TL;DR: Commission work is starting to take too much time away from the projects that truly mean a lot to me. I want to move away from this business model but all known alternatives seem to suck ass.
If you aren't interested in the details, I'd at least appreciate your input in the comments:
Would you be open to paying for a LEGLEGLEG subscription service if it meant that more higher-quality artwork was being created, rather than the higher-in-quantity, but lower-in quality commissioned pieces? Commissions are NOT stopping right now, but I very much intend to stop soon. EDIT: I don't think I'll be stopping commission work anytime soon after a lot of thought and discussion with some folks. I just need to re-think stuff. Sorry if I caused any alarm!
The commissions I typically create nowadays require such little thought and skill on my part at this point compared to the larger pieces I've been doing that it's almost absurd. I enjoy doing them to a degree, or I wouldn't in the first place, but the amount of time I'm investing into creating a high quantity of them is putting a limit on the amount of time and focus I'm able to put into projects that deeply interest me.
I'm making fast-food art when I know I'm easily capable of making something more worthwhile, not just for myself, but for you as well.
I cannot pay attention to the projects that mean a lot to me when that focus is being directed toward making easily-produced, low-quality porn for cheap, but at the moment, I know of no better way of transforming that focus into income that works for me.
I cannot accept the idea of playing the political game of bending over backwards to meet the expectations of popular subscription services. Patreon, Subscribestar, etc, all seem to be run by people who are completely out-of-touch with those who create art hosted on their platforms. They all seem to change their policies based on whatever whim suits them that day, and I cannot facilitate the sort of hyper-vigilance required to navigate their content-policy landmines.
There are services like Verotel (https://www.verotel.com) that provide payment and subscription services for adult art consumers, but the startup cost is high, and there's no guarantee it will work out for you or me. I have no idea who among my audience is even willing to pay for a subscription.
I have a Ko-fi tip jar that is almost never used.
I'm determined to pursue art as my career, but i'm increasingly finding that if i don't find a way to make income creating exclusively what i'm personally interested in creating, I WILL burn out.
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I want to work on my father/son comic, SCREENTIME, (that i'm certain a LOT of you will enjoy!) but i am not getting paid for it.
Why work on it when fast-food commission work is what allows me to pay for my car insurance?
I want to work on an illustration of my characters Anno and Beans hanging out in their treehouse, because it's deeply connected to my game, Strange Attractor, but I am not getting paid for it.
Why work on stuff related to my game when cheaply-produced commission work puts gas in my car and pays for my phone bill?
I want to do more personal paintings like the painting with Hawking sitting on a sun-soaked hill, or the beanbath picture, but I'm not getting paid to create things like that.
Why spend more time making things like that when doing more commission work allows me to (barely) afford the rare visit to an amusement park, just so I'm not stuck in the house all day, every day?
Thanks, everyone, for reading and watching out for the stuff I post. I greatly appreciate it, and I want to make more high-quality art for everyone here to enjoy, but my current means of sustaining my income are in conflict with that desire. I hope I can find a better way soon.
i'm digging around for a service that'll work! the problem is, patreon, onlyfans, subscribestar, etc, are all under pressure to be dictatorial about the things you're allowed to post.
freedom of speech is not a thing on these services or anything like them. if someone high-up in the business doesn't want certain forms of subject matter (cub, for example) because they or the public thinks its too icky, then they're incentivized to prohibit anyone from using their platform to make income from it.
i'm digging around for a service that'll work! the problem is, patreon, onlyfans, subscribestar, etc
To be fair, platforms like patreon, substar, etc. are exercising their own freedom of speech (freedom of association, specifically) when they disallow certain content. It's usually arbitrary and their reasons for doing it are purely for financial gain, and so overzealous that they'll probably destroy their own business eventually, but it's their right.
To be fair, platforms like patreon, substar, etc. are exercising their own freedom of speech (freedo
I'd definitely be interested if it meant more pieces like your recent hill painting. You create some wonderful things that really do shine when you put your heart into them.
I'd definitely be interested if it meant more pieces like your recent hill painting. You create some
those are the works i truly enjoy making! it's almost an effortless thing for me to make stuff like that, but the pressure to make what little money i can discourages me from making em as often as i'd like
those are the works i truly enjoy making! it's almost an effortless thing for me to make stuff like
subscribestar is something i've considered, but it's a hard sell. the process for joining seems complicated, and even if you get past that, there's a myriad of other complications and restrictions placed on what you're permitted to make money posting.
from everything i've seen, it seems to be not worth my time i the slightest. i don't want to spend my time worrying about whether or not their policies are going to change overnight and demolish my business because they suddenly aren't financially incentivized to allow cub art.
what i want to spend my time worrying about is how im going to make the best art i possibly can, and bending to the whims of a centralized subscription service, however convenient it may be for an end consumer, is in direct conflict with my goals as an artist.
subscribestar is something i've considered, but it's a hard sell. the process for joining seems comp
Subscription is a cool concept, but the issue is that everything and their mother wants to go this route.
You could try to do it and base that money on generating the funding for projects you want to bring into the world, that way it's more a "subscription to see this get done" which might be what you're aiming for already.
Either way, I wish you luck with your endeavors
Subscription is a cool concept, but the issue is that everything and their mother wants to go this r
the idea of funding individual projects, for example, using something like kickstarter, sounds great, but the large projects i have going on, like my game, are way too early in development to justify asking for that sort of funding. for other things, like my comic, it's also difficult asking for full funding ahead of time because, while i have all the physical resources needed to complete each page, i am able to secure little to no time to work on it consistently.
i suffer from adhd, so the biggest barrier i have to completing projects of any kind, personal or not, is my ability to maintain a focus on it before it's too painful to continue focusing on.
because my ability to focus on the subject matter of commissioned pieces is finite, i am unable to concentrate on them for a long time before my own mind prevents me from working on it regardless of how much i want or need to. it's why i don't offer large-scale or high-effort commission pieces anymore.
this does not hold true for things that i'm intrinsically-motivated to complete, like my comic, or individual and personal high-effort pieces, etc. i can sustain my focus for weeks on them.
the need for any income at all pushes me to take on quick commissioned work that i can't truly sink my focus into, but the stuff i know i would enjoy making that my audience would also enjoy even more does not result in a livable income at the moment.
it's more than just a need for funding for individual projects, it's a bigger problem where i'm unable to find a means of sustaining an income that can work with my specific mental dysfunction.
this is what i mean when i say that my ability to take on individual commission work is in conflict with my desire to create more personally-fulfilling and audience-satisfying work.
patreon-style services don't seem to be a good solution, and neither would kickstarter, unfortunately
the idea of funding individual projects, for example, using something like kickstarter, sounds great
Balancing personal projects vs commissions is an age-old artist problem, and if you truly want to make art a career, it's one you're likely going to always have to grapple with. It sounds like what you've been feeling is an imbalance (also commonly called burn-out). You may not need to change anything about your way of doing business, just slightly alter the balance of what you're producing.
Balancing personal projects vs commissions is an age-old artist problem, and if you truly want to ma
i think you're mostly right! after talking with some friends, ive come to the conclusion that i don't necessarily need to stop taking on commission work, but rather change how frequently im taking them, how much im charging, and which ideas i accept.
this is something ive been working on since starting to take commissions a few years ago, but it's difficult to keep things balanced!
this entire journal was me looking for a new hard solution but that's not realistic for me to expect in my current position.
i think you're mostly right! after talking with some friends, ive come to the conclusion that i don'
I've actually been confused on what it takes to commission you (which might just be me), because I'll see something like simple sketches being advertised, but then full detailed color commissions appearing later on. So are you just doing it on a basis of people contacting and just saying yes or no? If that's the case, simply format the commission process and decide how many you're willing to take, even if it's just a few - however many you feel up to doing. Could even just fill those slots via a raffle to make it interesting. But at least you'd have control over how much you feel like drawing at the time.
I've actually been confused on what it takes to commission you (which might just be me), because I'l
i am, in fact, taking on commissions on the basis of people contacting me about what they want! sometimes i take on commissions slightly more complicated than just basic, rough sketches. i primarily advertise the rough sketches by themselves so i'm not overwhelmed by a heavy number of commission requests.
i actually have a backlog of commissions uploaded to my gallery that remain hidden for now because i tend to get a wave of potential commissioners every time i post something new! i gotta make sure i'm not uploading too frequently or i'll get overwhelmed.
i usually have a queue of 3-4 slots at a time, but im finding that even such a small queue is a lot on my head. if i have more than 1 commission to work on in my queue, ive noticed ill delay working on them for much longer than i otherwise would because i have this feeling in my head that i should get them all done at once, which isn't very practical or efficient most of the time.
a raffle-based system sounds like it could function well. i was also considering simply being much more picky about the subject matter and scenarios i take on in commissioned illustrations, ensuring i take on projects that are personally interesting enough for my adhd brain to spend more time on them/get them done in a more efficient manner.
i am, in fact, taking on commissions on the basis of people contacting me about what they want! some
