I think the interesting thing about Patreon is I keep hearing of people who individually found ways to create similar systems directly for a long time (pre-Inte

I think the interesting thing about Patreon is I keep hearing of people who individually found ways to create similar systems directly for a long time (pre-Internet). It turns into a sort of mail order subscription service where pay in for a future output of prints/some other output, or one-off buyers can buy things that are surplus. They build this group over time and eventually get to it full-time, so I think people just aren't used to this more modern model of being paid for art. Most artistic output is going to be niche by default in the general case, you have to find and develop your audience! It's a business like any other if you want your art to support you.