HIATUS (of sorts, please read)

Hey all, bit of an announcement to make; story to tell. For a TLDR just scroll to the bottom but I do hope you’d consider giving this a read.

As Im sure you may be aware, the amount of content being put out and the overall quality of the Patreon and Subscribestar have been a little rough the past couple of month. If you didnt know, this was due to a combination of about 5 years worth of accruing burnout, and more recently, due to me going back to school and getting a new job at my local hospital.

When I first started taking commissions and starting my Patreon, the plan was to make art my job so that I could make a living, get better at art, and make a bit of a name for myself all at the same time. However, the road was VERY rocky. Though I started with a fire and motivation that could see me complete multiple commissions in a day, due to the prices I charged and how long it took me to make a piece, I was living well below my means for a number of years. And thus I fell into a position of doing little to no personal work and only working on commissions and Patreon-directed content. It was okay for a while, but I eventually became very drained and lackluster about it all. I'd forgotten what made art enjoyable, to begin with, and was now stuck in a position where I couldn't stop without losing my only source of income but could barely bring myself to draw.

Then I fell ill. Began dealing with the worst panic and anxiety attacks I had ever experienced. And 6 months of this pushed me to move in with my aunt so that I could better and out of my prior living conditions. I got put on anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds and the first round of those obliterated my will to draw. It was just gone absolutely. I got off of those and found a better one that managed to level me out long enough until I could start going to therapy, which helped a lot.

It was around this time that I began to figure out my relationship with art and what I wanted to do with it. I realized that I didn't want art to be my job. That making art for others takes a lot out of me and just isn't a sustainable means of living and paying rent. Early on, I internalized the idea that if you were an art “hobbyist” you weren't the real deal. That you weren't as driven as true professional artists and that you’d never reach their level of skill. Obviously, I understand that this is BS now but it took me a long time to realize that. However, Patreon and Subscribestar were still my primary source of income. It killed me to see the quality of the Patreon and SS fall as it did, or at least fall as how I saw it did, and I felt like I was scamming my many wonderful amazing supporters.

I felt like a leach.

So when my mother suggested I go back to school to pursue a medical degree, I decided that a change was needed. I started going back to school. Stopped taking commissions and tried to eek out whatever content I could manage for Patreon and SS. It was difficult to figure out a balance and I still am, but in periods of clarity, things fell into alignment. And only a couple of months ago, I managed to get a job that would make it to where I didn't have to rely on Patreon and SS anymore. I needed some time to get my finances in order but shit is FINALLY working itself out. I'm making a liveable wage NOT off of art, Im rediscovering my love of art and have been having more fun with it than I have in years, and I am finally in a position to no longer need to rely on Patreon and SS anymore.

So what does this mean?

Im going to be taking a break from Patreon and Subscribestar. I will still work on and release snippets of the current animation I'm working on here, but after that, there will be no more content released on these platforms until further notice. Of course, I will still be making art and posting them to my Discord, but my approach to Patreon and Subscribestar needs to be reworked from the ground up, and with my current school and work schedule, I just can't do that right now. They will essentially become tip jars for anyone that is gracious enough to continue supporting me. As such, ANYONE that has subscribed within the last month or was charged this month that would like a refund, please DM me. It might take me some time to get things situated, but I will repay any current subscribers that request it and wish to leave.

Now, why don't I just shut down/pause the Patreon and SS?

I do eventually want to restart the Patreon/SS, It's just a matter of finding the time to present it as it deserves and to figure out the kind of workflow I can stick to consistently. This also allows those that wish to continue to support me to do so, as well as to be around for when I eventually get things figured out as to how I want to run things. For Subscribestar specifically, It does not allow me to shut it down until everyone has unsubscribed. Although, it does have a free follower tier which you may join if you so wish to stay updated on changes being made and other things such as that.

And of course, I will continue to be fully active on Discord, which is where I will be posting everything I do so feel free to join there https://discord.gg/qRs3WAfK

And as a personal aside, I really just want to tell you all how thankful I am for your support. I cannot even begin to imagine where I would be in life without you all. Though this change is a big one, I want you all to know that I'm making it for you. All of you deserve my absolute best and its only until very recently that I figured out what it is going to take to deliver to the standard you all deserve. Fuck even the entire going to medical school thing is meant to support me doing more and better art lol. Lion Fuckers Studios isnt going to fund itself after all lol. But in all seriousness, and form the bottom of my degenerate, crusty ass heart

Thank you.

TL:DR

• The Patreon and Subscribestar are shutting down, so to speak, after I complete this Kiara animation. They will become a tip jar more or less.
• This is due to my work and school schedule taking too much of my time and thus preventing me from giving Patreon and SS the attention they deserve. 
• Though I will not be posting to Patreon or SS until further notice, I will still be making art and posting it to my discord. https://discord.gg/qRs3WAfK
• The tiers will remain to provide those that wish to continue supporting me an easy means of doing so. The Griffin tiers will be opened and closed periodically.
• For any current subscriber that wishes for a refund for this or last month's charge, please DM me and I will work to get that back to you as soon as I can.
• I do plan to bring the Patreon and Subscribestar back, but they will both require a massive rework from the ground up.
• For any other questions/comments please don't hesitate to send me a DM