[Blog] Week 01 Report! (Patreon)

Dropbox  -  Sketch Suggestions 

It seems as though I don't have the same amount of energy that I used to, and it only takes a few hours of uninterrupted work to exhaust me. Perhaps this is my previous lack of self care catching up with me, or perhaps I'm just growing old and unhealthy. Who knows? I feel like I need to be a lot more intentional with my time and energy now.

Anyway...

Commissions

I made it through the end of our very first week of the new commission schedule! Although we’ve only tested it within the context of a single week, I’m not entirely happy with it. Don’t get me wrong; some solid artwork was created for those commissions. But…

Let’s say each commission stream takes an average of 5 hours:

• 1.5 hours per job (total of 4 hours, 30 minutes)
• 30 minutes in between each job

I’m too exhausted to continue working after each stream, so that is two days that basically become commission-only. If this becomes a weekly occurrence, it will interrupt the flow of my other work.

This is counterproductive to my goals: creative freedom to create bigger & better things.

It’s a tough problem to navigate. I don’t make enough money through Patreon alone, but I can’t easily create other opportunities if I’m distracted by commissions every week. It undermines my decision to rid myself of strict deadlines and structure, risking further exhaustion and the decreased quality of art.

For a solution, I think I have two options:

• Tweak the commission schedule, perhaps aiming for only 1 piece each day of the week?
• Generate new patrons & commit to creating opportunities by making better content.

It would be unwise to swear off commissions entirely since I don’t have a stable form of income, but I think it would also be unwise to let them control me as well. So, it’s something to think about.

Closing

I don't have much else to say about the week. I'm gonna try to focus on creating good art this week, so let's hope for the best! Be brell!

Don't forget to eat & sleep.