an artist’s guide to commissioning for a character you have no references of
hi i’m charlie and i’ve been doing this for [checks watch] half my life, let’s fucking go.
so a lot of art that gets commissioned is of people’s OCs, and i’ve worked with a LOT of clients on first-time creation of character art. so. how do you get accurate art of a character you have no reference for, and no artistic ability to make a reference for?
1.) make a shareable document (gdoc) or some type of compilation of the following information.
to the best of your ability, write a little blurb about their appearance and personality, especially if there’s something influencing the way they present themselves. a current commission of mine as of writing this is for an expression sheet for a character who is always smiling despite what they’re feeling. this is vital information.
include ages, heights, and body types here as well.
2.) picrews and dollmakers, baby.
go make as many as close to the character’s looks in your head as you can. find the best ones, number them, and put them in the document. this is INSANELY helpful if you like different things about different picrews/dollmakers.
for example: “the hairstyle in 3 is perfect, but the hair COLOR is perfect in 1. i like the vibe of 4 and 5, and 2 is perfect for scar/earring references.” we can cobble that shit together. i will flat out do this to help me solidify my OWN character designs.
3.) pinboards. like, literally pinterest.
artists are frequently visual learners (shocker) and if you struggle to write about a character’s personality to get their vibe or outfit style, a pinboard full of aesthetic-ass shit and clothes you think the character would wear is going to give us what you’re feeling about the character. this is a great way for us to get a look into your thought process about the character, sometimes in ways you might not expect us to clock!
this is also where we can get things like pose references and environment references if there’s a background involved.
4.) check in during the WIP stages.
if you’re worried that the artist isn’t gonna get it, ask for regular updates on the process. some artists don’t like to be hounded and you have to respect this, so your mileage may vary here, but. at least in my case, ESPECIALLY in the process of helping you design a character, i want your feedback. tell me to make the mouth a little smaller. tell me their jaw is a little too square. tell me their nose is too thin. work with me on the details so that we can get you the best result possible.
also if you’re really chill with your artist, like. friends-friends, like talk regularly, do not do this to randos, but. you can ask if they can like, stream the process over discord or something with you. if you’re friends and they’re chill with that kinda thing, you might be able to work together live to make it accurate. again this is something i like to do when friends commission me, but i KNOW a lot of artists don’t like that level of transparency with strangers. do not ask this of someone you do not know well.
anyway if any other artists that do this a lot have information they wanna add to it they totally can. this is what 15 years or so of experience in the field has taught me, but every artist is different. the more information you can get together, though, the better.
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