favourite work and some WIP with remarks by you regarding your creative workflow or what you think of your painting? Or something that shows your progress over time, especially your first paintings had very different styles. You could even put together a book based on a theme, like "RPG", "No Games", "Nintendo" or the like.
Maicon
2023-08-16 06:53:12 +0000 UTCThird Tunic art?? Isn't this the second? Where's the second one then? o_o Anyway, I will be supporting you too nonetheless, you're my favorite video game artist (and even pop culture artist more generally). The idea of sets and showing one or a few of them is good I think. If it's landscapes, I thought maybe zoom a part of the wall and show just that. I know it's not great and may result in something no that much appealing as graphical art, but that's the only idea I have for landscape walls. Wish you the best, keep on keeping on!
Eric Zucconi
2023-08-15 18:34:56 +0000 UTCHave you thought about streaming while painting? I don't knwo how feasible this is, but maybe I remember the System Shock remake dev guys were streaming the programming process, showing of how the work progresses in real time, and that generated them more money for the project. Just an idea. I'm here and not going anywhere. So many years now strong 💪 all the best to you.
Germanos
2023-08-15 18:11:55 +0000 UTCI'd be happy to commission you for specific art at a higher cost sometimes, I bet several of us would. Depending on what that cost is anyway
kevandrecactus
2023-08-15 16:23:12 +0000 UTCI believe in the best for you! I wish for your art to get even more attention in the future, you deserve it!
Eliteo
2023-08-15 16:22:03 +0000 UTCI'm not going anywhere, so feel free to experiment and we'll see what works best for you!
Imariaprime
2023-08-15 15:46:09 +0000 UTCYou've got my support always as you are an incredible artist and deserve it :)
Ahmed Al Bannai
2023-08-15 15:44:50 +0000 UTC
