Basic Income for the Arts Update + Recent Commissions

Heya! Thank you so much for the support here and a big welcome to the new patrons!!

Just wanted to share some recent commissions and give an update on the Basic Income for the Arts pilot scheme I signed up for a few months back and what that means for Patreon.

So... I got selected! Out of the 8000+ eligible applicants, 2000 were randomly selected to take part in the study (with a further 1000 being selected for the control group). It means that for 3 years I'll be finally able to work on personal projects, portfolio pieces (to try and get comic cover work), learning new programs (I've been dying to learn Blender) and not being in constant burnout survival mode like i have been for the prior 3 years.

Before I go any further: Patrons who are giving more than €1, i am so so thankful and grateful for your support, youve genuinely helped me more than you realize. The Basic Income (I'll refer to it as BIA going forward) doesn't start till mid october, but I wanted to give you a heads up and say its completely ok for you to reduce your pledge (or even remove it entirely) given the change in circumstances.

I am still going to share stuff here first, share clip files, give Etsy discounts etc (in fact I'll probably become even more active here once the BIA starts), I just wanted you to know that the circumstances have changed and, for 3 years at least, my basic needs are taken care of and so this is a perfect time to reassess your pledge!

As mentioned above, the BIA is meant to start in the latter half of October (but i fully expect delays lol this whole pilot was supposed to start months ago), and it will be in monthly payments of €1400. This is pretty much what I've been spending per month on rent and bills, so basically anything I make for the next 3 years through my Etsy, Patreon and regular commissioned work will be extra for savings, upgrades, restocks etc.
The last year in particular has been rough and I was genuinely at the crossroads of "If i something doesn't change I'm going to have to just pack it in and get a proper job". The fact that I'll now be able to afford to replace my PC from 2014 with something that works? I still can't believe it and I've had a week to digest it!

I take the whole thing incredibly seriously, I understand I'm now in an enormously privileged position and plan to make the most of it while I can. I'm fully aware of how devastated those who were eligible but weren't selected feel, because I've been in that same mindset for so long. For those of us who got selected, we have an enormous responsiblity to help make this scheme a massive success, and to help justify not only its continuation, but expansion for more artists, writers, musicians etc, and help inspire similar basic income movements across the world.

Anyway, none of you support me for my shite writing hahaha, so heres some of the recent commissions I did. 

I have a queue of commissions to get through from now till mid October, and look forward to sharing more of them as sneak peeks with you (and some of the files).
I'll have another update later this month with this month's CSP file and the October etsy voucher, but for now, thank you again. Seriously, your support means the world.

If you have any questions about the commissions, upcoming work, plans or how the BIA works, ask away!

Ian