Crowdfunding

It can be hard for artists to create things that they want - getting the funding, having time outside of work to do things as well as raising awareness of their projects, especially when just starting out or planning a huge project that isn't something they could/would want to pitch.

Of course, this internet can help with these things nowadays - especially campaign starters such as Kickstarter and IndieGogo. They are crowd funding platforms that let artists ask the public for funding on a project, showing any work already done for the project/the intention/aim of the project - essentially a pitch to the whole internet. Generally they will offer incentives, like prints or bookmarks or little extras so that the backers have a little bit more to show for their donation. Both sites have been around from 2008/2009, producing a lot of successful projects.

I feel like this could be a great way to get a project started if I want to, although I think that something like an animation may be more successful and stand out, although that would mean definitely collaborating. However, there are options for smaller projects/pieces of work; Patreon is a site that allows you to set up your own page, where patrons can donate money every time you create art, or a fixed monthly fee can be paid instead. Patreon takes a 5% commission from this. The average person donates $7 per creation which is not bad when you consider how big an audience some people have.bThe site was initially made for musicians, but it has become increasingly popular with artists, especially webcomic artists who will consistently be posting work.

Patreon started out much more recently, in 2013. The creator themselves produced content on the internet and thought that it would be much better to have a way to get regular income than constant crowdfunding campaigns from other crowdfunding sites, which does make sense. I think that artists would benefit much more from using Patreon for their own work, but when it comes to collaboration or something that involves physical purposes, then Kickstarter or IndieGogo would be a much better choice. I would like to join Patreon when I get the the point where I am confident enough that people want to view my work and may actually pay for it; my art needs to be more consistent and confident, and I would need to produce it much more often but I think that it would be great to get to that point and actually be able to earn my own money through this.