dirty_bird
patreon
GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS + upcoming change in 2023
🕑 Added 2022-11-05 01:54:41 +0000 UTCHey folks, it's time for a little State of the Bird (tm) update. I'll try not to make it too rambly, and I'll get the quick stuff out of the way first:
-SKETCH STREAM for Batch 2 of October's patron sketches will be taking place at 7PM EST on Sunday, November 6th (the Twitch channel is UndergroundDawnIII for anyone who hasn't attended before!). Relatedly, I'll also be putting up the submission post for November's sketches up sometime later today.
-COMMISSIONS... it's been over a year since I last opened them. I'll be talking a little bit more about that further down in the post, but firstly I wanted to give patrons a heads-up that, as I am officially caught up with the backlog, I will FINALLY be opening up FIVE commission slots sometime within the next week or two (exact date tbd, but I will be announcing it ahead of time on FA so keep your eyes peeled). That said, because it's been such a long time and I frankly need to kind of ease back in, these slots will only be for commissions involving the Compass Point characters-- either pics featuring them alone or them interacting with the commissioners' characters. Future commission openings will be for all commission-types!
-RE: CONTACTING ME for any reason-- this is just a general announcement that the BEST place to contact me (for the sake of organization and my sanity) is DISCORD! While it isn't perfect, it's currently the easiest thing for me to use when it comes to one-on-one conversation (whether it's hashing out information or just chatting). My username is Phantastus#1919; please feel free to add me and don't be afraid to reach out. I'm not ALWAYS at the computer when my little online indicator is lit up (sometimes I'm just checking my phone for the time, lol!), but those who have spoken with me before know that I generally respond as promptly as possible.
-General Life Update, and what that means for Dirtybird going forward: so, onto the more complicated stuff. I've been mentioning having a bit of a tough time IRL for awhile now-- truth is, I'm almost ALWAYS having a tough time, but lately it's been particularly rough due to a combination of factors.
As usual, I'd like to acknowledge first and foremost that you guys have always been incredible, and that Patreon has made it possible for me to actually make a living doing art. It hasn't been easy, but I am both proud and extremely grateful that I've been able to stay afloat doing what I'm passionate about. My life, even in these difficult times, is infinitely better than when I was working in food service/retail, and the struggle has absolutely been worth it.
That said... I'm dangerously close to burning out (as some of you have probably been suspecting for awhile, haha). I'm working almost ceaselessly yet can never seem to catch up enough to have breathing room.
On top of this, for the past five months, I've been struggling with an ongoing pet health issue that has me worried sick, and between paying for medication and vet visits, I'm just... not making enough to pay for more than bare necessities (rent, utilities, insurance, meds, groceries). The cost of everything keeps going up, and even though I've got a great customer base and no shortage of work, I'm still essentially walking a thin line between 'just enough' and 'not enough'.
To be clear, I'm not in danger. I have a roof over my head that I'm not going to lose, and my friends and family aren't going to let me go hungry.
But, if I want this career to be sustainable, I have to start doing something differently.
-Patron Sketch Tier update: Starting in January 2023, I will be raising the pledge cost of the monthly sketch rewards from $20 to $25.
This was a really hard decision for me to make, as I know the sketch requests are honestly the main draw (pun fully intended) of my Patreon to begin with. I don't want to limit slots or price anybody out of getting the requests-- whether it's characters I've gotten to know well or being surprised with brand new ones, getting to see and participate in everyone's creativity is a genuine joy in my life even in the middle of total burnout crisis mode, and I don’t want to lose any of that.
But, I can no longer ignore the fact that doing these sketches takes up 90% of my time, to the point of stopping me from taking on other work like commissions, or that the level of refinement and detail in them has changed DRAMATICALLY from when I first started offering them (example: a sketch from the very first batch ever back in 2019, vs. a sketch from August 2022).
Many of us are struggling financially, so I want to state in advance that I understand if anyone is unable to continue supporting me at the sketch tier once the price change goes into effect. Obviously, I hope you can all stay and have me continue to draw for you! But I also know that when money is tight, money is tight. Hopefully having a couple months' advance notice will give folks time to think it over without feeling too much pressure.
The other tiers will be remaining the same for the time being-- I'm not opposed to fiddling around with them in the future (the interactive art tier has been unused for basically ever, lol) to give patrons more options, but for now, this is what’s up.
If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask them here! Thank you all again for bearing with me.
Comments
Kitsunal Negai
Please take good care of yourself, I'm so sorry about all those difficult moment you was suffering, I hope everything will be going better and better for you, thank you so much for letting us know, and from the distance I wanted to let you know, that I send you all my support and count with me for continue supporting you, Be strong, and be safe, but mostly take your time and enjoy what you do. Thank you for everything and for always do an amazing work, you are amazing, and I can see the big improving over those months, keep it up, you are definitely one of the best!!!!. I wish you only and always the best, thank you for everything, and if you want to talk, or ask for something, I will add you in discord and feel free to talk with me.
Goddamn_Bats
I ain't going anywhere, particularly if it helps you out a bit more to balance life/art
Baito
I am in full support of you raising your prices. Some might leave because of it, but you have to make a living, and as an artist you should be in total control for the betterment of your mental and physical health.
Bro <3
Aw Dan! ;-; Thank you, I'm really glad I'll be able to keep doing sketches for ya! And there will always be more commission slots in the future. I know you guys care, and I'm so lucky to have wound up working for and with such great folks over the years.
Thank you so much for your sweet words Hake, they mean a lot to me. As you said, the state of the world and everything that's happening in it... we're all going through so much, and honestly one of the most frustrating things about being in this tough position is knowing that others have it worse and that there's so little I can do about it. But I'm so happy to know that some folks will be able to stick around, that makes the immediate future a little less scary!
Yeah, you hit it on the head-- it's hard to accept, because charging even what could be considered standard industry prices doesn't match up with what my very skewed perception considers my work to be worth... which makes the mere thought of raising prices very stressful to me! I wish I could just grow an extra brain and four more arms. But at this point, I need to wake up and smell the coffee. I really appreciate y'all's understanding. I have definitely considered a color tier-- the issue is, there's a paper-thin line between being prohibitively expensive for people to pay every month VS being a "guaranteed cheap commission" that someone can hop on and get once before skedaddling (something that already happens from time to time with the sketch tier as is), and at that point, why pay full price for an actual commission? Finding that balance probably isn't impossible, but I do think it would be difficult and possibly more trouble than it would be worth for my mental stability (lol). It's Scuro-- and I am very thankful to report that it's nothing immediately threatening to life. But I've mentioned to y'all before that she's a very neurotic kitty, and about five months ago it suddenly intensified tenfold, which has led to other, tangible health issues. She's now on medication for the anxiety, but also needs a prescription diet to try and mitigate the other problems that have arisen, other supplemental things that *may* help in managing the stress and getting her comfort levels back to where they used to be, and probably more regular vet visits to make sure everything goes ok. This has been a constant in the background for me and it's really been taking its toll emotionally-- both the worry for my little familiar and having to try and figure out where the money for it all is going to come from. (On the bright side, the vets adore her.) I'm so sorry to hear about Titan-- One of my room-mates lost his dog (who all of us were very close to) after a battle with cancer just over a year ago, and it was devastating. I hope the oncology visit goes well, and that catching it so early means it will be treatable.
LanceManyLances
I wondered and I would have guessed that. Everyone wants a bit of the bird and there is only so much to go around. You have made a name for yourself with these sketches, I see them shared everywhere and I was concerned when you stopped doing commissions which I imagine make more for the time taken? When you have a product too many want and we cannot yet clone you, the only thing you can do is ask for a bit more and see how many follow. Another option would be to open a color tier, even if flat color you might work out a level that works for you with a price to attract a limited number of patrons for you to test it. This is a bit of a milestone and shows that you have a style that many unique folks love, definitely something to be proud of. Sorry to hear about kitty, is it one with a name we know? One of my dogs, Titan was found to have cancer in his jaw. He spat a tooth at the dog park and a visit to the vet found it was lost due to a bone cancer that we discovered very early because of this tooth. I see an oncologist on Tuesday.
Hake-Feretto
Hello Kit ! I'm sorry you mert so hard and difficults situations >×< but I want ket you know you have all my support !! I indeed part of tjise than suspected you could burnout...after all with all the stuff happen in real..wars...inflation...and all other bad stuff it's gard , even for the best, to keep up... In any case we all have bad/hard time but it will not stop us to keep make your days better and is why I don't mind to keep support you here Kit, and that even if I had to oay 45$ zach months I had keep support you because : 1 You are an amazing and caring artist than only want the best for his clients/friends 2 you are kind, open-mind and very supportive even with beginners artists but also with friends and even your clients 3 I appreciate you and your art, I appreciate the artist but also the person behind it and nothing in this world will make me change my mind UwU 4 I want keep make your days better and if a bit of money can help I don't care to spend it because its well invest money and it make you able to have a better life. So it's how I feel actualy Kit, pay 25$ ?? It's not a problem at all I'll not let you down and will keep here and I'm sure a lot will do the same and also THINK THE SAME about you ! It's a real pleasure to be here with you and follow your work and progress as much in real life than on the online-side. All that for said we all love you Kit and we'll not let you down because you are an amazing person > w< !! *hug tight*
Daniel Hartford
I will also be continuing the sketch tier! Wish I could grab one of those commission slots but I’m pretty out of money rn Don’t overwork yourself man<3 we care about you
Quesadilla Wizard
I will happily continue getting the sketch tier!
