disturbedmonkey
patreon
No more gifs?
🕑 Added 2021-03-23 14:28:05 +0000 UTCI'm about to take a very important decision. Some of you know that gifs are a big problem for me as they take me too much time considering my current patreon income doesnt allow me to quit my job.
I've been thinking of a solution for months and here's what I came up with: replace the gif and the hong tier (15$) ability to choose the character for the polls with a 5 pannels request involving my OCs. Just like the monthly request, you write a story for 5 pannels, people vote for it, I draw it. It'd be in flat color.
Its still up to decision and I have to think it through but itd be something like that. I might alternate at first, doing gifs every 2 months. Or not. I dont know.
Cons: I wont do gifs every months anymore, and I'm very aware they're my "brand", the reason most people know my work and appreciate it, etc.
Pros:
-if i ever do gifs again, i will have all the time i want to do it right and like i want, and it wont have to be limited to around 125 frames.
-ill have time to take commissions again (its been more than 6 months)
-ill have time to do exercices and improve
-doing gifs doesnt make me progress, anatomically or just drawing wise. Drawing more individual pics will
-since itll only be around my ocs, it will force me to settle down their designs and lore, and youll finally be able to discover what the lore is all about
-way more streams and WiP pics
As you can see this decision is totally up to debate. If I take it this month (march 2021) it will apply in may (which means I'll still do the april gif). So, since I want to make NSFW my main income, my question is: What would you do with your pledge if I took this suggestion? Please be completely honest.
Note that I also totally encourage suggestions and criticism. As I said it's totally up to debate. Please tell me what you think in the comments
Comments
FonkiMonki
Thanks for the constructive feedback, there's a lot I'd like to reply. Patreon is indeed not big enough to be a valid income source currently, but that's the reason why I'm working on it and asking you guys this questions. The reason why I kept drawing these gifs even tho they take me that absurd amount of time every month and don't get me money is because if I wasn't paid for it I'd do it anyway, just to a much lower rate (probably like one every 3 or 4 months). But, despite that, I never considered patreon a tip jar (or at least not only that). I give services, those listed in the tiers, and you guys take a big part in the decision and directions I take in my art (since you basically decide the characters I draw and what I do with them). I also think most of my supporters consider it like this; a service they pay for, and not a tip jar. So since you're already involved this deep in the process, it's only natural I keep you informed, like I did every times I made changes in this patreon. And since I do want to make it my main income/job, it's also only natural I ask how risked it'll be. But of course, I'd never leave without a word. You said you were quite new here, but finding an alternative to gifs is actually something I've been discussing since at least the patreon start, and even more seriously approximately 6 months ago, so it's not something I'm pulling off my hat and as usual I kept everyone informed for a long time already, even though, once again, nothing has been decided yet. But I will probably take a decision in the week.
FonkiMonki
doing 5 flat color requests will be infinitely shorter than a 125 frames gif, don't worry about that.
Kermite23
What will be Your chooses.. please, don't burnout with many patreons requests please.
RemnantRyku
Thanks for the update, DM. First thing's first, it is ultimately your decision. If you're at all worried about losing patrons since your current main content is something you will be planning to take a long break from because you want to make other content, then you'll have to take that risk of losing some patrons. However, you never know, maybe this new change may be what more people like and it might draw in more patrons too. Good or bad, always move forward. If Patreon isn't big enough for you to be making a large amount of money to consider it a valid income source, personally, don't focus on it. Patreon should simply be a place where people are willingly supporting you because they want to and because you are letting them support you. I'm not saying you should say, "screw you" to us patrons here, but simply putting these kinds of updates are fine enough. It let's us know you're keeping us in the loop and that you want to pause, change plans, or even stop. There's no need to rush in making Patreon your "go-to" all the time just because you have fans that are willingly giving you their money. We support you because we want to, if we decide to stop, we decided to stop. Simple as that, we all move on, and at least we shared some good times. Take care of yourself first, DM. Learn what you want, explore, gain knowledge, practice, work on art that you feel makes you feel satisfied and happy with. Once you're ready to make your art a business, then you should focus on building up your Patreon or any other site, platform, etc. To answer you, I will currently keep my pledge as is. As a new patron, to a degree it is upsetting both in a sad and disappointing way, because I had subscribed for the gifs content, only to find that it will be ending so soon. However, as a fellow artist, I am no fool in denying the chance to see other artists grow. While the content I subscribed for may be going away, you're already a content creator I enjoy and I am interested in seeing what new content you want to focus on. If I decide to lower my membership amount or cancel for any reason, that's on me. Besides, I'll most likely at least follow you to see if I want to come back in the future. I'm certain a lot of Patreon users do this. Don't ever feel bad for doing something you love. Just don't ever abandon your patrons with not even a word as to why. Stay disturbing, DM. I look forward to watching you grow.
