CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT MY PATREON PAGE!
[Editor’s Note:] Hey everyone! So this post is essentially the same blurb that appears on my Patreon page. Right now, Draw it, Too! is currently being supported by lovely and loyal fans who also believe in the cause. If you’re interested in also helping the channel out, definitely check my Patreon page at http://patreon.com/drawittoo. Read on or watch the video above to find out what kinds of rewards you get by helping out. Thank you for your consideration!
-Ramny
My name is Ramny and I make YouTube drawing tutorials. On my channel I help artists-in-training develop their drawing skills by showing them how to draw their favorite characters from movies, TV shows, cartoons, comic books, or video games.
I have been doing YouTube for the past year and a half. Prior to that I was a former schoolteacher who taught middle school English, Math, and Science. I have lived in four countries and currently I live in the USA with my lovely wife and spunky daughter.
I love to draw. I love comic books and movies. I love talking about nerdy things. I love to teach. And I have been very fortunate to be able to combine all of these things into one YouTube art tutorial channel. To be able to do what I love to do while simultaneously helping to inspire aspiring artists has been a dream come true. I am grateful for all of the support from my fans, and I am doing my best to create quality content that anybody with an imagination and basic drawing tools can enjoy.
However as you probably know, it takes a lot of time and a lot of resources to create content, both which require money.
On average, I publish about 40 videos per month. That’s a little over one video a day. Filming tutorials, editing, uploading, and optimizing videos — these all take up a lot of time. Add to that the hours spent managing social media, doing research, creating rough drafts, making colouring pages, and building the website — that amounts to about 40 hours a week of work. It’s a full time job!
I want to be able to eventually support myself financially with Draw it, Too!, but I’m still far from that point. I want to make this channel sustainable, and I also want to grow and improve the quality of my content. Patreon is a way that I can work towards these goals — with your financial help!
Basically Patreon allows people to support their favourite creators financially. Think of it like a monthly subscription fee, like Netflix. But while Netflix provides television shows as entertainment, I provide educational drawing tutorial videos! Patreon is there to ensure that your favourite creators are funded, so that they can keep making the stuff that you enjoy. In my case you will be directly helping me in creating more and better YouTube tutorials.
Ultimately it would be better for me to be funded by my fans than to be funded by advertisers. Getting advertiser funding means I must adhere to outside companies’ needs and wants. I have zero input in the relationship between advertisers and YouTube, and I have no control over what ads appear in my videos.
On top of all that, YouTube continually makes changes to its search algorithms, which directly affects my channel’s view count. These changes create fluctuations. Some months are great, but other months are not so good. YouTube’s advertising revenue is no longer something that content creators can reliably count on.
The current “Adpocalypse”, in which many of YouTube’s advertisers are actively pulling out of YouTube, is greatly affecting creators’ revenues. All across the board, many YouTubers’ revenues are plummeting, my channel included. This has been damaging, most especially to small YouTube channels like mine.
(Beginning late March 2017, my YouTube revenue has dropped to about 60% of what it once was, despite my channel’s increase in subscribers and views.)
The better model would be to get funded by you, my fans, because it is you whom I directly serve!
And don’t worry it’s not all about me. By supporting me on Patreon, YOU also get rewards.
On the right side of my Patreon page is a list of all the tiers and rewards. Simply choose what tier or reward works best for you. The higher the tier, the greater the reward! Here’s a rundown of all the tiers, but for full details check them out in the ‘Rewards’ section on this page.
The lowest tier is the SUPER PATRON. For $1 per month (or $12/year) you have access to my Patreon feed where I post exclusive content, including behind-the-scenes photos, inking videos, and invitations to private livestreams. Plus you get a bonus tutorial video of the comic version of Deadpool! (Check out the preview here!) A lot of extra perks that those YouTube doesn’t get a chance to see!
Next tier up is the SUPER MEGA PATRON. For $3 per month (still less than the price of one Starbucks coffee a month!) you get all of the SUPER PATRON rewards, plus access to even more downloadable and behind-the-scenes stuff, including my action figure photography! Also you get your name in the credits of my tutorial videos. How cool is that?
One more tier up is the SUPER MEGA ULTRA PATRON. For $6 per month you get all the rewards from the previous tiers, plus I follow you on your social media. You also get access to my action figure related videos, And you also get a birthday shoutout. And a birthday postcard from me with a custom message!
The fourth tier is the SUPER MEGA ULTRA HYPER PATRON. For $12 per month you get all of the rewards from the bottom three tiers, plus you become an official member of the Draw it, Too! Advisory Group. This is a group of individuals who help me in deciding which characters to draw and when. Basically, I ask for your input when I plan out my video tutorials. Also, I draw your tutorial request once a year, aaand you get free art prints and a free shirt!
The last tier is the SUPER MEGA ULTRA HYPER ULTIMATE PATRON! For $25 per month you get ALL of the previous rewards, plus I coach you on how to be a better artist and a better art YouTuber! You also get all my art prints for free (even the future ones), and you get a birthday present from me! Plus I get to do two of your drawing requests per year.
Again, for details on all the tiers and rewards check out the list on the right of this page or below this post.
On the left side of my Patreon page are my GOALS. For each financial milestone that this Patreon reaches, I will provide an exclusive, Patreon-only tutorial video! When we reach the $50 per month milestone for example, you will get access to an Ezra Miller Flash tutorial way ahead of the Justice League movie coming in November. Reaching $75/month unlocks Bat-Fleck, $100 unlocks Aquaman, $125 unlocks Cyborg, and so on!
As of writing, this, two goals have already been achieved: How to Draw Ezra Miller Flash (watch the preview here) and How to Draw Ben Affleck Batman (watch the preview here). Both from the Justice League movie, of course!
Every dollar I get enables me to continue creating drawing tutorials for aspiring artists. Basically, it comes down to this: the more financial support I have, the more time I can devote to making more and better YouTube videos for you!
And as you probably already know, equipment is expensive. Your contribution helps me to purchase drawing tools and office supplies like paper, pencils, Copic markers, erasers, and the like. It will also go towards upgrading my equipment — I have an old Nikon D5100 I would ultimately like to upgrade, and I want to get a better microphone than the one I have now. Your contribution will also help me maintain my monthly subscription services, mainly Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop), P.O. box fees, and website hosting. Plus it will go towards making sure that my production levels increase for a more professional look.
And it will also free up some of my time to do more important things in life, like spending time with my family.
That’s okay! You are by no means obligated to support me financially. Please don’t be a patron if you can’t afford it! I will continue to make free videos for you to enjoy. Don’t forget — liking, commenting, and sharing my videos also helps!
Once again, thank you for your continued support! Even though it is a lot of work to maintain this YouTube channel, it’s meeting and hearing from people like you that make Draw it, Too! worthwhile.
Happy drawing,
Ramny