Think as you said you see no point in it to not bother with it.
I refuse point blank to use it and hate when I see artists use it as a paywall, which it was never designed to be.
Give it a miss a you don't need it as you say, your not that active.

I refuse point blank to use it and hate when I see artists use it as a paywall
And that's what I would like to avoid to happen.

Then avoid Patreon, it's that simple.

I imagine just the artwork that you're doing now. I know folks have a lot of different expectations about what they should get out of a Patreon but I prefer to just stick to the old school of patronage. Sponsor an artist so they can continue to create.

Many use it as kinda a tip jar. You offer nothing really for the lowest tier and maybe post wips or random unfinished sketches for higher ones. Maybe even offer high resolution files.

LUL cuck-treon

Patreon is a giant, big middlefinger to all the people who supported that artist over the years before getting famous.
I mean, it probably wouldn't hurt to just set it up as a donation thingie, without putting anything there. Like. "I like your stuff, here's a dollar."
And, lets be honest. This is the digital age. Anything that is uploaded to the internet WILL be leaked.

Hmmm that's about pretty much the stuff that a friend used to tell me.
"Are you kidding me? How can you ensure people are not going to leak out a digital copy of what they have already acquired? What's so sure they won't do that any further?"
Point taken.

wile i do agree paywalls are douchey i don't think its to much to give your watchers a chance to support your work i do mostly traditional and paper quality pencils (prisma mostly ) aren't free as long as the artist is useing there time to enrich the watchers experience i think its fine to ask for there support

Patreon is an amazing system that allows content creators to live off from doing what they enjoy. There are many people including furry artists that can quit their boring awfull jobs and do what they like thanks to Patreon. But you'll need to see it as your job and treat it a such, and not as an hobby anymore if you plan to be sucssefull, and since you say you're not that active, it might not be a good idea for you , or you can just use it as a glorified penny jar.

It's far from perfect. Pirates and bots constantly breathe down people's neck (common unfixed leak) and on top of that using patreon as a platform for income is not free. The company behind it takes a cut from whatever your followers donate to you so you have to ask yourself if the hours you put in it may be worth it.

From a personal perspective i respect the choice from artists to use patreon as an income because we all need to eat but when they start cock blocking to get any results i may eventually reconsider my subscription to their works.

Greets!

I've noticed some artists just use Patreon as a tip jar or WIP dumps. (One tier at 1$ min for example) If people want to throw money at you and if you don't really care for special tiers, might be the way to go if you just want to slap one together.

Ditto with others have said about a tip jar -- I'm thinking of setting one to be used that way. No paywall BS. And I agree with  Pasc about it being a big insult to all those who made someone popular.

Very much so! This is why I don't want to be a half-ass to my audience like those who use Cockblocktreon as a middle finger to leech money out of one's wallet.

See I actually use Patreon but only for a single project, it's been something I wanted to do for years. I find it keeps me motivated. A lot of the work is behind a paywall but I have a $1 USD flat tier and I payback my supporters by only offering the commissions/patron only streams etc. I have become friends with my Patrons (some already were anyway) and they give me valuable feedback/pointers to what will be interesting once I sort the comic out.

I'm not a big artist and I rarely take paid work, never more than 2 pieces and I have probably done less the 50 commission pieces in total. All of my personal work goes up free for people to take and choose as they like. But my Patrons help me, I have actually changed some of my anatomy styles and developed whole aspects of the world that I never would have thought of under their direction. I won't lie, I would love for it to get to the point wherein I can live off it/go part time with my work so I can really throw myself into it. The final project of the comic and some of the bonus elements would go up for free consumption but I'll keep rewarding the people who would be wonderful enough to help me do that. It might get pirated and if it does then the people who look at that would probably never support me in the first place. I'm not responsible for their conduct. Only mine. So there is a paywall and if I was good enough, my work would be pirated but that can happen anyway so fuck it. I'll do this regardless and hope people want to share it with me. And those who want to be there will. I know what it's like not to be big bucks so I would keep things as accessible as I can.

Patreon isn't a perfect platform and there's a lot of things I dislike about it but I am not aware of an alternative where the benefits outweigh the costs for me and my partner. I'm not even a perfect artist. I work full time and will soon be going to Uni full time. But Patreon keeps me accountable or rather my Patrons do. The interaction with them has even helped pull me out of some real bad days. So it's what people put into it and expect from it.

Someone like Jay Naylor has succumbed to what you guys are commenting on but it's not all bad.

i use paytreon as a subscription service instead of a pay wall people that support get a monthly art piece i like it because I'm garented the money at least once a moth i have a sliding scale the more you pay the better the art

Patreon? More like Jewtreon!

THIS

Unless you are planning a project that someone isn't commissioning, and you want it for public display, I wouldn't bother with Patreon. IF the majority of your art is commissions anyways, offering 'high res' files of work other people commissioned you for would be a pretty scummy use of Patreon (though a seemingly common one on FA). If people want to tip you paypal has been a capable tipping service for a long ass time. Best of luck to you Jackrow, please no Patreon, unless you got a plan on a project.

There has been barely any good reason to be on patreon and put anything behind a paywall, so that's highly not going to happen any time soon.

I don't support many Patreons because it is used often as a paywall. That said there are at times some artists that don't have the organization or commitment to do commissions that use it as a donation fund without restricting the content and that I see as a worthy use, though with the cut patreon takes and how easy it is to get chargeback scammed I wouldn't look at it as a form of secure income.

Also thanks to things like "Breeding Season" and how that turned out I imagine many people are a lot more hesitant to back patreons. Myself I just don't have the amount of free funds to really back many artists (5 dollars to 20 artists would already be 100 dollars a month as an example). So when artists go Patreon exclusive they really cut their fanbase off.

Patreon like all economic entities is only as good or as bad as the creator who uses it. It can be an excellent tool for any sort of content creation, pay walls or not.

Real unfortunately I don't support anyone that throws their stuff behind paywalls because they decided to get a Patreon. Just tend to hit the unwatch button and move on. It's not that I have anything against them, as a person, I just don't agree with that method ... why should I have to pay just to view something that someone else already paid for?

On the other hand, folks that do first release to patrons and then later release to the public are still able to get some money out of their work. There is nothing wrong with supporting an artist, for sure. I do like those that give art based rewards for higher tier patrons. Some do a monthly raffle drawing, others do specific tiers of artwork (though that might get awful tedious if you have 10 people to do a picture for just for supporting your work).

Best of luck to whatever you decide, though my opinion of Patreon is rather low.

As you said, "I seriously see no benefit of it in my own eyes."

Personally, I see it as a trap, where a person can suddenly become isolated. Some do repost publicly, ...but for those that don't, when all of a person's output suddenly becomes hidden behind a clique of just a few paying watchers, I agree with you again, no benefit.
The artist just becomes hidden into a private club and into obscurity. Or as you also said, except for those things re-posted by someone :\

I love so many artists that if I were to go to everyone of their Patreon pages, I'd be working a week or two of each month just to pay for it all. It's a trap for both artists and patrons.

I much rather pay for commissions the traditional way, or even send appreciation donations spontaneously every so often, but subscribing to everyone, all you do is go broke fast.

Wishing you the very best, no matter what! *winghugz*

Anna:

E.g. you could share WIPs there doodles and stuff you don't post on FA or anywhere anyway. and you can post your finished works a day(or sth) sooner than on any other of your websites. Well, at least that's what I'm offering behind 'the pay wall"(not mentioning art prizes I make for them etc., just saying what's in the hidden posts on mine^^)...