Starting in November, I'll be doing this full time!
Hello friends! So after a long analysis and discussion with Jen, we've decided we are going to focus on 3D art as a full time job. Starting Nov 1st I will quit my office job and become a full time modeler for the tabletop gaming community!
I'll miss my time at the U.S. EPA obviously. I had a very good experience there and made a lot of friends that I plan to keep forever. It's going to be a challenge to transition to self employment obviously. From figuring out health insurance to how to do my taxes properly, it's going to be an adventure on its own. But Patreon does make enough to survive, and if I focus fully on this I'm confident it'll only get bigger.
Fortune favors the bold is the phrase, and I'm taking that to heart. Ultimately I know this is a decision that will lead to a happier life for me and Jen. We're certainly not getting younger, so we want to enjoy our time as much as we can.
What does this mean for you all? Well, you'll expect far more posts and live streams as I continue to make 3D art. I'll see about learning new skills and expanding my craft wherever possible. Its going to be a real adventure, so wish me luck and thanks again for all your support!
Comments (86)
I literally joined your patreon for the sole purpose that you are brave enough to drop your safety net and go out on your own with passion. I wish you luck and will be watching
Thank you! That means a lot to me!
Congrats to you both! It's awesome when you can look at a revenue stream that you love and make it work. I've supported you throughout my unemployment and I hope to continue to do more. I've told so many of my gamer friends about you. They're always amazed at how much you've already done and that I have access to so many options. Keep up the great work!
Thank you so much! That's very generous of you. Did you find employment?
That's is cool. I f you run out of official d&d material though might I suggest the DM's guild monster manual expand and Pathfinder bestiary 2-5 and you could always do spell effects and dungeon dressing too Best of luck Miguel
Thank you! I shall :-)
That is great, I'm really happy for you... If I could wish for one thing (except of course more amazing models) it would be a better way of searching and finding something specific in all the stuff you already created.
Thanks! The Google Drive has a search function. Does that not work?
Patreon is pretty amazing because of things like this.
YOU'RE AMAZING
👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
This is an exciting step! I'm so happy for you that you've found a way to turn something you love into a livelihood. I've encouraged other folks in my D&D circles to support you and I'm going to see if I can swing the bump up to Young Dragon tier too; your work is worth it!
Thank you! That's very generous of you!
Congrats! you deserve to be able to do what you enjoy with all that you've already contributed to this community.
Thank you!
That is great news for both you and your wife, and of course us! I'm really glad that you can make the switch to full time. It did seem that you were pretty much doing that anyway with the number of models you keep coming up with. Thanks for making the models and making the jump.
Thank you! It's going to be a wild ride lol
Congratulations Miguel. That is great news. Looking forward to many streams and excellent models.
Thanks!
Congratulations Miguel! I'm excited for you! Look forward to seeing all the models you continue to produce! :D
Same!
Can't quite afford the next level, but bumped up my pledge by $5. Best of luck to you!
That's still very generous of you! Thank you!
Finally! :-p So happy for you, have a great time!!! <3
Thank you!! I will!
Good luck and awesome that you're able to do what you like!
Thank you!!! I really do!
Awesome news! Its great to be able to do the thing you love as a job! Do you plan to change your pricing structure at all or will you continue with the same levels and access?
Nope nothing is changing. If it ain't broke I won't fix a thing haha
I'll buckle up! Hehe
Congratulations from Norway, and I am very happy for you 😊👍 You are already doing so well and definitely a celebrity in the community, so skies the limit. I look forward to continue supporting you and watching frow afar( I live in Norway, so it's quite far away..hehe). Your an inspiration and your dedication to the community is talked about all over. Cheers to you!😊🍻
Thank you so much! It's going to be a hell of a ride!
As previously posted on twitter (oops...) Congrats on making this full time! Looking forward to a lot more minis coming out. If you're looking for suggestions, I'd love to see minis with a wider variety of expressions and poses. Also more details (pouches, buckles, etc) for painting would be cool! I also agree about the emails. I appreciate the amount of transparency you provide but I tend to miss things because there's so many emails. I'm not sure the right answer and it's not really that big of a deal, but thought it would be worth mentioning. Also, it'd be cool to come up with some index/spreadsheet/database to organize/find minis easier, especially if you're going full time. I know you try to follow the books but there's some that fall in weird places (tieflings are in Adventurers but there's also some under the "T" folder I think). I'd love to help come up with something if you feel like it would help out. I've been debating how best to tackle doing something like that and will share anything I come up with with you.
Thanks for the feedback! I'll make only one post per model once completed. I'll stick to frequent posts on Twitter and Instagram though lol
Good for us, hopefully good for you! Congratulations! If you'll increase your output please consider these requests: 1. Already you make up a large portion of my inbox. The Githzerai Anarch got three separate mails in one day. I don't want to add these showcases to the spam, but my mail folder is flooded. Perhaps you can condense those mails somewhat? Either one per model or on a weekly basis. 2. I know you're busy with books, I'm happy about those models, but there are some things severely lacking in the community. I can find hundreds of skeletons of various quality and with a variety of equipment, but almost all are human. Not even orcs get a proper skelly. 3. Similar to 2, there is a severe lack of non-human children. 4. There are not a lot of disabled models around. Removing a finger in blender is easy, but replacing the arm of the former Lord Protector of the Queens Most Righteous Paladins, a dwarf, with a lance mount is beyond me. He lost it protecting the princess with one eye from a spider with a large scar on it's back.
Whoops! I'm very sorry I thought my frequent posts were a good thing to show I was active. I'll def cut down and only make one post per model.
Congratulations! Relatively new patron but a big part of me deciding to support you was the fact that you are so open with sharing you work. I'm in a situation where I can pay you for your work so I am happy to do so (and continue doing so) but I like supporting artists that share freely. Good luck with this new endeavor; I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes!
Thank you so much for your support and encouragement! We shall see!
Congrats and good luck! I'm a new follower but I dig your style and wish you the best! P.S. If you ever wanted some help with managing all of your data / migrate off of google drive to a more professional setup... I'm an DevOps guy that spends all his day in AWS. I think S3 with pre-signed URLs would be a better experience (and maybe some searching feature for your users to more easily find the models they want)! Hit me up and I'd be happy to help out.
That sounds cool but I'm ok with how things are for now. I got a decent system going and so far folks have been ok with it
This makes me so happy to hear, because someone like you deserves to do something they love for a living. Congratulations. Best of luck! I look forward to more live streams!
Thank you! So do I!
Good luck! And thanks for the great 3D models. Greetings from Russia)
Spasibo!
I wish you the best of luck! So happy to support you in taking this step!
It's much appreciated friend :-)
Congratulations! In my opinion you're one of the designers who deserves this the most with all you have done for this community!
Why thank you! I hope to have some fun with this :-)
Congratulations! Being able to be self employed full time is an amazing accomplishment. I cant wait to see what the future brings with this decision.
Me too! Fingers crossed!
So happy for you being able to get to a position where this is possible!
Thank you! Same!
Wow! Congratulations! I hope this is a dream come true for you and Jen!
Same lol
I knew it would happen eventually! Good luck !
Thank you!
Congratulations. I'm happy for both you and the community for this :D Will you be focusing more on making even more models, spending more time on each one, or both?
Both
Awesome. At least you have Tricare through the reserves. I knew a guy who only stayed in just for the insurance.
True true :-)
Ever consider starting a YouTube channel?
I have a small one. I'm mz4250 there too. Its not very active though. It sure will be though starting next month lol
You are a bold and awesome inspiration and a great guy, wish you all the luck, not that you need it :)
Thanks firend :-)
Congrats!
Thank you!
Congrats! Good timing, I just bought a new resin printer!
lol
Congratulations! I am so happy to read this and I raise my coffee mug in celebration of your bold steps.
I raise mine back at you haha
Wow, congratulations. That is a brave step, I wish you both all the best and iam happy to follow your intensified modeling in the future.
Thank you! I really appreciate it!
WOOT!! Congratulations, my dude!
Thank you!
Wow!! Congratulations Miguel!! You are like a founding stone for the community and I wish you best of luck!!
Thank you! Its going to be a wild ride
Congratulations!
Thank you!
Congratulations! Bumping up to the next tier level now!
Thank you! That's very kind of you :-)
this is great news! upping my tier to support you!
Oh wow thank you! That's very generous of you!
Congrats!
Thank you!
This is an awesome and brave step!!
Thanks! I'm nervous how this will go but we'll see.