It's dragon's PSA time everyone!
And today's subject:
~~Requesting people for art~~
If you are a fairly well known artist or animator like myself, or your art has piqued the interest of a local passerby, chances are you have probably at one point gotten asked if you can do art requests at one point or another. Maybe someone liked how you drew that one character, or they would love the idea of you making their character in their style, or they just want bragging rights that a reputable creator has made something for them.
In any case, typically art requests can come in three forms; art requests, art trades, or commissions.
Art requests are basically like donations or gifts, you make art without any trade off or transaction. Artists will sometimes do these for fun, out of good will, or for a friend or as birthday gift or other kindly gesture. Sometimes they will even do it if they have an interesting curiousity to draw as a challenge. (By no means does daring people over 18 to draw something encourage them to more likely do it.) Typically I see this asked by people under 16.
Art trades are where a piece of art is drawn in exchange for another piece of art by the requestor, it's basically art for art.
And finally, the most popular one artists like but don't get often; commissions, where art is custom created based on fiscal transfer via real money or virtual currency.
Now that we've broken down the definitions, let's get talking about art requests and why sometimes they may not be appreciated.
We've established that requests are free, so why is this a problem sometimes? Well....art takes time, time is precious, especially when you are an adult. When you become an adult you don't have all that beautiful free time to go frolic in your nearest meadow catching frogs and butterflies, as much as you would love to do so. You have to find a job that can support your living expenses and allow you to pay off any debts you may owe, and any time you have off is time for a little rest and relaxation when it's possible.
Asking for free art, especially animations when not offered by the artist disregards this time value and can be an insult to the artist as it is can be taken as your art is not worth the time put into it. I might be pessimistic in this view, but as an artist who gets these quite frequently it does get very frustrating when I have to repeat that sentiment.
In short, don't ask people for free art unless they offer it. Asking for art that takes time to make look good for free can be an insult to the person's intelligence or skillset.
