Xannador
patreon
update
🕑 Added 2023-02-03 11:01:16 +0000 UTCHello!
I apologize for not updating in months. I got so preoccupied that I forgot to pause the last billing cycle. That's not the way I like to run things and I have now corrected this for March.
I'm not sure how much I can or should say about what happened last year and this past month. It's probably better to keep that kind of personal stuff off the Internet as much as possible. So let's look ahead instead. I'm starting a new job in March which will mark a new chapter in my life. I hope it'll be better than the last. And once I'm settling into my new routine I'll be able to plan ahead more clearly.
That brings us back to this page.
Experience has made me weary. The illusion that it's possible to live a satisfied, healthy and economically stable life as a full-time comic artist has been thoroughly shattered. I've seen how the regular publishing industry functions, and I've seen how Webcomic platforms treat their artists. The perfect balance of the freelancer is only reserved for a happy few and offers no security net in the long term. It can end at any second and you'll be worse off than the average joe when it does.
So I'm completely done with trying to become a comic artist as a profession. If the only way to do so is to either live a pauper's life, be treated as a machine to just turn out pages at an unreasonable schedule (And if you complain they'll just replace you with AI) or be in constant fear of not being able to maintain an income, then you can go fuck yourself tbh. And god, even if you somehow make it as a freelancer with a proper support base, better watch your tongue cause in the current day and age of social media, one word that can even be vaguely construed as a 'naughty opinion' and you're out. What kind of life is that? So yeah, no, I'm done.
It would have been a lot easier if I could just give up on art altogether and move on to something else. But I can't. Art is my life. I need it. It's the only thing that keeps me going. I can't give up on making comics either. I may have given up on the idea of ever making money from them. But I can't stop making them.
And so despite it all, I have begun my next comic project, SKYWORLD. Preproduction is nearly finished and I'll probably be able to start drawing pages next week. I'm going to take it easy though. No schedules, no hopes or dreams that it'll ever be successful. I know better now. I just wanna have some fun. As for the PL remaster, it's not canceled but I don't feel like working on it right now.
I wondered if I should shut down my Patreon page. But it might still have some use in the future. I will try not to forget to pause my billing cycles again for those who are still subscribed, although feel free to unsub just in case. When I start using Patreon in earnest again, I will make an announcement on my socials.
Thank you for your patience. If you are still interested in seeing my work, I will continue to post art occasionally on Instagram and Twitter which you can browse at your leisure for free. I go there by the same account name.
Goodbye.
Comments
DragonWolfy
It’s unfortunate what it means to be a professional artist in the modern day. I’ve also had to accept a hard truth that I just won’t be able to make any sort of reasonable living through my own art career (that’s four years of school down the drain, yay!). I think for now though, it’s a rough time for everyone, both in and outside the art world, and I’m hoping that once we get through this bad storm, it’ll clear up and things will get better. For everyone. Until then, I’m glad to see you haven’t completely given up on working on comics. I’ve been pretty excited at potentially seeing Skyworld, so I look forward to seeing it in the future. Best of wishes, and keep pushing forward!
