Eight

First, let me get this right out of the gate – I'm so mad I currently don't have the option to do celebratory art for yet another milestone for me as a cartoon smut peddler. While this is not the first time I've not contributed new art on March 3rd, I like the tradition and I'll do my best to stick to it. This time, however, I'm not home and I don't have my art equipment with me, so no can do.

To be honest, I've been so occupied lately that I haven't had much time to think about what to write for the usual journal post I do on every anniversary. Usually, I would reminisce the past and maybe look at where I am right now, and try to guess what's in store for me in the future. I think that's a good format, although I might look into some other topics, too, that would reflect not only who I am and what I do but also, perhaps, the fan art community in general.

Because of this, and because of a comment that someone left on my Blogger, I'm going to talk briefly about Patreon and my view on this whole crowdfunding stuff that's going on.

Patreon is a good thing to some people in the fan art community, whether it's artists or those who follow art. I don't have anything against it and if it works for you, then great. The reason why I've not joined in is primarily because of my habits as a fan artist. As those of you who either know me personally or have followed me for a long time know, I'm not the kind of a person who can sit down and sketch a crapload of stuff in 30 minutes. I'm also not like Fern, who can whip up a freaking digital painting out of thin air in a matter of few hours, complete with complex shading and lighting effects. For me, it takes days to get anything completed, and then there might be month-long "dry seasons" when I can't produce anything. Also, due to my studies and the occasional job (usually during the summer), I might find myself to be either too busy or too exhausted to dedicate time for my fan art.

If I went to Patreon and signed up to have people back me up, I'd have to be able to produce new content for them on a regular basis. This just does not work for me because I'm not the kind of artist that would function within the requirements of Patreon. Believe me, I'd love to get all your people's money and just selfishly spend it on material possessions but I also know my own limitations. I would not be able to satisfy the requirements of Patreon, of my fans and those that I impose upon myself... and that's why I think it's better that I don't attempt to launch a crowdfunding for my art.

Now, before I left for my extended trip, I had gotten into a groove where I attempted to make myself sketch on a daily basis. The last 40 minutes to an hour before getting sleep would be my 'dlt time' where I'd just lay in bed with my sketchbook and pencils and try to doodle something, anything, to get a routine to it and also slowly increase my artistic capabilities. I'm still hesitant to publish my pencil sketches but I'm hoping to eventually get to a point where I might eventually have the skills to get shit done fast while not compromising the overall quality. It's still a long way to go, though.

The next question, of course, is that if I ever reached that level where I was able to pump out "exclusive content" to my supporters, would I still go to Patreon? Possibly not. Even though I've done pay site work before, I'm generally not a fan of the concept of holding fan art away from people unless they shell out some cash. This is why I have a clause in my commission guidelines that prohibits private commissions: if you order something from me, you better be okay with it being posted for everyone else to see as well. Again, please keep in mind that even though this is my stance on exclusive fan art, it does not mean that I think people who do it are horrible monsters and should be shunned be everyone. This is capitalism, and if some people are okay with it, then I'm cool with them being that way. Besides, I'm already somewhat of a hypocrite for doing pay site work despite what I've said (but hey, if I'm paid well enough, I'll do it – besides, shit gets leaked in the end nonetheless).

Still, the future is not set in stone. Anything could happen, and perhaps I'll join Patreon some day. Don't count on it, though, but just keep in mind that even if I say 'no' right now, I might change my mind later. Whatever the case will be, I'm going to be drawing more cartoon girls doing dirty things because that's how I roll.

Feel free to raise a glass filled with alcoholic content to celebrate for my eighth year, if you wish. Go me!