@Coffee productions :3 I had a guy in middle school pay me $10 in 50 cent pieces all inside of plastic eggs for a nsfw drawing of the blonde girl from Naruto (Temari I think?). I have no idea why that was his chosen method of payment. Also had a kid give me a GBA SP (no charger) and Spyro for some Misty rule 34. I'm pretty sure the GBA was stolen from some kid in his neighborhood or something, but it was w/e.
bro i remember in 8th and 7th grade id make really detailed drawings , and i’d mostly get male students to ask for art lol such as sports cars & sneakers , and oml i really sold that shit for $1 .. i fr should’ve sold them for at least $30 💀 i undervalued my artwork .
ahhhh, commissions. I have a love-hate relationship with commissions. I love the idea of someone enjoying my art enough to want me to draw something for them, but I hate the process of working on commissions. Perhaps I've just had a ton of nightmare commissioners. >_
I imagine commissions get less 'exciting' the more and longer you do them. For an artist starting out, its the best thing ever. It means you are 'legit'. For anyone that KNOWS they are legit it sounds like 'work.' lol.
that definitely could be. In general Ive had some pretty decent commissioners but a couple of them have been.. tough. If I had more of those commissioners my opinion would be more like yours I think hah
I just wanna throw out that there is nothing wrong with discussing payment options with people privately. I personally do a broad range of fantasy art, mainly art that gets put on gaming mats. Therefore I cannot put numbers down as I do literally everything from chibi to paintings. But otherwise good advice.
I was a little taken aback by the tip on not discussing pricing. The prices for my last two commissions were $150 and $20 respectively. It’s important to recognize that no two paintings/drawings take the same amount of time and effort to create. Yeah, you could list that a full body drawing will cost $40, but if someone is only asking for casual, simple clothes like a t-shirt and shorts with just a 2D background, I question if the drawing would honestly be worth $40 for how simple it is. And on the flip side, someone could ask for a girl in an elaborate ball gown sort of dress holding a bouquet of flowers with her hair flowing into a galaxy. Doesn’t that sound complicated? Like it would take hours for all of those details? At some point, you have to realize that you might be making $4 an hour because you have predetermined prices. Not to mention different mediums and sizes are a whole other story. In the art world, negotiations are also very key. You’re not an official business, it won’t do any harm to talk with your client to see what they are willing to pay, what you’re expecting, and go from there. I guess what I’m trying to say is art is a very unusual product that can’t be priced until it’s made. Or maybe in this case, imagined. Edit: I do confess, however, that it’s very fair to at least give people an idea of what your price ranges are so no one shows up expecting to pay $35 for a full scale painting when you’re looking to charge anywhere between $70 and $130.
I’m pretty sure that isn’t what she meant. What she’s saying is it’s usually easier for the clients to gauge whether or not they’d be willing to buy from you if they know your skill level and price range. Like she said, unless you have a huge following it’s unlikely people will approach if they’re that unsure. It gives them a feel for what they would be working with on spending. I don’t believe she ever said, “Don’t discuss pricing.”
Masked Foxx Exactly. Everyone has a budget, and if their budget isn’t realistic, then you can just say “no.” If a customer knows what they’ll be paying, they’ll be more prepared.
As promised, I'm pinning this post to the top with any good or frequently asked questions about selling commissions online. Here we go: *Q: Why do you feel that artists should put a section in the disclaimer about NOT letting your art be used commercially? Wouldn't it be good to collect extra royalty monies?* A: Obviously everything in this video is completely up to you and whether you should listen to or not. In my experience any sort of licensing with royalties and things like that has been nothing but torment, riddled with lawyers and dishonesty. It's not easy to sue someone and it's not easy to sue between states, and who knows about out of country. If you're lucky and find a buyer who is honest and will give you the percentage you deserve, then that is good for you if you decide to go that route. The disclaimer section is there to WARN buyers that they cannot take the artwork and use it commercially without your permission. As in they can't take the product and sell it on merchandise without first contacting you and discussing it. Whether it's a flat fee or a royalty situation, I often found that people just aren't up for paying the artist. I've also had really awful luck in this department. At a certain point it would cost more to retain a lawyer than you would make in damages. Royalties and licensing could even be it's own video topic. Goodluck to those of you who pursue this as I don't have any great advice to help you. Hopefully it's a reputable person or company that wants to work with you. Mt best advice is to warn your potential customers that they simply can't use the art for commercial purposes so that it will avoid a whole slew of people who think they can do that without paying you in the first place. lol *Q: God why are you criticizing people who want to talk about commissions privately and not have their stuff openly listed!? NOT SUPPORTING THEM WHILE THEY DO THIS PRACTICE MAKES YOU HORRIBLE! YOU ARE SO INTOLERANT OF OTHERS!* A: I like commission information to be as straight forward and transparent as humanly possible. I want everyone to know exactly what they're getting and what they should expect. There is nothing WRONG with discussing commissions in detail with people and figuring out what they exactly want, but to hide your prices until discussing in depth what they want I find to be a waste of time as a seller and shady as a buyer. If that is what you want to do, then do it your way. In *my* video I'm telling you what *I* do and why *I* do it in my way. If you want someone else's opinion, then go to someone else.
I had one company make an ironclad "we can screw you" contract and refused to let me do anything to protect myself. That one was fun. I've just never had any luck with anything involving royalties and such. Plus nobody wants to give you a flat fee either, they think that is what the commission work is for. And then they severely underpay you for that too. MAYBE ONE DAY IT'LL WORK OUT FOR ME! Haha!
i got my first commission , one picture per week for a one year contract , and if everything works out i can do another project with them , would then be my first book illustration
I understand wanting to have prices up front for fine arts commissions, but as an illustrator I really need to know the scope of a project and understand the copyright and licensing use before I can price it out. Every project is unique so it's hard to have a standard pricing for those.
I'm only 15 and have already started thinking about opening commissions, because I'd rather not keep doing free requests. It's a lot to get into, and it stressed me out realizing how much needed to be done, but this helped so much! Can't thank you enough
My clients really like when I update them with wips; I was thanked for that several times by different ppl. But I usually make mixed media art, so I can send them photo of sketch, then scan of lineart, digital flat coloring shading and final effects; it's easier than with full 100% traditional art. Sending wips tho helps with fixing some minor deets like expression, or clothing etc (fixing those after finishing the piece would be hell so, I like updating cilents too, so they can't complain later on)
I've done a few drawing requests for friends since I started drawing and sending wips is good. I usually show them the sketch and the lineart and ask if that's what they want or if there's anything in particular they want changed (could also be a glaring anatomical mistake or something haha). I don't usually get any feedback on them and I sometimes feel like I'm overbearing when I keep showing them these messy sketches and ask what they think, but it's nice to know that they have the possibility to tell you if they don't like something, that way you can avoid spending 5 hours on a drawing only to disappoint them.
As a commissioner, I extremely advise works in progress. If an artist does not supply WIPs I will be far less likely to commission them. One artist I specified a night time background in the commission, and after a minimal sketch for posing they completed the full thing, entirely in a daytime background with no way that it could be fixed to be night time.
I have one person that commissions me every month. I had help from other art friends on how to setup my prices. Also enjoy doing 5$ art streams, where they only have to pay 5 dollars for a quick drawing. If people ask me to draw something I'm not used to, I tell them and ask if they still wanna commission me
What are ways I can make prints with digital/traditional art? What exactly is the buyer receiving ? This question has prevented me from doing commissions
Really helpful video! I do have one gripe, though. I somewhat get where you're coming from, but in many cases it is completely okay to discuss pricing in PMs and I really didn't like how you put other artists down for doing that. Of course it always depends on what the artist is selling, but art can very well end up being too complex to give only a few base prices on a tiny commission sheet. For example, years back I did commissions but offered a vast amount of art styles from chibi to realism and everything in between, so it was necessary for my customers and I to discuss what they wanted my art to look like and how it would come to in the end. Some artists also set up their prices so they are paid by the hour, so it isn't possible to set a base price until they know exactly how long it might take them. It's as simple as going to a hair salon and wanting a specific haircut or color, you're always going to have to discuss with the stylist first to see how things will cost in the end since you can't make a base price for every single haircut and color combination in existence. It's a pretty common process.
Ik this comment is old but it’s true, you might do a bust up and it be $20 but if the person or thing you’re drawing as more detail whether it’s colored or not it could easily be raised due to the time it takes
I've watched nearly every video on TH-cam about how to do commissions and this is by far the most organized and helpful one I've watched thank you for making this!
haha the watermark! Sad it happens to you though! But the drawing is lovely! I really liked it and using the maskingfluid that way is very creative! Commissions are always a hard subject, thanks for sharing your opinion! ^^
Hi! This si so useful! It gives more guidance towards art commissions selling I was looking for. Thanks so much! Please post more material of the kind. Blessings!! :)
This is a very helpful video! Thank you! I have only had 2 commissions so far, 1 of them was by someone who I actually made fan-art of and the other one was from a stranger who found me through fan-art as well, so social media really is important yeah. But I think I totally underpriced myself, I asked for 20 euros for a piece with 2 people in it and 14 for one with 1. So Cant wait for your video next week about pricing! :D
I've been looking around for tips and guidelines about commission. Thank you for the video. I learn a lot from it. Now I feel more clear on how to do commission. I really look forward to next week video.
Hey, alright so I've wondered, when you don't draw digital how do you actually send a person the art. Since you mentioned that some people don't want it shipped, so what would you do then?
this is really helpful, thank you :) i was thinking of starting commissions but since im young i have no clue what im doing and im glad this video is here :)
I’m only a tween, but I’m really happy and content with my artwork. Should I start doing commissions or wait until I’m older and more content with my art?
Echo Studios I would look at what you create and what others create and see if your creations are “up to par” another good question is “would you pay for this?” As in do you know your rushing? Do you like what you’ve done? Your probably fine trying to commission, but also understand growing an audience is important. Not starting out with 30$ pieces and expecting to do well. Understanding the business side of art. Reality is like a punch in the face, but I’m only trying to help not discourage you.
, truly inspired me 2 days ago I started selling my art. I’ve been doing art for under a year , and I completely sold out , sold all 13 canvases now I can buy more supply
Ah! I love your video! This really REALLY helped me A Ton! You're such a great person to share your experience and knowledge about art commissioning! You covered a lot of very important information too! Really useful!
For digital art, I would overlay a bunch of gaudy watermarks with writing on it saying "UNOFFICIAL COPY" and also send them a much smaller version of the pic. That way, they can see how the picture has come along (and is what they wanted), yet will pay me for the finished version, now with confidence. What you seem to be saying here, however, is most people are already confident in the picture you'll send them, and will accept it so long as it lives up to a displayed version which prompted them to set the commission originally. This is probably the better option.
I just bought a commission from a friend of mine a few days ago. Her prices are based on how complex the piece is: whether it's colored or black and white, whether there is a background or not, how many characters are present, and how much of the character is shown.
FYI Insurance on a shipped item is to protect the shipper. The buyer gets (or should get) a refund or replacement at no additional charge if the package is destroyed or goes missing on its way to them. This is why shippers insure shipments and it is good business. The recipient cannot put insurance on a shipment, only the shipper can insure a shipment. The recipient Does pay the shipper for such insurance, though. It is a time saver and a big plus to your customers to go ahead and include insurance in your shipping charges. You could also include shipping charges to the farthest domestic zip code in your purchase price (for all commissions) and offer "free shipping" i.e., no additional charge for shipping to any domestic zip code . also, if the item gets shipped to a closer zip code, there is no refund of overage, since the shipping is paid from the proceeds of the commission (i.e. shipping and insurance charges are included in the price of the commission). Of course, all international shipments must pay shipping (and included insurance) separately. If the shipper buys insurance on a shipment, the shipper is the one who deals with the insurer, and is the one who specifies where the payment goes. I strongly suggest Insurepost for insuring individual shipments/packages and Shipsurance for bulk shipments (multiple packages sent at one time). They are sister companies. At this writing their charges were $1/ $100 insured. They insure through the postal service and some other shippers. Disclaimer: Shipsurance and Insurepost work well for US shippers. I do not know what other countries they insure originating shipments from. They also have a list of countries they will not insure a shipment to.
One thing that might happen if an artist wants to have a discussion before telling you what their prices are, is they might charge inconsistently, like for example if they find out who you are or that you're loaded, maybe without even consciously doing it they might quote a higher price. Or they might quote a price that is too low because they really want to make the sale and are adding pressure.
is it weird that i find your voice so relaxing and your video topics so interesting and lively, i use your , like, 'talking videos' as 'background music' when im working on projects or just drawing in general?
I can’t stand Molotov masking fluid pens 😩 Your work is stunning! As a word of advice though, get those amazon affiliate links for what products you’re using in the description! Even the mixing palette.
As a digital artist who occasionally gets asked to do commissions here and there, (I'm not well known) I charge a base price for my time. depending on the piece and how much work is needed it can be either 20 or 30 dollars. 30 for full back grounds. Then if they want it printed it just depends what they want it printed on, depends on my price. Of course paper is the cheapest, but cloth back will add a whole new price element. It looks the best and is super expensive for me to get it printed on, so the price goes up exponentially.
When I told my friend I was doing art commissions, she ignored the price and took it away free... :c The art I did for her was 9 days work! (that might not be long for u tho lol)
Decided to watch this as a commissioner rather than an artist. One point I disagree with is not giving WIPs to the customer, to the point that if WIPs aren't given I would be far less likely to commission someone. Once had a commission where I specified for the background to be night time. Minimal sketch for pose that I agreed with and some time after the full art was given to me, with a daylight background. But the work was so far done it was impossible to change it to night time without completely redoing the artwork.
I had a few commissions already and Id love to make more... but I really only asked for payment AFTER finished. which I see now, was really silly! but its been nice people that followed me (back then on fb with the old page-) for a while and I could trust them. Id really like to do more...
Love ur videos, I have also noticed this issue with the blue leaving some blue on the paper, thank u for ur point of view on this topic it's very helpful
If you do digital commissions, how do you give the buyer the art work? Do you send it to them on a specific social network or you print it somehow and then ship it to them? I’m new and confused.
You were not talking too much. Lots of good info! Although you’ve created a conundrum in my mind, not sure collect in full or not. I also do lots of different styles of art so it’s quite frustrating how to approach the commission game. Any thoughts on that?
These are great tips; lots of things I haven't thought of! I have a set of conditions and guidelines clearly spelled out on my art facebook, but unfortunately a lot of people don't seem to want to take the time to actually read them. I'm very clear that I do semi-realistic pet and wildlife art, and I get people asking if I can design a Celtic butterfly tattoo for them, or draw them as a Disney Princess. The fact that people specialize is lost on them. Have you ever run into the issue that, just because people know you somehow (whether they're a friend or co-worker or friend of a friend's coworker... whatever), they think they can ask for free artwork? I run into this all the time and it drives me crazy. I try to be as gracious as I can while explaining that Copic ink refills don't grow on trees. ;)
All the time. A lot of artists have either A) family and friends pay them a ridiculous amount to do something that isn't realistic of the rest of the world or B) family and friends take advantage of them and want everything for free and act as though you should do it like you owe them something. My experiences were always set B). XD
This was so helpful. I think I will be selling commissions within the next 6 months. By the way- the masking fluid may have stained from the use of the heat tool. Some of them do that more than others. You probably already considered that but if not I hope that's helpful ♥️
+LemiaCrescent the staining of the masking fluid is a lot less when you don't use a heatgun/blowdryer. Thank you for the information about commissions. Great drawing and great improvement! 💜
It's funny! I didn't use the blowdryer at first and it still stained. Like, the part with me redrawing the balloons at the beginning has a whole bunch of stains on it before the blowdryer was ever used. T_T Then I figured, eh, doesn't matter it's stained anyway and used the blowdryer to speed up the process. XD Thanks so much for watching! I hope you enjoyed the video and thank you for the advice! :D
Struggling Justice no, I always show progress pictures for free... the client usually wants progress pictures to make sure they aren't being scammed or their money is going to waste
It's funny, I've never had anyone ask me for a WIP. XDDD Unless I designed a character for the person I wouldn't show them any WIP shots. Maybe I've been incredibly lucky? I don't know.
As of right now I'm probably considered too young to be a real artist. I was going to ask you for advice and then I realized what ur answer would be. I'll wait a few years before I start trying to sell, and in the meantime I can talk to my friends about commissions for cheap prices, since that's something I can do now.
The reason of the masking fluid staining may be because of you using a heat tool.. it causes it to completely sink into the paper. Most masking fluids don't work well with heat
How do you know how much it will cost to ship the drawing from you to your client’s place? Will you have to run to the post office to ask, then run back and tell your customer the shipping price?
i'm planning on doing commissions sometime in the near future, and agree that full payment might be easier just because it's what i have the most time and patience for. what i'm wondering is this: say someone backs out of a commission, but they already paid you in full. would it be a good idea to put in the disclaimer section that you could give them a partial refund or none at all, just so they're aware? or is it better to give them a full refund? this is assuming you've already started on the commission of course, and if so, should there be points where you give less money back to them depending on the time they're cancelling (so like how far you've gotten into the piece)? thanks so much for your input! awesome video, it was really helpful. i also love the colors you used on your piece!
I thought for a moment you wouldn't discuss pricing at all - good to know that you will! I feel like it's really unfortunate how many young artists price their work extremely low, simply because their time has value. A drawing that takes hours to make shouldn't be selling for 5$.
it just it seems like no one will buy anything from us :/ And even so at least the people i've seen so far say it's too much money when i already have the price half what i've been various times recommended of charging. i barely get comissions tho welp where do y'all find those great comissioners?
If you are not experienced enough to get a reasonable fee don't sell until you practice more. If you feel your art is worth it never charge less than minimum wage as it is a job. Don't undervalue yourself. Wait until the people will actually pay, just work at what you want to make otherwise why do what people who won't pay you want when your better off doing what YOU want as you improve! Also people are poor and it's not really getting better..... so that can be a major factor. But that doesn't mean you slave away for others either. Still You may need to charge as if you are working for less than minimum wage if 1)you are very slow and meticulous 2) you choose to put 'extra' work in 3)You accidentally had issues like illness that made you work slower. So: It's closer to how long you wanted to take in hours in minimum wage averaged out over how long similar works normally take you.
Thank you for the great information. I have a question. Is it a blue pencil you are using for the beginning of your sketch? And what was the white pen?/marker that you used?
Thanks for this I wanna use Art as my hobby then turn it into a career!! I will remember you when I am a famous Artist/Animator I'm gonna do commissions to save up for a tuition to this cool art school I wanna go to in middle School!😁😁😁
Ag silver Radio then their asking for a landscape painting. How well known you are and your audience can flex how much your paid. A newbie may ask for 30$ but a well known or older artist may charge 350$ or even thousands of dollars. My aunt paintings 2”x3” landscapes starting a few years ago at 30$ and now charges a few hundred. But that because her audience isn’t 13 year olds 🤷♀️😇
I really like the drawing that you made, but I also really appreciate the discussion. Normally, I am not open for commissions because they just aren't my jam, but I keep getting approached by friends and family asking for work. I'm very up-front with them about my pricing, as well as the fact that I am not open for commissions but that if their idea is something I feel comfortable doing and they trust me with their vision for my price and other guidelines, then we may be able to come to an agreement. Similarly, I've discussed in initial contacts that the work I'd be making would be for personal use and if they want rights to reproduce then we need to adjust our agreement and they will be paying more for my relinquishment of copyright. Which is to say, I'm glad that you were super crazy about guidelines because it's making me feel like being super crazy is the right choice to keep things on course. Also, yeah.... The molotow pens aren't super great... I'm surprised yours didn't just absolutely destroy the paper because mine WRECKED anything I used them with.
i have a question. if i were to do traditional commissions should i ship the physical artwork to the customer or can i just take a picture in good lighting and send it to them. And if i were to do digital commissions, should i print the artwork and ship the physical form too? or can i just again, send the picture to them? im very confused about this topic so i’d appreciate it if someone can help me for a bit
Mu frustration is that sometimes people don't know how to communicate what they want and the finished result will be different so im constantly having to check up and see if the peice is even close to what they wanted
Devian art? i use it, but my friends tell me the site is dead. i started using medi-bang, but i still want to keep my other art profile. how should i go about doing this? i want constructive criticism so, i want my art to be seen.
"stop stealing my art"
me : I AM JUST LOOKING AT IT I PROMISE
Odd to see no comments
The profile picture makes it perfect
Oof
once in 5th grade someone paid me a dollar for a simple Pokemon drawing... good times..
My friend just payed me some pencil nibs for a simple sketch and I did it with ease😍😍😆😊
Sprider Animations I get it’s you’re friend but... 5? Idk man seems kinda sketchy to me ngl
@@ij5355 well if it looked good 5 bucks is a reasonable price
@Coffee productions :3 I had a guy in middle school pay me $10 in 50 cent pieces all inside of plastic eggs for a nsfw drawing of the blonde girl from Naruto (Temari I think?). I have no idea why that was his chosen method of payment.
Also had a kid give me a GBA SP (no charger) and Spyro for some Misty rule 34. I'm pretty sure the GBA was stolen from some kid in his neighborhood or something, but it was w/e.
bro i remember in 8th and 7th grade id make really detailed drawings , and i’d mostly get male students to ask for art lol such as sports cars & sneakers , and oml i really sold that shit for $1 .. i fr should’ve sold them for at least $30 💀 i undervalued my artwork .
"stop stealing my art"
me: *slowly puts down my camera and offs my printer*
Nicole dear lmaooo
ahhhh, commissions. I have a love-hate relationship with commissions. I love the idea of someone enjoying my art enough to want me to draw something for them, but I hate the process of working on commissions. Perhaps I've just had a ton of nightmare commissioners. >_
I imagine commissions get less 'exciting' the more and longer you do them. For an artist starting out, its the best thing ever. It means you are 'legit'. For anyone that KNOWS they are legit it sounds like 'work.' lol.
@@blackblaze1996 the first commission was exciting, but now that i have a job i dont want to do more work when i get home, i still do it though
I wish people actually commissioned me,,
that definitely could be. In general Ive had some pretty decent commissioners but a couple of them have been.. tough. If I had more of those commissioners my opinion would be more like yours I think hah
I like doing commissions and the thought of someone enjoying my art, but what I always hate is the thought of what the buyer might do to the art.
I just wanna throw out that there is nothing wrong with discussing payment options with people privately. I personally do a broad range of fantasy art, mainly art that gets put on gaming mats. Therefore I cannot put numbers down as I do literally everything from chibi to paintings. But otherwise good advice.
Ye
Agree. It’s not always that cut and dry. On IG I put DM for commissions and then if theyre interested, I have a list of pricings waiting.
Thanks for the likes and replies, youtube like never tells me I get comments DX
I think having general topics and price ranges (even if they are huge) is super helpful though
I was a little taken aback by the tip on not discussing pricing.
The prices for my last two commissions were $150 and $20 respectively. It’s important to recognize that no two paintings/drawings take the same amount of time and effort to create.
Yeah, you could list that a full body drawing will cost $40, but if someone is only asking for casual, simple clothes like a t-shirt and shorts with just a 2D background, I question if the drawing would honestly be worth $40 for how simple it is. And on the flip side, someone could ask for a girl in an elaborate ball gown sort of dress holding a bouquet of flowers with her hair flowing into a galaxy. Doesn’t that sound complicated? Like it would take hours for all of those details? At some point, you have to realize that you might be making $4 an hour because you have predetermined prices.
Not to mention different mediums and sizes are a whole other story.
In the art world, negotiations are also very key. You’re not an official business, it won’t do any harm to talk with your client to see what they are willing to pay, what you’re expecting, and go from there.
I guess what I’m trying to say is art is a very unusual product that can’t be priced until it’s made. Or maybe in this case, imagined.
Edit: I do confess, however, that it’s very fair to at least give people an idea of what your price ranges are so no one shows up expecting to pay $35 for a full scale painting when you’re looking to charge anywhere between $70 and $130.
I’m pretty sure that isn’t what she meant. What she’s saying is it’s usually easier for the clients to gauge whether or not they’d be willing to buy from you if they know your skill level and price range. Like she said, unless you have a huge following it’s unlikely people will approach if they’re that unsure. It gives them a feel for what they would be working with on spending. I don’t believe she ever said, “Don’t discuss pricing.”
Masked Foxx Exactly. Everyone has a budget, and if their budget isn’t realistic, then you can just say “no.” If a customer knows what they’ll be paying, they’ll be more prepared.
Always Start small before charging more, trust me, its really works. The higher the demand the more you charge.
The baseline is a baseline. After you contact them with your request, the extra details are hashed out
As promised, I'm pinning this post to the top with any good or frequently asked questions about selling commissions online. Here we go:
*Q: Why do you feel that artists should put a section in the disclaimer about NOT letting your art be used commercially? Wouldn't it be good to collect extra royalty monies?*
A: Obviously everything in this video is completely up to you and whether you should listen to or not. In my experience any sort of licensing with royalties and things like that has been nothing but torment, riddled with lawyers and dishonesty. It's not easy to sue someone and it's not easy to sue between states, and who knows about out of country. If you're lucky and find a buyer who is honest and will give you the percentage you deserve, then that is good for you if you decide to go that route. The disclaimer section is there to WARN buyers that they cannot take the artwork and use it commercially without your permission. As in they can't take the product and sell it on merchandise without first contacting you and discussing it. Whether it's a flat fee or a royalty situation, I often found that people just aren't up for paying the artist. I've also had really awful luck in this department. At a certain point it would cost more to retain a lawyer than you would make in damages. Royalties and licensing could even be it's own video topic. Goodluck to those of you who pursue this as I don't have any great advice to help you. Hopefully it's a reputable person or company that wants to work with you. Mt best advice is to warn your potential customers that they simply can't use the art for commercial purposes so that it will avoid a whole slew of people who think they can do that without paying you in the first place. lol
*Q: God why are you criticizing people who want to talk about commissions privately and not have their stuff openly listed!? NOT SUPPORTING THEM WHILE THEY DO THIS PRACTICE MAKES YOU HORRIBLE! YOU ARE SO INTOLERANT OF OTHERS!*
A: I like commission information to be as straight forward and transparent as humanly possible. I want everyone to know exactly what they're getting and what they should expect. There is nothing WRONG with discussing commissions in detail with people and figuring out what they exactly want, but to hide your prices until discussing in depth what they want I find to be a waste of time as a seller and shady as a buyer. If that is what you want to do, then do it your way. In *my* video I'm telling you what *I* do and why *I* do it in my way. If you want someone else's opinion, then go to someone else.
LemiaCrescent your right and how in the heck are you gonna keep track of the sales commercially. Thank you for all the knowledge you provide. 💕
You're welcome!
I had one company make an ironclad "we can screw you" contract and refused to let me do anything to protect myself. That one was fun. I've just never had any luck with anything involving royalties and such. Plus nobody wants to give you a flat fee either, they think that is what the commission work is for. And then they severely underpay you for that too. MAYBE ONE DAY IT'LL WORK OUT FOR ME! Haha!
LemiaCrescent what are some good platforms to use when selling art ?
i got my first commission , one picture per week for a one year contract , and if everything works out i can do another project with them , would then be my first book illustration
something funny is that when i was younger I did FREE COMMISSIONS
EDIT: Woah! Totally forgot about this comment, thanks for the likes
so art requests
im doing free commisions right now because im young and i dont feel like setting up a pay system, im just doing it for fun
Bee thats the poin t
@@braindeadbarbie yeah, so requests lol
I was doing that but the reason I'm watching this vid is becuse I want to start selling for money
I love how empowering you are to an artist. It really nice to have someone say its okay to ask for all the payment up front etc.
"Stop stealing my art lol"
*lowers Game Boy Camera*
I understand wanting to have prices up front for fine arts commissions, but as an illustrator I really need to know the scope of a project and understand the copyright and licensing use before I can price it out. Every project is unique so it's hard to have a standard pricing for those.
Ok, now I'm at the part where you mention this isn't for commercial work. That's fair.
Alright, now all I have to do is get popular. XD
Same😂
I believe in you guys!
Same lol!
Same lol and it's so freaking harddd
Same
I'm only 15 and have already started thinking about opening commissions, because I'd rather not keep doing free requests. It's a lot to get into, and it stressed me out realizing how much needed to be done, but this helped so much! Can't thank you enough
Stop stealing my art, lol??? Uhm ok I won't steal your art
SylenDraws its a safeguard against people who will just like screenshot or something, like a watermark.
Dude, it's happened before. LOL! I just thought it would be fun to tease the people if they still watch. :)
SylenDraws I see you everywhere
Kat Kitten me too
+StylenDraws that's the watermark. she isn't telling her fans to not steal her art
My clients really like when I update them with wips; I was thanked for that several times by different ppl.
But I usually make mixed media art, so I can send them photo of sketch, then scan of lineart, digital flat coloring shading and final effects; it's easier than with full 100% traditional art.
Sending wips tho helps with fixing some minor deets like expression, or clothing etc (fixing those after finishing the piece would be hell so, I like updating cilents too, so they can't complain later on)
I've done a few drawing requests for friends since I started drawing and sending wips is good. I usually show them the sketch and the lineart and ask if that's what they want or if there's anything in particular they want changed (could also be a glaring anatomical mistake or something haha). I don't usually get any feedback on them and I sometimes feel like I'm overbearing when I keep showing them these messy sketches and ask what they think, but it's nice to know that they have the possibility to tell you if they don't like something, that way you can avoid spending 5 hours on a drawing only to disappoint them.
Do you use paypal to commission or what do people use?
As a commissioner, I extremely advise works in progress. If an artist does not supply WIPs I will be far less likely to commission them.
One artist I specified a night time background in the commission, and after a minimal sketch for posing they completed the full thing, entirely in a daytime background with no way that it could be fixed to be night time.
I have watched a lot of videos on commissions. This is by far the most straightforward and helpful video I stumbled upon. Thank you so much for this!
I have one person that commissions me every month. I had help from other art friends on how to setup my prices. Also enjoy doing 5$ art streams, where they only have to pay 5 dollars for a quick drawing. If people ask me to draw something I'm not used to, I tell them and ask if they still wanna commission me
In person I offer $5 sketches that take 5 minutes or less (unless I feel like taking longer)
Grass Hope I'm statting to charge 3.50 $ for a person sketch and 5$ for landscapes
Can I ask a question? Umm...when u do commissions, how do u get the money online?? Like, how does it work??
GEE perz PayPal, well usually
What are ways I can make prints with digital/traditional art? What exactly is the buyer receiving ? This question has prevented me from doing commissions
Really helpful video! I do have one gripe, though.
I somewhat get where you're coming from, but in many cases it is completely okay to discuss pricing in PMs and I really didn't like how you put other artists down for doing that. Of course it always depends on what the artist is selling, but art can very well end up being too complex to give only a few base prices on a tiny commission sheet. For example, years back I did commissions but offered a vast amount of art styles from chibi to realism and everything in between, so it was necessary for my customers and I to discuss what they wanted my art to look like and how it would come to in the end. Some artists also set up their prices so they are paid by the hour, so it isn't possible to set a base price until they know exactly how long it might take them.
It's as simple as going to a hair salon and wanting a specific haircut or color, you're always going to have to discuss with the stylist first to see how things will cost in the end since you can't make a base price for every single haircut and color combination in existence. It's a pretty common process.
Ik this comment is old but it’s true, you might do a bust up and it be $20 but if the person or thing you’re drawing as more detail whether it’s colored or not it could easily be raised due to the time it takes
I've watched nearly every video on TH-cam about how to do commissions and this is by far the most organized and helpful one I've watched thank you for making this!
Thanks for this lemia. I always wondered why no one responded to my commission postings. I've been doing everything wrong.
haha the watermark! Sad it happens to you though! But the drawing is lovely! I really liked it and using the maskingfluid that way is very creative! Commissions are always a hard subject, thanks for sharing your opinion! ^^
This comment is very nice
As nice as the art peace
Hi!
This si so useful! It gives more guidance towards art commissions selling I was looking for.
Thanks so much! Please post more material of the kind.
Blessings!! :)
first of all, the artwork is so beautiful, holy jesus
Fantastic timing, Lemi! I was gonna open commissions soon.
Sasa K SAME
This is a very helpful video! Thank you! I have only had 2 commissions so far, 1 of them was by someone who I actually made fan-art of and the other one was from a stranger who found me through fan-art as well, so social media really is important yeah. But I think I totally underpriced myself, I asked for 20 euros for a piece with 2 people in it and 14 for one with 1. So Cant wait for your video next week about pricing! :D
I'm so thankful that you take time out of your day to teach your viewers about how to do things I'm glad I'm one of your subscribers 😊😃😊
Thanks so much! I’ve been wanting to get back into art and be able to put a bit more use to it! Glad I have a pretty good idea on what to do.
OMG!! This is EXACTLY how I imagined you looking before I actually saw you!!!
I've been looking around for tips and guidelines about commission. Thank you for the video. I learn a lot from it. Now I feel more clear on how to do commission. I really look forward to next week video.
I wish people would be willing to buy my art
misspickles330 Keep posting and someone will.^^
Same over here
Want to be insta art pals ?? My name is art.by_abbie 👍👍
@Ultimate UwU
Make them pay upfront
Hey, alright so I've wondered, when you don't draw digital how do you actually send a person the art. Since you mentioned that some people don't want it shipped, so what would you do then?
A picture of it lol. Just scan the art
this is really helpful, thank you :) i was thinking of starting commissions but since im young i have no clue what im doing and im glad this video is here :)
I’m only a tween, but I’m really happy and content with my artwork. Should I start doing commissions or wait until I’m older and more content with my art?
Echo Studios I would look at what you create and what others create and see if your creations are “up to par” another good question is “would you pay for this?” As in do you know your rushing? Do you like what you’ve done?
Your probably fine trying to commission, but also understand growing an audience is important. Not starting out with 30$ pieces and expecting to do well. Understanding the business side of art.
Reality is like a punch in the face, but I’m only trying to help not discourage you.
I’d say focus on your artistic development and not worry about “worth”. You have your entire life ahead of to worry about making money.
, truly inspired me 2 days ago I started selling my art. I’ve been doing art for under a year , and I completely sold out , sold all 13 canvases now I can buy more supply
I can’t wait to start doing commission. My friend and bf have bought paintings from me but I can’t wait to get better and start commission
Ah! I love your video! This really REALLY helped me A Ton! You're such a great person to share your experience and knowledge about art commissioning! You covered a lot of very important information too! Really useful!
For digital art, I would overlay a bunch of gaudy watermarks with writing on it saying "UNOFFICIAL COPY" and also send them a much smaller version of the pic. That way, they can see how the picture has come along (and is what they wanted), yet will pay me for the finished version, now with confidence.
What you seem to be saying here, however, is most people are already confident in the picture you'll send them, and will accept it so long as it lives up to a displayed version which prompted them to set the commission originally. This is probably the better option.
I just bought a commission from a friend of mine a few days ago. Her prices are based on how complex the piece is: whether it's colored or black and white, whether there is a background or not, how many characters are present, and how much of the character is shown.
FYI Insurance on a shipped item is to protect the shipper. The buyer gets (or should get) a refund or replacement at no additional charge if the package is destroyed or goes missing on its way to them. This is why shippers insure shipments and it is good business.
The recipient cannot put insurance on a shipment, only the shipper can insure a shipment. The recipient Does pay the shipper for such insurance, though.
It is a time saver and a big plus to your customers to go ahead and include insurance in your shipping charges.
You could also include shipping charges to the farthest domestic zip code in your purchase price (for all commissions) and offer "free shipping" i.e., no additional charge for shipping to any domestic zip code . also, if the item gets shipped to a closer zip code, there is no refund of overage, since the shipping is paid from the proceeds of the commission (i.e. shipping and insurance charges are included in the price of the commission).
Of course, all international shipments must pay shipping (and included insurance) separately.
If the shipper buys insurance on a shipment, the shipper is the one who deals with the insurer, and is the one who specifies where the payment goes.
I strongly suggest Insurepost for insuring individual shipments/packages and Shipsurance for bulk shipments (multiple packages sent at one time). They are sister companies. At this writing their charges were $1/ $100 insured. They insure through the postal service and some other shippers.
Disclaimer: Shipsurance and Insurepost work well for US shippers. I do not know what other countries they insure originating shipments from. They also have a list of countries they will not insure a shipment to.
This motivates me to improve my art, in hopes that one day I can sell my art
One thing that might happen if an artist wants to have a discussion before telling you what their prices are, is they might charge inconsistently, like for example if they find out who you are or that you're loaded, maybe without even consciously doing it they might quote a higher price. Or they might quote a price that is too low because they really want to make the sale and are adding pressure.
Wow! This was so good. This is applicable to all services, not just art. Can't appreciate more. Thank u so much.
Thank you for sharing this!!! Im so worried and anxious on how to start my own commissions until I found this vid!!! Thank youuyy
is it weird that i find your voice so relaxing and your video topics so interesting and lively, i use your , like, 'talking videos' as 'background music' when im working on projects or just drawing in general?
I can’t stand Molotov masking fluid pens 😩
Your work is stunning!
As a word of advice though, get those amazon affiliate links for what products you’re using in the description! Even the mixing palette.
Very beautiful artwork and lots of good tips, so thank you for making this video!:D
thanks for all the detailed information! I am planning to do commissions and this was very helpful!
I might to super cheap art commissions in my class idk though its just this video really inspires me like with all of Lemia`s videos
As a digital artist who occasionally gets asked to do commissions here and there, (I'm not well known) I charge a base price for my time. depending on the piece and how much work is needed it can be either 20 or 30 dollars. 30 for full back grounds. Then if they want it printed it just depends what they want it printed on, depends on my price. Of course paper is the cheapest, but cloth back will add a whole new price element. It looks the best and is super expensive for me to get it printed on, so the price goes up exponentially.
When I told my friend I was doing art commissions, she ignored the price and took it away free... :c
The art I did for her was 9 days work! (that might not be long for u tho lol)
Make her pay upfront or ask for half the price upfront at least. So at least you get some monry
This is an excellent video of explaining ! Thank you
I was actually planning for this 2020 to start doin commissions
That's a *really* nice watercolor painting!!
Decided to watch this as a commissioner rather than an artist. One point I disagree with is not giving WIPs to the customer, to the point that if WIPs aren't given I would be far less likely to commission someone.
Once had a commission where I specified for the background to be night time. Minimal sketch for pose that I agreed with and some time after the full art was given to me, with a daylight background. But the work was so far done it was impossible to change it to night time without completely redoing the artwork.
I had a few commissions already and Id love to make more...
but I really only asked for payment AFTER finished. which I see now, was really silly! but its been nice people that followed me (back then on fb with the old page-) for a while and I could trust them.
Id really like to do more...
Very informative miss! Thank you! I know what to do now!
At the very end, hitting us up with some of that ASMR action
I love this picture so much
This actually helps a lot
"Stop stealing my art. lol"
Me: (Puts pencil down) Crap, how did you knowwwwwwwwww qwq
Love ur videos, I have also noticed this issue with the blue leaving some blue on the paper, thank u for ur point of view on this topic it's very helpful
every time in watch these I feel motivated to make better art!!!!!!
That’s give me a lot of insight 🙏🙏. Thanks Lemi.
If you do digital commissions, how do you give the buyer the art work? Do you send it to them on a specific social network or you print it somehow and then ship it to them? I’m new and confused.
yosra azzam you send the file to them of course. Through email I would think.
Fatin Farhana thank you so much, it means a lot.
I’m a beginner, but I’m thinking of doing commissions in the future.
You were not talking too much. Lots of good info! Although you’ve created a conundrum in my mind, not sure collect in full or not. I also do lots of different styles of art so it’s quite frustrating how to approach the commission game. Any thoughts on that?
At one point, I really want to start commissions (however I'm still learning sooo). I hope it'll work out 💙
I plan on opening up commissions soon so this video was very helpful
I’ve seen ppl do stuff like:
Pay 1/4 price at the start
10% or smthng per update
I thought it was a good idea 💡
These are great tips; lots of things I haven't thought of!
I have a set of conditions and guidelines clearly spelled out on my art facebook, but unfortunately a lot of people don't seem to want to take the time to actually read them. I'm very clear that I do semi-realistic pet and wildlife art, and I get people asking if I can design a Celtic butterfly tattoo for them, or draw them as a Disney Princess. The fact that people specialize is lost on them.
Have you ever run into the issue that, just because people know you somehow (whether they're a friend or co-worker or friend of a friend's coworker... whatever), they think they can ask for free artwork? I run into this all the time and it drives me crazy. I try to be as gracious as I can while explaining that Copic ink refills don't grow on trees. ;)
All the time. A lot of artists have either A) family and friends pay them a ridiculous amount to do something that isn't realistic of the rest of the world or B) family and friends take advantage of them and want everything for free and act as though you should do it like you owe them something.
My experiences were always set B). XD
This was so helpful. I think I will be selling commissions within the next 6 months. By the way- the masking fluid may have stained from the use of the heat tool. Some of them do that more than others. You probably already considered that but if not I hope that's helpful ♥️
+LemiaCrescent the staining of the masking fluid is a lot less when you don't use a heatgun/blowdryer.
Thank you for the information about commissions. Great drawing and great improvement! 💜
It's funny! I didn't use the blowdryer at first and it still stained. Like, the part with me redrawing the balloons at the beginning has a whole bunch of stains on it before the blowdryer was ever used. T_T Then I figured, eh, doesn't matter it's stained anyway and used the blowdryer to speed up the process. XD
Thanks so much for watching! I hope you enjoyed the video and thank you for the advice! :D
Would it cost extra ,if the commission took a month to complete, to ask for progress pictures of the art?
Struggling Justice no, I always show progress pictures for free... the client usually wants progress pictures to make sure they aren't being scammed or their money is going to waste
It's up to the individual artist. I wouldn't charge to show WIP shots if I took a longer than the usual amount of time.
It's funny, I've never had anyone ask me for a WIP. XDDD Unless I designed a character for the person I wouldn't show them any WIP shots.
Maybe I've been incredibly lucky? I don't know.
Super excited to do them!!
As of right now I'm probably considered too young to be a real artist. I was going to ask you for advice and then I realized what ur answer would be. I'll wait a few years before I start trying to sell, and in the meantime I can talk to my friends about commissions for cheap prices, since that's something I can do now.
the comments on your videos are so fun to read
I always take full payments only, but I'll do a sketch before asking for payment, just because I feel more comfortable that way x)
The reason of the masking fluid staining may be because of you using a heat tool.. it causes it to completely sink into the paper. Most masking fluids don't work well with heat
+Luna Elanore It stained before using the hair dryer. That's why I kinda figured it probably wouldn't matter so much. Lol
Thanks for getting straight to the point.
Hehehe I like the expression on the star-shaped balloon
What kind of PayPal account would you advise starters yo make, a personal or business account
How do you know how much it will cost to ship the drawing from you to your client’s place? Will you have to run to the post office to ask, then run back and tell your customer the shipping price?
I can’t find a single video that talks about WHERE to sell commissions 😭😭
"Stop stealing my art. lol"
I'm Sorry Bailey my friend dog who died was called bailey
i'm planning on doing commissions sometime in the near future, and agree that full payment might be easier just because it's what i have the most time and patience for. what i'm wondering is this: say someone backs out of a commission, but they already paid you in full. would it be a good idea to put in the disclaimer section that you could give them a partial refund or none at all, just so they're aware? or is it better to give them a full refund? this is assuming you've already started on the commission of course, and if so, should there be points where you give less money back to them depending on the time they're cancelling (so like how far you've gotten into the piece)?
thanks so much for your input! awesome video, it was really helpful. i also love the colors you used on your piece!
I thought for a moment you wouldn't discuss pricing at all - good to know that you will! I feel like it's really unfortunate how many young artists price their work extremely low, simply because their time has value. A drawing that takes hours to make shouldn't be selling for 5$.
it just it seems like no one will buy anything from us :/ And even so at least the people i've seen so far say it's too much money when i already have the price half what i've been various times recommended of charging. i barely get comissions tho welp where do y'all find those great comissioners?
If you are not experienced enough to get a reasonable fee don't sell until you practice more. If you feel your art is worth it never charge less than minimum wage as it is a job. Don't undervalue yourself. Wait until the people will actually pay, just work at what you want to make otherwise why do what people who won't pay you want when your better off doing what YOU want as you improve! Also people are poor and it's not really getting better..... so that can be a major factor. But that doesn't mean you slave away for others either. Still You may need to charge as if you are working for less than minimum wage if 1)you are very slow and meticulous 2) you choose to put 'extra' work in 3)You accidentally had issues like illness that made you work slower. So: It's closer to how long you wanted to take in hours in minimum wage averaged out over how long similar works normally take you.
If it takes hours and your art is shit, dont base it off of time
Thank you for the great information. I have a question. Is it a blue pencil you are using for the beginning of your sketch? And what was the white pen?/marker that you used?
So practical and clear, thank you for the explanation and advice
Good direct advice, thanks
Thanks for this I wanna use Art as my hobby then turn it into a career!!
I will remember you when I am a famous Artist/Animator
I'm gonna do commissions to save up for a tuition to this cool art school I wanna go to in middle School!😁😁😁
Love the advice, and LOVE the piece
Wow! That picture you made turned out so good!
Nice job explaining!
This was so helpful!!
You need todo a fanart challenge for your fans!!
What if (hypatheticly) somone only want a detailed landskape, without any characters?
Ag silver Radio then their asking for a landscape painting. How well known you are and your audience can flex how much your paid. A newbie may ask for 30$ but a well known or older artist may charge 350$ or even thousands of dollars. My aunt paintings 2”x3” landscapes starting a few years ago at 30$ and now charges a few hundred. But that because her audience isn’t 13 year olds 🤷♀️😇
When do you do trad art commission do you send the hard copy or just the soft copy?
This advice is so helpful, thank you.
I really like the drawing that you made, but I also really appreciate the discussion. Normally, I am not open for commissions because they just aren't my jam, but I keep getting approached by friends and family asking for work. I'm very up-front with them about my pricing, as well as the fact that I am not open for commissions but that if their idea is something I feel comfortable doing and they trust me with their vision for my price and other guidelines, then we may be able to come to an agreement. Similarly, I've discussed in initial contacts that the work I'd be making would be for personal use and if they want rights to reproduce then we need to adjust our agreement and they will be paying more for my relinquishment of copyright. Which is to say, I'm glad that you were super crazy about guidelines because it's making me feel like being super crazy is the right choice to keep things on course.
Also, yeah.... The molotow pens aren't super great... I'm surprised yours didn't just absolutely destroy the paper because mine WRECKED anything I used them with.
i have a question. if i were to do traditional commissions should i ship the physical artwork to the customer or can i just take a picture in good lighting and send it to them. And if i were to do digital commissions, should i print the artwork and ship the physical form too? or can i just again, send the picture to them? im very confused about this topic so i’d appreciate it if someone can help me for a bit
Mu frustration is that sometimes people don't know how to communicate what they want and the finished result will be different so im constantly having to check up and see if the peice is even close to what they wanted
Devian art? i use it, but my friends tell me the site is dead. i started using medi-bang, but i still want to keep my other art profile. how should i go about doing this? i want constructive criticism so, i want my art to be seen.