Dancer Elayne (Patreon)

This piece was inspired by this month's voting poll:

Subject: Elayne Beaumont + ??? Costume

I initially planned to do more with this artwork, but I got tired and saw no reason to stress about it. It's not like a painted version of this would've made me more successful. Besides, I can always come back to it later - there's no reason to force myself to meet a monthly deadline.

What do you think? Do you think I should push this illustration further or just move on?

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I haven't done a voting poll in a while, though they were once monthly occurrences on my Patreon. I'd like to maintain a relaxed environment free of systemic monthly pressures, but I do think it may be fun if every month could feature a unique gimmick like that. A bit like how gacha games will do limited-time events every patch. It was a poll this time, but it could be something else next time.

My career is nearly a decade old. I've grown tired and daily sustainability has become harder. As a result, I think the "Patreon experience" has become less interesting. I think it's very clear that "the grind" associated with hustle culture has been slowly killing me - so perhaps the grind is simply not worth doing anymore... But what is one supposed to do? I can't exactly retire, after all...

Perhaps the answer is to simply have fun - though I am very bad at doing that. Instead of chasing numbers, maybe I should just try to make my community a more enjoyable space to be in? Just... Make cool art without stressing about deadlines, and making fun experiences to share with you.

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Don't forget to eat & sleep.