A place to find all the information about joining and supporting my artwork via my Patreon
Last updated 30th June 2023
Please use the links to jump to a page section:
Basics | Rewards | How to Join | When am I charged? | When do I get my rewards? | Billing info + Changing Tiers | Misc Questions | Shipping notes
Patreon Basics | keh-arts Rewards:
What is Patreon?
Patreon is a platform which allows you to support artists & creatives whose work you enjoy & get special rewards from them in return! It’s a lot of fun for both artist & patron. Pledges start from just £1(+vat) per month, you are only charged once per month & there’s no commitment – you can edit or cancel your pledge anytime you want!
What rewards can I get from the keh-arts Patreon?
I plan to keep the majority of my content available online to be enjoyed for free, after all, one of my reasons for making art & comics is to share them with others. Patreon helps me to spend less time trying to sell my work & more time actually making my work! It also helps out with funds for art materials, so even £1 pledge can keep me drawing by feeding my pen & marker habit.
In return patrons can get:
- Weekly sketchbook/blog post so you can see what I’ve been working on before anyone else
- Early access to various art projects + comic pages or strips I make
- Access to Patron only instagram feed
- Dowloadable rewards such as desktop + phone wallpapers and colouring pages
- Step-by-step artwork walkthroughs so you can see how I make my works
- Take part in fun stuff like polls to help me decide what to draw/colour schemes/themes/fanart + more!
- First dibs on any original artwork/crafts for sale as well as when new prints are launched and a discount code once my shop is re-opened.
On higher tiers you can get physical art rewards in the post such as:
- Print + Sticker Club (2 x Postcard sized art prints + 1-2 sticker(s) on a monthly theme sent to you once a month. Note: For the moment, you can also request a previous Print + Sticker reward pack instead of the current month’s designs – learn more + view previous packs here (while stock lasts)
- [Coming soon] A monthly handmade box tier containing at least one handmade craft or original art item on the monthly theme + more. This may be hand painted items, handmade craft items, mini paintings, handmade bookmarks, hand embellished prints and more.
Q: Will you be bringing back the art postcard request (drawn) tier/rewards again or sketch requests?
A: I am hoping to bring them back as soon as I am in more of a routine fulfilling current rewards, so it might be in 2-3 month’s time. I will announce on social media when they are available again!
How do I join?
To join first choose which reward tier you would like to join! Be sure to read all the information carefully before selecting the tier you wish to join – you will then be prompted to enter you payment details and confirm your subscription.
(If you get stuck there’s a complete walkthrough of how to join here)
Can I join from outside the UK?
Yes! Anyone can join the Patron Access and Patron Access Plus tiers worldwide.
For the Print + Sticker Club and other postal rewards tiers I can post to: UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, South Korea + Select European countries – please click here for more info on which countries I can/can not post to at this time as unfortunately I can not post to all European countries currently.
When do I get charged?
My Patreon page uses the Subscription Billing system. This means that you are charged up front as soon as you join a tier – giving you instant access to many rewards + back posts – and then are re-billed on the same date you joined the following month. Eg: if you join on the 10th of the month you will be re-billed on the 10th the following month.
You can read more about Subscription billing here.
Please Note that Patreon collects sales tax if relevant in your country/state you can read more about that here.
When will I get my rewards?
Many rewards such as Patreon only posts + backlog you will have access to straight away! Rewards are generally posted throughout the month.
Print + Sticker Club rewards are posted monthly.
As long as you are billed in that tier during the calendar month you will get that month’s designs sent to you – usually posted out from the 10th onwards. If you wish to receive the following month’s design (which I will preview before the end of the month) simply stay in the tier until you are billed again. If you do not want the following month’s designs make sure you move down before you are next billed.
For the moment, you can also request a previous Print + Sticker reward pack instead of the current month’s designs – learn more + view previous packs here (while stock lasts)
How often do you post?
I post fairly often! At least once per week I post the sketchbook/blog update and any work I’ve finished. I tend to post other things and rewards throughout the month so some weeks may have more posts then others. I try to stick to a post schedule, however sometimes things may be posted slightly earlier or later due to life things!
Kate, I’m getting a lot of post notifications…
If you find I’m posting too much for your liking you can choose not to receive update e-mail notifications in your settings. I would recommend checking in once in a while so you don’t miss anything important! I do post notifications on places such as twitter, mastodon and instagram and also to the Patreon-only instagram feed @keharts.friends if you prefer.
How do I join the Patreon-only instagram feed?
If you would like to be added to my Patron-only instagram you are welcome to send a request once you are a patron, however please send me a message with your username if it’s not obvious who you are & I will add you back 🙂
Billing Info and Changing Tiers:
When do I get re-billed? Can I change my billing date?
You are re-billed on the same date you joined the following month. Eg: if you join on the 10th of the month you will be re-billed on the 10th the following month.
The only way to change your billing date is to cancel your membership and then re-join on the date you wish to be billed on the following month. Changing tiers will not change your billing date. Patreon says:
“If a patron cancels their membership and signs up again on the same tier before their original access has ended, their billing date remains their original join date. For example, if a patron joins on 17 September, cancels on 8 October and signs up again on 15 October, they’ve already paid for their membership to 17 October and wouldn’t be charged again until then.”
Can I change tiers?
You certainly can! – it might be that things are a bit tight one month or you want to change tier in order to get a different reward & that’s fine!
If you want to move up a tier eg: to get that month’s print rewards – you will automatically be billed the difference in price when you change tiers upwards.
Likewise, if you need to move down I will totally understand! If you wish to move down a tier you can do so at anytime of the month but it will not take effect until you are re-billed at the lower tier’s price on your billing date.
You will need to change tier before your next billing date eg: if you are billed on the 1st please move down before then!
Downgrades will remain on and have access to their original tier until the next billing date – therefore please note that if you move down a tier after your billing date for the month you won’t be refunded the price difference.
Can I pause my patronage?
As far as I know Patreon removed the ability for patrons to pause their membership payments on a monthly basis. If you need to stop payments temporarily you will unfortunately need to cancel and rejoin 🙁
Do you ever pause the Patreon? What happens then to payments + rewards?
As an artist with several annoying chronic illnesses it sometimes happens that I need to pause my Patreon page for a month to catch up or to rest up! If this happens I usually keep updating when I can but you will not be billed for the month. I will always let you know if I need to do this and when I intend to resume billing.
How do I cancel my membership?
Should you need to cancel your membership for any reason anytime it’s easy to do and you can find instructions here. You will retain access for the remainder of the time you have paid for and you will always be welcome back!
MISC:
Do you have a Discord/discord rewards?
Not at the moment. I am hoping to introduce a Patreon-only discord channel in the future. At the moment I need to dust off my own Discord account!
Do you have a secret shop for patrons?
Not at the moment. I am planning on allowing Patreons to be able to pre-order special prints first or buy short run or one-time items before anyone else. Patrons in all tiers will also be given a monthly discount code when my Etsy shop re-opens.
I don’t want to join Patreon but want to support you as an artist
Thank you! As my Etsy shop and art commissions are closed for the moment you can best support me by following, interacting with and sharing my art posts on social media. It really does help me reach a wider audience 🙂
If you’re feeling generous you can also make a one-time donation via Ko-Fi which will go towards art supplies to keep me drawing!
Can I buy the print/handmade rewards outside of Patreon?
At some point any left over prints will be added to my Etsy shop, however Patrons who join the Print + Sticker Club will receive them at a discount as well as all the other rewards in the tiers below!
When will you be re-opening your Etsy shop?
Hopefully very soon, within the next month or two. I have a lot of back stock that is currently being sorted through and also need to make a lot of changes to the shipping information and listings! I intend to re-open with a clearance sale of older print stock. Please follow me online for further announcements.
When will you be re-opening artwork commissions?
I think that will be a little while longer. I want to get into a better routine over the next few months first. Patrons will have first claims on any commission slots I open in the future before they are open to everyone. Again, please follow my social media channels for further announcements!
Shipping Notes:
I haven’t received my art rewards in the post yet?
I will mail out in batches and make a post when I have dispatched a certain date range of patrons.
Within the UK you should receive your package within 2-3 days of posting. If it’s been 15 days or more please get in touch with me.
Internationally packages can take longer and sometimes face delays (although I will post if I am aware of any shipping delays) so please be patient. I use International Standard delivery which states it should take 6-7 day worldwide, but personally I would allow 14 days or more. If it’s been more than 3 weeks please get in touch with me.
International Patrons and Postal/Physical rewards:
- Unfortunately there have been a lot of worldwide changes to shipping in the past few years. Things like Covid and Brexit, new EU VAT regulations and European Packaging Laws are all causing issues like price rises and delays. Ridiculously it is currently easier for me to post to Australia than France -_-
- I can post to: UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, South Korea + European countries excluding the countries listed below
- Unfortunately, due to a mixture of issues including new Packaging Laws* in many European and EU countries I am not able to post (items/physical rewards) to the following countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey
- I also regret I am unable to ship to the following countries/regions: Middle East, Russia, China, India (this is due to previous issues)
- Please note that you are responsible for any import/customs taxes and fees which occur – additional fees or taxes being outside my control when you order from overseas. Please check local customs fees before ordering. I plan to keep my parcels values under £20 which should help. As I understand it, if you need to pay fees the local postal company delivering should notify you. Unfortunately I will not be able to refund postage costs for any packages returned to me because the fees were unpaid and will require additional postage to re-send.
If you are unsure if I will send items to your country or your country is not mentioned in where I can post to above, please send me a message before joining a postal reward tier and I will look into it.
If you have joined a tier with physical rewards such as prints and I find I am not able to ship to you I will refund your pledge and message you ASAP. Unfortunately I can not cancel your pledge for you, but if I do not hear from you I will block you to prevent you being charged further as I can only refund 3 months pledges.
My apologies for any disappointment caused – it’s really out of my hands. I will review things periodically (or on a case by case basis if you send me a message) and see if anything has changed!
* Packaging Laws: While a good idea in theory, unfortunately the countries mentioned do not make concessions for small businesses/sellers and therefore it presently costs more to send parcels there than I would be able to sell! Sending even just one parcel on a commercial basis obliges you to comply with the law – and pay the fee upfront often annually. Failure to comply can lead to significant financial penalties and goods being returned undelivered.
In case you are wondering why a lot of small businesses/artists are not shipping to the EU anymore, this is a big part of it! There is also a lot of new customs issues, taxes and red tape going on that are sadly too much extra admin for most small sellers to cope with.
Q: Can’t you just send it marked ‘gift’ to avoid all these problems?
A: No, I would be on the hook if the package was inspected for misrepresentation and possible penalty fees. It was also affect claiming for lost parcels. It’s not worth it.