Tag: Announcements

IMPORTANT! Upcoming Changes to This Patreon

It’s been awhile since I’ve shared anything here, friends!  I’ve taken some time to let myself rest, recuperate, and reflect.

As the Birthstone Goddesses draw closer to their finale, I’ve been pondering where I go once this years-long project wraps.  This Patreon began 9 years ago as an experiment in a new, exciting format to help support artists, with the Birthstone Goddesses occupying over 6 years of that time.

But now, times are changing for my husband and myself.  I’ve been working in overdrive for so many years to provide constant Patreon material, feeling the burnout from my long project, and feeling the crunch of an industry that’s slowly strangling illustrators like me out of the profession with machine-generated art trained on my years of hard work.

I’m so tired mentally from these industry shifts and recent ongoing health issues involving chronic illness have made this feeling even worse.  I’m struggling to even create art anymore, especially as I feel myself moving away from art and more into writing and other story-driven endeavors.  That’s meant less material to share here as time has gone by as I have been struggling to solidify where it is I want to go next as a creative professional.

What’s Next?  Looking to the Future

The Birthstone Goddesses were about creating a passive income for me as an artist with beautiful merch that brings light and tranquility to our everyday lives.  It was also something I owned controlled by me and not a publisher or company that didn’t value my work.

By contrast, my future projects are looking to be more narrative in nature, possibly comics, possibly illustrated novels, possibly even animatics, or some combination of all of these things!  All I know for sure is that the Illustration industry doesn’t feel safe for me anymore and I want to focus on the passion projects that fulfill me and add more to the world than a ‘product’, especially a product that works for someone else and not for my good as the creator.

These ambitious ideas need time to bake while I work through current health challenges, take new classes to educate myself on multimedia approaches, and settle into a new, focused me!

And so I’m making this Patreon primarily a Tip Jar with Loyalty Merch perks until further notice.  I’ll still be offering WIP’s, sneak peeks, etc, but at my own pace so I have the energy to work on my projects without stress.

My archives of digital downloads & private Discord access will still be available for Patrons, plus I’ve added brand new Patreon-exclusive Loyalty Merch rewards for those who choose to support me here!

Loyalty Merch is Already Here!

I wanted to give something extra back to you all for supporting me here aside from digital archive/Discord access, so I’ve added brand new Loyalty Merch Rewards to ALL of my tiers starting at $5 and up!  I have been working on several Patreon-exclusive designs for the past few months and I am so pleased to FINALLY be able to share them with you all!

Here’s a little taste of one of my new Patreon-exclusive designs, the Wheel of Eternity featuring the 12 new amulet designs for the Birthstone Goddesses (more merch previews coming in the next update):

Current Patrons don’t need to change a thing.  If you’re currently pledging at $5 and up and have chosen a tier with benefits, you’ll start earning time towards Loyalty Merch deliveries starting on June 1st!

Loyalty Merch begins to be mailed out after every 3 months of successive support and every 3 months afterwards up to a year.  All you need to do is make sure your mailing address has been entered into Patreon, your country is on Patreon’s allowed shipping list, or opt out if you don’t want to recieve anything in the mail.

Your pledge already includes the cost of shipping, even for international shipping!  Patrons outside the US need no longer add any extra funds for shipping to their pledges.

I’ll be sharing a visual preview and FAQ of exactly what Loyalty Merch will be added to each tier in the next update once I get my hands on the physical proofs, so stay tuned for that post!  In the meanwhile, check the descriptions of your tier here to get an idea of what merch is coming your way.

The higher you pledge, the fancier your Loyalty rewards will be!

Summary of Patreon Changes

– New digital downloads (wallpapers, premium tutorials, etc.) will only be added as & when I have time to create them, making this Patreon more of a Tip Jar.  I’ll post a head’s up when new material is coming to my digital downloads.

– New Loyalty Merch (IE. mini prints, stickers, mugs, and tshirts) have now been added to each tier starting at $5 and up!  If you’re currently pledged, you’ll start earning towards Loyalty Merch on June 1st.

See my Tiers list for a peek at what merch you’ll be getting and to update your pledges before June 1st!

– A Loyalty Merch visual preview + Merch FAQ is coming soon!

– I’ll still be sharing WIP’s and sneak peeks here on Patreon, especially during the Birthstone Goddesses’ final phase.

– My future projects will be totally different than the Birthstone Goddesses. Brace yourselves for narrative projects and Fantasy genre geekery!

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That’s all for now, folks!  This was a lot of info, so if you have any questions, please let me know in the comments or drop me a message.  I’m happy to help as this Patreon transitions fully into a new structure.

Thanks to everyone who has stuck it out with me thus far!  It’s been an amazing journey and I hope to keep sharing the ride for as long as I can stay creative.

♥ Ang

September 2020 – Website Re-launch, Positive Vibes, & Upcoming Fun!

This year has been an odd one, to say the least, and I can’t believe we’re already 9 months into it!  The trend of re-centering myself and taking things slower continued in September with a month that was filled with biz maintenance tasks and exploring a new project in the Tarot vein, something I’ve always wanted to do!

I miss seeing all of my kindred spirits at conventions, but I admit to enjoying this extra time I have to update that old website, take stock of all the art I have around here that hasn’t made it into my shop yet, and other important things that never seemed to get done when I was rushing from deadline to deadline.

All in all, the big positive I’m taking away from this year is that despite not having conventions, I’ve made some great strides in improving my online presence as well as giving myself important rest time that I had been meaning to take for way too long!  Kev and I are happy and healthy and that is a blessing in and of itself.

As we move into next month, I feel such a swell of relief that I am taking October to truly focus on art themes that I have pushed to the side for years now!  I love my Birthstone Goddesses, but I have sorely needed this complete break from the subject matter so I can return to the final leg of my journey with them refreshed later.

New Website Launch!

For those who missed the posts, my Art Nouveau site has gotten a complete makeover!  I’ve retooled the entire website and menu so you can easily find all of my collections and explore the art process for my pieces within!

Coming in October

I’m so very excited to indulge my geeky muse with a tabletop RPG-inspired Art Challenge featuring the cool world of Exalted in October!  I’ll be active on my Patreon’s Discord community sharing sketches, inspirations, and thoughts.  I also have a section dedicated to Art Challenges, if any Patrons would like to join me there during this busy creative month!  

You can read more about Exalted, the Challenge I’m doing, plus see a few teases of art here.

I’ll also still have a coloring page release for my $5+ Patrons, so stay tuned.

Digest of September’s Posts

New Rewards Added in September

Are any of you taking on a creative challenge in October?  I’d love to hear about it!  I’m always keeping a list of challenges, since they have been proven to be excellent ways for me to jumpstart my muse and have proven to be good mental/creative breaks in the past.  (See my Monster Girls)

I’m so excited for next month! I can’t wait to share and hope you will enjoy the diversion as well.  I know you all come for the Birthstone Goddesses, but I hope you’ll stay for the gunslinging demigod ladies (at least for a little while)!

More soon,

♥ Ang