Hi! Great video! I appreciate that you are not sugar coating what makes freelancing for the average consumer so incredibly dire. It is easy to wear rose-tinted glasses about the concept of drawing for others and getting paid to do so, especially if you are told that you are talented enough to make it happen-- but, as someone who has done merch design, sales, and freelance work for both individuals and indie productions, there is far more to consider about the labors of creating art vs income earned than most give credit for. In point 2 you state that a commission artist /may/ be underpaid (because they are undercharging)-- I actually agree, but I think there are some BIG FAT ASTERISKS about it, and being that this is a 'hard pills' sort of video, I think I wanna elaborate because I feel very strongly about it as someone who played this game for a little over 15 years. It isn't a criticism though-- just more like a piggy back! So, while it is noble to aspire to and recommend charging what you are 'worth' to avoid being underpaid (a nebulous concept at best wrt art, and especially digital art), just short of working for industry professionals I'd argue that actually, no matter what, you WILL be underpaid. So, the average consumer cannot afford what people call luxuries, especially in modernity bc the economy has been incredibly unstable ever since the crash of 2008. Most people who love art today enough to buy it at all, won't have the kind of income an artist would need to charge in order to - Pay Rent - Eat - Get health insurance - Collect taxes - Pay assistants/accountants/any other job related expenses that keep your lights on. Unfortunately, the reality is that you cannot charge a regular person 500 USD for an art piece the same way you could likely demand that of a commercial piece and expect to get paid work. Not only are we smashing records for the amount of citizens globally without expendable income en masse, we are also dealing with (mostly) a demographic of people who are used to strong-arming and haggling their way through a transaction because of the Amazon effect (ie, offering outlandishly lenient customer support that conditioned a LOT of people into being over-entitled consumers). So if someone IS going to do freelancing, doing it with the impression that you will ever be in a place where you can charge 500 USD (which is frankly, what would be considered a barely livable wage if you didn't want to be completely burned out doing like 10 pieces a month) for a piece is going to yield a ton of disappointment. If I'm honest, a better use of time for an aspiring career artist would be to learn how to make an incredible portfolio, and gear toward working for the industry- because commission art will almost ASSUREDLY stay a side gig that yields very little consistency or income. And you know what? That isn't even a bad thing necessarily! Taking paid work casually as a point of learning or growth is a GREAT motivator for some! Some people struggle to write or come up with their own ideas. Some people prefer just doing work with other small people who aren't a company or industry employer! In those cases, the best advice imo is this: Don't take any job request you are not IN LOVE WITH. I am so serious. If you take any job that walks through your door because you think that will improve your reputation and clientele, all it is going to do is keep landing you jobs drawing the things you didn't really feel crazy about in the first place (which is something Minty referenced later in the video, good boomerang! haha). Income be damned, /only take jobs you care about/. And then, there is the other Elephant in the room, which I personally find to be the more bitter pill: Bluntly, I don't think enough people are willing to reconcile that the saturation of the market (esp post pandemic) is a lot of what is causing disparaging results on costs and expectations. I know a lot of us were made to believe that because we were skilled that hard work and exposure will net us a living-- but there are ABSOLUTELY not enough collectors who purchase one-off custom work to justify the amount of people trying to enter the industry right now--and arguably there never were. In fact, this style of freelancing for the everyday art fan really only got popular in the early 2010s as the internet was very, very rapidly expanding as a side hustle. And eventually, big media corporations saw that there was a demand for artists to sell their work on a platform- and so they then artificially bloated demand by advertising and peddling commission art as a legitimate or secure means of living that anyone with enough gumption or talent could achieve (a lie. clearly), and a MASSIVE percentage of socially estranged or isolated people suddenly thought they had an out where they could just do something they were good at, and we didn't yet realize that it was a pipe dream with no real basis. Hustle culture is demonic. And in the end, I actually encourage people to consider perhaps not trying for freelance art as a career at all. Even in the best case scenario you will still be doing work that is not YOU, and is not for you, and if you're just using all of your creative energy to sate someone else who has the money to not bother learning that skill for themselves, that is no different than the song and dance you would be doing in food service or standard retail (actually, in some ways you are doing even more labor than that, because YOU HAVE TO DO ALL BUSINESS OPERATIONS YOURSELF TOO!! LOL). I was lucky enough to escape that deathloop some time ago. Younger folks have not been so lucky. Influencer culture has only further elevated the myth of freelancing's viability in a market of consumers who regularly shop at places like Five Below, and as someone who once did this as a point of career, for thousands of hours: Don't. If you can bear to let go, and you are able to, learn how to love making art for no reason other than just making something that you think needs to exist, and try to pivot to something that ISN'T intrinsically linked to the emotion part of your brain. In the end, when we are all dying, it is that work that you will hold closest to your heart. Don't lose sight of why you fell in love with the idea of making things- making rent with a talent you have is wonderful on paper and soul-crushing in practice, and only a very lucky (and microscopic) percentage of practicing artists ever see a level of success that doesn't demand they continue to work at a grueling place (or a pt job at like, fcking McDonalds). That does not mean that art is not worth making. It absolutely is, and even if you have to make it badly, you should still MAKE IT. Thank you for making this video! I hope anyone who reads this has a wonderful time, and that if you are struggling with your creative spirit that i am rooting for you.
OH WOW thank you for taking the time to type all this out!! 🥹🥹 I agree 10000% with everything you said!! thank you for expanding on the topic so thoughtfully like this, these are all very important points to keep in mind, I’ll be pinning your comment so others can hopefully see (I hope you don’t mind!)
@MintyMido not at ALL. I'm so glad you got something out of it. I think it's really important to speak pragmatically, because a lot of artists deserve to and need to know that an art career is not what makes an artist. It is a desire to connect with your world and make that into something tangible. And everyone should do it!!!
This was so cathartic to read. I also have so, so much to say about this. On the Amazon effect - at some point when I did comissioned portraits I internalized that need for outlandish customer support and I would make changes upon changes upon changes to my drawings, delivering multiple options of the stupidest things. Something broke in me when I realized I had delivered over 20 versions of a drawing once, because the customer was not happy about the background design (which they had given me a reference for and ended up looking entirely different). Stupid changes like if a throw pillow had polka dots or not. In the end they loved it and left a review on my art Facebook: "The customer service was amazing, she will make sure to make ALL the changes you need until you love it!" And while it was meant to be a compliment, I imagined myself spending that same amount of time with every single customer. I felt dread when I realized this was the most common review I got. I began to get the stupidest requests, like a protrait of a grandfather - but when young. The reference being an old res photo of a printed framed photo with the glass reflection covering half of his face, which was in another angle and another expression than the customer wanted. I spent weeks basically guessing and tweeking every featur until it resembled him. Again, another extremely happy customer saying I could basically miracle out art pieces... but miracles are tough, man. After getting many customers like this due to the word of mouth that I gave "the best" customer support, I ended up absolutely hating my job. I grew to hate it so, so much that I basically rage quit and only drew plants for the next 4 years. I wanted to draw nothing that resembled a human. I left this idea of living from comissions and started my regular office job as a graphic designer, nowadays I only do illustration just as a side hustle and only for local companies and agencies. Ironically, it's mainly drawing plants. Boy, the difference is something. I charge a lot more per hour, sometimes managing to double my income by only spending 1 or 2 daily hours on these illustrations. And since even changes are agreed upon contract, I also get less changes - often, no changes at all, to the point that I got the unexpected benefit of a huge confidence boost in the process and I'm back inspired drawing and writing my own stories and characters, exclusively for myself.
Another tip for those who start taking commissions: try commissioning someone else. That way you will get into the client's mindset and will be able to organize your own commissioning process with this understanding in mind.
EXACTLY! This sums up what my friends have said. Try a few coms and see how the artist interacts with you and especially pay attention to their FAQ and rules. They are great guidelines.
UGHHH THIS IS SUCH A GOOD TAKE! i recently made a "how to start doing commissions" vid and i got tons of comments like that and i feel like this video perfectly shows the reality of how things actually are when you try to do commissions for the first time!
ive dealt with some interesting characters in my commissioning career- one that really stands out in my mind was a guy who guilt tripped me into dropping my price on a full color full bg piece. will NEVER do that again LMAO.
I haven’t like… actually used the site but I’ve heard a lot of good things about artistree! Set prices and everything, and it basically does the pricing stuff for you!
If anyone ever belittles you or your art, over your current price and tries to get you low it, do the opposite. Add another $1000, if they say anything else add another $1000.
I remember a guy doing minimal stick figure art on Fiver years ago and was very successful. He had different tiers, packages for his commissioned work. The hard part for artists is understanding business. Business is cutthroat and straightforward. Breaking down the drawing/art from sketch to full rendering should have vastly different price points. Whether its just inked or full color. Be bold and charge more. It doesn't need to outrageous, but enough for food on the table, clothes on your back, roof over your head, and bills paid. Probably would be good enough for savings, too.😊
To newer artists aspiring to do art commissions: I've been doing commissions for several years and have done comms ranged from five dollars to a couple hundred. Intermediate artist. This video brings up a lot of great points, and you should consider them when going into doing art commissions, but if these sound like a whole lot of negatives, don't let it immediately discourage you. Doing commissions can be extremely rewarding, fulfilling, and can boost your confidence significantly with work. Yes, it has its downsides, but if you're wanting to try it, I would recommend you try it. IMO you CAN undercharge at first (nothing less than 5-10 dollars, even for something simple), but the og video does make good points and if you feel that that is the route you want to go, then absolutely do that. good luck !
Horror story - I once had accidentally accepted a request from a commissioner who stole old anime OC art from a SUPER popular anime to be the base designs of the OCs they wanted to pay me to draw for them. They stole those pictures from DA and thought, since the users hadn't updated in years, that meant the OCs were considered abandoned and ripe for their taking. I didn't realize it until we were deep into the commission together and she finally admitted to it. I didn't know what to do because my family was counting on her payment at the end of the week. Since then, THE SECOND I FEEL SUS ABOUT A COMMISSIONER, I do a complete refund, regardless of how much work I've finished, and run for the hills. I used to have a friend that thought it was unprofessional behavior for an artist to NOT finish something, but I explained as long as the money returned intact, nothing else mattered. Nowadays, I don't take commissions anymore because no one wants to pay for them, but it hasn't stopped people from knocking on my door expecting free art.
I know! And some even get mad for getting the refund, like sir, don't bully me for not being able to finish the art. You got your money back, it was only $30 bucks, so calm down :/
I get the maybe not wanting to pay for it. Even when I get spare cash, it's hard to justify using it on a piece of commissioned art, as cool as it is. But people wanting free art is wild, even if not surprising.
Yeah demand payment first. A former RL friend and just go "They did fan art of my OC!" and then not pay the artist. SHe apparently did this multiple times and when I got after her to go back, apologize, and pay the commission, she was "I forgot who they were."
7:53 reminded me of this one person who wanted to give me “advice” and “criticisms” but all they did was tell me how shitty my art was (they showed me their own art which was mainly just art from bases they had used). They started to tell me how I shouldn’t be selling my artwork to people because of how shitty it was and the MAIN REASON why was because I had to be proud of my work, my commissions aren’t stunning or jaw dropping but if people were still willing to pay for it then that’s them because it’s their money. This guy just went on a whole rant on why he didn’t sell his own work because he knew he wasn’t good enough or something (he had professional artist in his bio and had already told me he was better then me at art) so. That was an interesting time.
I find that people who brag about their own art in order to put others down, aren’t good artists at all in comparison to those they are bothering. I always look at the pages of these people to see why they are so arrogant, and not once have I found one that drew correct anatomy or knew how perspective works. I have my own experiences with such people. One was a person I actually went to high school with. She never learned how to draw, meaning she never studied anatomy, etc. What she would do is trace other people’s work and claim it as her own. If you look at her deviant art page, you will see that some pieces look okay, but they are all in the same rigid front facing standing position; all other drawings of hers look like an elementary student made them. She’s forty years old and thinks she’s an amazing artist who can put others down, because she sold some bad doodles at an anime con once. However, despite that I struggle with memory issues, I am constantly practicing and learning anatomy and my art, even though it does have flaws for the trained eye, can pass as professionally done. If you take anything away from this long boring story, take this. You will far surpass every person who brags about their art being better than yours. They will always be stuck at the same level and will never advance, because they think they are better and don’t need improvement. You will struggle, but you will be dedicated to learning and improvement, and therefore, you will become the lie they tell to others about themselves, professional.
Pretty clear they had confidence issues putting themselves out there so they lash out at those that do. Classic tragic behaviour. Not in any way your fault!
Someone talking about "bad art" doesn't know what art is. There is no bad art. Art is an expression. And many people would pay more for an "amateur" piece than they would on a polished, AI-like professional piece, because they LOVE how raw and sincere and expressive the "amateur" one is. There are fans for every type of art and at any level of your artistic journey. Also, I love your username.
Thank you, Alayna!! You did a phenomenal job drawing Köga, and while I’m writing my Sonic OC story, I pray your channel gets all the recognition it deserves. God bless you!!
i wanted to do comissions for not even real money.. and someone literally said: improve your art more before doing commisions. like helloooo?? i can do it whenever i want
@@novelle.27 fr 😭 i've always had a problem with taking critisisim kinda .. not so well..... . to the random other persons defense i was drawing anime before and had just recently got a new artstyle that i wasnt as good bat drawing in obviously.. but still it rlly hurt me.
this is a problem, i really dont take criticism seriously before,then there was a time that this one friend of mine on steam i dont even know him irl, i showed him one of my art, then he said theres no form, ( i cant remember the right word ) but he was talking about the face it was flat and lacks details, i didnt really believed him bcuz my gestures is great my hands are great the flow is fine and then after a couple of weeks i noticed that hes right he was talking about the face and the shading my shading was wrong (shading helps form shapes) like i shouldve put more effort on the lower eyebrows which makes it pop out or the eye will look deeper than the eyebrows. so my theory is if we ask someones criticism after we finished a piece that weve been working on like for a week or more our mind was checking those mistakes while drawing already so our minds automatically dont realized it we think that its perfect because its so fresh at weve been working on it for a long time. then if you check it after a couple more weeks you can see those mistakes. ive learned to take criticisms now its really important. at first you will not noticed it your thoughts would be "what is he/she talking about?" give it a week and check the art again it will hurt you but your history will make you laugh someday :) i really wish i kept my old drawings of yuyu hakusho i wonder how terrible those are XD. PS: im not that great of an artist (but im more confident with my work right now) :)
i gave up doing commissions. i got dozens of scam attempts, and the only “clients” i got were very disrespectful to art and my art, and some people even begged for free commissions. i’ve never come across somebody who was willing to pay my specified price and cooperate with me
@@skedadle7686 ironically, this is probably the reason you had such a bad experience. When your prices are low, you get bad clients. Price well and you get respectful clients who know what they are paying for
It's also because not everyone can afford art even if it's 20-30 dollars. Not many artists get commissions so when they price it low then they get work. I see so many artists struggling to get commission work and their skills are amazing but their prices are like $8-$15 some are higher and they still can't get work... I've seen artists prices go to $90 but it does depend on your audience. Some are lucky to find their people but many can't.. I myself do like doing commissions but it's hard to find anyone willing to commission me. But it's fine, keep going is what I say🥺👍🏻
Yeah I've seen so many people online who are struggling financially with whats going on lately, paying rent with low wages, etc. So between commissioning someone or paying your bills, an expensive commission isn't going to be a priority. I feel I have to undercharge my fandom comms so it can be in budget for people.
04:00 this works only if you don't need the money, if you do, you will work for whatever it takes to get any money, 2 dollars is more than 0 dollars, that's a snack you can feed yourself. Also minimal wage is different all around the world; when poeple say an artist is underpricing themselves they're usually Americans/western. It's very hard to make a pricelist that will satisfy people from the whole globe; that's the iffy thing about selling on the internet. Ideally people should charge enough to provide for themselves in the place they live in, but if the place they live in is cheap, and no one wants to buy their comms cuz they "undersell" themselves... it sucks. Also higher prices would make it impossible to people from their countries to ever buy from them. If you think an artist is underpricing themselves - commission them and generously tip them; no better way to make them feel like they indeed deserve and can make more.
You can create a separate pricelist for local clients... I do that myself. I charge less for them considering the buying power and current economy here. It helps balance the local and international art market. No way I'm only charging $20 to $30 for highly detailed fullscenes, which is considered a fair price in the local art scene.
But that's also the nice thing about the internet, there's a market for everyone. If you're for example Vietnamese, and you want to charge more than Vietnamese people are willing to pay, you can just change how you market your work and target an English or German clientelle.
@@yurisei6732 Yes that's great! But just people attacking you for having your prices too high or low in their opinion can get really, really daunting, and can get even worse when people who have the money and would like to buy from you, refuse to do so because in their eyes you undersell yourself. That's backwards logic I can't get
@@Szczurzyslawa Although I suspect that the number of people who definitely want to buy from you but don't because you don't charge enough is actually very low. If I see a great artist whom I want to have draw something important to me, and they're charging less than I think they could, I'm just happy to get a good deal.
You are a gold mine. As an older artist who came back to art after 20 years, I not only wasted a lot of money on a dream I thought was lost but I also believed I could at best be doing stuff here and there for little money. Thank you for this.
Yes, I totally agree that commisions are very time consuming. I don't do commissions anymore, partly due to lack of time and that the money brought in doesn't justify the hours put in for me. Back when I was a lot younger I was doing commissions on Deviantart and cheated into giving commissions for free when the client only wanted to pay when they got the artwork in full. Later the "mother" claimed that she was a lawyer and that she could sue me. I can't remember the details since it was over 15 years ago but I wound up giving work for free (on the other hand I practised a lot so my work improved so it wasn't so bad I guess.) About the client respect part, I think it doesn't just apply to commisions it can apply to other industries, especially if the client knows that they have an edge over the other party. And that is how business can be.
Say goodbye to sleep and say hello to people constantly wanting to pay next to nothing...Including well established companies. It's not all doom though, every so often a client might ' over tip' you when they're happy with the final product. Sometimes you might strike gold, like an IG friend of mine that got a sweet adidas project, shout out M. Hang in there guys, it's not easy. Finally if you do super detailed artwork, dial it back because you'll be f'ed.
Good video. Before I say something about commissions, I want to compliment that "you drawing animation loop" thing. It is cute and satisfying to watch while listening to what you say. I do think that you are making a lot of good points, but I want to add one more: sometimes, making commissions can suck out your passion for art or at the very least passion for the subject of your art. This happened to me recently and that made me realize I probably won't be able to make art a thing I can ever make living of. That's unfortunate, but it seems that's the reality of the situation. I guess what I need to do now regarding art, is to get a grip and reclaim the passion that I've lost
This is a really awesome video. When I was a bit younger I had started a very small art commission set up, but stopped doing it because of burn out and now and I just kind of spiraled out of posting art at all. Friends and family have said that I should start posting art and maybe try to do commissions again. Though I'm not sure if I will, this video was really encouraging to watch. And as always, your art is amazing! Hope your art journey is going well and I can't wait to see what comes next. :>
Thank you so much!! That's so sad to hear, I'm sorry you got burnt out, I definitely feel that. Take your time for sure, but I hope you'll be able to at least get back into sharing your work again! Commissions can easily lead to burn out so definitely take your time on that step LOL but hopefully you can start making and posting for yourself again - good luck!! :D
I really understand this, I’ve opened commissions before (for free since I’m only a minor) they always stressed me out and it took up all my time 😢 I enjoyed drawing art for people but it took away time for me to do what to do!
I think this video is exactly what I needed to hear. It's something I knew, but hearing you spell it out really helped me to internalize the perspective. Thank you.
Thank you, you helped me finally put the nail in the coffin. I LOVE, love love LOVE making art. I have a passion for it that I sometimes don't even have for life itself (depression). I figured I could just go and EZ PZ get commissions. No dice. I found I HATED doing commissions. Like, if money was involved, the turn-off was startlingly violent. So, hearing someone finally say that I.. just don't need to, makes me so happy. Still gonna mess with my website though, I love it and have so much fun doing stupid stuff. I'll probably renovate the commission stuff into a sunroom or smth..
@@MissShembre YT deleted my comment as usual. I would look into artists that are doing what you want to do. Artist Elyse Breanne makes floral art for planner and such.
A huge part of the reason people who make art for ads and other professional grade media charge so much more is because they are selling the IP rights - that company can resell the art as their own and profit from it directly or use it in advertising material etc to make money indirectly. Personal commissions rarely deal with IP.
Never seen a video from you, but I'm in love with your art style. Your linework and use of color and lighting are spectacular, especially in how you apply rim lighting. Adding you to my inspirations for my work
Thank you so much for this video...literally happened to be on my feed. ❤ I have always wanted to try commissions, but didn't know where to start. But knowing our worth as an artist is so important. And that if the price we set doesn't get people, then the main point is we know our worth as an artist. And true, honest people will see it too and pay for it. They are a fan of our art. Thank you this just helps a lot! ☺️
I'm a little different in that I build guitar pedals as a hobby and sell them off if I'm not into them, and to also fund the next builds. I'm not doing it for a living. However, people often see these for sale and occasionally ask for a commission build (usually for a clone of something rare and/or expensive). I actually hate doing them due to the self inflicted pressure to get it right, so I charge like a wounded bull with a bunch of caveats - I get it done when I get it done because I have a job and a family, half up front, the rest before delivery, they'll get updates as things progress and there's plenty of communication regarding the artwork. They also get lifetime support and repairs on my work. I haven't actually had a bad experience with it yet, but possibly because I do it on my terms, not the client's.
This is such an honest and polite video considering how vile some people can be when it comes to compensating you for your time and effort. In my mind why even ask for a commission if you don't respect someone's time and don't think it's worth your money. I also wouldn't want to draw for these people cause it sounds like they don't respect you and they certainly don't make it enjoyable. I'd also be happier spending more time on a piece then I'm asking pay for if someone didn't care when it's done doesn't complain or talk me down and is genuinely happy to receive an art piece as opposed to feeling like a Karen that's putting a peasant to work 😂
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing video with us, Alayna! I wish I had heard of all these tips sooner, especially when I just starting out and trying to find the best way to avoid common pitfalls before opening my first commissions. I still have a lot to learn in that area of my art journey, but I'm trying my best to improve, and your video definitely helped by providing a useful checklist to keep in mind! Also, lovely art, as always! ☺🙏 💖
Thank you sm for this video because as a small artist myself the idea of doing commission for people was a neutral feeling,so now that you explain your process of doing commissions for people it really gave me insight of how the process goes and to easily not be scared of people's negative comments about your work as well as to value yourself upon your craft.
I dealt with more scammers in the last month than actual real commissions. So many people trying to get money from artists to or get stuff for free made me ask for the full price after sketch phase
Thank you for making this video! I find this very relatable since I'm also a freelance illustrator who also takes commissions. I'm really grateful for all of my clients and I also want to focus on how to earn money not just by taking commissions. Keep up the good work Minty!
i've taken many commisions before and everytime i got hit with so much artblock, and then the guilt :((( so much stress to go through because of the dead line
I've been doing commissions since about 2011. I stream all my comms (privately) and charge hourly. Honestly not sure why more artists don't adopt this method. You get paid fairly, you get feedback in realtime, and it's entertaining for the clients. :)
because a lot of people dont have full time to sit and talk to others verbally, since they draw in chunks and sometimes while doing other things. There is also the factor of a person being too uncomfortable with streaming their entire process, being watched during their process, or don't have the means to do it anyways. That and timezones can become an issue
@@RavenIsBlue I don't use VC, just text and I often listen to audiobooks or YT videos while I stream. It's mostly to keep me accountable/on task and for feedback when necessary.
@zrevival3818 When the client is watching me stream they can and often do tell me when to stop working on something if they feel it's not worth the time investment. The enhanced communication it offers mitigates most of the downsides you seem to be experiencing, but it's not for everyone. I find being paid for any additional work I do, and having that work be immediately visible when the client asks me to do something provides a lot of clarity for them rather than asking for an arbitrary amount of extra money every time they request a change or just eating edits as losses.
Wow, the algorithm showed me just what I needed... Very helpful video thank you! I just recently considered starting commissions and the price part is what most confuses me most.
I genuinely suggest spending the money on the GAG handbook it is so unbelievably helpful and includes contract samples which can come in handy for indipendent artists
I do on and off commissions and have been looking into trying to figure out how to do them more but this vid is pretty helpful! Also a good reminder for me to change my prices lol
I stopped doing commissions a long time ago. I am blown away and inspired by artists who manage to pull through a commission! For myself, however, I hate drawing for other people. It feels like a waste of time and sanity, and I always end up hating the commission I'm working on. Even when the customer is thrilled with the piece, I can't wait to never see the commission again. Also, people are like, "You charge too much", that's fine, go somewhere else.
I always find fellow artists are the best commissioners you can work with. When I do rarely take commissions, I always love working with other artists, and I notice artists I work with, being an artist myself, enjoy working with me because I am insanely patient and love letting the artist have fun with the character. Lately, I have been having my warden Phantom drawn because I love her... she often incurs extra fees because she's fairly complex but I am always willing to pay for that without complaint which takes artists I work with by surprise sometimes xD
Man I remember not selling a single commission so I studied like a motherfucker and id argue that I’ve gotten really good. (Understand I’ve only started to believe this in the last year) Now nobody buys my work because it’s not “trendy” and too expensive. I feel so bad telling young artists I’ve never made money on my art because they always respond with “if YOU can’t make money then there’s no hope for me…” that means I really have no place to vent about that. It’s super disheartening as I continue to post and I feel proud every time I improve and yet the only messages I receive are from scam bots
When I have done commisions in the past. Working traditionally helped me a lot. Digitial art is really convenient. But that convenience was the root to a lot of my problems. I found that drawing traditionally made the process more easy, was more respected, and the pay was fine, because I could mail the physical copy to the client. Or simply taking a photo with a camera, allowed for sending things digitaly. It costs more if you don't have supplies. And simply treating digital like traditional can help as well.
Bro, I had this one artist and when I told them my prices for my art work for commissions, she told me she can do that at home. What’s with artists putting down artists, and then another artist told me this on Reddit: r/delusionalartists.
personally I could relate since my friend keeps sharing his story of his artworks to me and trying understand his side under his spectrum and I could easily relate to perhaps at 7:20 ~ Working myself as a fryer in a restaurant there will be times I would not prefer what other people would order on work and what to put on food like Fries on a Sundae (lol) and putting bacon! , now applying that to persay artworks, there will be times I heard stories how my friend artist wasn't so feeling motivated or feeling good when he was given bad designed + written characters to draw, and yes this still happens especially to whose clients have NSFW characters in a way you are forced to because of money. This is unlike to a company at least they are tamed (it depends sometimes it doesn't work) to have at least artist feel ease drawing something but everyone has there own phasing and preferences so not everyone is going to draw something overboard especially when it's being asked.
Great Video Great advice and good luck with getting your Wacom I would LOVE to have a setup like that too, hanging in there with my Samsung 6s Lite from 2020 or maybe earlier
Great video as always, Alanya! Very informative and helpful about the truths of art commissions. And seeing how you'll be using our commissions to add to your portfolio, I'll definitely commission you at some point to further help your portfolio. I see great potential in your career. Hope you'll feel better soon. Take care!
The missus once fulfilled a commission slot of Fang the Weasel sniffing and rubbing his nose a lot, like he had a cold, in multiple social situations and with close up headshots and expressions. Guy deleted all socials after paying and receiving and neither of us have seen hide nor hair of him since. Hope he’s doing well. He was a good customer.
I think thanks to you I'll go all over my tiers and try to trim the fat from them. I'm still new with this shop and people were not commissioning me stuff that I wanted to do to improve and be more professional. It really hinders growth when you are stuck making plain stickers and how bad the details are lost on that format it annoys me to no bounds. Also, while you are doing commissions you can't practice with stuff you are learning from tutorials and other courses. I'm not popular enough to raise my prices but I needed to raise them a 3% because of PayPal's cut. Oh well thanks for sharing your experience with us. You got a new sub 👍
I paid for a lot of drawings but like a month ago I decided to start drawing myself. Did not imagine it takes so long to create something I dare to post on pixiv. I may get faster but for now a OK image takes me about 3 days (work and sleep included). Long story short I think I always underpaid the poor fellas 😅
It’s kinda crazy to me to think that artists charge so much for commissions bc they need to afford to live in this economy (which makes sense our art should be valued and taken seriously as a job.) But then likely these same artists could probably not often afford to go out and buy commissions at these prices bc of inflation and needing to eat. So it’s a constant cycle of asking those who can to pay us minimum wage prices for art (which to afford to do they’d have to make well over minimum wage so be well off or save up) well we scrape by and don’t always get the luxury of being able to afford the things we make ourself thus we’re putting work onto the market we couldn’t realistically buy often if we were consumers. (I mean idk maybe some of u can afford our own commissions prices but with how artists talk about needing to charge more to eat and pay bills I doubt it bc all our commission money is going into affording living with less leftover likely to afford luxuries like commissions unless we save up.) But then again I think the whole concept of art being a luxury for the rich is kinda sad altogether bc many artists aren’t even part of “the rich.” And can’t effortlessly spend money on luxuries like art without budgeting properly. Furthermore, it’s that reason that historically only the rich could even afford to be artists. But now anyone can be an artist thanks to the internet but like only the rich or more well off can afford to pay us for our art so we can live off minimum wage when we ourself probably can’t afford to buy our own art or others commissions often if at all. But idk, kinda be interested to know how many artists would actually pay their own commission prices for their work or could even realistically afford to rn with the wages they make on top of the cost of living? At least when we work for a company using our art we’re not asking consumers to pay us living wages, which is well over what most spend on a single item at a store, but we’re asking cooperations with way more money in their pockets to pay employees.
yes! Always go a little higher on the estimated delivery just in case you run into any hiccups. And ALWAYS make sure that you are in regular communication so that your commissioner knows what's happening and has confidence in your work. Yeah, I agree minimum wage is a great way to start out in gauging your pricing. You want to make sure it's worth your time and effort to do it, which is why I have slowly raised my prices over the years. Even if there is a reduction in clients, I don't want to rush and work hard for measly pay in the end that would have been better if I was doing a minimum wage job. We, as artists, need to remember that art is a skill. Most skillful jobs and professionals get higher than minimum wage. We have to remind ourselves that it's okay to ask for more when we've spent so long honing our artistic skill.
Your explanation and the overall video were great, and I'm very happy with the way you broke down the pros and cons. To be honest, I can totally understand and relate to how time-consuming commissions can be and how much they can hold back on improvement. I genuinely believe it would be better not to take commissions unless it's truly needed or in case the person feels confident with their skill and is fully ready to offer services :) As for the best platform, my commission experience has been quite easier than before once I began using VGen as a commission platform to offer my services. The overall platform is neat and versatile and there's no need to discuss much or pay outside the platform. Thank you for the video :D
i remember about 5-6 years ago being on a discord serv with lots of 16-ish young drawers and 2d animators that were discussing how much they should charge for comissions and they were going for charging like 5€ for a set of twitch banners and stuff like that. I tried to put my grain of salt in the discussion, I tried to put things into perspecive, comparing prices to what they can afford, I tried to give them example of how freelance artists charge in their area. Even gave them the hourly minimum rate of a trainee, which was like a bit less than minimum wage but still magnitudes more than 5 buck for days of work. But since the majority of the serv was young, I was the only voice countering the mass of "oh but it's not even work, it's a side hustle for quick student money, we ain't worth minimum wage, and we can't legally work under 16 anyway, and...." The lack of confidence and certitude from some and the group effect made them go for being paid literally a McFrist chicken at McDonald's. It was sad. Just sad.
I remember a celebrated artist that began having trouble getting work as he got older. Your hand isn't as steady, your eyes and mind aren't as on point. You can see the degradation over time when an artist has a long public career. As a worrywart, I just want to remind people that you need to save up for rainy days and have a Plan B for catastrophes and old age! The only time I've commissioned artwork was when I simply wanted a concept to exist. I paid for it and asked the artist for the right to show it to the fan community (who're a bunch of art thieves, sadly). I'm proud of the concept and that I helped spread it, like a disease, into people's impressionable minds. :D
I kinda have a hard time getting started on my commissions, I have ADD and even when I want to work on them I struggle to sit down and focus, or I get distracted and forget what I was originally doing and feel really bad for being so slow…
4:37 omg yes, this reminds me of an incident i had waaay before when some follower tried to argue with me that copic isnt expensive item & the size of an A3 with high details aint worth that much... put in mind im not new in art I've been doing art for over 15-18 years.. these type of arguments lead me to leave media in general. Im glad im over it now and sharing my art normally. It was a hilarious yet nerve burning experience
@MintyMido the wild part is she said she had copic and she draw crappy sht and give it to her friends and followers for free... I'm like okay regina george 💀
Is pretty hard for me to get to the audience I want in my art accounts, I don't know what to do about it. Almost everyone that has tried to comission me wants to pay with crypto or wants my art for NFTs (a good amount of them where sacams). And on that one of clients that don't respect you... I had one that actually wanted to get in my pants and used comissions as an excuse to send me nudes, cause they comssioned a sexy self portrait... that they ended up not paying when I refused to send nudes back, and I did't send it, refused to do so till I got payed, but it was fully finished. Luckily, thanks to advice from other artists, from the start I charged half upfront and would only send the final product once it was fully payed. That person also asked for another sfw comission on the same price, so I considered that one fully payed and sended it so they couldn't demand money back. That is another good tip, charge at least half up fron and only send the final product once is fully payed.
Personally, i undercharge my art because i know i dont have the platform. If you see an artist youve never seen charging the same prices as an artist youve been following for a while-EVEN if you like that nee artist-youre going to trust the artist you know more. Because thats common sense lol There's less worry in spending on a new person if you're not spending as much
that fcking hurts, i have similar experience, different scenario but the way it goes go exactly like that. i tried to confront asking if i can do a rework to remove his feeling of not worth it, but i got ignored, also the rework is free.
I open these small 72-hour character commissions twice a month to practice drawing, try out new techniques and have myself a little fun... I basically hone my skills and get paid at the same time.
I'm someone who likes to do pencil drawings mostly, sometimes digital art, but I haven't mastered digital art. Anyways, commissions stressed me out so much that I basically quit drawing altogether. I'll still draw here and there but I'm not as passionate about it as I used to be. I liked drawing as a stress relief but then I couldn't say "no" to people who would ask me to draw things for them. Usually it was pictures of a family member and that's okay! I understand wanting that, but when I spend several hours drawing this and only get 20 dollars? It just became too much. And some people even thought that 20 dollars was too expensive! One person never paid me for a commission at all. But everyone around me keeps telling me that I should be an artist for a living, or an art teacher... and that's just not what I wanted. So instead of continuing getting better at my own pace, I guess I just stopped drawing so people would stop bugging me about it. I didn't do this intentionally either, I just lost passion for it after a while and that thought did pop up from time to time. I'll still sketch sometimes, but I just can't be bothered anymore. For some background. I have some mental health issues and drawing was a distraction for me, kinda like a therapy I guess, and then it became super stressful. I'd like to think I'm a decent artist, I won the art award in my school, I like drawing portraits of my favorite actors in roles that they play... but yeah. I'd kinda like to get back into it at some point but trying to figure out where to start might be difficult. An art website that I like using is called ArtStation.
I love this video thank you, but I do have a question, I’m 16 and I want to start selling commissions of my illustrations but I don’t really know where to start. Do you have a video you could recommend or a site that I can start on? Really would appreciate it, thanks!
These are all great points but the problem is not all of us can find good clients or companies straight up ignore you for numerous reasons. So yeah that is my hard truth as a freelancer that is working since 2018. There is more but better to make it short.
sfw comission: "NO SUIT BRO!" "F*CK YOU BROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" "BROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" nsfw commission: "Aye" *squeaky squeaky* "aye" *robs a bank together* Nice!
No.3 is litterally why i gave up on being a full time freelance artist after 3 years in. I was only drawing for companies/professionals. I started hating drawing, and having my entire future depending on that, it was too unstable for me to fully count on it. So I took a minimum wage job in retail and doing whatever I want during my free time. If I want extra dough for the month, I will open commission slots on my twitter. If not, i just draw for myself. Drawing as a fulltime job made me feel miserable, it's genuinely not for everyone.
Hello! So, I'm an artist that is still underage and in my country I don't have the possibility of opening a bank account that works with dolalrs, I mainly open commissions on summer and I charge items or money from games I play. I normally draw sketches if it's just art for myself, but I like commissions because they force me to improve and put attention to details I hadn't thought about before, mainly since I have to actually finish the piece I'm making. I usually post them on disc servers for people to see them. A week ago I decided to open commissions once more, it was the first time I used specific amounts for a currency I wasn't used to, since it was experimental, I decided to test it out with a few prices. Yes, many people commissioned me for this new currency, the thing is that that currency is very easy to get in game and I didn't feel like the time I spent doing commissions was proportional to the amount I was getting paid for. I had to remove the currency and post something along it, that I wouldn't be taking more of that money. T-T
I was curious what your rates would be considering everything you were talking about in the video, and when I went to look (as of writing this comment)... they're all extremely fair prices that I personally would be more than willing to pay for your quality of work!
I did over a hundred commissions over the last 3 years. Hated every moment of it. Recently I stopped to focus on my own work. If you can charge thousands or live in a country with a low cost of living, maybe it's worth it. It was not for me.
I admittedly had a bad experience with an artist. They threw in a few nice examples of their art with reasonable rates which lured me in...Until they suddenly told me they've just changed it to something a little higher due to a sudden emergency. I grew a tad skeptical but decided to be helpful and commissioned for an OC with references thrown in. Later on, i was told to just add in backgrounds which i didn't ask for but again shrugged and gave them the extra funds because again it didn't sound like they're in a good spot atm. ...They basically just traced one of my references which looked awful and added trees. I facepalmed hard and they had the nerve to ask me to do another commission in which I merely replied them to kick rocks and blocked them. I get it if money problems make ya desperate for work but do not give false advertisement and demanding addons i did not request for just for not even half the quality i was told it was going to be.
I commission book covers every once in a while, and I think it's really important for artists to know how their work is going to be used. So for example for a cover, you need to do things like get the title on right away (to make sure it fits); test your art at different resolutions and aspect ratios. Cover art usually has to work at 2x3 and 1x1, and at resolutions from 5400x3600 all the way down to 180x270. And finally, take screen shots of market places (like Amazon) and place your art work next your competitors, to make sure it pops, but not in a bad way.
I agree to a point, BUT I want to add that it is up to the Client who is commissioning the artist, to be responsible for telling the artist the exact size of the cover, and if it will be digital only, (or both for digital AND print), the layout of the Title and author's name on the cover (so where to leave the empty space for those things), and the general theme and dominant color(s). If the Client wants to have the book cover make to fit multiple sizes, ratios and formats, it is THEIR responsibility to give the artist the exact specs they want included in their book cover order. It is NOT the artist's responsibility to look at the marketplace(s) where the book will sit in competition with similar books, and devise a cover to "stand-out" amongst them. That is an entirely different job, and what an author or book publisher would pay a marketing agency for. The book cover artist in NOT a marketing agency, and should NOT be expected to spend their non-art making time doing that work for the book cover buyer for free. The Client is responsible for knowing and communicating what they want to the artist. If the Client chooses not to hire a marketing agency to do the research required on where and how the book cover will stand-out amongst it's competitors, then the Client has to do the research themselves, and from that, determine what they want the book cover to look like. The artist is NOT also a marketing agency, (in which an agent or art director would be PAID to do that research and make those choices for you as their client). The graphic designer or illustrator who is paid to do the art, is responsible solely for that, and if more prior research about the competition and the platforms you will be selling the book on is required, then that is what you pay the book marketing agency for.
The guy wasn't even getting 30 ratings on the books he was doing the covers for. For that much, he should be going to door reading the back blurb out loud and doing indecent acts for potential customers.
i usually take around 8 or more total hours on my commissions,mbut it sure doesn't look that way!!!!! my art style seems relatively simple, but hours upon hours go uppn refining poses, clothing, hair, etc. and since my art doesn't seem complex, people don't really commission me for the style i care about so much - and then i bust out an anime style piece i worked on for an hour and suddenly i get commissions ..pain
Artists have a professional obligation to one another to charge reasonably and that means charging a living wage. If it's a rat race to the bottom, the entire scene will die
I took ONE art commission. It was on DA, I spent forever on it, and I didn't even get paid (yeah I'm kinda a pushover lol)... and yeah, I'm probably never going to do that again...
I haven’t finished watching the video yet but everything you are saying resonates so much to what I’ve been thinking lately regarding my work. Unfortunately freelancing for small clients is my only income atm and I’m struggling to pay rent, bills and food every month… and I’ve been trying to apply for bigger jobs or create more intricate pieces to get better commissions but so far I don’t see many results :( It’s been like this for 2 years but I’m hoping that I can change things soon!
Thats one of the toughest situations to be in unfortunately, so I’m sorry you’re going through that! The only way I’ve been able to find balance is by working either full time or part time for the financial stability part, and then using my free time for art (i work part time right now, looking for a full time job casually lol) but either way it’s hard. Good luck with everything, I hope you’ll be able to find some stability soon! Also your work is gorgeous and your animations & animatics are so cool (plus I love hazbin) so I just subbed :D you’re very skilled so I’m sure you’ll find the right path for you, though it may take some time - but I believe in you!! ❤️💪💪
For me my biggest problem with commissions is getting them. I was able to get a job for a cancelled cartoon project I cannot name but I just cannot sell them online because I have no clue how to market myself ;w;
Gonna be honest with you, I kinda have some of the same problems here, in terms of orders I only seem to get about 1-2 orders at a time, though mostly far between. Also I might actually consider the idea of commissioning you at some point
Realizing that you are surrounded with people who financially struggle the same way like you has a huge impact on pricing. Also if the client simply deserves a low price out of humanity, for example if a poor woman wants a portrait of her child she lost to a lethal illness. Charging more than a small price would be outrageous selfishness and greed, in this case. But, if these cases become majority, you'll have some interessant thougths.
This sounds nice, but almost all such stories are psychological tactics by scammers to manipulate emotionally sensitive artists. Can't tell you how many "paint my dead dog" scams my gf gets.
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Hi! Great video! I appreciate that you are not sugar coating what makes freelancing for the average consumer so incredibly dire. It is easy to wear rose-tinted glasses about the concept of drawing for others and getting paid to do so, especially if you are told that you are talented enough to make it happen-- but, as someone who has done merch design, sales, and freelance work for both individuals and indie productions, there is far more to consider about the labors of creating art vs income earned than most give credit for. In point 2 you state that a commission artist /may/ be underpaid (because they are undercharging)-- I actually agree, but I think there are some BIG FAT ASTERISKS about it, and being that this is a 'hard pills' sort of video, I think I wanna elaborate because I feel very strongly about it as someone who played this game for a little over 15 years. It isn't a criticism though-- just more like a piggy back!
So, while it is noble to aspire to and recommend charging what you are 'worth' to avoid being underpaid (a nebulous concept at best wrt art, and especially digital art), just short of working for industry professionals I'd argue that actually, no matter what, you WILL be underpaid. So, the average consumer cannot afford what people call luxuries, especially in modernity bc the economy has been incredibly unstable ever since the crash of 2008. Most people who love art today enough to buy it at all, won't have the kind of income an artist would need to charge in order to
- Pay Rent
- Eat
- Get health insurance
- Collect taxes
- Pay assistants/accountants/any other job related expenses that keep your lights on.
Unfortunately, the reality is that you cannot charge a regular person 500 USD for an art piece the same way you could likely demand that of a commercial piece and expect to get paid work. Not only are we smashing records for the amount of citizens globally without expendable income en masse, we are also dealing with (mostly) a demographic of people who are used to strong-arming and haggling their way through a transaction because of the Amazon effect (ie, offering outlandishly lenient customer support that conditioned a LOT of people into being over-entitled consumers). So if someone IS going to do freelancing, doing it with the impression that you will ever be in a place where you can charge 500 USD (which is frankly, what would be considered a barely livable wage if you didn't want to be completely burned out doing like 10 pieces a month) for a piece is going to yield a ton of disappointment. If I'm honest, a better use of time for an aspiring career artist would be to learn how to make an incredible portfolio, and gear toward working for the industry- because commission art will almost ASSUREDLY stay a side gig that yields very little consistency or income.
And you know what? That isn't even a bad thing necessarily! Taking paid work casually as a point of learning or growth is a GREAT motivator for some! Some people struggle to write or come up with their own ideas. Some people prefer just doing work with other small people who aren't a company or industry employer! In those cases, the best advice imo is this: Don't take any job request you are not IN LOVE WITH. I am so serious. If you take any job that walks through your door because you think that will improve your reputation and clientele, all it is going to do is keep landing you jobs drawing the things you didn't really feel crazy about in the first place (which is something Minty referenced later in the video, good boomerang! haha). Income be damned, /only take jobs you care about/.
And then, there is the other Elephant in the room, which I personally find to be the more bitter pill: Bluntly, I don't think enough people are willing to reconcile that the saturation of the market (esp post pandemic) is a lot of what is causing disparaging results on costs and expectations. I know a lot of us were made to believe that because we were skilled that hard work and exposure will net us a living-- but there are ABSOLUTELY not enough collectors who purchase one-off custom work to justify the amount of people trying to enter the industry right now--and arguably there never were. In fact, this style of freelancing for the everyday art fan really only got popular in the early 2010s as the internet was very, very rapidly expanding as a side hustle. And eventually, big media corporations saw that there was a demand for artists to sell their work on a platform- and so they then artificially bloated demand by advertising and peddling commission art as a legitimate or secure means of living that anyone with enough gumption or talent could achieve (a lie. clearly), and a MASSIVE percentage of socially estranged or isolated people suddenly thought they had an out where they could just do something they were good at, and we didn't yet realize that it was a pipe dream with no real basis. Hustle culture is demonic. And in the end, I actually encourage people to consider perhaps not trying for freelance art as a career at all. Even in the best case scenario you will still be doing work that is not YOU, and is not for you, and if you're just using all of your creative energy to sate someone else who has the money to not bother learning that skill for themselves, that is no different than the song and dance you would be doing in food service or standard retail (actually, in some ways you are doing even more labor than that, because YOU HAVE TO DO ALL BUSINESS OPERATIONS YOURSELF TOO!! LOL).
I was lucky enough to escape that deathloop some time ago. Younger folks have not been so lucky. Influencer culture has only further elevated the myth of freelancing's viability in a market of consumers who regularly shop at places like Five Below, and as someone who once did this as a point of career, for thousands of hours: Don't. If you can bear to let go, and you are able to, learn how to love making art for no reason other than just making something that you think needs to exist, and try to pivot to something that ISN'T intrinsically linked to the emotion part of your brain.
In the end, when we are all dying, it is that work that you will hold closest to your heart. Don't lose sight of why you fell in love with the idea of making things- making rent with a talent you have is wonderful on paper and soul-crushing in practice, and only a very lucky (and microscopic) percentage of practicing artists ever see a level of success that doesn't demand they continue to work at a grueling place (or a pt job at like, fcking McDonalds). That does not mean that art is not worth making. It absolutely is, and even if you have to make it badly, you should still MAKE IT.
Thank you for making this video! I hope anyone who reads this has a wonderful time, and that if you are struggling with your creative spirit that i am rooting for you.
OH WOW thank you for taking the time to type all this out!! 🥹🥹 I agree 10000% with everything you said!! thank you for expanding on the topic so thoughtfully like this, these are all very important points to keep in mind, I’ll be pinning your comment so others can hopefully see (I hope you don’t mind!)
@MintyMido not at ALL. I'm so glad you got something out of it. I think it's really important to speak pragmatically, because a lot of artists deserve to and need to know that an art career is not what makes an artist.
It is a desire to connect with your world and make that into something tangible. And everyone should do it!!!
I ain't reading allat
Absolutely beautiful breakdown of the economic reality of commissions
I didn't even watch the video yet and I'm satisfied
wow
This was so cathartic to read. I also have so, so much to say about this. On the Amazon effect - at some point when I did comissioned portraits I internalized that need for outlandish customer support and I would make changes upon changes upon changes to my drawings, delivering multiple options of the stupidest things. Something broke in me when I realized I had delivered over 20 versions of a drawing once, because the customer was not happy about the background design (which they had given me a reference for and ended up looking entirely different). Stupid changes like if a throw pillow had polka dots or not. In the end they loved it and left a review on my art Facebook: "The customer service was amazing, she will make sure to make ALL the changes you need until you love it!" And while it was meant to be a compliment, I imagined myself spending that same amount of time with every single customer. I felt dread when I realized this was the most common review I got. I began to get the stupidest requests, like a protrait of a grandfather - but when young. The reference being an old res photo of a printed framed photo with the glass reflection covering half of his face, which was in another angle and another expression than the customer wanted. I spent weeks basically guessing and tweeking every featur until it resembled him. Again, another extremely happy customer saying I could basically miracle out art pieces... but miracles are tough, man. After getting many customers like this due to the word of mouth that I gave "the best" customer support, I ended up absolutely hating my job. I grew to hate it so, so much that I basically rage quit and only drew plants for the next 4 years. I wanted to draw nothing that resembled a human.
I left this idea of living from comissions and started my regular office job as a graphic designer, nowadays I only do illustration just as a side hustle and only for local companies and agencies. Ironically, it's mainly drawing plants. Boy, the difference is something. I charge a lot more per hour, sometimes managing to double my income by only spending 1 or 2 daily hours on these illustrations. And since even changes are agreed upon contract, I also get less changes - often, no changes at all, to the point that I got the unexpected benefit of a huge confidence boost in the process and I'm back inspired drawing and writing my own stories and characters, exclusively for myself.
Another tip for those who start taking commissions: try commissioning someone else. That way you will get into the client's mindset and will be able to organize your own commissioning process with this understanding in mind.
outsourcing your comission. genius idea.
EXACTLY! This sums up what my friends have said. Try a few coms and see how the artist interacts with you and especially pay attention to their FAQ and rules. They are great guidelines.
Ooh! Yes! I did that for two of my friends and it's a great experience to learn from as both a commissioner and an artist!
UGHHH THIS IS SUCH A GOOD TAKE! i recently made a "how to start doing commissions" vid and i got tons of comments like that and i feel like this video perfectly shows the reality of how things actually are when you try to do commissions for the first time!
ive dealt with some interesting characters in my commissioning career- one that really stands out in my mind was a guy who guilt tripped me into dropping my price on a full color full bg piece. will NEVER do that again LMAO.
that’s so wild wtf 😭😭😭 the audacity
Yooo bunniteeth! I Hope your doing good
I haven’t like… actually used the site but I’ve heard a lot of good things about artistree! Set prices and everything, and it basically does the pricing stuff for you!
I did one. Never will do it again. Never.
If anyone ever belittles you or your art, over your current price and tries to get you low it, do the opposite. Add another $1000, if they say anything else add another $1000.
I remember a guy doing minimal stick figure art on Fiver years ago and was very successful. He had different tiers, packages for his commissioned work. The hard part for artists is understanding business. Business is cutthroat and straightforward. Breaking down the drawing/art from sketch to full rendering should have vastly different price points. Whether its just inked or full color. Be bold and charge more. It doesn't need to outrageous, but enough for food on the table, clothes on your back, roof over your head, and bills paid. Probably would be good enough for savings, too.😊
To newer artists aspiring to do art commissions:
I've been doing commissions for several years and have done comms ranged from five dollars to a couple hundred. Intermediate artist. This video brings up a lot of great points, and you should consider them when going into doing art commissions, but if these sound like a whole lot of negatives, don't let it immediately discourage you. Doing commissions can be extremely rewarding, fulfilling, and can boost your confidence significantly with work. Yes, it has its downsides, but if you're wanting to try it, I would recommend you try it. IMO you CAN undercharge at first (nothing less than 5-10 dollars, even for something simple), but the og video does make good points and if you feel that that is the route you want to go, then absolutely do that. good luck !
Horror story - I once had accidentally accepted a request from a commissioner who stole old anime OC art from a SUPER popular anime to be the base designs of the OCs they wanted to pay me to draw for them. They stole those pictures from DA and thought, since the users hadn't updated in years, that meant the OCs were considered abandoned and ripe for their taking. I didn't realize it until we were deep into the commission together and she finally admitted to it. I didn't know what to do because my family was counting on her payment at the end of the week. Since then, THE SECOND I FEEL SUS ABOUT A COMMISSIONER, I do a complete refund, regardless of how much work I've finished, and run for the hills. I used to have a friend that thought it was unprofessional behavior for an artist to NOT finish something, but I explained as long as the money returned intact, nothing else mattered.
Nowadays, I don't take commissions anymore because no one wants to pay for them, but it hasn't stopped people from knocking on my door expecting free art.
OMG???? That’s so wild 😭😭 I’ve never heard of someone stealing OCs like that DHSJHCDJJDJD and I feel you on the people expecting free art thing 😔
I know! And some even get mad for getting the refund, like sir, don't bully me for not being able to finish the art. You got your money back, it was only $30 bucks, so calm down :/
Remember, you are not guilty because you didnt know that ur client stole stuff. Take care 🙏
I get the maybe not wanting to pay for it. Even when I get spare cash, it's hard to justify using it on a piece of commissioned art, as cool as it is. But people wanting free art is wild, even if not surprising.
Yeah demand payment first. A former RL friend and just go "They did fan art of my OC!" and then not pay the artist. SHe apparently did this multiple times and when I got after her to go back, apologize, and pay the commission, she was "I forgot who they were."
7:53 reminded me of this one person who wanted to give me “advice” and “criticisms” but all they did was tell me how shitty my art was (they showed me their own art which was mainly just art from bases they had used). They started to tell me how I shouldn’t be selling my artwork to people because of how shitty it was and the MAIN REASON why was because I had to be proud of my work, my commissions aren’t stunning or jaw dropping but if people were still willing to pay for it then that’s them because it’s their money. This guy just went on a whole rant on why he didn’t sell his own work because he knew he wasn’t good enough or something (he had professional artist in his bio and had already told me he was better then me at art) so. That was an interesting time.
That’s awful!!! I’m so sorry that happened to you :(((
I find that people who brag about their own art in order to put others down, aren’t good artists at all in comparison to those they are bothering.
I always look at the pages of these people to see why they are so arrogant, and not once have I found one that drew correct anatomy or knew how perspective works.
I have my own experiences with such people. One was a person I actually went to high school with. She never learned how to draw, meaning she never studied anatomy, etc. What she would do is trace other people’s work and claim it as her own.
If you look at her deviant art page, you will see that some pieces look okay, but they are all in the same rigid front facing standing position; all other drawings of hers look like an elementary student made them.
She’s forty years old and thinks she’s an amazing artist who can put others down, because she sold some bad doodles at an anime con once.
However, despite that I struggle with memory issues, I am constantly practicing and learning anatomy and my art, even though it does have flaws for the trained eye, can pass as professionally done.
If you take anything away from this long boring story, take this. You will far surpass every person who brags about their art being better than yours. They will always be stuck at the same level and will never advance, because they think they are better and don’t need improvement.
You will struggle, but you will be dedicated to learning and improvement, and therefore, you will become the lie they tell to others about themselves, professional.
Pretty clear they had confidence issues putting themselves out there so they lash out at those that do. Classic tragic behaviour. Not in any way your fault!
What a butt. He isn't worth your time.
Someone talking about "bad art" doesn't know what art is. There is no bad art. Art is an expression. And many people would pay more for an "amateur" piece than they would on a polished, AI-like professional piece, because they LOVE how raw and sincere and expressive the "amateur" one is. There are fans for every type of art and at any level of your artistic journey. Also, I love your username.
Thank you, Alayna!! You did a phenomenal job drawing Köga, and while I’m writing my Sonic OC story, I pray your channel gets all the recognition it deserves. God bless you!!
It was awesome working with you Chris!! And thank you so much that means a lot 🥹🥹🥹❤️
i wanted to do comissions for not even real money.. and someone literally said: improve your art more before doing commisions. like helloooo?? i can do it whenever i want
Exactly! Keep that spirit going.They wouldn't have been your customer anyways.
Bruh the audacity of some people is insane
Oh god. I’m kind of sensitive about my art so if someone said that to me I’d be destroyed
@@novelle.27 fr 😭 i've always had a problem with taking critisisim kinda .. not so well..... . to the random other persons defense i was drawing anime before and had just recently got a new artstyle that i wasnt as good bat drawing in obviously.. but still it rlly hurt me.
this is a problem, i really dont take criticism seriously before,then there was a time that this one friend of mine on steam i dont even know him irl, i showed him one of my art, then he said theres no form, ( i cant remember the right word ) but he was talking about the face it was flat and lacks details, i didnt really believed him bcuz my gestures is great my hands are great the flow is fine and then after a couple of weeks i noticed that hes right he was talking about the face and the shading my shading was wrong (shading helps form shapes) like i shouldve put more effort on the lower eyebrows which makes it pop out or the eye will look deeper than the eyebrows.
so my theory is if we ask someones criticism after we finished a piece that weve been working on like for a week or more our mind was checking those mistakes while drawing already so our minds automatically dont realized it we think that its perfect because its so fresh at weve been working on it for a long time. then if you check it after a couple more weeks you can see those mistakes.
ive learned to take criticisms now its really important. at first you will not noticed it your thoughts would be "what is he/she talking about?" give it a week and check the art again
it will hurt you but your history will make you laugh someday :) i really wish i kept my old drawings of yuyu hakusho i wonder how terrible those are XD.
PS: im not that great of an artist (but im more confident with my work right now) :)
i gave up doing commissions. i got dozens of scam attempts, and the only “clients” i got were very disrespectful to art and my art, and some people even begged for free commissions. i’ve never come across somebody who was willing to pay my specified price and cooperate with me
note: the price was $15 full body full colored piece. severely underpriced
the jackasses that try to gaslight you into thinking you’re not good enough to be charging what you do were enough for me
@@skedadle7686 ironically, this is probably the reason you had such a bad experience. When your prices are low, you get bad clients. Price well and you get respectful clients who know what they are paying for
It's also because not everyone can afford art even if it's 20-30 dollars. Not many artists get commissions so when they price it low then they get work. I see so many artists struggling to get commission work and their skills are amazing but their prices are like $8-$15 some are higher and they still can't get work... I've seen artists prices go to $90 but it does depend on your audience. Some are lucky to find their people but many can't.. I myself do like doing commissions but it's hard to find anyone willing to commission me. But it's fine, keep going is what I say🥺👍🏻
I wasn't selling any prints at a con. I started charing $1 for small doodles. I sold about $50 worth of doodles lol
@@MyFictionalChaos..per day?
Meanwhile some people are requesting 50k on comission animations
Yeah I've seen so many people online who are struggling financially with whats going on lately, paying rent with low wages, etc. So between commissioning someone or paying your bills, an expensive commission isn't going to be a priority. I feel I have to undercharge my fandom comms so it can be in budget for people.
@@MyFictionalChaosWhat kind of doodles?
04:00 this works only if you don't need the money, if you do, you will work for whatever it takes to get any money, 2 dollars is more than 0 dollars, that's a snack you can feed yourself. Also minimal wage is different all around the world; when poeple say an artist is underpricing themselves they're usually Americans/western. It's very hard to make a pricelist that will satisfy people from the whole globe; that's the iffy thing about selling on the internet. Ideally people should charge enough to provide for themselves in the place they live in, but if the place they live in is cheap, and no one wants to buy their comms cuz they "undersell" themselves... it sucks. Also higher prices would make it impossible to people from their countries to ever buy from them. If you think an artist is underpricing themselves - commission them and generously tip them; no better way to make them feel like they indeed deserve and can make more.
You can create a separate pricelist for local clients... I do that myself. I charge less for them considering the buying power and current economy here. It helps balance the local and international art market.
No way I'm only charging $20 to $30 for highly detailed fullscenes, which is considered a fair price in the local art scene.
@@ris8447 Don't global clients throw a hissy fit about the special treatement they're not getting? That's interesting hmm
But that's also the nice thing about the internet, there's a market for everyone. If you're for example Vietnamese, and you want to charge more than Vietnamese people are willing to pay, you can just change how you market your work and target an English or German clientelle.
@@yurisei6732 Yes that's great! But just people attacking you for having your prices too high or low in their opinion can get really, really daunting, and can get even worse when people who have the money and would like to buy from you, refuse to do so because in their eyes you undersell yourself. That's backwards logic I can't get
@@Szczurzyslawa Although I suspect that the number of people who definitely want to buy from you but don't because you don't charge enough is actually very low. If I see a great artist whom I want to have draw something important to me, and they're charging less than I think they could, I'm just happy to get a good deal.
You are a gold mine. As an older artist who came back to art after 20 years, I not only wasted a lot of money on a dream I thought was lost but I also believed I could at best be doing stuff here and there for little money. Thank you for this.
Yes, I totally agree that commisions are very time consuming.
I don't do commissions anymore, partly due to lack of time and that the money brought in doesn't justify the hours put in for me. Back when I was a lot younger I was doing commissions on Deviantart and cheated into giving commissions for free when the client only wanted to pay when they got the artwork in full. Later the "mother" claimed that she was a lawyer and that she could sue me. I can't remember the details since it was over 15 years ago but I wound up giving work for free (on the other hand I practised a lot so my work improved so it wasn't so bad I guess.)
About the client respect part, I think it doesn't just apply to commisions it can apply to other industries, especially if the client knows that they have an edge over the other party. And that is how business can be.
Say goodbye to sleep and say hello to people constantly wanting to pay next to nothing...Including well established companies. It's not all doom though, every so often a client might ' over tip' you when they're happy with the final product. Sometimes you might strike gold, like an IG friend of mine that got a sweet adidas project, shout out M. Hang in there guys, it's not easy. Finally if you do super detailed artwork, dial it back because you'll be f'ed.
Good video. Before I say something about commissions, I want to compliment that "you drawing animation loop" thing. It is cute and satisfying to watch while listening to what you say.
I do think that you are making a lot of good points, but I want to add one more: sometimes, making commissions can suck out your passion for art or at the very least passion for the subject of your art. This happened to me recently and that made me realize I probably won't be able to make art a thing I can ever make living of. That's unfortunate, but it seems that's the reality of the situation. I guess what I need to do now regarding art, is to get a grip and reclaim the passion that I've lost
your comment about art being a luxury item is a great point
This is a really awesome video.
When I was a bit younger I had started a very small art commission set up, but stopped doing it because of burn out and now and I just kind of spiraled out of posting art at all.
Friends and family have said that I should start posting art and maybe try to do commissions again.
Though I'm not sure if I will, this video was really encouraging to watch.
And as always, your art is amazing!
Hope your art journey is going well and I can't wait to see what comes next. :>
Thank you so much!! That's so sad to hear, I'm sorry you got burnt out, I definitely feel that. Take your time for sure, but I hope you'll be able to at least get back into sharing your work again! Commissions can easily lead to burn out so definitely take your time on that step LOL but hopefully you can start making and posting for yourself again - good luck!! :D
I really understand this, I’ve opened commissions before (for free since I’m only a minor) they always stressed me out and it took up all my time 😢 I enjoyed drawing art for people but it took away time for me to do what to do!
I hope you can find people to art trade with or maybe get some character designs for your art, you should still get something in return if you want it
@@Eddisdedd ya! As of rn I’m gonna focus on some other projects
@@DestinyEdits95 ayo me too! I also overworked myself with owed art and getting back to my characters feel so much better
@@Eddisdedd ya that’s good to hear!
As a teen, can I know where you do art commission? I really wanted to try it out.
I think this video is exactly what I needed to hear. It's something I knew, but hearing you spell it out really helped me to internalize the perspective. Thank you.
Thank you, you helped me finally put the nail in the coffin.
I LOVE, love love LOVE making art. I have a passion for it that I sometimes don't even have for life itself (depression). I figured I could just go and EZ PZ get commissions. No dice.
I found I HATED doing commissions. Like, if money was involved, the turn-off was startlingly violent. So, hearing someone finally say that I.. just don't need to, makes me so happy.
Still gonna mess with my website though, I love it and have so much fun doing stupid stuff. I'll probably renovate the commission stuff into a sunroom or smth..
Absolutely!!! You don’t have to do commissions to be an artist at ALL; I wish I’d understood that sooner; I’m glad it was helpful to you!! 🥹
As someone hoping to maybe try commissions in the future this was really useful, thank you.
You’re welcome, I’m glad it was informative! ^^ and thank you for watching!!
Art licensing is also a big income earner. Ownership vs Renting agreements for products.
This is what I want to do since I also do fabric prints and paintings, but haven't figured out how to do it professionally.
@@MissShembre YT deleted my comment as usual. I would look into artists that are doing what you want to do. Artist Elyse Breanne makes floral art for planner and such.
A huge part of the reason people who make art for ads and other professional grade media charge so much more is because they are selling the IP rights - that company can resell the art as their own and profit from it directly or use it in advertising material etc to make money indirectly. Personal commissions rarely deal with IP.
Never seen a video from you, but I'm in love with your art style. Your linework and use of color and lighting are spectacular, especially in how you apply rim lighting. Adding you to my inspirations for my work
That is so kind, thank you! :')
Thank you so much for this video...literally happened to be on my feed. ❤ I have always wanted to try commissions, but didn't know where to start. But knowing our worth as an artist is so important. And that if the price we set doesn't get people, then the main point is we know our worth as an artist. And true, honest people will see it too and pay for it. They are a fan of our art. Thank you this just helps a lot! ☺️
Your art is so pretty and glad you're back queen!
I'm a little different in that I build guitar pedals as a hobby and sell them off if I'm not into them, and to also fund the next builds. I'm not doing it for a living. However, people often see these for sale and occasionally ask for a commission build (usually for a clone of something rare and/or expensive).
I actually hate doing them due to the self inflicted pressure to get it right, so I charge like a wounded bull with a bunch of caveats - I get it done when I get it done because I have a job and a family, half up front, the rest before delivery, they'll get updates as things progress and there's plenty of communication regarding the artwork. They also get lifetime support and repairs on my work.
I haven't actually had a bad experience with it yet, but possibly because I do it on my terms, not the client's.
This is such an honest and polite video considering how vile some people can be when it comes to compensating you for your time and effort. In my mind why even ask for a commission if you don't respect someone's time and don't think it's worth your money. I also wouldn't want to draw for these people cause it sounds like they don't respect you and they certainly don't make it enjoyable. I'd also be happier spending more time on a piece then I'm asking pay for if someone didn't care when it's done doesn't complain or talk me down and is genuinely happy to receive an art piece as opposed to feeling like a Karen that's putting a peasant to work 😂
LOLLLLL thank you!
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing video with us, Alayna! I wish I had heard of all these tips sooner, especially when I just starting out and trying to find the best way to avoid common pitfalls before opening my first commissions. I still have a lot to learn in that area of my art journey, but I'm trying my best to improve, and your video definitely helped by providing a useful checklist to keep in mind! Also, lovely art, as always! ☺🙏 💖
Thank you Shi!! ❤️❤️🥹🥹🥹 I appreciate youuuu
@@MintyMido Aw, of course! Love your content! 💖 🥺 🫶
Thank you sm for this video because as a small artist myself the idea of doing commission for people was a neutral feeling,so now that you explain your process of doing commissions for people it really gave me insight of how the process goes and to easily not be scared of people's negative comments about your work as well as to value yourself upon your craft.
I dealt with more scammers in the last month than actual real commissions. So many people trying to get money from artists to or get stuff for free made me ask for the full price after sketch phase
Thank you for making this video! I find this very relatable since I'm also a freelance illustrator who also takes commissions. I'm really grateful for all of my clients and I also want to focus on how to earn money not just by taking commissions. Keep up the good work Minty!
Thank you so much 🥹❤️
i've taken many commisions before and everytime i got hit with so much artblock, and then the guilt :((( so much stress to go through because of the dead line
I've been doing commissions since about 2011. I stream all my comms (privately) and charge hourly. Honestly not sure why more artists don't adopt this method. You get paid fairly, you get feedback in realtime, and it's entertaining for the clients. :)
because a lot of people dont have full time to sit and talk to others verbally, since they draw in chunks and sometimes while doing other things. There is also the factor of a person being too uncomfortable with streaming their entire process, being watched during their process, or don't have the means to do it anyways. That and timezones can become an issue
@@RavenIsBlue I don't use VC, just text and I often listen to audiobooks or YT videos while I stream. It's mostly to keep me accountable/on task and for feedback when necessary.
@AlabasterZ exactly this for me 😢 sometimes I work in as little as 10 minute chunks every hour
@zrevival3818 When the client is watching me stream they can and often do tell me when to stop working on something if they feel it's not worth the time investment. The enhanced communication it offers mitigates most of the downsides you seem to be experiencing, but it's not for everyone. I find being paid for any additional work I do, and having that work be immediately visible when the client asks me to do something provides a lot of clarity for them rather than asking for an arbitrary amount of extra money every time they request a change or just eating edits as losses.
Had to shut down a credit card due to a fraudulent commission that took $100 from my PayPal. Yeah.
DANG I’m so sorry that happened 😭 I also dealt with a scam on PayPal and I refuse to use it anymore😔
You doing great Minty! You definitely inspiring me and I hope things keep going well for you! One step at a time!
Thanks so much that means a lot!!! 🥹🥹
When I work with artists for commissions, I always try to be the best example. I understand that it's alot of work for these guys.
Wow, the algorithm showed me just what I needed... Very helpful video thank you! I just recently considered starting commissions and the price part is what most confuses me most.
This looks like a very interesting video I can't wait
I really gotta raise my commissions prices thanks for the reminder :')
I genuinely suggest spending the money on the GAG handbook it is so unbelievably helpful and includes contract samples which can come in handy for indipendent artists
I do on and off commissions and have been looking into trying to figure out how to do them more but this vid is pretty helpful! Also a good reminder for me to change my prices lol
Great video. I'm glad the RUclips algorithm is working for me again.
I stopped doing commissions a long time ago. I am blown away and inspired by artists who manage to pull through a commission! For myself, however, I hate drawing for other people. It feels like a waste of time and sanity, and I always end up hating the commission I'm working on. Even when the customer is thrilled with the piece, I can't wait to never see the commission again. Also, people are like, "You charge too much", that's fine, go somewhere else.
I always find fellow artists are the best commissioners you can work with. When I do rarely take commissions, I always love working with other artists, and I notice artists I work with, being an artist myself, enjoy working with me because I am insanely patient and love letting the artist have fun with the character. Lately, I have been having my warden Phantom drawn because I love her... she often incurs extra fees because she's fairly complex but I am always willing to pay for that without complaint which takes artists I work with by surprise sometimes xD
Man I remember not selling a single commission so I studied like a motherfucker and id argue that I’ve gotten really good. (Understand I’ve only started to believe this in the last year) Now nobody buys my work because it’s not “trendy” and too expensive. I feel so bad telling young artists I’ve never made money on my art because they always respond with “if YOU can’t make money then there’s no hope for me…” that means I really have no place to vent about that. It’s super disheartening as I continue to post and I feel proud every time I improve and yet the only messages I receive are from scam bots
Making your prices higher is the most logical thing in your sitsuation, the product your offering is in high demand so the value should reflect that.
Thanks for the advice !! Awesome art and video !
When I have done commisions in the past. Working traditionally helped me a lot. Digitial art is really convenient. But that convenience was the root to a lot of my problems. I found that drawing traditionally made the process more easy, was more respected, and the pay was fine, because I could mail the physical copy to the client. Or simply taking a photo with a camera, allowed for sending things digitaly. It costs more if you don't have supplies. And simply treating digital like traditional can help as well.
Bro, I had this one artist and when I told them my prices for my art work for commissions, she told me she can do that at home.
What’s with artists putting down artists, and then another artist told me this on Reddit: r/delusionalartists.
20:06 subway surfers gameplay is devious but it also feels like it may have actually worked 😭
personally I could relate since my friend keeps sharing his story of his artworks to me and trying understand his side under his spectrum and I could easily relate to perhaps at 7:20 ~ Working myself as a fryer in a restaurant there will be times I would not prefer what other people would order on work and what to put on food like Fries on a Sundae (lol) and putting bacon! , now applying that to persay artworks, there will be times I heard stories how my friend artist wasn't so feeling motivated or feeling good when he was given bad designed + written characters to draw, and yes this still happens especially to whose clients have NSFW characters in a way you are forced to because of money. This is unlike to a company at least they are tamed (it depends sometimes it doesn't work) to have at least artist feel ease drawing something but everyone has there own phasing and preferences so not everyone is going to draw something overboard especially when it's being asked.
Great Video Great advice and good luck with getting your Wacom I would LOVE to have a setup like that too, hanging in there with my Samsung 6s Lite from 2020 or maybe earlier
Great video as always, Alanya! Very informative and helpful about the truths of art commissions. And seeing how you'll be using our commissions to add to your portfolio, I'll definitely commission you at some point to further help your portfolio. I see great potential in your career. Hope you'll feel better soon. Take care!
😭😭 AHH THANK YOU THAT IS SO KIND ❤️❤️
@@MintyMido no worries. I'll be happy to help. 🙂
The missus once fulfilled a commission slot of Fang the Weasel sniffing and rubbing his nose a lot, like he had a cold, in multiple social situations and with close up headshots and expressions. Guy deleted all socials after paying and receiving and neither of us have seen hide nor hair of him since. Hope he’s doing well. He was a good customer.
I think thanks to you I'll go all over my tiers and try to trim the fat from them. I'm still new with this shop and people were not commissioning me stuff that I wanted to do to improve and be more professional. It really hinders growth when you are stuck making plain stickers and how bad the details are lost on that format it annoys me to no bounds. Also, while you are doing commissions you can't practice with stuff you are learning from tutorials and other courses. I'm not popular enough to raise my prices but I needed to raise them a 3% because of PayPal's cut.
Oh well thanks for sharing your experience with us. You got a new sub 👍
I paid for a lot of drawings but like a month ago I decided to start drawing myself. Did not imagine it takes so long to create something I dare to post on pixiv. I may get faster but for now a OK image takes me about 3 days (work and sleep included). Long story short I think I always underpaid the poor fellas 😅
It’s kinda crazy to me to think that artists charge so much for commissions bc they need to afford to live in this economy (which makes sense our art should be valued and taken seriously as a job.)
But then likely these same artists could probably not often afford to go out and buy commissions at these prices bc of inflation and needing to eat.
So it’s a constant cycle of asking those who can to pay us minimum wage prices for art (which to afford to do they’d have to make well over minimum wage so be well off or save up) well we scrape by and don’t always get the luxury of being able to afford the things we make ourself thus we’re putting work onto the market we couldn’t realistically buy often if we were consumers.
(I mean idk maybe some of u can afford our own commissions prices but with how artists talk about needing to charge more to eat and pay bills I doubt it bc all our commission money is going into affording living with less leftover likely to afford luxuries like commissions unless we save up.)
But then again I think the whole concept of art being a luxury for the rich is kinda sad altogether bc many artists aren’t even part of “the rich.” And can’t effortlessly spend money on luxuries like art without budgeting properly.
Furthermore, it’s that reason that historically only the rich could even afford to be artists.
But now anyone can be an artist thanks to the internet but like only the rich or more well off can afford to pay us for our art so we can live off minimum wage when we ourself probably can’t afford to buy our own art or others commissions often if at all.
But idk, kinda be interested to know how many artists would actually pay their own commission prices for their work or could even realistically afford to rn with the wages they make on top of the cost of living?
At least when we work for a company using our art we’re not asking consumers to pay us living wages, which is well over what most spend on a single item at a store, but we’re asking cooperations with way more money in their pockets to pay employees.
yes! Always go a little higher on the estimated delivery just in case you run into any hiccups. And ALWAYS make sure that you are in regular communication so that your commissioner knows what's happening and has confidence in your work.
Yeah, I agree minimum wage is a great way to start out in gauging your pricing. You want to make sure it's worth your time and effort to do it, which is why I have slowly raised my prices over the years. Even if there is a reduction in clients, I don't want to rush and work hard for measly pay in the end that would have been better if I was doing a minimum wage job. We, as artists, need to remember that art is a skill. Most skillful jobs and professionals get higher than minimum wage. We have to remind ourselves that it's okay to ask for more when we've spent so long honing our artistic skill.
The video game clip added to signify a long (potentially rambly) topic 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I-
Your explanation and the overall video were great, and I'm very happy with the way you broke down the pros and cons. To be honest, I can totally understand and relate to how time-consuming commissions can be and how much they can hold back on improvement. I genuinely believe it would be better not to take commissions unless it's truly needed or in case the person feels confident with their skill and is fully ready to offer services :) As for the best platform, my commission experience has been quite easier than before once I began using VGen as a commission platform to offer my services. The overall platform is neat and versatile and there's no need to discuss much or pay outside the platform. Thank you for the video :D
Thank you!! And ouuu that’s good to hear; I’ve seen some of my favorite artists on Vgen but haven’t checked it out myself, maybe I shall 👀
@@MintyMido Best of luck on your journey!
i remember about 5-6 years ago being on a discord serv with lots of 16-ish young drawers and 2d animators that were discussing how much they should charge for comissions and they were going for charging like 5€ for a set of twitch banners and stuff like that. I tried to put my grain of salt in the discussion, I tried to put things into perspecive, comparing prices to what they can afford, I tried to give them example of how freelance artists charge in their area. Even gave them the hourly minimum rate of a trainee, which was like a bit less than minimum wage but still magnitudes more than 5 buck for days of work.
But since the majority of the serv was young, I was the only voice countering the mass of "oh but it's not even work, it's a side hustle for quick student money, we ain't worth minimum wage, and we can't legally work under 16 anyway, and...." The lack of confidence and certitude from some and the group effect made them go for being paid literally a McFrist chicken at McDonald's.
It was sad. Just sad.
I remember a celebrated artist that began having trouble getting work as he got older. Your hand isn't as steady, your eyes and mind aren't as on point. You can see the degradation over time when an artist has a long public career. As a worrywart, I just want to remind people that you need to save up for rainy days and have a Plan B for catastrophes and old age!
The only time I've commissioned artwork was when I simply wanted a concept to exist. I paid for it and asked the artist for the right to show it to the fan community (who're a bunch of art thieves, sadly). I'm proud of the concept and that I helped spread it, like a disease, into people's impressionable minds. :D
I kinda have a hard time getting started on my commissions, I have ADD and even when I want to work on them I struggle to sit down and focus, or I get distracted and forget what I was originally doing and feel really bad for being so slow…
That’s really tough, I’m sorry you struggle with that :( Definitely pace yourself!
Your line work is beautiful!
4:37 omg yes, this reminds me of an incident i had waaay before when some follower tried to argue with me that copic isnt expensive item & the size of an A3 with high details aint worth that much... put in mind im not new in art I've been doing art for over 15-18 years.. these type of arguments lead me to leave media in general. Im glad im over it now and sharing my art normally. It was a hilarious yet nerve burning experience
That’s so wild bc Copics are SOOOOOO expensive 😭😭😭
@MintyMido the wild part is she said she had copic and she draw crappy sht and give it to her friends and followers for free... I'm like okay regina george 💀
Is pretty hard for me to get to the audience I want in my art accounts, I don't know what to do about it. Almost everyone that has tried to comission me wants to pay with crypto or wants my art for NFTs (a good amount of them where sacams).
And on that one of clients that don't respect you...
I had one that actually wanted to get in my pants and used comissions as an excuse to send me nudes, cause they comssioned a sexy self portrait... that they ended up not paying when I refused to send nudes back, and I did't send it, refused to do so till I got payed, but it was fully finished.
Luckily, thanks to advice from other artists, from the start I charged half upfront and would only send the final product once it was fully payed. That person also asked for another sfw comission on the same price, so I considered that one fully payed and sended it so they couldn't demand money back.
That is another good tip, charge at least half up fron and only send the final product once is fully payed.
The best art commission site is your own carrd website, or any personal site where you can directly communicate with a client.
Personally, i undercharge my art because i know i dont have the platform. If you see an artist youve never seen charging the same prices as an artist youve been following for a while-EVEN if you like that nee artist-youre going to trust the artist you know more. Because thats common sense lol
There's less worry in spending on a new person if you're not spending as much
Too many "commissioning customers" are scammers.
YOU ARE SPEAKING THE MF FACTS!!!! YES!!!!!!!
HEHE TYYYY😍
The first person I got a commission from unfollowed me weeks after I sent the artwork, thank goodness I was still paid
that fcking hurts, i have similar experience, different scenario but the way it goes go exactly like that. i tried to confront asking if i can do a rework to remove his feeling of not worth it, but i got ignored, also the rework is free.
Definitely one of the hardest industries on every spectrum.
Almost every commission I ever got I hated 😂🤣!!!! I did hundreds of them too and there's only a small handfull that i actually enjoyed making
I open these small 72-hour character commissions twice a month to practice drawing, try out new techniques and have myself a little fun... I basically hone my skills and get paid at the same time.
I'm someone who likes to do pencil drawings mostly, sometimes digital art, but I haven't mastered digital art. Anyways, commissions stressed me out so much that I basically quit drawing altogether. I'll still draw here and there but I'm not as passionate about it as I used to be. I liked drawing as a stress relief but then I couldn't say "no" to people who would ask me to draw things for them. Usually it was pictures of a family member and that's okay! I understand wanting that, but when I spend several hours drawing this and only get 20 dollars? It just became too much. And some people even thought that 20 dollars was too expensive! One person never paid me for a commission at all. But everyone around me keeps telling me that I should be an artist for a living, or an art teacher... and that's just not what I wanted. So instead of continuing getting better at my own pace, I guess I just stopped drawing so people would stop bugging me about it. I didn't do this intentionally either, I just lost passion for it after a while and that thought did pop up from time to time. I'll still sketch sometimes, but I just can't be bothered anymore.
For some background. I have some mental health issues and drawing was a distraction for me, kinda like a therapy I guess, and then it became super stressful. I'd like to think I'm a decent artist, I won the art award in my school, I like drawing portraits of my favorite actors in roles that they play... but yeah. I'd kinda like to get back into it at some point but trying to figure out where to start might be difficult.
An art website that I like using is called ArtStation.
Yep. The better my art skills the longer it takes me to complete me a piece.
Thank you for sharing!
I love this video thank you, but I do have a question, I’m 16 and I want to start selling commissions of my illustrations but I don’t really know where to start. Do you have a video you could recommend or a site that I can start on? Really would appreciate it, thanks!
These are all great points but the problem is not all of us can find good clients or companies straight up ignore you for numerous reasons. So yeah that is my hard truth as a freelancer that is working since 2018. There is more but better to make it short.
I find the most frustrating thing about commissions is the reference image.
It seems people don’t like shadows as much as I do.
sfw comission: "NO SUIT BRO!" "F*CK YOU BROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" "BROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"
nsfw commission: "Aye" *squeaky squeaky* "aye" *robs a bank together* Nice!
No.3 is litterally why i gave up on being a full time freelance artist after 3 years in. I was only drawing for companies/professionals. I started hating drawing, and having my entire future depending on that, it was too unstable for me to fully count on it. So I took a minimum wage job in retail and doing whatever I want during my free time. If I want extra dough for the month, I will open commission slots on my twitter. If not, i just draw for myself. Drawing as a fulltime job made me feel miserable, it's genuinely not for everyone.
Hello! So, I'm an artist that is still underage and in my country I don't have the possibility of opening a bank account that works with dolalrs, I mainly open commissions on summer and I charge items or money from games I play. I normally draw sketches if it's just art for myself, but I like commissions because they force me to improve and put attention to details I hadn't thought about before, mainly since I have to actually finish the piece I'm making. I usually post them on disc servers for people to see them. A week ago I decided to open commissions once more, it was the first time I used specific amounts for a currency I wasn't used to, since it was experimental, I decided to test it out with a few prices. Yes, many people commissioned me for this new currency, the thing is that that currency is very easy to get in game and I didn't feel like the time I spent doing commissions was proportional to the amount I was getting paid for. I had to remove the currency and post something along it, that I wouldn't be taking more of that money. T-T
I was curious what your rates would be considering everything you were talking about in the video, and when I went to look (as of writing this comment)... they're all extremely fair prices that I personally would be more than willing to pay for your quality of work!
I did over a hundred commissions over the last 3 years. Hated every moment of it.
Recently I stopped to focus on my own work.
If you can charge thousands or live in a country with a low cost of living, maybe it's worth it.
It was not for me.
I admittedly had a bad experience with an artist. They threw in a few nice examples of their art with reasonable rates which lured me in...Until they suddenly told me they've just changed it to something a little higher due to a sudden emergency. I grew a tad skeptical but decided to be helpful and commissioned for an OC with references thrown in. Later on, i was told to just add in backgrounds which i didn't ask for but again shrugged and gave them the extra funds because again it didn't sound like they're in a good spot atm.
...They basically just traced one of my references which looked awful and added trees. I facepalmed hard and they had the nerve to ask me to do another commission in which I merely replied them to kick rocks and blocked them.
I get it if money problems make ya desperate for work but do not give false advertisement and demanding addons i did not request for just for not even half the quality i was told it was going to be.
I commission book covers every once in a while, and I think it's really important for artists to know how their work is going to be used. So for example for a cover, you need to do things like get the title on right away (to make sure it fits); test your art at different resolutions and aspect ratios. Cover art usually has to work at 2x3 and 1x1, and at resolutions from 5400x3600 all the way down to 180x270. And finally, take screen shots of market places (like Amazon) and place your art work next your competitors, to make sure it pops, but not in a bad way.
I agree to a point, BUT I want to add that it is up to the Client who is commissioning the artist, to be responsible for telling the artist the exact size of the cover, and if it will be digital only, (or both for digital AND print), the layout of the Title and author's name on the cover (so where to leave the empty space for those things), and the general theme and dominant color(s).
If the Client wants to have the book cover make to fit multiple sizes, ratios and formats, it is THEIR responsibility to give the artist the exact specs they want included in their book cover order.
It is NOT the artist's responsibility to look at the marketplace(s) where the book will sit in competition with similar books, and devise a cover to "stand-out" amongst them.
That is an entirely different job, and what an author or book publisher would pay a marketing agency for.
The book cover artist in NOT a marketing agency, and should NOT be expected to spend their non-art making time doing that work for the book cover buyer for free.
The Client is responsible for knowing and communicating what they want to the artist.
If the Client chooses not to hire a marketing agency to do the research required on where and how the book cover will stand-out amongst it's competitors, then the Client has to do the research themselves, and from that, determine what they want the book cover to look like.
The artist is NOT also a marketing agency, (in which an agent or art director would be PAID to do that research and make those choices for you as their client).
The graphic designer or illustrator who is paid to do the art, is responsible solely for that, and if more prior research about the competition and the platforms you will be selling the book on is required, then that is what you pay the book marketing agency for.
@@pat4005 So one of the quotes I just got back from an artist for a book cover was for $8300 😑
The guy wasn't even getting 30 ratings on the books he was doing the covers for. For that much, he should be going to door reading the back blurb out loud and doing indecent acts for potential customers.
thank you so much for this!!!!
i usually take around 8 or more total hours on my commissions,mbut it sure doesn't look that way!!!!!
my art style seems relatively simple, but hours upon hours go uppn refining poses, clothing, hair, etc. and since my art doesn't seem complex, people don't really commission me for the style i care about so much -
and then i bust out an anime style piece i worked on for an hour and suddenly i get commissions
..pain
I don't even bother with commissions. I'm a freelance animator. It takes me weeks to finish a sequence.😂
Artists have a professional obligation to one another to charge reasonably and that means charging a living wage. If it's a rat race to the bottom, the entire scene will die
I took ONE art commission. It was on DA, I spent forever on it, and I didn't even get paid (yeah I'm kinda a pushover lol)... and yeah, I'm probably never going to do that again...
Oh no, I'm so sorry that happened! :( I've been in that situation before too and it SUCKS
@@MintyMido don't be sorry, it's not your fault ^^
I haven’t finished watching the video yet but everything you are saying resonates so much to what I’ve been thinking lately regarding my work. Unfortunately freelancing for small clients is my only income atm and I’m struggling to pay rent, bills and food every month… and I’ve been trying to apply for bigger jobs or create more intricate pieces to get better commissions but so far I don’t see many results :(
It’s been like this for 2 years but I’m hoping that I can change things soon!
Thats one of the toughest situations to be in unfortunately, so I’m sorry you’re going through that! The only way I’ve been able to find balance is by working either full time or part time for the financial stability part, and then using my free time for art (i work part time right now, looking for a full time job casually lol) but either way it’s hard. Good luck with everything, I hope you’ll be able to find some stability soon! Also your work is gorgeous and your animations & animatics are so cool (plus I love hazbin) so I just subbed :D you’re very skilled so I’m sure you’ll find the right path for you, though it may take some time - but I believe in you!! ❤️💪💪
For me my biggest problem with commissions is getting them. I was able to get a job for a cancelled cartoon project I cannot name but I just cannot sell them online because I have no clue how to market myself ;w;
Gonna be honest with you, I kinda have some of the same problems here, in terms of orders I only seem to get about 1-2 orders at a time, though mostly far between. Also I might actually consider the idea of commissioning you at some point
Realizing that you are surrounded with people who financially struggle the same way like you has a huge impact on pricing. Also if the client simply deserves a low price out of humanity, for example if a poor woman wants a portrait of her child she lost to a lethal illness. Charging more than a small price would be outrageous selfishness and greed, in this case. But, if these cases become majority, you'll have some interessant thougths.
This sounds nice, but almost all such stories are psychological tactics by scammers to manipulate emotionally sensitive artists. Can't tell you how many "paint my dead dog" scams my gf gets.
Unfortunately there's more supply than demand when it comes to making artwork for money...