Nuki News #23: Keep it Fresh!

Previous Artie Asks Artists post: https://www.patreon.com/posts/39850289

I got to have a reprieve this week off from work. It’s nice to dedicate a full day to a nuki news post rather than try to squeeze it in parts over a few days to make the most of a weekend! Anyway, I wanted to talk about the 3rd point I got from the Artist Questionnaire answers. I realized I mentioned in the first post I said there were 12 points, but I meant there were 10! I might lump a few of these points together depending on what I have to say about them and if I feel they’re fairly connected. So, ‘keep it fresh’? What do I mean by that title? It comes from the 3rd point I concluded from the answers I got:

Vary up your work - it doesn’t mean change your style, but rather, shift the types of commissions you take, by either limiting the scope (such as waist-up-only or icons), or creating YCHs or even making a theme(summer beach, winter resort, pokemon, digimon, etc). 

If I’m going to be relying on commissions for my income regularly, I’d be very prone to getting bored and tired of my own work! Currently I have my merging sequences, which has been a wonderful change of pace as it keeps things focused, but it’s also open-ended enough with the way the merging occurs, or the theme/feel of the sequence varies from each commission! But it’s possible I wouldn’t do them forever. I’ll probably offer up YCHs in the future as well, similar to the hug YCH I did back in March -

https://www.patreon.com/posts/35504338

I’ve definitely also seen artists have monthly themes for their commissions - I’m not sure I’d do that on a monthly basis but can definitely see myself doing that sort of thing once in a while! Changing up what I offer for folks can spark creativity and interest in not only me but those who follow my work that might want to take part. Some ideas I’ve had range from offering a sort of mini comic, to making a series of images all about someone’s fursona for people to get to know them. 

There are also ways to encourage folks to participate - for instance with my merging sequences, if someone includes Artie(or my characters in general) I take $50 off the normal price, and it’s a win-win, because folks may not know what other character to use with their own if they only have 1, and I get to draw merging art, and it’s easier for me since I know how to draw Artie like the back of my hand, haha. 

Keeping things the same or consistent can work though- but if I ever find myself bored I’ll know it’s time to change the format of the commissions or projects I work on for folks! I think I’m in a fine spot right now - this week I’ve been working on developing my art style actually; so the way I make art will be what adds some change of pace for me, where what I offer may probably stay the same. Since I don’t get the time to do as much art work though it’s also likely what keeps me from getting bored either. I imagine once I get into drawing 30+ pictures a month though I could certainly find myself wanting to vary what I offer and the work I do. Anyhow, that’s it for this Nukinews, I hope it was insightful! 

I'm gunna go eat some sushi....