#art commission problems

[starponywars]

I had an issue with a commission client and now I never want to do animal portraits again

I was working on a horse portrait commission on a 3d model horse from January until now (May) granted I did move in March and took a week away from things I was actively working on including the commission. The client received progress photos from the very beginning and approved all stages, eventually towards the end she was asking for revision after revision. I understand that people are particular about their animals and accuracy, I was as accurate to her animal as possible but I am an artist, I am not perfect and everything I make is a representation of real life things, they are not one in the same.

Needless to say I was beginning to be burnt out on this project and the amount of revisions requested (6) was just too much for me. I was loosing money on this project and loosing time to do my own things with my own life. I’m so put off now when it comes to the idea of doing a portrait of anyone’s animal, I love art and animals and this is what I enjoy but when I have a client that is so picky, it ruins the work for me.

I feel that I shall be adding revision restriction clauses to my commission rules and actively creating a full list of rules for my work to send to inquiring parties. I want to have fun and not be pressured to do my art, this is my hobby, this is what I do to feel good, I shouldn’t have to dread working on something for a client. Here’s to new endeavors and hopefully never having an experience like this again. I just had to vent about it, it’s really been bothering me, so thanks for listening.

[airtafaephoenix]

What's the point of art commissions nowadays when people prefer the works of ai more like,its hard finding clients already because of scams and now there is ai.

[natticusthegomamon]

hi! your gomamon is so adorable... did you get him handmade or is he official merchandise

He isn’t an official piece of digimon merch, I got him commissioned by Plushi Luv [Magnastorm is their DeviantArt name], costed about $300CDN. They have since raised prices at least once since then so the same sort of thing may cost more now. I wouldn’t really recommend them, communication wasn’t so great [it took 3 tries to get the face/head done right, and of course I had to pay for that] and even though I got the end product, he was way smaller than what I requested [they measure commissioned plush by head+body length, I requested 28” long and received less than 21” long], as it seems they assumed he was for cosplay use only and ignored the final submitted measurements on my commission application form entirely and just made him into their interpretation of “life-sized” instead :/ I’m sure there are better people to commission but sadly they are hard to find. So basically, if you don’t fuss over important/significant details, don’t mind having your parcel sent uninsured[then freak out because it was late and finding out if it went missing you’d get nothing to compensate for it], and don’t mind a huge size difference screw-up then I totally recommend them XD

…Maybe I should post some of the WIP photos for a #ThrowbackTuesday post in the future lol

Natticus: I can always appreciate being called adorable. Thanks! :3

[arsenicsweetheart]

I'm terrified to make this post, I'm just putting this out there first of all. 

I've been a comic book fan for most of my life. I don't remember the first actual books that my mother gave me, because we read together all my life, but I do remember the first comic books we went and bought me together and I've still got them. I'm also a person with serious anxiety and aside from when I lucked into my position as an assistant for an artist who was on a breather from being seriously into the business, I've never been in a position to be even remotely comfortable talking to artists that I love or admire. This goes for any medium, but particularly comics. It takes a lot for me to screw up my courage enough to even set foot in a comic convention, and then the thought of getting to talk to someone whose work has seriously touched me is harder.

And that put me in the position I am in now. An artist that I'm choosing to leave nameless at the moment, that is not one of my overall favorites, but whose style I really enjoy, was at Super Con last summer. My birthday is right after the convention, and I decided that I was finally going to try to commission a piece after my debacle with Billy Tucci. ( Which, in fairness, wasn't the worst thing to happen, as evidenced by this, and Billy is a decent enough sort of fellow. ) 

And so, I set a commission at a price point that was more than fair. I will say this is not an artist that regularly contracts out to Marvel or DC, and the rate that I paid was $600 for an 11X17 full color piece. I walked away knowing that I wouldn't have anything to show for it on my birthday, but I was also told that it would take three months to produce the piece and I would hear back from him.

October came and went and I hadn't heard from him. I let it go. Unexpected things happen, that's life. November came and was about to go when I decided that it was time to see what was going on. I received a prompt response, but I was also told that January was a more likely time that the piece I was original quoted three months for, in July, would be complete.

Now, it's January. Once again, I initiated contact. My uncle paid for this piece for my birthday. We see each other fairly regularly, he is also a fan of comic books, and he wanted to see how the piece had turned out, because he certainly put enough money toward it to get to see the completed work. I already feel like an asshole for having nothing to show him, and I am even less happy about the fact that I just, don't have anything to show for it for myself. I spent months exceptionally excited about this piece. It was going to go in my workroom, as the subject of it was perfectly fitting.

Now I've been told there is no guarantee of a date of completion for the piece. On top of that, the money I've been offered back is less than what I paid, and I've been offered prints from his DeviantArt gallery as a consolation prize.

I'm unbelievably livid and unsure of what I should do, because all I want is to scream from the rooftops what a jackass this entire situation makes him out to be.

[aerisefikura]

Hrm indecision problems.  I grabbed another commission slot with Daniel HDR.  Now I can't figure out what I want to commission.  

TUMBLR HELP ME.

Narrowed it down to:

Harley Quinn

Mystique

another version of Loki (other than Siege, since thats the one already done)

Thor

HELP ME PICK!