The HARD TRUTH about Art Commissions
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- Опубликовано: 25 июл 2024
- 🫰Tip/Commission Me: ko-fi.com/mintymido
Submit Your Sonic OC: forms.gle/otEeZ1NZFxSMZFEfA
ahhhh im finally back after a month!! i spent most of my time on the art for this video and then rushed to get the script, audio, and editing done in a day so I hope it turned out ok (i say while typing this half asleep). i also decided to go back to doing captions through RUclips instead of on my videos; it helps if I need to make corrections after the video is uploaded.
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:05 Harsh Truth 1
2:58 Harsh Truth 2
7:25 Harsh Truth 3
10:44 Harsh Truth 4
14:16 Surprise! I do Sonic OC Commissions now
17:26 Changes to my Commission Approach
20:47 Outro
Videos & Links Mentioned:
⭐ Winterstar Art - Pricing as an Artist - How to NOT Undercharge: • Pricing as an Artist -...
⭐ GAG Book: graphicartistsguild.org/the-g...
⭐ Rate Finder: litebox.info/2019/08/02/wage-...
⭐ Anoosha Syed - How to Price your Art ✷ advice from a professional illustrator: • How to Price your Art ...
⭐ Brad Colbow - why do people get mad when artists make $: • Why Do People Get Mad ...
Audio For Sonic OC Chapter Created by:
- IG: jbsamson.music.official jbsamson.mu...
- Twitter: @jbSamSonMusic x.com/jbsamsonmusic?s=21
- Facebook: JB SamSon share/YP9bfH...
Outro music provided by my friend Seve from the channel Amateur Unplugged! ❤️
🎸 Seve's Channel: ruclips.net/channel/UC4cH...
🎨 Support my BLM Art Fundraiser: mintymido.storenvy.com/
🖌️Tools Used: Procreate, iPad Pro 4th Gen, Adobe Premiere Pro
🔥 Check Out My Kpop Cover Dance Team! / @pyremixdanceteam
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Portfolio Site: www.mintymido.com/ [CLOSED FOR UPDATES]
Additional background music provided by Pixabay & RUclips's Audio Library
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Развлечения
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.
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.😊
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.
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."
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 !
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.
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
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.
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.
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?
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!!
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!! 🥹
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.
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
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.
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
Minimum wage is meaningless when artists in the phillipines charge $15USD for a riot splash art level piece, and its hard justifying that to a potential buyer.
I am an artist from the Philippines and wtf is that pricing lol. Either they are desperate (to which I understand the circumstances greatly) or underselling themselves big time. Either way pricing stuff like this still hurts a lot of other artists to the point I can't even sell to other Filipinos if I sold it at my usual dollar prices. Because of this I rely a lot on international clients, mostly those in the USA. I charge AT LEAST 60$ for a headshot, colored and fully rendered. A full piece should go well above $200+ or even more if it's "Riot-Level", sad to hear this tbh.
@@jujubear9909 FYI Riot level Splash arts go for MUCH MUCH more, i actually stumbled on an artist from the Philipines in Facebook, the guy was a pro and was charging 10 usd for Anime portraits lol
also an artist here in the Philippines, my lowest price is 200php/4usd which is a simple chibi and the highest being 600php/12usd which is kind of semi realism???? I still think my pricing is alright since I draw really fast and think my art isn't really that much well, stylised or is worth 1k+ php and the fact that I'm still learning (HOPEFULLY THAT MAKES SENSE LOL). I don't think I'm underpaying myself nor am I that desperate. Maybe it just depends on the artists point of view when it comes to prices however some do charge less to gain more clients which sure is sad to see 😓 as to what jujubear stated:")))
@jujubear9909 it's a hyperbole. They are exaggerating to make a point. The point is that there are young people who are so talented that they'd do amazing work for a small fee
I think u need to take in to consideration that life there is different than for eg in the US, u could pay $50 for a weeks worth of food while there it could be that $15
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.
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
Your art is so pretty and glad you're back queen!
20:06 subway surfers gameplay is devious but it also feels like it may have actually worked 😭
This looks like a very interesting video I can't wait
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! 💖 🥺 🫶
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.
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! ☺️
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!!! 🥹🥹
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 🥹❤️
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😔
thank you so much for this!!!!
Your line work is beautiful!
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
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 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 😅
YOU ARE SPEAKING THE MF FACTS!!!! YES!!!!!!!
HEHE TYYYY😍
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 💀
After my last client who was flakey asf, I came 100% to the realization that I'd rather be paid by people who like my work and the art I create. That means stuff I WANT to draw.
That being said, I'm not against doing commissions but if they can't afford me, they can't afford me. I'm not lowering my prices.
same! you have to be really firm on your prices to not be taken advantage of!
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
I love this.
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. 🙂
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.
Thank you for this video! I started commissioning the start of this year and it was difficult trying to feel like my art was worth a price tag. People would tell me it was a crime that I was charging so little for my work, but whenever I did higher my prices, my chances to get any work was little to none. Eventually I stopped, but I've been wanting to do it again because I enjoyed drawing my friend's characters for them (I offered). It was also really great practice and I'd see myself improving every time. I'll definitely keep this advice in mind! I appreciate it not being sugar coated. 😭❤
Thank your for this video! Subbed!
This is exactly why I no longer do them. I get burned out fast.
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.
Amazing video! and yes this is so true tho.! Hope ur channel makes it to 3k subs ^^
Thank you!! 🥹
@@MintyMido Your welcome :)
Great video. I'm glad the RUclips algorithm is working for me again.
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 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 👍
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 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!
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.
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 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!! ❤️💪💪
Definitely one of the hardest industries on every spectrum.
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!
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.
ive turned down every commission request except for 3. Its not that i dont want to do it but like most artist, i am veryyyyyy critical of my work. Id hate to look back at something and pick at its faults when the commissioner thinks its not even that bad. I want to feel as if theyre getting my absolute best. Anything else falls short. Also Im alr wayyy too hard on myself so i just dont bother. At least for now. Those 3 commissions will hopefully be worth something one day.
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.
This video was amazing! As a (kind of) inexperienced artist, this was very inspiring! And you are speaking F A C T S! This is really true. 💖💖
(I might be commissioning you in the future but currently my budget is a bit low :)
That is so kind, thank you! I’m glad you liked the video 🥹
Hello!!
I have a question regarding payment. What’s the best and fastest method to transfer money? I don’t like using Paypal and other sites require I have a business. I am working as individual for individuals. Sending invoices sound intimidating and once again, I don’t have a stable business, and can’t afford the fee of sending one. Is there an efficient way of going through payment fast and with minimal complications?
Moreover, I find myself doing extra work like coloring and rendering while that was not part of the deal or completely redrawing and without additional charges. When I redo a work, I just say I don’t charge additional because it was me who screwed up, I was a dummy for being sidetracked. I just want to give high quality service but this resulted in me working on something for a day that would only take me half of it.
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
I don't even bother with commissions. I'm a freelance animator. It takes me weeks to finish a sequence.😂
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 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!
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
The best art commission site is your own carrd website, or any personal site where you can directly communicate with a client.
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.
have you ever experienced a chargeback before? how did you deal with it?
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
Damn. You're kinda cooking!
What procreate brushes did you use in this video
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. :)
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 just starting, and i don't know how to get any clients. any tips?
Your art is very cute 💕
Thank you!! ❤️🥹
owww, i would really like some tips in where exactly you find costumers if its not instagram or twt!
one thing that puts me off from commissions atm is payment methods. most people I've seen personally do paypal or kofi but I'm not sure how kofi works and if it's worth it and am not getting paypal just for commissions, especially after reading up on the fees involved.
how does one market internationally without a third party transfer fees involved? should I just charge with the fees in mind ?
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.
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.
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
I’m so glad I’m a hobby artist so people who can’t afford art and DESERVE to do more then survive eat sleep and work can afford art. I’m glad I do many raffles and requests cuz when I see stuff like this talking about how much you make and it should be $1000 plus for a small commission it makes me see just a greedy gremlin making granny hands at everyone. It makes me understand why people give up on ever having no ice things or even decent things and understand why there’s a difference between living and surviving. Yeah. It’s a luxury but if all they can save is $5 in spending money in money months it sucks that the best thing they could buy is maybe a soda or candy bar. Then they get friends going on and on about look at my cool ocs I bought or look I got amazing art or a phone that can handle I drawing program or look I bought a car that won’t break down tomorrow! And they get told how awful they are asking for a $5 commission in a group and get to show off a soda and that’s it. I was able to afford a soda 8 months later. At least I’ll scrape by when I’m 90 saving money…yeah charge what you want but don’t make it seem like those who charge less are bad and harm others. I always have a few requests or cheap art comms for people that can’t pay much for commissions. Always because it isn’t about “they don’t think it’s worth much “ or “I could be making millions cuz some company pays an artist this much” it’s about not being tight fisted, being kind, and enjoying art. So not just thinking me me me the whole time
Btw I’m not some young inexperienced artist I’m 33 and have been selling art since I was 19.
It’s nice that you are able to charge less. I don’t think she made it seem like charging less was a bad thing, just that many artists get in that habit or feel obligated to and it’s okay to raise your prices if you need to in order to survive.
4:50 what are you doin here with the braids? I don't understand
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'll never be a professional artist. I just do it for the self enjoyment
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.
I can't even figure out how to get a commission lol, I don't think my work is bad. Been trying to post stuff but I get demotivated not getting much reach :( maybe I should start an actual yt channel like you instead of just shorts
It's just hard these days bc u often won't get work unless you have the marketing skills to get enough reach. And even with reach, people don't hve the mone. It's post covid + inflation, so many can't afford to even buy comms
What about when you offer commissions and post regularly but aren’t gaining a following? I draw dragons, which I understand isn’t everyone’s thing, but I’ve been trying to grow an audience for the past five years and I just end up giving up because I’ve never broken 200 for my art alone. Am I doing something wrong? Should I be drawing humans instead?
I just checked your prices and holy smokes they are higher than I'm used to. Though in your case it seems that they're justified for what you offer. I once saw an artist who offered prices around as high as you and their art was not on par with yours or even mine.
Don’t know if this is common.
But I’ve had several clients who commissioned me for a specific subject or idea, tells me to “do my thing”, but when you send the illustration or WIPs they start micromanaging the process.
What program do you use to draw?❤
Hello!! I use procreate on the iPad Pro!
I've been thinking to start doing commissions but from what I've seen, unless you have a huge following it's almost impossible to get commissions no matter how you price them...
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 wonder how AI will hurt commissions in the near future... I encountered a lot of people who are looking into AI art no instead of commissioning real artists, which is so sad to see. :(
People who use AI never intended on commissioning an artist in the first place.