Making My Way Back (Update)

Let me just start by saying. I’m feeling much better and thank you so much to those of you who wished me well during this time. I’m sorry for the radio silence, It was just necessary that I take whatever time I needed to realign myself.

Some clarifications

I just wanted to clarify some things. I apologize if I made it sound like it was because a couple people criticized my art, that I fell apart like that. That’s NOT what happened. Please understand, I have had many other things going on in my life that I don’t share with people online. I don’t think I have to remind anyone that life sucks. This past month in particular, I found myself suffering in more ways than one. Pushing me into an extremely vulnerable state. So when people decided to throw some negative critiques at me, it hurt more than usual. The best way I can explain it, is to metaphorically picture me half dead while bleeding out on the ground do to completely separate circumstances. Only to be followed by someone coming along and kicking me in the stomach while saying “Oh BTW, your art sucks.” It was more like the finishing blow/cherry on top to an already crappy situation. IT WAS NOT THE CAUSE. It just pushed me over the edge emotionally at the worst possible moment. I just feel like I need to clarify that, because it seemed most people felt I was being overly sensitive to a generic internet critique and I’m sorry if it came off that way.

Either way, I’ll try not to let it happen again.

My current state.

Fortunately, I’m feeling better. I really used this time to recuperate and rest and I think I’m about ready get back to it.
But here’s the thing. I will be making a bunch of changes moving forward.

What’s changing?

Since I posted that last update, I’ve been struggling to figure out what I wanted to do and after giving it considerable thought, here’s the plan.

First, I’m shifting gears and putting a much greater emphasis and focus on animation.

This is something I’ve wanted to do for a while, but could never find the time or energy on top of everything I was already doing. So starting next month, all three of my comics will now be limited to one update per comic each month.

Personally I wish I didn’t have to do that, because it will slow down the progression of each story considerably, but it’s better than not continuing them at all, which is my other option. I do still have much to tell with each story and I want to tell them. I’m also hoping that maybe doing limited updates will help me to increase the quality of each new page or strip. My characters aren’t going anywhere, I will certainly be using them in my animations and I’m hoping to bring them to life in ways I couldn’t before.

Commissions

I will be returning to doing Wednesday commission streams starting this week.

Here’s the deal though. I’m going back to doing ONLY 4 slots per stream and I will ONLY be doing single character commissions. No more multi character or sequences. It was way too much and it nearly broke me.

I will also be completing any commissions on the same day as the stream. If you are familiar with what I was doing before, I would do sketch commissions during the stream. Then I would accept color commissions separately. There was a reason for this, but for the most part all this ever managed to do was create a major backlog of commissions that I was chronically struggling to catch up on. It also caused me to feel extremely guilty, anxious and stressed out every time I would be working on my own projects or comics while the commissions were incomplete.

Needless to say, I’m not doing that anymore.

I will be doing sketch and colors in the same stream on the same day. So if you just want a sketch. Then just get a sketch. If you want a colored or fully rendered image. That’s a decision that should be made prior to the stream when you send me your request.

The only exception is if you are present during the stream and you decide you like a sketch and would like it colored. You can let me know during, but not afterwards.

Another thing.

I’m taking back some control in regards to my creative expression and freedom.

I don’t mean to come off as an A-Hole or extremely controlling, but please understand that artist need some freedom to work. So I’m laying down some firm ground rules that I’m hoping will not be too difficult to understand.

To start, no more changing large details mid stream. Especially once I’ve started coloring. Do not nit pick me. I am an artist, so please respect my interpretation of what I’m drawing.

Don’t like how the drawing turned out? Fine. Then you wasted your money and you don’t have to buy another one.

If you are asking me to draw something in a very specific way or style that takes away any creative freedom that I might have as an artist, then please do not ask for one. Go get Chat GPT or some other AI to make that image for you. Because I’m not letting people control me anymore.

Let me put it to you this way. Let’s just say hypothetically I went to legendary animator Don Bluth and commissioned him to draw me an image. It would be pretty stupid for me to ask him to draw a character in someone else’s style when I could get an image done in his legendary unique style.

Now I am in no way comparing myself to Don Bluth, that’s not the point. The point I’m making is that sometimes the uniqueness of an artist holds more value.

I recently had a person ask me to draw multiple characters from a certain show. So I set about drawing them in a way that I felt was a little more my style and a little more interesting. Only for them to complain half way through the image, that they wanted them drawn exactly how they look in the show. Forcing me to scrap the image I had already made and start over.

Am I saying I was unable to draw the characters like the show? Of course not! I can and I did. That is not the issue. I just want people to please respect what decisions I make as an artist and please understand what you are getting when you commission me.

Be as detailed as possible with what you specifically want in your image when you put out your request. Because once I start, it’s out of your hands. It’s going to turn out however I interpret it.

Regarding Patreon.

For those of you who stuck around, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I greatly appreciate your continued support.
But I am making a few changes here as well.

First off, I will be stopping the suggestion box and streams. All it ever really did was double my art workload and exhaust me beyond measure. So I am sorry, but I will be stopping that moving forward.

Patrons will still receive early access to brand new comic pages before everyone else and in addition, 3 dollar tiers will now get to see WIP’s for any animations I’ll be working on in the days to come. At this moment, I’m still brainstorming some additional rewards for the 5 dollar tiers. So please bare with me while I figure out what to do there. Or if you have an idea, let me know. I’ll consider it.

Aaaand that’s about it. I’m sorry if that was a little long. It was all stuff I needed to say and do. Thank you again for your love and support. I hope this all made sense.

Love,


Light Lux Collie