[Patron-Only Feed] Physical! Physical! Let's get meta-physical!

A good assortment of sketches considering I've been mostly inactive. The cute piece with the three Links is especially enjoyable. I did like drawing Yugi too.

My sleep schedule's been wonk.

So what's next...?

As last year drew to a close, I proposed some changes to my Patreon, and many of those ideas have become noteworthy elements of the experience. Now that the end of the year draws close once more, it is a good time to re-assess the experience I offer in order to better it.

Now, when I first began working on Patreon, my schedule was significantly different from what it is today. I now have more responsibilities, like Cassiopeia Quinn, and I try to maintain a healthier work schedule rather than streaming 13 hours a day (every day). I just don't have as much free time as I used to, and I've even struggled to make time for commissions & personal projects, like game development.

Between the different Suggestion threads, frequent sketches, and other responsibilities, my work life has consisted of a lot of micromanagement -- resulting in a less ideal Patreon experience… An ocean that's knee-deep, I suppose. My job has essentially become managing Patreon as opposed to creating. So now it's time to make adjustments to better reflect the kind of content I wish to create.

A shift in direction:

When I proposed the idea of change a few weeks ago, many of you were resistant to it; you did not want the way I conduct my Patreon to change. This is entirely reasonable, especially since comics take a long time to make. So rather than prioritizing comics, I will focus on creating finished illustrations altogether - which includes comics, but is not exclusive to the medium.

Where are the Sketch Suggestions going?!

In a recent post, I suggested removing Patron Sketch Suggestions from the $3 Early Access tier -- a decision that I'm sure we all have mixed feelings about. 

Although I've enjoyed sketch suggestions, I wasn't drawing as many of your ideas as I would have liked. By making this particular reward exclusive to the $10 NSFW tier, however, I believe I can draw more of your ideas than I was before, as well as add additional value to a tier that's been a bit stunted in my opinion. This decision also gives me more time to work on the things that I want to work on.

NSFW suggestions will be drawn during the week and posted together at the end of that week.

What about my sketches?!

When I first made the $7 Sketch tier, it was with the intent of sharing sketches that would ordinarily not see the light of day -- like a mini Sketchie Book. Since then, however, I've grown more comfortable with sharing my sketches publicly, so the tier has essentially just become another Early Access tier.

I also haven't made a new sketchbook in years...

Eventually, however, producing a handful of sketches became the goal of every week -- and that's not a very high bar to set. It's also sometimes difficult to distinguish between my sketches and my "finished" work. This lack of clarity made managing the two reward tiers a tiny bit tougher as a result.

Adjusting this reward tier so that it's focus is on the development of my work and the sharing of my ideas makes it distinctly different from the other rewards I offer. It still feels faithful to the original concept while providing something more unique -- and it's a clearer, cleaner experience too. 

As a result, the paradigm of my weekly responsibilities will change. Rather than trying to squeeze out a few quick sketches, my priority will instead be working on a specific illustration throughout the week - something substantially better than assorted sketches. Something of greater value.

The plan is to create 1-2 illustrations every week. Each major illustration would have a Work-in-Progress post.

Do keep in mind, however, that the Dropbox Archive will still exist. Even if a sketch does not warrant it's own post, you'll still have access to it via my Dropbox folders. Furthermore, those sketches will still be previewed during Patron-Only Feeds, so you'll never be completely in the dark.

Okay, but what's this about comics?

Initially, I thought I would focus on creating Female Link comics. Zelda is the most popular subject matter across my body of work, so it seemed like a good decision. I do have other concepts, such as Elayne Beaumont, but they're still in their infancy. 

However, I may suddenly feel the inclination to work on an Elayne comic, and I'd like to allow myself the opportunity to do so in place of Zelda should that ever occur. So I plan to give myself a greater freedom of choice in the event that I want to change direction for a bit; still being a bit loosey goosey, y'know?

Comics take time to write, and I take an even longer time to fine-tune my writing. I can't squeeze out comics as fast as I did with sketches, so I'll focus my energy on illustrations (in general) while those comics are still in their early development phase.

Crowd-sourced comics? Nani?!

In the meantime, I'd still like to have fun with comics, and I think that's where we can reintroduce the idea of Patron involvement -- but of a different kind. With shorter, zany adventures featuring Fem-Link, for instance. My previous short stories for Link have been enjoyable to produce -- and read.

The general idea being:

1. Patrons ($7 and up) will send suggestions, such as characters, subjects, environments, etc.
2. I will then select some of those ideas and form a voting poll with them.
3. Patrons vote on the poll subject; such as character: What character(s) should appear?
4. After a few days, that poll will end, and another will begin. And so on…

These suggestions & polls will lay out the framework for these shorter stories and we can jump into them and have fun without worrying about a complicated development process.

Anycow, that's enough big important, annoying talk for now... I think we've got the general idea of the new structure. Don't know what else we'd be doing with it.

Here is a simple graphic of what the new plan entails. It is definitely a generalized diagram; I don't know if the days themselves are correct (like 'every saturday') but the general spirit of the new plan is captured within it. 

Video game stuff here. Blahblah, little tidbits about my life here, blahblah... Something about money here too...

Don't forget to eat & sleep.