December 2014 – Page 2 – Rei

jose-md:

asksolarflair:

kinomatika:

okay they’re in order now lmfao

A POST ON HOW TO BE A GOOD COMMISSIONER

The problem whenever I see these things is that they don’t also include ‘how to be a good on commission artist’ with them.

PRESENTATION

To be taken more seriously you should have a commission info page. It displays what you’re actually offering and puts forth some level of professionalism. You don’t HAVE to have one but it’ll likely make things harder for you in the long run and reduce your business if you don’t.

This page should include visuals, prices, and descriptors such as ‘flat color with background’ in tandem to show roughly what quality could be expected, how much it’ll cost, and what to call it when mentioning it to you.

Include things you will not draw. Try not to be offensive about it. Just because something disgusts you and you won’t draw it doesn’t mean you don’t want business unrelated to it from someone who enjoys it because you were rude.

Keep the style simple and uncrowded. I know, I know. You want to make it fancy and show off your design ability to try to draw in customers. But don’t. Just don’t. What you often end up doing is making things look busy or make them difficult to understand.

If you work in both SFW and NSFW artwork make the example pictures SFW. This is common sense. Not everyone wants to see NSFW and it’s harder to share around for those that would be willing to advertise you. If you like, make a sheet for both. But don’t put boobs and dicks on your only info page.

If you have a general guideline on how fast you can produce your commissions please also list it. But only if you can stick to it well. Not ‘sorta well’ or anything like that.

BUSINESS PRACTICES

Unless you agree ahead of time or state plainly that your commissions take a long time you should realize when waiting too long is simply too long to make someone wait for their commission. If you’ve strung them along for more than two or three months it’s time for you to dig in and do it. Or refund their payment with an apology and perhaps a small token of good will as well such as a simple doodle related to the commission.

It is better to take on less work than more work if you have to pick. That is if you’re not sure how many slots to offer for commission err on the side of caution. You can always open up more. It’s much better than having unpleasant situations with people waiting too long. This particularly applies to drives for a goal. Because when it’s for a goal you’ve probably already put that money to use and the situation is even harrier. It’s stressful for you and bad business to overbook yourself.

Make sure to read and look carefully at your commissioner’s references and written info. Not doing so is in no way the fault of the commissioner if their intent is clear when you stop and take in what they provide you. I have had artists interpret two characters as one somehow or leave off body markings for example. Things like that. You can’t in good conscience charge more if they provided the info and you just flubbed up. It wouldn’t be right to expect them to take it as is regardless either. So it just means more work for you. Take. Your. Time.

If you’re not sure about something… ask the commissioner. Making assumptions can cause you quite the headache sometimes. If they don’t get back to you quickly… still wait. Just as you’d expect them to wait for you, you too have to be willing to wait for your commissioners. You can always take a stab at what you’re not sure about. But if you’re wrong… again, more work for you.

Take caution when taking liberties. Artists often have their own opinion on what’s cool or what’s tasteful or what colors are best. Generally it’s not a problem. But if it is you have to respect that the commissioner has their own taste and wants what they asked for- it’s why they’re paying you. If they insist on having clashing colors or what you consider a bad hair style or too fluffy a coat then you have to accept it. If you’ve the foresight to know something they have will be an issue with your sensibilities refuse the commission up front or talk to them about what you’d like to do differently and see if they’re open to it.

Honestly if you can manage it do the commission with them present via video call or stream. It makes it so much faster and easier to change things for both of you.

Do not expect a commissioner to be particularly sympathetic to your life issues. Yes, into everyone’s lives problems fall. But that’s just the thing. Into everyone’s lives. Your problems are rarely bigger or more impressive than any others and this can easily snowball into a drawn out train of excuses that will just make the commissioner feel resentful. This is not to say you can’t expect commissioners to be understanding. Usually they are. But by no means must they be. Do not abuse the capacity for understanding of those that do sympathize with you. Often this can be pushed very far. But that doesn’t make it right. To put this one simply – accept that not everyone will feel for you and don’t jerk people around too long because you’ve got problems.

Just as artists consider it a nicety to be tipped it can also be a boon to occasionally reward a very devoted commissioner with a bit of a freebie. It’ll likely only keep them coming back for more after all.

Okay, I read this, and saw this…

…afterwards. Now, you have every right to disagree with something someone says on the internet. That’s kind of the point of places like Tumblr. But when someone raises a valid response to something you post (and believe me, what Solar said was more than valid), and you act immature and swear and curse and whatnot just because their point didn’t align with yours, that pretty much invalidates anything you can say to me as a professional, at least in my eyes.

Artists that take money for what they do have a responsibility to their customers, just as much as their customers have a right to be patient and cooperative with the artists in return. Capitalism’s a two-way street. But don’t worry if what I say isn’t agreeable to you, Kinomatha. You won’t ever have to deal with me as a customer in the future, cuz as I said, any sense of professionalism or integrity flew out the window with that message to Solar.