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Some things that have been on my mind lately
a year ago
So been thinking about a lot of things lately and wanted to ask people opinions on them:
Patreon / Subscribestar: would it be a thing people would like?
I had a Patreon a while back, but mainly as a tipjar, was pondering it reopening it again and starting to give more incentives, I just have no idea what apart from maybe a poll for character drawing but I also dont want that to cause extra stress in case stuff piles up and the like, so maybe not something super big? So maybe like community doodle streams or studies where i used community OCs or something?
That said, content-wise, I know Patreon is eating it's own ass super hard and wouldnt be surprised if they eventually just do an adult content ban in general, so probably not the safest bet, but on the other hand, Subscribestar still gives me the wrong vibes, even when they welcome NSFW content, I cant help but feel something messed up is gonna go down there eventually and I cant shake that feeling, even if I know it is not the most rational thing.
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Commissions: Notes, email inquires, Googledoc forms, etc. What is your preferred method?
I am more used to Notes/DMs when it comes to commissions but I have been pondering if there's more efficient or simpler way to organize that, googledoc forms seem to be a good way to go about it more organized but I havent tried that just yet, so been wondering if people would prefer that or a different method.
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Payment processing: Alternatives to Paypal?
Having more alternatives to Paypal would be pretty fantastic, the problem is that there aren't many existing outside the US, so kinda been forced to rely on Paypal invoices for a long while. But for people inside the US: would ya prefer a different payment processor, and if so, which one? I know cashapp has been popular in the past, but couldn't use it before and that might change if people would like to have that as an alternative.
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Glaze and nightshade: do you/would you use them and would it bother people if I used them for finished drawings?
This one has been brewing for a while and it is something I havent actually pulled the trigger on myself, since it is a pretty lengthy process if you dont have an NVIDIA gpu and with how everything is shaking online in the art world, it just feels... hopeless? Like it doesnt matter what I do, plus it is not like I am a popular artists people would care to make AI models from, I legitimately have no idea why anyone would want to considering there's way better artists out there, but web crawlers are gonna crawl and it feels inevitable anyways that anything I make will end up in a AI, so might as well rip that bandaid and start now.
That said, would people care or would be something that does case issues? I know the quality does lower a little when using Glaze and Nightshade on a pic and there's ways to mitigate it, but it is still a hit, so maybe it should be a "the public post has the Glaze / Nightshade, the patreon post / commisioner gets the unedited pic" thou I know that will also lead into a situation where there could be a patreon rip then all the extra effort is for naught. That would only be for Patreon stuff, I feel commissioners should be free to post or feed art they paid for into an AI if they so wish; I wouldnt like it but it is something they paid for and adding a clause to my TOS about it feel kinda too much? Still not sure what to think of it in that regard.
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Art: Try to make it work as a way to make a living or to relegate it to a hobby?
This is one that has been in my mind for a bit longer: with how hopeless stuff looks in the art world, it feels like trying to make a living out of art is gonna be harder and harder and eventually it's gonna devolve into having to use AI in one way or another to or it'll need a level of passion and talent I dont think I have. I do enjoy drawing for other people, so that wont stop, but it maybe it's better to cut my loses and instead focus in something else to do for a living while doing commissions here and there when I have the time.
Why am I not doing that already? For a bit in the last couple of months, an idea started brewing in my head where I just sink everything I have into improving myself, not just art but it would still be a big part of it, and it is something I want to do, but it starting to feel foolish to sink so much effort into something that is gonna be obsoleted sooner rather than later, even if I know that is not the case; brainworms are strong like that. Should I try it or better be more realistic and start to pivot for something else?
Oh god, I didnt realize how long this one would turn out, sorry about that.
Patreon / Subscribestar: would it be a thing people would like?
I had a Patreon a while back, but mainly as a tipjar, was pondering it reopening it again and starting to give more incentives, I just have no idea what apart from maybe a poll for character drawing but I also dont want that to cause extra stress in case stuff piles up and the like, so maybe not something super big? So maybe like community doodle streams or studies where i used community OCs or something?
That said, content-wise, I know Patreon is eating it's own ass super hard and wouldnt be surprised if they eventually just do an adult content ban in general, so probably not the safest bet, but on the other hand, Subscribestar still gives me the wrong vibes, even when they welcome NSFW content, I cant help but feel something messed up is gonna go down there eventually and I cant shake that feeling, even if I know it is not the most rational thing.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Commissions: Notes, email inquires, Googledoc forms, etc. What is your preferred method?
I am more used to Notes/DMs when it comes to commissions but I have been pondering if there's more efficient or simpler way to organize that, googledoc forms seem to be a good way to go about it more organized but I havent tried that just yet, so been wondering if people would prefer that or a different method.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Payment processing: Alternatives to Paypal?
Having more alternatives to Paypal would be pretty fantastic, the problem is that there aren't many existing outside the US, so kinda been forced to rely on Paypal invoices for a long while. But for people inside the US: would ya prefer a different payment processor, and if so, which one? I know cashapp has been popular in the past, but couldn't use it before and that might change if people would like to have that as an alternative.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Glaze and nightshade: do you/would you use them and would it bother people if I used them for finished drawings?
This one has been brewing for a while and it is something I havent actually pulled the trigger on myself, since it is a pretty lengthy process if you dont have an NVIDIA gpu and with how everything is shaking online in the art world, it just feels... hopeless? Like it doesnt matter what I do, plus it is not like I am a popular artists people would care to make AI models from, I legitimately have no idea why anyone would want to considering there's way better artists out there, but web crawlers are gonna crawl and it feels inevitable anyways that anything I make will end up in a AI, so might as well rip that bandaid and start now.
That said, would people care or would be something that does case issues? I know the quality does lower a little when using Glaze and Nightshade on a pic and there's ways to mitigate it, but it is still a hit, so maybe it should be a "the public post has the Glaze / Nightshade, the patreon post / commisioner gets the unedited pic" thou I know that will also lead into a situation where there could be a patreon rip then all the extra effort is for naught. That would only be for Patreon stuff, I feel commissioners should be free to post or feed art they paid for into an AI if they so wish; I wouldnt like it but it is something they paid for and adding a clause to my TOS about it feel kinda too much? Still not sure what to think of it in that regard.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Art: Try to make it work as a way to make a living or to relegate it to a hobby?
This is one that has been in my mind for a bit longer: with how hopeless stuff looks in the art world, it feels like trying to make a living out of art is gonna be harder and harder and eventually it's gonna devolve into having to use AI in one way or another to or it'll need a level of passion and talent I dont think I have. I do enjoy drawing for other people, so that wont stop, but it maybe it's better to cut my loses and instead focus in something else to do for a living while doing commissions here and there when I have the time.
Why am I not doing that already? For a bit in the last couple of months, an idea started brewing in my head where I just sink everything I have into improving myself, not just art but it would still be a big part of it, and it is something I want to do, but it starting to feel foolish to sink so much effort into something that is gonna be obsoleted sooner rather than later, even if I know that is not the case; brainworms are strong like that. Should I try it or better be more realistic and start to pivot for something else?
Oh god, I didnt realize how long this one would turn out, sorry about that.
Notes is probably a good way to do it in general public, if not through Twitter, Cohost, or BlueSKy.
PayPal is really the best option, but there's also Kofi.
I don't know what Glaze or Nightshade are.
As for hobby or work, I think you absolutely have the talent to make a living from art. You just need more of a fanbase, so putting yourself out there more and posting your art in more places is a really good idea. Advertise! This is another place that Twitter, Cohost and Bluesky come in handy.
And yeah, specially lately, Patreon seems like it'll be a bad idea to go for unless it is a SFW only thing, and at this point, not entirely sure of even that, yeah.
I think you should create an example of glazed/unglazed picture for a visual reference for us to help gauge it better?
I don't think it feels hopeless. especially when all the ai stuff is just the same garbage leaving out all the interesring people and styles i prefer to get unique art from. I think you can make a decent $ from your art because i think its especially worth a fair amount, but i also understand not wanting to turn it into a whole thinv that starts to stress you. Its hard to say you should deep dive in one end or the other, but others will be here to support you regardless
Oooh that is a good idea, having a comparison would always be good before going all in.
Commissions: notes are fine if they're ok with you. I'm probably just going to message you on Discord. https://commiss.io is also really good in my experience.
Payment processing: obviously PayPal sucks, but there's not really any alternative. I've used Boosty or Cash App to pay friends in the past and would pay you with them if you wanted, but would not recommend them for professional use.
Glaze: go for it for public posts, as far as I'm concerned. AI sucks and if you didn't pay, you've got no right to complain about quality.
Art: I'll gladly confirm to you that all that stuff about AI is bogus. Real art is not being obsoleted ever, especially for furries. I for one will always support artists with commissions even if theoretically AI became as good as a real artist (it never will). You will always be able to make a living in this community drawing people's OCs, so if that's what you want to do, do it.
I really do need to look into using commiss.io heard they were pretty good.
As for AI and the job situation goes, I feel like I should at least give it a try for a few months and then dip out if it doesnt workand make peace with that.
I guess there's Fanbox? But you'd have to censor your work.
Trying to get a job at a studio as an artist might suck nowadays with businesses not caring and just using AI, but the furry world will always love real artists, especially with how sanitized a lot of AI models are. NSFW stuff from a prompt will never match your exact preferences as well as another person who shares your kinks can.
Additionally, all the different art styles furry artists have can't ever be emulated perfectly by AI models, which tend to homogenize everything into one semi-realistic look. Individual OCs will never quite look right just through written description, either.
The prompted images CAN look nice, don't get me wrong, but it's way more interesting seeing pictures from actual artists with appealing styles, and you definitely count as one of those. If making commission work is something you enjoy, then I'd hate to see that disappear.
But not to worry. There's now so much AI imagery churned out that the well is poisoned. Source imagery is going to end up including so much AI imagery that it's all going to go completely to shit over the next few years. The way these companies compile datasets, it would be ludicrously expensive to sift through source images to remove AI-generated ones, if it's even obvious, so I foresee AI art getting worse over time. All they can do is stuff more data into models, after all.
I see Glaze and Nightshade as a placebo to feel like you've done something to prevent your art being consumed, but, ultimately, it doesn't really matter if the image is poison or not. It'll still get eaten. Which is, again, why I think this technology's lifetime is more limited. A forest fire, burning bright, but there are only so many trees...
I recommend doing something like this if you plan to take art into more of a career than a hobby. If you would like something more of a tip-jar, I would highly recommend kofi! If you do end up going for a patreon, you could do monthly sketch streams and raffle off slots to patrons- a way to give people a chance to get content from you without you promising a guaranteed piece! Monthly polls are always a good choice too.
Commissions: Notes, email inquires, Googledoc forms, etc. What is your preferred method?
Google forms can be a nice way to organize commission inquiries and I could help you make one if needed! I know other artists have used jotform for commissions but if you use the free version there is a limit on the number of entries a form can have.
Payment processing: Alternatives to Paypal?
I unfortunately only use PayPal- though perhaps kofi allows for different payment methods?
Glaze and nightshade: do you/would you use them and would it bother people if I used them for finished drawings?
I think your art is amazing as it is, Burq. I do not think you need AI to make something better when it already looks amazing
Art: Try to make it work as a way to make a living or to relegate it to a hobby?
This is entirely up to you! You could give it a try for a month or so and see if it works, otherwise no harm done! Definitely start small if you are considering it, you could get overwhelmed very easily.
Yeah, been pondering googledoc forms for a bit but havent heard of jotform, will have to give it a look.