I understand that artists cannot be enslaved and whipped into churning out drawings ( a travesty of injustice really ), but what i don't understand is why wait ?
Why not use stick figure placeholders, and just keep programming the game until it's finished, replacing the pictures as they are being made ?
It would also enable you to identify and remove bugs ahead of time, along with making gameplay twaks and doing some balancing and even adding features or expanding the scope ( could even be done in a way that recycle picture, and so don't add to the artist's backlog ).
I mean, no, i understand it's to milk patreon patrons, but i still don't understand, if you understand my ununderstanding.