[Patron-Only Feed] So, now that I have more time at my disposal...

3 out of 8 of these images were uploaded to the Dropbox Archive without their own posts on Patreon.  

Getting used to it...

I have, thankfully, found myself growing more comfortable with my new upload schedule on Patreon. The breathing room between posts has given me more control over my time, and given me more opportunities to relax. This will be an important factor in alleviating my burn out. 

I hope it means I can finally start spending greater amounts of time on higher quality art...

Onto Commission Streams...

I'm taking on coloured sketch commissions so that I could afford more food, which I hope to have delivered on a regular basis through Amazon Fresh. This will ensure that I'm actually eating and living healthier. It also ensures that more of my time is spent doing what I want to do, rather than worrying about food.

The second commission stream went pretty well, much like the first one had. During the first test, I received 6 commissions. During the second test, I received 5, which was only one less than I was hoping for. 

This disparity, however, was purely because of time constraints.

I hope the next test will be equally as fruitful, and future streams to keep this consistency. I just need to be concerned about overworking myself (went 13 hours both streams). 

Something Important...

Although my new schedule has given me more breathing room, there is still something I feel is missing from my Patreon experience, and I know I've talked about it in the past a few times.

I'm not creating anything that feels worthwhile. I'm not creating something I'm passionate about; something that feels like I'm using my time & energy effectively towards. In part, this is because I do not know what I WANT to do. Perhaps that's still the effects of burn out. I'm living my creative life from quickly-consumed sketch to quickly-consumed sketch.

I understand that people still appreciate my work all the same, and I don't mean to necessarily disparage what I currently create - or people's interest in what I make as of now. However, it's not content I feel emotionally & creatively fulfilled by, and I'm sure that if I were creating such content, I would likely be earning more money & support.

So... What am I going to do?

What I plan to do to remedy this concern, I'm not sure. I find difficulty in approaching the subject with myself, if I were entirely honest. I suppose, over the last X months, some thoughts have been given towards many kinds of potential creative directions. Stuff to think about, for sure...

- Monthly Pinup | Illustration

Something that my friends over at the Cassiopeia Quinn Patreon do is monthly pinups, which are high quality illustrations that would certainly stand out among the piles of assorted sketches I produce. Even against the $3 illustrations I generally post, which are typically just more-refined sketches.

Perhaps I could consider something similar. A bigger illustration that's simply more than a pinup of a character standing on a white background. Perhaps even an element of storytelling is included?

- Comics

Comics have always been within my interests, and some thing I seldom get around to doing. Maybe that's something to consider? Whether that's a long ongoing narrative, short stories, one shots, or even something like an expanded brellocomic, where each page is a separate idea lacking a sense of real narrative.

A regularly updating comic, however, is a somewhat scarier idea. Such projects typically require a bit of writing and pre-planning. There's plenty of potential for a comic I create to just completely suck. Comics require a lot of commitment, and I don't know that it's something I can do well. I'm not really sure I know what kind of comic I'd want to make either.

Formatting is also tricky, especially when posting on websites like tumblr & twitter.

- Game Development & Animations

People love games and animations. Many creators do, in fact, use Patreon to fund their creations in both mediums.

I do have the tools for game development, such as GameMaker Studio. Plus, Clip Studio Paint, my art creation program of choice, even has animation capabilities. So technically, both of those mediums are options... But both are so very much outside of my comfort zone.

Although they are things I'd like to dabble with, especially with all this extra time I now have, they are such intimidating prospects that I could not confidently say they would be great or worth spending a lot of time on.

Other Stuff...

I got access to the closed beta for Magic the Gathering: Arena. It has a beautifully designed interface, and everything is so user-friendly. I've lost every single online match I've joined though, uwaaaah. ;A;

Because there's no computer AI mode, and the ability to play with friends is not yet implemented, I don't feel I have opportunity to practice. I have Magic 2014, which is pretty great, and even Tabletop Simulator -- but they lack the super nice, modern, user-friendly interface that Arena has. Sad. I'll never get any use out of Tabletop Simulator, haha...

My sleep schedule has been wonk. Unfortunate, as a few weeks ago, I was waking up pretty early and not having difficult falling asleep. I have to try to fix that...