patreon updates and thoughts from the shark himself

hi! just wanted to do a big writeup of thoughts about this patreon, where i stand with it, and how im feeling regarding its continuation in the future and how to change it up if i do. tldr will be down at the bottom.

first of all thank you to everyone who's ever even paid one buck to see my stuff in here, i really appreciate the support over such a long stretch of time and the gesture is genuinely appreciated from me. as such, i figured some direct communication for once would be in order.

for starters, i started this patreon like 2 years ago with no real goal in mind for it other than getting some extra money on the side to save for rent and living expenses. those expenses no longer exist as drastically for me anymore, and my monthly bills recently went from "too goddamn much" to "fucking student loans i cant believe i gotta give the government 20 bucks a month again" (basically nothing).

because my living situation and mentality with art as a whole has changed VERY drastically within the past two years, ive come to the conclusion that i want to detach myself from "obligations" in drawing. what this means is i want to do less commissions, less drawings for others, and more for myself. what this means for this patreon is im also going to be stopping monthly polls.

since this is a benefit people have to pay to participate in, i figured i should be pretty blunt with announcing ill be stopping them. i have very little joy in doing them anymore and they feel more like a miserable chore than something i actually enjoy doing, which means its time to stop. i dont like doing things i dont have fun with, even at the cost of financial support, so if thats why you were subbed feel free to drop out at any point and know your presence here has been appreciated heavily. <3

while on the topic of benefits, im probably gonna rework commission discounts or do away with them entirely. truthfully, not too many people have used them anyway, but if you guys really want me to keep em i will, no problem.

genuinely speaking, the lack of purpose for my patreon has left me pretty much uncaring for updating it as much as i used to, and i feel like overall shutting it down might be the healthiest for me mentally, but i havent really fully decided 100% if i wanna close shop yet. for now, i think ill keep posting sketches, WIPs, and some 3d model work ive been up to on the side while i figure out whether or not to pull the plug. until then, feel free to hop out if thats the move, im cutting a lot of shit and unsure what to do overall here and frankly other artists could use your pledge more than i could. go support the smaller guys, they def need it.

thank you guys for supporting me for so long, its been such a fun ride so far as an artist and having people genuinely like my stuff enough to give me even one dollar to see all of it and my sketches and all that makes me happier than i can describe, but i think im about ready to do some new stuff and let old obligations die out in favor of focusing on newer, healthier pursuits in the medium. if you read all of this, thank you, i really appreciate that.

tl;dr, this place is basically just a tip jar right now. im still gonna be posting wips, full res art, and some other stuff while im making a final decision about what to do with this place, and i have one more monthly poll im planning on posting over on twitter before i step away from those for a while. this is an open invitation to drop your pledge if youd like, i totally get it and respect it wholeheartedly.

finally, if you got any questions or anything feel free to drop em below, ill try to be responsive. thanks <3