Yet another update post! Burnout & benefits

Hey all! Gonna be changing some things around again.

First off, an explanation: I've been dealing with art burnout and stress a lot these past few weeks. Part of this is the influence of real life issues like depression, consistent sleeping problems, and also just how rough therapy has been on me. The other big part of it is not getting to draw the things I personally want to draw. Drawing very similar things often has left me a bit frustrated.

This is why I sent out the questionnaire earlier this week- To see if I could maybe change things around on Patreon a bit to still offer the benefits people enjoy, but also make things more enjoyable for myself, rather than just going through the motions every month. Which brings me to update #1.

Patreon related updates

Update #1: Fanart polls are changing yet again! Introducing Patron's Picks & Frey's Faves! (name pending)
Currently the fanart poll is split in two: SFW and NSFW. This split is changing. Rather than being divided into SFW and NSFW, there will now be a poll for characters that Patrons would like to see me draw (Patron's Picks), and one for characters that I wish to draw (Frey's Faves). These can still be NSFW! It'll just depend on the idea of the person who submitted the character.
I'm making this change because I noticed that the characters that win the polls, are usually the characters I'm least excited about drawing. So yes, this is kind of a selfish move, but I feel like I have to do this to make sure I'll be able to maintain interest!

Update #2: New benefit! 10% commission discount for Adventurer Patrons.
This one doesn't really have anything to do with the burnout, but rather with the questionnaire I sent out! I asked you guys what kind of benefits you'd like to see, and while most are hard to realize, this one I can most certainly make work!

Questionnaire suggestions

I did take other benefits you suggested into consideration, but unfortunately, they're a little difficult for me to do right now. Such as:

Timelapses
I switch a lot between different projects while working, and generally, I'm pretty messy. Doing a timelapse would require A LOT of editing afterwards, so I think it may not be viable considering not that many people usually watch those anyway.

More rough practice sketches, or sketch pages featuring Patrons' suggested characters
So, sketching is actually one of the most time-consuming parts of art for me. Coming up with a pose, and then trying to actually make it look right takes me hours. While I would love to add this, I don't think I'm currently at a level where I could comfortably do so.

More Hero tier slots
I have been considering this for a while! But right now I already struggle to finish everything every month, so for now it won't happen. Maybe in the future when I become more efficient though!

Other stuff

Going back to the reason for feeling burnt out a bit- Next month I won't be allowing XIV characters for the fanart poll. Drawing almost exclusively XIV characters is one of the reasons why art has been so taxing lately. I know my audience is largely XIV adjacent, but I need a break. I will probably also prioritize non-XIV characters for the next commission opening.

One last thing. Please know that I appreciate you all so, so much. Thank you all for supporting me in what I do. Things may be a bit rough for me right now, but that does not mean I don't value your support- I ABSOLUTELY do. I feel blessed knowing that people are willing to support me like this. So, thank you. From the bottom of my heart.