BIG Reward Changes & Updates! (Patreon)

- Rewards Changing Starting APRIL! - 

Just to get the main message out asap: I am no longer creating the long 1-3 hour voice-over process videos of my artwork. I have made this decision because they were extremely difficult to make throughout the month. Remembering to hit record every single time I sat down to work was a hassle, especially since I switch between different devices/programs very frequently. The worst problem was that It created alot of anxiety around working on art because I always had this feeling that I couldn't waste time/rush/test things that would be difficult to edit out or be boring to watch. 

My apologies for those of you who were really looking forward to more of this type of content, but it just isn't sustainable for me anymore. The video of this type I planned to make for March will still be made however, and it will be available at the end of the month, along with all of the other videos I have made of this type before. Thanks for your understanding. 

Going forward, the video content I share to you here will be intentional videos of me drawing/studying something and explaining my thought process as I go through it, most likely in real time. You will see an example of this in this month's rewards. There is a possibility of some facecam footage/videos as well for other topics/breakdowns that are less technical. 

In other news, an even bigger update... 

I am transitioning my Patreon to focus more on me and my work as an artist. 

I have had a few huge epiphanies around my Birthday this month when I turned 27 (Coincidental? Who knows) Heres what happened:

I have changed a big part of how I approach life that I didn't even realize I was doing consciously before. Without getting too much into the gritty details, I have identified the most important components of my life, and am now pursuing them separately. What I have been doing for the past 4+ years, was pursuing art/fulfillment in order for everything else I needed in life to fall into place. I believe this is quite seriously unhealthy, even though it has worked well for me for awhile. 

Where this affects you as my patrons, is that I am now focusing my efforts towards finances to be explicitly in art education. Since everything I create online has been a hybrid of sorts, I am planning to release my educational content via my Youtube Channel Videos, Future Youtube Channel Memberships, and Future Group Mentorships. When I say education, I mean rather focused education. I have identified a few topics that I know well, and people want to learn from me. These include: Anatomy, gesture, form, perspective, faces & expressions, characters, and lighting. 

When it comes to my artwork and sharing my journey as an artist? I am now focused on pursuing that wholeheartedly - without worrying about how it will perform financially. I am focusing on sharing my artwork/related content to my followers on Instagram, and even more here for you, my fans on Patreon. (check the image above for updated rewards list)

Much of this has come from a very heightened intense pressure from multiple sources that have been raising anxiety levels to places I have never experienced before in my life. I had my first anxiety attack within the first week of this year, and have gotten fed up with this constant discomfort to be honest. I kept thinking about how things weren't always like this, and that all of the things I struggle to do today, I found easy to do just a 2-3 years ago. Unfortunately I could also say I was much happier around that time too, even with so many new opportunities and friends in my life. 

You can see even with the name of the tier, that I am Identifying you as my fans now, rather than just students. I used to think that this was a condescending term, but now I realize that its quite a sign of respect/term of endearment. My instagram followers aren't my fans. My youtube subscribers aren't my fans. People who support me financially, people who comment about how much they enjoyed my work, people who come to hang out with me in my livestreams all the time, people who hang out with me in voice chats...all of these people are my fans and I should identify them as such privately and publicly. 

I feel a huge release moving in this direction. I feel I have always been someone who struggled to do things that most others do naturally. This video I watched recently quite literally explains the transition that I am going through at a surprisingly coincidental time:  

https://youtu.be/Ieq6V3o4rqM

Now I feel like I am finally on track to be the person I should have been this whole time, and make the work I should have been making. This art entrepreneur/influencer thing is a very dangerous road to take but I still think It was the one I was meant to be on with how many people have shared that I have helped them along the way. 

I know that there is a mixed audience even within the 220 or so of you who stick around each month, but I am extremely grateful of your support thus far, and completely understand whatever decision you make after hearing these changes. 

Thank you so much for your support again, I'm already super excited to get back to drawing after typing this up.

~Josh