Hey viria! I'm an artist interested in starting taking commissions. however, I have no clue of what to actually *do* and i was hoping you could give me some advice... like, should i write up a contract? should i post the drawings i make? if i do, should i use huge watermarks? where's the best place to handle all the messages? should i send sketches to the commissioner? should i charge before or after giving the piece? i'd appreciate it a LOT if you could give me some tips :) thanks a lot!! <3
You can always state your commissions status somewhere on your page, as well as making a dedicated post on how your pricing works, attaching the examples for waist up, full body, colour/sketch, etc etc!
Writing up a contract is really all up to you! It’s probably the safest way to do it. Or you could make up an invoice, or something. I haven’t yet needed such a precautions, and I feel like if I ever do get scammed I can always out the scammer publically for other artists to be aware of them, so far so good though!
Then, about posting the drawings - you should discuss it with each commissioner individually. Some people might commission personal works and wouldn’t want them to be posted, some just want the commission to be all up for themselves because they do pay money for it to be made, some don’t mind you posting the commission at all and would actually prefer their commission to be shown. There are commissioners who post the commission you made on their page, crediting you, it’s like a feedback! There are many ways to do it and you should always ask your commissioner first, and be understanding with whatever their decision is.
Personally, I don’t use huge watermarks. I use my standard in the corner one. But that’s all up to you! I feel like for a commissioner it would be the best to receive a signed commission, but without a huge watermark on it. Like, if you decide to go with a huge watermark over your work if you post it, you might want to do a smaller one for a commissioner, a special version fo them. But, that’s all up to you!
For me the best place to handle the commissions is twitter for now, since it’s quite organized and I can find all the info I need in there. But I always use my sketchbook to control the @ of my commissioners. I have the list of my current row in order I should be doing it, and special markings on commission status. I usually do sketches for everyone in the row, and once the sketches are done I finish, just so people don’t wait too much without knowing how it’s going.
You can always go for email as a place to handle it, it’s quite organized too! But I would advice to still have this sketchbook or notepud just for commissions so you don’t lose something in the asbox. I wouldn’t advice tumblr for discussing the commission though, since messages here often either don’t get delivered at all, or get lost. (you can work through tumblr, but communicate through email for example).
I do think you should always send a sketch to your commissioner! Both because fixing a sketch is way easier than fixing a finished artwork, and because this way your commissioner isn’t left in the dark on what to expect of you. Sometimes they can ask for changes of expression, some changes in pose or features, so I think sending a sketch is totally necessary! I know some artists set a standard number of changes allowed, and then once that number is surpassed they charge some extra. I had only one case of a big number of changes, that did require a bit of extra payment, but other than that I work around it just fine:3
Also I can advice to not take any of the changes you can be asked to make too personally! Usually it’s not because the artwork is bad, but because it’s quite hard to read someone’s thought on what they envision in their mind.
Therefore I always ask for detailed descriptions of the characters, both their personalilty and appearance, if there are a couple of them I need to know how they interract, general quirks of each of them, some people have quite a clear image on the pose, some only have the vibe (like I just want them to be happy! Or to cuddle!) etc, so I always ask for all of this:3
I work with prepayment, I take half of the price before I start a sketch, and another half once I am done with the piece. But, also keep in mind to never send a high resolution of the piece before you get paid fully. Many people don’t even think about scamming you, but there can potentially be someone who will try,so that’s an extra step of precaution. I always send a photo of the artworks in an angle, like from the side or from above, just so it’s seen that the piece is done, and that’s when I require the second part of the payment.
I also always ask if there are any changes to the final piece, (though minor ones at this stage, I wouldn’t re-draw the piece completely after it was approved..at least not for free). The commissioner can not notice something through a bad angle and lighting, so I always give a chance to fix it after the second part of the payment is made and they can see a high resolution version. Don’t just get lost if someone asks you for a change if they already paid you.
I always send a high resolution file through the email after the second part of the payment was made.
Always be polite and nice, and listen to your commissioners! (as long as they don’t “ride” on you), which is very very rare. It’s a common courtesy, but I always thank everyone who commissions me, too:3
Phew, I think that’s pretty much it! Hope you can find it helpful<3
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