I'm just a patron of a few artist there.

I see :) for whom, btw? (if it's not secret)

Jailbird, Jeremy Bernal and Jay Naylor.

let me be honest.
when artists use patreon they are just drawing for the money in my opinion.
best example is probably miles df who sells his pices for up to 600 and more and you as comissioner dont even get the rights for the art. and on patreon the art get reselled.
its just moneymaking of the worst kind.
art should be about the artwork, self expression, the thougts, a deeper meaanig or whatever you can think of and not how to get as much money as possible for it.

the arguments "artist need the money to live" works not for where i live very well.
im swiss and all artist i know have a normal job because beeing artist alone just wont work

So, are you object to the whole idea that artists take commissions (in freelance way)?

no no. not at all. i think you got me wrong there.
Comsissioning is all good and fine BUT i see more and more that a lot of people forget what art is about, or better, what art should be about.
More and more artists start to charge more and more for their art... and get through with it (example milesdf)
And they start to claim more and more rights for the pictures they make to earn double the money (selling it to the comissioner and reselling it as merch or artbooks)
and now using patreon where you give just the paying user some content is again reselling the art someone else paid for.
mostly the artist claims so much right for your 600$ piece of artwork you cant even share it with other people properly, because the artist like to forbid reposting.
its all about the money nowadays
close to begging for it almost
I would really love to call myself an artist. but im not good enough yet.
once im good enough to come out of the closet im going to draw for the people and not the money, because thats what they deserve
and again im NOT against comissioning. im against greedy comerce artists.

Oh, I think that got it now :3 Thank you for sharing your opinion! I admire people who have their own strong positions what they can substantiate. I understand you, but cannot agree completely (but agree in main course). So I'll just share my opinion too, not being supposed to argue with u ^^

1.There are terms and conditions for all these points about using artwork in some ways else by artist..in theory, if customer doesn't want using his/her OC in any stuff - it should be discussed beforehand and solved in individual order. Moreover, there're many other wonderful ways to earn money at Patreon, besides "reselling" commissions in hi-res (example: our russian guy Ilya Kuvshinov)

2. Fun fact that english word "art" is used for describing very different notions: Art itself in wide meaning and service, which customers buy from commercial artists. (Yep, I think that portrait (for ex) - is not a product, but service. Like haircutting, or firm style developing). It leads to discords and perpetual arguments about whether artists should paint for food or not. By ordering a commission, customer buys hours of practice, skills and individual style of artist, embodied in result of painting, not inner soul experience and any else soul efforts.

3. When we're talking about commercial art, each Professional in any more or less creative activity (where people pay for specific style/manner of exactly THIS guy) can set any price what he/shee need. Even if it looks insane for someone, it will be sane for someone another, who will buy. Or price could be inadequate, so no one buys x)
Price depends on amount of practice hours, quality and power of NAME. Usual business, and it is not bad or good.

And if people buy, if they ready that their OCs will be used for merch, than it's okay, both customer and artist gain profit. They know what money paid for. Purchase occurs in case when pain from parting with money is LESS, than pleasure from getting the product. You can see, that for Mile's customers' pleasure more, than 370-680$.
I consider Miles is good example of successful freelance artist who gets money not only for quality, but also for Name. Why not? If people agree to pay, knowing all the details of further using of art piece, he can do this. If somebody dislikes the artist's policy and rules, he/she always can not to commission this artist.

Yes, by writing all these words, I'm kinda denying the idea of "art prostitution" x) But still understand you and your indignation. I just think it's all about degree of agreement between artist and customer, business relationships and your own choice and principes.

yes that is absolutely true
i never said all artist are like that. i just see more starting to do that sadly
i as a person without much money who likes particular artists get sad when all the favourite artists switch to patreon. i just cant afford to support everyon just to see the art i like.
just to see some stuff from people i like is a bit much at a time. (i have a big watchlist)
thanks for understanding my opinion
i strongly respect these of others as well
its nice to have a discussion like this sharing opinions without the rage i experience usually a lot somewhere else ^^

> as a person without much money who likes particular artists get sad when all the favourite artists switch to patreon. i just cant afford to support everyon just to see the art i like.
Oh, yes, it's very important. Sure, I won't quit main public galleries and free for all art pieces when I get finally to Patreon x)

Thank u for discussion as well ;)

I'm on there as an artist, or "Creator" as they call it, but I unfortunately don't have any followers, yet.

I'm on there to support a few webcomics that I follow and which can only commission their professional artists when they get this kind of support to keep the webcomic going (and are despite the quality too 'niche' to have enough following to generate sufficient income to pay professional artists from advertisements). I prefer patreon for this kind of medium rather than for individual artists because with a webcomic you have a more or less clear project where everyone knows what to expect; a webcomic of which I have seen the setting and the artstyle etc. which usually doesn't often change.

For supporting individual artists (apart from commissions) I prefer the 'tips' or 'buy me a coffee' initiatives, where I can watch their art and show appreciation without obligation. Mostly because if I subscribe on patreon to an artist cause I like them and they would change their style or something and I'm not that interested in it, unsubscribing would be too strong a signal of dislike.
Besides the fact that I'm not wealthy enough to pay a considerable monthly stipend to all of the artists I watch and follow, art is very subjective;
I would feel quite horrible if I felt my money was dictating how someone else expresses themselves. I feel better when they do their thing, and I want them to make both beautiful and ugly things and I want them to learn from the experience, and when they make something particularly impressive I want to send them a thumbs up, either by sending them a personal note or by sending them a small monetary token with a personal note, just letting them know someone out there really appreciates what they do and took the time to do that rather than just pressing a 'like'-button.

I do however also follow a very talented younger artist I support with a micro-amount to show moral support rather than financially sustaining them. But as said this is more meant from me as an aknowledgement than as something anyone could make a living of.

If you would want to know when I pay substantial amounts to individual artists (say the amount I get for a days work or more) then it's only for commissions or with printed materials (and not on a subscription basis).

Very mature and reasonable attitude. Thank you really a lot for sharing!