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When Will Pon Open?? - Being a very tired artist
3 years ago
Hey y'all
You might remember me from such times as over 6 months ago when I last opened for commissions.
My apologies...
I want to talk today, about a few important points of being a commission artist and how it has affected me, while also explaining where I've been.
I started taking commissions in my early university years to try and boost my finances as I had seriously bad luck with those (not being awarded grants I should have etc).
Those years were really tough on me, I studied all day, worked in the evening and then drew commissions after work and on weekends.
I was making minimum wage at work and far less from commissions, the overwork made me very ill and I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia a couple of years later.
At this point, my art didn't get much online attention because I was still learning and had originally been a traditional painter/pencil illustrator. To add, I also didn't have a set 'style' so people didn't recognise my art very often.
It wasn't until after I was dropped from university in the middle of my Master's that I went full time, as I didn't have a choice anymore. It was then that I started raising my prices towards something realistic.
I fought a battle to be allowed back into uni, as I'd been dropped due to my illness which is blatant discrimination. After I won, I was working on commissions full time while studying again.
Ever since I completed the Master's I've been trying to get a job with my degrees as this would be far healthier and much less triggering to my chronic pain (sitting at a desk causes me severe pains).
I have been slowly working on my webcomic on my Patreon and on commissions every since, because I had to pay rent somehow and no one seemed happy to hire a sick person with little experience.
Then the pandemic came...
I'll let you all figure the rest out as I'm sure you all fully understand just how much the pandemic has messed up people's lives. I'll mention that I have a loving partner in another country, they were planning to move to England for a while to live with me but Brexit has made that far more difficult.
Putting aside that all this stress will obviously flare up my fibro (stress triggers the pain), I always wanted to offer my art to the people who helped to get me this far. The people who look at my gallery and feel genuine happiness and excitement from the things I created.
It's something I'm a little disconnected from because I'm not there with you all when you all see my stuff so I don't see your reactions and a favourite here and there does little to communicate your feelings about it all. Saying that, I hardly expect you all to leave long comments putting it all into words, as you all have your own lives and things to do.
Sadly though, I'm still left will much less motivation as a result. I look at my art and feel a lot of disappointment most of the time, I even refuse to upload lots of my work now because I'm simply embarassed by it.
The point I'm getting to is that; I'm just so tired.
I've had a long and rough time and it's left me mentally exhausted and physically unwell.
But onto the next point...
My art grew in reach a significant amount a couple of years ago, maybe it started a few years before even. I was getting much more interest for commissions and even managed to grow good earnings on my Patreon.
I eventually even got to making minimum wage for my webcomic, which was a fantastic moment. Yes, I immediately went to full colour which means it's not min wage anymore but it's still a step forward.
As I got flooded more and more with commissions I was able to increase my prices to be a bit more realistic, but in order to really make a living I tried moving more things over to the Patreon;
I started doing a monthly pinup, fortnightly sketches and even opened a gumroad with real merch for the comic. This is all very slow growing still but one day it might mean I make enough passive income to stop my prices going higher.
And about that...
One of the reasons I have been closed for so long is because I just got so flooded with commissions that I decided to open them to Patrons first before the public. That was where things shut down.
My patreons are amazing people and support me so much because they're fans of my work. I just didn't count on them filling my queue instantly and never letting it go down!
So I'm sorry that I haven't opened to the public! I simply get so much from my patrons that I couldn't work fast enough to make the spaces. It doesn't help that I'm a perfectionist who will work to the final minute (or even go over on time) with everything I do.
So what am I doing about this?
Yes, I truly want to open to the public again as I know there are people who don't want to make a Patreon account but do support me and love my work. So I'm closing commissions to patrons now and finished up my last pieces.
I have made a new price list which is admittedly significantly higher than my old ones, but definitely fair for the hours I put in and for a personalised piece of work.
In order to make it so anyone can commission me, I'm keeping wingit commissions the same price as before, so if your budget is modest you can still get a piece from me!
I've always said I want to be able to offer commissions to lower budgets as I've lived on low income my whole life and I know how hard it is.
If wingit commissions aren't for you because you want something specific that you already have in your head, I just ask that you consider a sketch or saving up for a time if you have a lower budget.
I honestly wish I could draw infinite hours and give everyone free art, but I have far too many limitations for that.
So finally...
Thank you all for supporting me so much and helping me get this far. I promise to open to the public ASAP and give you all that opportunity.
If you have questions then feel free to ask in the comments.
If you can't pledge on Patreon but are okay with making an account, I make lots of my content on there free to view so consider taking a look, especially if you're an Ample Time fan.
I will keep doing my best to bring you smiles and comfort, thank you for all you've done for me.
With love,
Pon
You might remember me from such times as over 6 months ago when I last opened for commissions.
My apologies...
I want to talk today, about a few important points of being a commission artist and how it has affected me, while also explaining where I've been.
I started taking commissions in my early university years to try and boost my finances as I had seriously bad luck with those (not being awarded grants I should have etc).
Those years were really tough on me, I studied all day, worked in the evening and then drew commissions after work and on weekends.
I was making minimum wage at work and far less from commissions, the overwork made me very ill and I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia a couple of years later.
At this point, my art didn't get much online attention because I was still learning and had originally been a traditional painter/pencil illustrator. To add, I also didn't have a set 'style' so people didn't recognise my art very often.
It wasn't until after I was dropped from university in the middle of my Master's that I went full time, as I didn't have a choice anymore. It was then that I started raising my prices towards something realistic.
I fought a battle to be allowed back into uni, as I'd been dropped due to my illness which is blatant discrimination. After I won, I was working on commissions full time while studying again.
Ever since I completed the Master's I've been trying to get a job with my degrees as this would be far healthier and much less triggering to my chronic pain (sitting at a desk causes me severe pains).
I have been slowly working on my webcomic on my Patreon and on commissions every since, because I had to pay rent somehow and no one seemed happy to hire a sick person with little experience.
Then the pandemic came...
I'll let you all figure the rest out as I'm sure you all fully understand just how much the pandemic has messed up people's lives. I'll mention that I have a loving partner in another country, they were planning to move to England for a while to live with me but Brexit has made that far more difficult.
Putting aside that all this stress will obviously flare up my fibro (stress triggers the pain), I always wanted to offer my art to the people who helped to get me this far. The people who look at my gallery and feel genuine happiness and excitement from the things I created.
It's something I'm a little disconnected from because I'm not there with you all when you all see my stuff so I don't see your reactions and a favourite here and there does little to communicate your feelings about it all. Saying that, I hardly expect you all to leave long comments putting it all into words, as you all have your own lives and things to do.
Sadly though, I'm still left will much less motivation as a result. I look at my art and feel a lot of disappointment most of the time, I even refuse to upload lots of my work now because I'm simply embarassed by it.
The point I'm getting to is that; I'm just so tired.
I've had a long and rough time and it's left me mentally exhausted and physically unwell.
But onto the next point...
My art grew in reach a significant amount a couple of years ago, maybe it started a few years before even. I was getting much more interest for commissions and even managed to grow good earnings on my Patreon.
I eventually even got to making minimum wage for my webcomic, which was a fantastic moment. Yes, I immediately went to full colour which means it's not min wage anymore but it's still a step forward.
As I got flooded more and more with commissions I was able to increase my prices to be a bit more realistic, but in order to really make a living I tried moving more things over to the Patreon;
I started doing a monthly pinup, fortnightly sketches and even opened a gumroad with real merch for the comic. This is all very slow growing still but one day it might mean I make enough passive income to stop my prices going higher.
And about that...
One of the reasons I have been closed for so long is because I just got so flooded with commissions that I decided to open them to Patrons first before the public. That was where things shut down.
My patreons are amazing people and support me so much because they're fans of my work. I just didn't count on them filling my queue instantly and never letting it go down!
So I'm sorry that I haven't opened to the public! I simply get so much from my patrons that I couldn't work fast enough to make the spaces. It doesn't help that I'm a perfectionist who will work to the final minute (or even go over on time) with everything I do.
So what am I doing about this?
Yes, I truly want to open to the public again as I know there are people who don't want to make a Patreon account but do support me and love my work. So I'm closing commissions to patrons now and finished up my last pieces.
I have made a new price list which is admittedly significantly higher than my old ones, but definitely fair for the hours I put in and for a personalised piece of work.
In order to make it so anyone can commission me, I'm keeping wingit commissions the same price as before, so if your budget is modest you can still get a piece from me!
I've always said I want to be able to offer commissions to lower budgets as I've lived on low income my whole life and I know how hard it is.
If wingit commissions aren't for you because you want something specific that you already have in your head, I just ask that you consider a sketch or saving up for a time if you have a lower budget.
I honestly wish I could draw infinite hours and give everyone free art, but I have far too many limitations for that.
So finally...
Thank you all for supporting me so much and helping me get this far. I promise to open to the public ASAP and give you all that opportunity.
If you have questions then feel free to ask in the comments.
If you can't pledge on Patreon but are okay with making an account, I make lots of my content on there free to view so consider taking a look, especially if you're an Ample Time fan.
I will keep doing my best to bring you smiles and comfort, thank you for all you've done for me.
With love,
Pon
And glad to see that the Patreon thing is working out fairly decently for you. :3
This said, I don't see opening to the public VS Patreon being an "all or nothing" sort of deal; maybe have Patreon-reserved slots and opening the rest to the public?
In other words, let's say you have 10 slots total. You could keep 5 for Patreon subscribers, and 5 for the public. If you open the slots for a week and only 4 Patreon slots are taken, you can then offer it to the public (though that's highly unlikely, from what you're saying). (And please note the numbers here are just generic - it'd really be up to you to decide)
And the biggest advantage with this is that it would allow Patreon subs to also try on the public slots, in case they don't get a Patreon-exclusive slot, effectively giving those people two chances instead of one (additional value at no additional cost!!).
Anyway, just a thought.
And I'm sorry things have been so hard for you, and wish you smooth sailing and much success going forward. <3
Yes, I think that is a good suggestion.
Once I have control of my queue again, I'll organise having specified patron- public slots.
Wishing you the best as well!
But your health must come first. Don't burn yourself out trying to keep commitments to more than you can handle.
And anyone who would say differently should be quietly and politely shown the door.
I think I do have a bad habit with commitments, I make too many and then overdo everything.
I'll streamline my work to help with that!
Ample Time is still going to be coming for years so you have lots to look forward to!
I personally think having a few patreon slots and a few public slots would be the best solution, that way both groups of followers are happy without neglecting one group over the other.
I'll keep trying to improve, both in art skill and in organising work, I need to look after my health better.
I think the patron and public slots are a great idea and I'll try that out soon!
<3
In any case, you are my favourite (I mean it) artist, and I will stick around to support you.
I wish you the best finding the paths that work for you, and good luck along the way
<3 <3 <3
I'm pretty sure I've told you before, and it hasn't changed since