October Updates (Patreon)

Hello!

I just wanted to touch base with everyone and let you folks know what I'm up to currently in regards to artwork, and about my Patreon generally.

Firstly, welcome to new patrons! I really hope you're enjoying the content, and thank you for taking the time to sign-up and check it out for yourselves! To all of my patrons, old and new, another sincere thank you for your continued support of this happy artist, it means so much to me that you're enabling me to do this full time! I really hope I can continue to grow and improve and reach more people through Patreon. 

My first financial milestone has been reached: If I can maintain where I am now and a commission a month, it covers my half of rent and whole phone bill. My next goal will be rent, phone bill, car payment. I have to lean pretty heavily on my husband to support both of us with his job, but it's entirely thanks to him, his unwavering encouragement, and faith in me that I made the decision to create artwork for you all and take the chance on this line of work in the first place. As long as I can continue to grow and increase my earnings, I'm optimistic that one day Patreon/commissions/future projects, can cover my (quite modest) standard of living. Fingers crossed!

We finished designing our werewolf character! I'll be polishing up and posting him later this month, I hope you all like the dude we made together! There will be other monster and beast characters coming before month's end as well! And for those of you who don't love October/Halloween, I'll be interspersing the artwork with unrelated smut too! XD And of course we'll get a new page of The Kobold's Bodyguard and maaaybe another Masculine Mutant Man illustration too this month!

On another note, I really, really appreciate getting comments and messages from you guys. Griswold got so many comments, and it was great! Guess you guys are fans of stocky, dwarfy bearish men huh? :P It's very important, when you're able to drop a like or comment for me, especially on pieces you really like. Why? Well, some of it is I enjoy reading them and replying, but the more important thing is it really helps me understand the content you all most want to see here. In an ideal Patreon world, I would only make content that speaks to and excites every single one of you without fail and keeps you happily supporting the artist who makes it. Unfortunately that's an impossible dream, and I know from experience I can't keep everyone happy all the time, though I promise it's not for lack of trying! I've had some folks leave because there isn't enough Pokemon fanart, and others leave because there's too much, and that's just one example. So! This just means, when you are able to, a like or comment or personal message to me on, or about the pieces and projects you enjoy the most can help me get a better picture of the content I should create the most. Ultimately, I want to know I'm making you folks happy to be here. In turn, it makes me feel much happier about what I'm creating too.

Something I'm curious about, what did you guys think of the October poll series? Was it frustrating, needing to keep up with several different polls, or was it engaging and fun? Would you like to see something like this return in the future? Or do you prefer a poll a month? I do wish Patreon offered more than fairly vanilla polls, hopefully we get more options as time goes by! And lastly, if you really love the work I do here, find it well-worth the price of admission, please consider letting others know through your own social media places. (Only if you're comfortable doing so of course!) My last two months on Patreon, sadly, saw me losing patrons and ending the months in net losses, and naturally it affected me. I'd like to mitigate this in the future however, and I think one way is to ask for your help with getting the word out about my Patreon. Again, only if you feel strongly about my work and have a place to do so comfortably! 

Thanks for reading this wall of text! Even when it gets tough, (and believe me, this job puts a surprising amount of pressure on me!) I remember that I'm doing what I love most, creating original artwork, making folks happy, and seeing myself get better, and that makes it all worth it and then some.  Thank you again, every single one of you, for helping me to live my dream! 

-D.B.