Announcement: Sketch tier changes (Patreon)

Short version:

• The limit to the amount of $10 patrons will be lifted, starting April 2.
• I will STOP coloring the sketches in the $10 tier.
• A NEW tier will be made for colored sketches, at $17,50. It will not have a limit either.
• From April on forward, there will be TWO poll winners, one for each sketch tier.
• The second poll winner will be a Patreon Exclusive image and will NOT be posted publicly.
• In case of a tie, my own vote will count. This was not the case in the past. 

I'll elaborate on these changes, for those who'd like to know what moved me to do this. :-) 

Removing the limit
Some of you have noticed: I've limited the amount of $10 patrons about a month and a half ago. Well, that was always meant to be temporary. I did it because of I had some personal issues going on that were stressful, as well as working on the comic, and it was all just getting WAY too much. But things cleared up for me, and, well, here I am making good on my intention to remove the limit in time. :-)
Why April 2? Cause if I do it on April 1, everyone will think I'm joking, and I'm not. ;-) 

Colored sketches
I started coloring the sketches last October. Why? Cause sometimes it helps me to block a sketch out in color. To me, it's just a helpful tool, but it's very rough, and not meant to be final at all. But I got several comments from people who were like "You colored the sketch, that looks so awesome!" and I was like "Well, if people like it, why not just keep that phase?"......

The problem is me: I'm a perfectionist. I thought it barely cost me any extra time. It was a matter of NOT deleting the rough color layer. MAYBE make it slightly neater, but no more!
But then I started polishing the sketches.
This past month, I've done sketches that almost look like finished artwork, it's so polished! Of course, it takes more time! And perhaps you've noticed, but these days I tend to do around 30 sketches each month. So the "more time" is multiplied by the amount of sketches! It's.... pretty crazy! AND I feel it de-values the winner of the poll as well. Since ALL sketches already look so polished, the winner just gets a little bit extra, as opposed to before, when the 'full color treatment' meant something more.

So I'd like to say "experiment failed, let's go back to black and white sketches!". But since some of you may be VERY disappointed in that, I figured I'd open a NEW tier, and offer the same, but make it so the extra time is worth it for me. So, the new tier will be $17,50.

I would like to add here: If it turns out the sketches are STILL too stressful after this, I'm going to consider raising the prices. If the demand for sketches is too high for me to handle, obviously I'm not charging enough. But personally, I think these measures will be enough.

TWO poll winners
This was actually suggested by a patron a few months ago, and I thought it was a pretty good idea! I used to do like 15 sketches, then have patrons choose a winner. By now I'm doing 30, and there's STILL just 1 winner! So yes, I think it's time to add another winner. So I'll be lining and coloring TWO sketches moving forward, instead of one. :-)
That there will be two tiers from now on is actually just a happy coincidence, I was planning on doing two poll winners anyway. And in April, the vote will be for the sketches of March, which are ALL colored. So I'll be using the top 2 to determine the winners.

Patreon exclusive
This is something I've been wanting for a while: To offer a monthly Patreon exclusive image.
I used to, in my early days. But I stopped doing it, because.... well, people wanted their commissions public! They wanted to show it off to friends and to the community!
In those early days, I made 2 drawings FOR MYSELF each month. So I just used THOSE to be Patreon exclusive. However, this had a downside as well: Since they were my own ideas, some of them, I was really proud of! And I couldn't show them off to friends and to the community! :-P
So I stopped doing Patron exclusive art. Until the sketch requests, that is! Those are Patreon exclusive! But my Patreon has grown so much over the past year and a half, that I've been wanting to offer MORE exclusivity. Something to reward YOU guys for your support!
And, well, I think this second poll winner is a great opportunity for that!
But.... How to decide which one goes public, and which remains exclusive?.... Well, I'm thinking of doing a poll for that. Let YOU decide which you wanna grant fame and fortune and which will be for your eyes only. ^_^
This poll will start in May, though. In April, 1st place will be public. 2nd place will be Patreon exclusive. :-) 

My own vote
This is a very minor thing: I never voted, except once, to break a tie. I don't want my preferences to influence the outcome of the polls. And, moving forward, I STILL will not vote.
However, with 2 tiers and an additional poll to decide which goes public, a tie will potentially make things more complicated. I want you guys to know I'll use my own vote in the future to break ties if I feel the need, simply to un-complicates matters. :-) 

I think that's all for now.
I THINK I thought this through pretty thoroughly. But theory is always different than reality. So I reserve the right to change these things if the need arises.

Also, as thoroughly as I may think I've thought it out, perhaps you guys have ideas, or see potential problems? Any comments, questions, criticism is more than welcome! Please let me know in the comments, or message me privately, if you so prefer. :-) 

Thank you guys for being such awesome patrons! I'm sorry to have to cut down on some things, but really, the only reason I have to is because you guys made this overwhelmingly successful. I can't thank you enough, and I hope, thanks to these measures, I can once again cater to everyone's satisfaction, without limits, and without problems. ^_^