Log inImportant General Update for my Subscribestar Page!
Hey all!
I'll try to be as brief as I can, but I'm starting to learn that I tend to ramble on about junk way more than I probably should, I'm sorry! I suppose I do it because I'm always worried about being misunderstood, so I feel the need to sorta cover all my bases or over explain everything. I'll sum up the important points at the end though with a TL;DR if you just want to skip to the major news/changes! ;;;>>
To begin, I mentioned last month that I'd be taking a break from Suggestion Polls and Sketches for the month of October. This is still happening, and it's mostly because I will be away from my computer/drawing tablet towards the end of the month. I've looked into activating "Vacation mode" since that's a feature on here. So I should be making a post using that by the end of this month with more exact details on that such as the time frame and a pause on billing so you all aren't being charged for a month I don't do anything for. ;;;><
It's also just been increasingly difficult for me to keep up with the current reward structure. I feel like I've been burning out more often, and it's become more difficult for me to find the motivation to work on commissions, or even art for myself. That's the price I'm paying for turning my hobby into a job i guess...
With that said, I want to use the time off to rethink/restructure how I'm running things here. I've been thinking about scaling things back, but I don't want to remove rewards that I'm sure a lot of you come here for such as the Suggestion Polls and Stream Sketches. So the best thing I could think of was at the very least, discontinuing the unique announcement pics I make every month for Suggestion, Vote, and Result time. I initially only wanted to keep them as quick little low effort sketches, since having a drawing to look at is usually more interesting than none at all. Honestly it's my own fault really for how it all sort of grew out of control. There have been months I legit have a ton of fun making them ( the old animated memes month for example ) but others I struggled to come up with and make. These also take time away that I could be using towards working on more commissions, etc.
Something else that's always been in the back of my mind doing these announcement pics was that I never really wanted to paywall any of my art. I strictly kept to drawing me and my OC's for said posts cause I didn't want to upset anyone who wanted to see any fanart I make but can't afford or doesn't want to sub. But ultimately at the end of the day I still technically have a bunch of exclusive art behind a paywall so like...I feel stupid I don't know...
I've been thinking if I plan on discontinuing to make any more exclusive or new ones every month, should I make the ones I've made and shared on here public? Once again i feel sorta caught between a rock and hard place because it feels like I'm removing an incentive, thus decreasing the value of subscribing to me in the first place. I want to make subbing to me, even for as little as it costs worthwhile to you all, so I don't want to make anyone feel like they've been ripped off or anything. No one is forced to subbed to me I know, and I do urge anyone to cancel their sub if they aren't happy with how I'm running things, or don't feel like I'm providing enough to warrant it. Which leads into my last point here...
I would really like to hear from you all honestly. Mostly any form of constructive feedback for how I'm running things here, or even just some ideas for rewards I can potentially offer that aren't too much extra work either. Would you guys prefer fewer but more finished and colored pictures? Or perhaps more chances for ideas to be sketched out instead? etc. I've had a few ideas tossed my way before such as Monthly Commission slots, a Discord server, YCH stickers/emotes, but I'm not really sure if these are things that you want to see or I can sustain. ( Discord server is the least likely because I don't like being in or partaking in such big groups, let alone needing to moderate one sorry;;;>> ) But yeah I don't know, please leave any sort of feedback or ideas in the comments. I do read them all, but I'm sorry in advance if I don't respond to everything.
I'm really sorry for the long winded essay I wrote here. I feel like I really do struggle to condense my thoughts down, they feel so scattered lately I'm not sure. But yeah, if you've read all the way through this sincerely thank you so much for your time and support. I want to try to do my best with this page and not have to give it up, but I feel it's important I be as transparent as I can be about everything and hopefully find a solution that'll make most of you happy! ;;;>>
TL;DR
- For the month of October, I will be in "Vacation Mode", thus will not be doing my normal monthly rewards such as the poll and stream sketches! You shouldn't get billed for it either!
- Going forward, I will not be drawing anymore exclusive announcement doodles. ( Suggestion, Vote, and Result Time drawings ) I will still be doing Suggestion Polls and Stream Sketches.
- Should I release previous announcement doodles publicly since I'm not planning to make any more new ones after October?
- Do you have any constructive feedback for me and how I'm running my page here? Please share them in the comments as well as any potential ideas for rewards or incentives I could offer in the future.
That's it, I'm done now, I'm sorry!!! aofshoa8hfo8hj;oa8hfo;a8shjfasfo8dhafosdhiohsao;hasfoao;ifsjasfo
I'll try to be as brief as I can, but I'm starting to learn that I tend to ramble on about junk way more than I probably should, I'm sorry! I suppose I do it because I'm always worried about being misunderstood, so I feel the need to sorta cover all my bases or over explain everything. I'll sum up the important points at the end though with a TL;DR if you just want to skip to the major news/changes! ;;;>>
To begin, I mentioned last month that I'd be taking a break from Suggestion Polls and Sketches for the month of October. This is still happening, and it's mostly because I will be away from my computer/drawing tablet towards the end of the month. I've looked into activating "Vacation mode" since that's a feature on here. So I should be making a post using that by the end of this month with more exact details on that such as the time frame and a pause on billing so you all aren't being charged for a month I don't do anything for. ;;;><
It's also just been increasingly difficult for me to keep up with the current reward structure. I feel like I've been burning out more often, and it's become more difficult for me to find the motivation to work on commissions, or even art for myself. That's the price I'm paying for turning my hobby into a job i guess...
With that said, I want to use the time off to rethink/restructure how I'm running things here. I've been thinking about scaling things back, but I don't want to remove rewards that I'm sure a lot of you come here for such as the Suggestion Polls and Stream Sketches. So the best thing I could think of was at the very least, discontinuing the unique announcement pics I make every month for Suggestion, Vote, and Result time. I initially only wanted to keep them as quick little low effort sketches, since having a drawing to look at is usually more interesting than none at all. Honestly it's my own fault really for how it all sort of grew out of control. There have been months I legit have a ton of fun making them ( the old animated memes month for example ) but others I struggled to come up with and make. These also take time away that I could be using towards working on more commissions, etc.
Something else that's always been in the back of my mind doing these announcement pics was that I never really wanted to paywall any of my art. I strictly kept to drawing me and my OC's for said posts cause I didn't want to upset anyone who wanted to see any fanart I make but can't afford or doesn't want to sub. But ultimately at the end of the day I still technically have a bunch of exclusive art behind a paywall so like...I feel stupid I don't know...
I've been thinking if I plan on discontinuing to make any more exclusive or new ones every month, should I make the ones I've made and shared on here public? Once again i feel sorta caught between a rock and hard place because it feels like I'm removing an incentive, thus decreasing the value of subscribing to me in the first place. I want to make subbing to me, even for as little as it costs worthwhile to you all, so I don't want to make anyone feel like they've been ripped off or anything. No one is forced to subbed to me I know, and I do urge anyone to cancel their sub if they aren't happy with how I'm running things, or don't feel like I'm providing enough to warrant it. Which leads into my last point here...
I would really like to hear from you all honestly. Mostly any form of constructive feedback for how I'm running things here, or even just some ideas for rewards I can potentially offer that aren't too much extra work either. Would you guys prefer fewer but more finished and colored pictures? Or perhaps more chances for ideas to be sketched out instead? etc. I've had a few ideas tossed my way before such as Monthly Commission slots, a Discord server, YCH stickers/emotes, but I'm not really sure if these are things that you want to see or I can sustain. ( Discord server is the least likely because I don't like being in or partaking in such big groups, let alone needing to moderate one sorry;;;>> ) But yeah I don't know, please leave any sort of feedback or ideas in the comments. I do read them all, but I'm sorry in advance if I don't respond to everything.
I'm really sorry for the long winded essay I wrote here. I feel like I really do struggle to condense my thoughts down, they feel so scattered lately I'm not sure. But yeah, if you've read all the way through this sincerely thank you so much for your time and support. I want to try to do my best with this page and not have to give it up, but I feel it's important I be as transparent as I can be about everything and hopefully find a solution that'll make most of you happy! ;;;>>
TL;DR
- For the month of October, I will be in "Vacation Mode", thus will not be doing my normal monthly rewards such as the poll and stream sketches! You shouldn't get billed for it either!
- Going forward, I will not be drawing anymore exclusive announcement doodles. ( Suggestion, Vote, and Result Time drawings ) I will still be doing Suggestion Polls and Stream Sketches.
- Should I release previous announcement doodles publicly since I'm not planning to make any more new ones after October?
- Do you have any constructive feedback for me and how I'm running my page here? Please share them in the comments as well as any potential ideas for rewards or incentives I could offer in the future.
That's it, I'm done now, I'm sorry!!! aofshoa8hfo8hj;oa8hfo;a8shjfasfo8dhafosdhiohsao;hasfoao;ifsjasfo
Here's my opinion: you post some really fantastic art and I love seeing everything from you. Like you said, you post all your stuff publicly so I would really consider this an early access/tip jar kinda thing. The people who follow you here do so because they want to support you and your art.
If you're burning out due to sheer quantity of pieces done in those streams, then limit the time slots for the streams, or break them up into smaller chunks. You do like 6+ lined and sometimes colored pics in those streams which is kinda nuts. You're already going above and beyond.
I think the unique pictures for the announcements is perfectly fine to either do less often or get rid of. I personally don't know of anyone else who does unique art for those polls! If you are going to do something, please make it a low effort doodle.
As for the suggestions, personally, I find that artists tend to burn out when they do art of characters or concepts they aren't passionate about. I think it's perfectly fine to get the poll of ideas and then have YOU pick which ones you think are fun to work on. That way people still give input but you have control over what art you feel like putting energy into.
I have considered if I can't find a method I like and can sustain for my substar, then I'd just turn it into sort of tip/early access to WIPs kind of deal or close it. I guess I just feel more nervous and more... obligated for lack of a better word to create worthwhile stuff cause money is involved. Just feeling like I've bitten off more than I can chew, hence why I want to at least remove the announcement doodle stuff and see how I feel after that. Also wanted to use the sketch streams as a way to not only engage more and give back to everyone who supports me, but also to just practice and get better at my sketching and art making process.
Thank you very much for your time and input though, I really appreciate it! ;;><
I'd like more chances for ideas to be sketched out and for the announcement pictures to be released publicly.
Yea I’m completely okay with you not doing the announcement pics, never realized that was part of the subscription package, thought you were doing that for fun, so if it’s stressing you out then you can not do that, also I’m (personally) okay with you releasing whatever doodles to the public, tons of artists just wait a month to release art they made and the main attraction of a subscription being the possibility of getting ideas drawn and voting on those ideas, you’re a chill guy, I just think you’re being too hard on yourself, but even I know that it’s not as simple as “be nice to yourself” and it fixes itself. But I hope that you knowing some people are vocal enough about being okay with you cutting back and making changes is enough to give you a confidence boost. (I also agree with the idea of you picking out a drawing idea that you personally like and drawing it instead of being absolutely beholden to the suggestions box)
The announcement pics we're really never something I advertised cause again, it wasn't really something I intended on doing going in. Once again it's all my fault for sorta letting it snowball into the way it did, and I didn't want to like, not draw anything, or put something up with way less effort the month after etc. So maybe I am just a bit hard on myself sometimes idk ;;;>>
When it comes to picking suggestions though, it's not completely random, there's multiple factors that go into it like whether or not it's something I can comfortably draw, if the idea fits the rules, if the person has gotten their suggestion picked before, if the idea would please more than one person etc etc. At the end of the day I can make the final call on whether I feel like I want to draw what's given to me, but at the same time I want to please as many of you as possible, and it's just sorta a difficult thing to juggle. ;;>>
Thank you so much for your time, your input is very appreciated, really thank you! ;;><
First off I gotta say I sub because you're awesome; having to change how things work here isn't gonna change that. I view this as a sort of tip jar- I like you as an artist that I'm willing to offer a little financial support.
To actually give thoughts on what you said: I'll admit I've thought a couple times that if the big blocks that show the poll results weren't there (or to a much smaller degree the text that says SUGGESTION TIME/VOTE TIME), the images would fit perfectly with everything else you upload normally. I'm totally okay if they get uploaded to your galleries.
Other than that, maybe you could change up how the polls work from time to time? Like... (I'll format this for readability)
-Go back, pick a few options that were suggested/voted on that never got drawn/sketched but you liked, and put them in a new poll one month instead of taking suggestions
-A suggestion that just falls short of winning gets an automatic second chance the next month
-You pick the character, and we suggest scenarios for them; you could make it more interesting by not telling us the character until results are tallied
-A themed month; all suggestions one month have to involve a vague theme that you pick, in some way, like "school" or "travel". It could be interesting to see how people interpret them!
It's nothing particularly groundbreaking, but it could be fun to shake up the formula from time to time.
I really really am grateful for your kind words and support truly! ;;><
These some pretty good ideas too though to mix and shake up the polls and stuff and I do like them. There's been times where I feel like it would be nice to give certain ideas that doesn't win or get picked a second chance. I'm pretty sure I've done that a few times when it's come up. I've never automatically added a runner up to the next poll however, and I guess I do that to help keep the variety of ideas for each month different and distinct.
I do like the idea of picking characters I want to draw and asking for ideas on them, but I fear I'm kinda boring when it comes to my character biases. ;;;>< Otherwise perhaps trying more themed ideas would be a great way to spice things up yeah, I'll for sure keep that in mind thank you!
Again thank you so much for your input, much appreciated! ;;><
Not to butt in but the first idea seems like the best.