Hello hello!
Hope you had a cozy holiday season, and wishing you ease into the New Year ♥
As I like to do each year, I assess what's working and what's not working in regards to my art. With a happy heart, I'm glad to say that this year brings minimal changes! Most things that I do are working great for me, and you all seem quite happy with it, too!!!
With that said, there are a few things I'm changing in regards to comms and the (lack of) art packs. Nothing groundbreaking or largely important, but a lot of behind-the-scenes yapping so feel free to scroll to the end if you'd like a tl;dr.
The big plan for 2026...
---> Do more of what I love. Yeah, that's basically it. Hah!
For some context, in 2022, I permanently hurt the nerves in my shoulder by drawing too much. After 3 long years, I don't get symptoms any more, but I have to be very careful with my limits as to not flare it up again.
When it comes to commissions, I have more interest than I can handle (which is still crazy to me... thank you). Problem is, if I am being candid, I am very uncomfortable saying no, so limited slot openings turn into waitlists that take me 6+ months to get through. Even after raising prices last year to try and mitigate this, I still have trouble figuring that part out ^^;
(First of all, things may change in the future as I figure out what works for me.) After I finish my current waitlist (April-ish), I'm no longer doing any waitlisting to avoid backlog. Comm openings should be more frequent, even though comms may have to be denied more often, especially since I intend to use more of my time to work on All Jazzed Up (the necklace comic). To choose which ones to take on, I am going to be much less likely to take on commissions that don't directly align with my interests, such as reference sheets, emotes/stickers, and certain TF themes. I'll write out my interests clearly, so there will never be any doubt when applying! I'm also going to revamp my commission options — the details are still a work in progress, though. For single illustrations, those will stay mostly the same, however...
Sequence comm option changes...
This is where the bigger changes are... Sequences, by their nature, are fluid. They are very difficult to price for. Some clients will give me full reign over the idea, and others prefer to describe each panel in great detail. This variance has made me confine sequences to the strip-panel style you all may be used to, but I enjoy the comic style much, much more. Therefore, I will be getting rid of the strip-panel sequences (priced per panel), and will transition to doing comic-style (priced per page), with at least moderate artistic creativity. Panel-by-panel client direction will not be an option for this style. This will be my most expensive option and I understand it will be out of the price range of most people, so I will also be doing single-page sequences (priced per panel) as well. Example 1 (Credit: Wat) Example 2 (Credit: Dracojeff).
The goal for all of this is for me to be able to only work on projects that bring out the best in me as an artist, and by extension, bringing you more things that you will enjoy, too <3
Next up, art packs...
You may or may not have noticed the bi-monthly art packs quietly disappear from the reward list. Truthfully, I had been struggling with them for some time. Some months were more fruitful than others, and when the pack was slim, I felt like it wasn't worth posting. Regardless, when I did post, most patrons were largely disinterested in them. Despite this, the packs take quite some time to set up and use up a lot of space on my drive, so eventually I felt the time and effort to make them would be better used on other things.
That said, I respect that there are people who really enjoyed them! While I no longer feel they are an appropriate reward for a subscription-based patronage, I will still offer large packs (3 or 4 months worth of art) as low-cost one-time purchases in the patreon shop.
The archive of art packs prior to 2026 will still be included with your patreon sub.
TL;DR!!
Commissions: No more waitlists, leading to more frequent openings. Will manually choose my favourite ideas and say 'no' if limited slots run out. TF Sequence options are changing.
Art packs: Due to lack of interest, 2025 was the last year for these being posted as a patreon reward. One final, big art pack will be posted very soon. Moving forward, larger art packs will be available for single purchase on patreon shop, gumroad-style, with new ones 3-4x/year.
I am also dedicating 1hr/day to work on All Jazzed up. Overall I am super happy with where things are in my workflow, so not many changes this year!! I would also love to hear any general feedback on patreon rewards, so I can make sure my goals are aligned well ^^