Reflecting on My Artistic Process (Patreon)

Hello, community.

I hope you're all doing well. This post is mainly to talk about the artistic style I use on my Patreon. As a creator, I’m quite a perfectionist with my generations; I always try to capture the characters' details as faithfully as possible so that nothing gets lost in the process.

The main reason for this post is to ask for your opinion. I think having a distinctive style is important, but it’s also essential to reinvent oneself to improve content quality. Currently, I’m using a model that, although old and limited, has been with me since my first posts. I've been able to keep it going by constantly experimenting with new ways to optimize my work.

The challenge is that achieving the current results requires very long and time-consuming processes. For example:

Facial expressions:When converting a sketch generated with a more modern model to my style, my older model often misinterprets expressions. This leads to faces with little expressiveness, which I have to fix manually. For example, with the next generation of Magick, which I'll upload tomorrow, I had to go through several stages: the initial sketch, the conversion to my style, an attempt to improve facial expression (which still had issues, especially with the mouth), and finally, a decent version I corrected in Photoshop.

Skin tones:My model struggles to preserve original skin tones. Characters like Korra, Starfire, and Katara often appear lighter after conversion. These generations took me a lot of time because I had to use Lightroom to adjust and match their tones.

Variety in styles:While it’s not always obvious, my model sometimes changes key features, which affects the characters' fidelity. For example, I think this was more noticeable in the Tsunade set.

Facial inconsistencies:The faces of many generations don’t always look consistent with one another, leading to more variation than I’d like.

Export errors:When enhancing image quality, errors often appear, such as faces showing up in random parts of the body or body deformations. Fixing these takes a lot of time, and in some cases, I have to scrap the image entirely.

Loss of environmental details:I enjoy creating appropriate settings for each image, but my older model doesn’t always capture those details.

limitations :I also have some limitations when creating ideas that my model cannot fully interpret, such as: the inability to understand Anal pov, the dynamics of tongues between characters, the blending of limbs with certain poses, among other things.

Excessive time:Creating just one post sometimes takes way too long—time I could instead use to generate more images or sets for you.

I wanted to be honest with you about this because I’ve been reflecting on it for over a month. I could just go ahead and make the change, but I believe your opinions as the people who support me are important. This is something I’m considering, so feel free to share your thoughts or simply react to the comments I’ll leave below to give me a better idea.The main advantage of a potential change would be a significant improvement in both the quality and quantity of the content. This is because I would face fewer limitations on certain features, allowing me to dedicate more time to developing creative and original ideas.

As an example, I’m sharing a preview of the next Mary Jane set although both versions are made in the same way, the resemblance to the character is much more evident in style 2 compared to style 1. In style 2, the facial details, expression, and distinctive features of the character are better captured, resulting in a more faithful and recognizable representation., where you can compare the sketch’s style with mine. I’m also including a comparison of Magick’s process that I mentioned earlier:

Initial sketch.

Conversion to my style.

Attempt to improve facial expression.

Final correction using Photoshop.

Additionally, I have included a set of past generations so you can get a clear idea of how future content could look in case changes are made

Personal and professional life are equally important. In the future, I won't have the time I currently have to focus on correcting the major issues left by my current model. Additionally, at this moment, I can't rely solely on Patreon to dedicate a full workday. I hope you understand the reasons behind this post 😁.Thank you for taking the time to read this. I truly value your input since your support has always been key to moving forward.