10 Years of Patreon (Patreon)

In 2016 I wasn't doing so great, living with a great deal of student loan and credit card debt, barely making a dent with the endless commission grind. I was a visible name in the fandom with demand for my work, but the balance of how quickly I could work versus how much I was able to charge for said work was only allowing me to tread water.

I'd wanted to be an artist ever since I was a teenager, but as I was approaching my 30s, I was facing the reality that being an artist might not be viable for me anymore. I began to research going back to school for some sort of trade job, while friends suggested I open a Patreon. I was thoroughly pessimistic that I would match what I was currently making through commissions, let alone make serious progress on my debt, but if I was seriously considering giving up art altogether, I thought that I may as well try it. I opened a Patreon in October of 2016, and gave myself six months to match my monthly commission income. If I couldn't, then I would be done with art for good.

It took a mere three months for me to get back into the black-- right when I completely ran out of cash. If you were one of the people to sign up in those first three months, you may smugly tell your friends that you personally ensured that Meesh stayed an artist. 10 years later, I'm still at it.

Not that there haven't been difficulties: the reckoning with getting a little bit older, understanding limitations and realizing that I probably won't end up making every idea I have (and that not every idea has to be groundbreaking) and the self-doubt that every artist is familiar with. My art will continue to change, the process and appearance will flux, but it's my genuine hope that I can continue to be an artist until I physically can't anymore. It's through the support of everyone here that makes that possible--Thank you for sticking around.