So I have some very important updates for you guys.
(If you don't want to read everything just check the bullet points, those are what's most important.)
Needless to say this holiday season has shown itself to be quite a roller coaster this year. The holidays were kicked off with yet another moving session followed by quite literally everything exploding in my face.
Paying bills the past 2 months have been incredibly hard because income hasn't been very good.
My boyfriend ended up being out of work for almost 2 weeks in the end of November when it should have only taken about 3 days to get back into work. Our car situation became... well... we didn't have a car so once he was back to work we had to pay bus fare for him until we were able to get that fixed (Which may I add is quite expensive if you don't get monthly passes... which are rather expensive themselves...)
And of course to top that all off Patreon decided to screw over their creators. I know a lot of people have lost far too many patrons due to that. I myself lost over half of my support thanks to Patreon's attempt to change things, they may have fixed the issue and retracted their proposal but the damages are already done...
The bright side of things is the reason I've been so quite recently.
I was offered a job at the local university and have decided to take it. Since the beginning of the month I have been doing tons of stuff to get into this job. They've had several tests and a butt-ton of paperwork for me to fill out and I will finally be starting my first day tomorrow.
The job is full time and will give me a chance to live rather comfortably for the first time in several years.
I won't lie, I do still love drawing and loved the past 2 years being self employed as I've gotten to create so much awesome stuff. But at the same time it's been a huge struggle. I honestly only have myself to blame since I let my list get backed up to a point where it should have never gotten in the first place. But when it rains it pours and at the time I didn't see any other options than taking more commissions to help myself stay afloat financially.
Now that I won't be forced to take more artwork when something goes wrong as I will be able to put away funds for emergencies, it will be a lot easier for me to get through what is already infront of me instead of steadily piling more and more onto an already full plate.
Now before everyone starts freaking out, I do not plan to stop drawing and I will still be working on commissions after work most days and on my days off. Art is still something I love and I don't plan on quitting anytime soon. However this new job is going to affect a few things for a little while.
As of right now these are the changes that will be made:
- Commissions will be completely closed. I used to take some commissions for friends and such although my status had been closed in the past. I will no longer be doing this until further notice.
I will only be working on commissions I've already taken and finishing off stream time that has already been purchased or awarded via Patreon Rewards.
So until further notice Commission Slots or Personal Stream Time Slots will no longer be open to anyone. - Patreon is going to continue to get WIP, HD, and PSD files. However, until further notice there will not be any Patreon Exclusive content (Adventure of Rose and Co. or Patreon Poll Drawings). I am doing this so that I may catch up on what I currently have on my plate. For the Patrons who stick around during this time, I can promise you I'll make this up to you going forward
- Patreon Tiers now only go to $25. So all other tiers above the $25 pledge mark have been unpublished until further notice and will likely be reworked if/when they come back.
- In fact, my Patreon as a whole is going to be reworked upon me completing my current workload. I will be removing certain tiers, reworking those that I keep, and the Goals will likely get a full revamp as well. I've been wanting to do this for some time and I suppose, since Patreon's scare purged me of several supporters and my new job allowing me to no longer live off my art, 2018 will be a better time than any. Of course current Patrons will be notified of these changes before they happen! And of course I will be asking you all for suggestions in the future! So no worries!
These are the only major changes I can think of at the moment. If there are any others I'll make updates as needed (Been doing too much paperwork today... hard to think of everything I had to say)
But anywho, I'm pretty aware that some people are going to be bummed by this news because they want me to keep doing as I have been, unfortunately it's just not ideal in my current situation.
There are a lot of really good things about being a full time artist and I assure you I will miss them. But there's also some bad stuff as well.
Near the end of the summer this year a lot of things happened. A lot of really bad things that led to changes that are proving to be really good and I'm finally working toward a brighter tomorrow for myself.
The most important thing I realized is that I am in desperate need of financial stability.
I started working toward finding a job that would help me do that and I'm thankful to have found it.
Over the past 2 years I wish I could say that art gave me the financial stability I needed. And of course it probably would have if it weren't for the combination of life events and my own poor management skills brought on by a poor mental state.
I made a lot of mistakes over the past 2 years but I'm happy that I've learned from them and am going to move forward.
And of course I hope you guys will understand why this change is necessary and can forgive me for slowing down with art these past few months. I hope you all will be proud of me and continue to support me in my future endeavors.
For those of you who may be upset about this, I'm sorry you are upset, but I have to better my situation. I've gone far too long struggling to just maintain my existence having little to no wiggle room to improve my situation, I don't want to have to struggle and stress out anymore.
Like I said, there are a lot of good things about being a full time artist, but theres also bad things as well and well... the bad things are currently outweighing the good due to shit decisions on my part. In the future I know I will be better and not make the choices I made in the past.
And for those of you who worry about me returning to the workplace, I assure you this arrangement is quite different than those I've had before. I am going to be working with the same small team at all times, I won't be dealing with people outside my building (ex. Customers). My job is going to be constant and is guaranteed full time with weekends and major holidays off (which is more than I could ask for).
This is the type of arrangement I've been looking for. Problems with previous work situations have been the amount of uncertainty I had to deal with. Will I get 40 hours this week? Will I be working the same days I did last week? Will there be a customer that will give me a lot of trouble? Will the 3 new employees show up to work or will we have to be short staffed again?
These were all things I stressed out about and it essentially led me to being super unhappy.
Thankfully this job has that wonderful consistency I've always wanted as well as a very kind team and management (seriously... my bus pass doesn't come in until a week after I start work so my manager is giving me his bus pass to use until then.)
And of course I've already worked the job a bit so there are no surprises (they had me give each station a little test run during my interview so I could see if it was something I'd be interested in... Needless to say, it is.)
But anyway, I'll stop rambling and get back to my paperwork and organizing everything for tomorrow.
I hope the holidays are going really well for you guys and that you are all happy ^^
Love and hugs,
Rose
