I've seen way too many artists completely undersell themselves over the years. I used to be one for like a year and decided "nope." I think that's why there are a lot of people who think art should be cheap and is easy to make. Folks who will have $10 to their name will get someone to do an art piece for them. Sitting at your work station for days or weeks at a time and then get slave wages is insane. More artists need to get a bit of a backbone because this low balling bs is infuriating.
@The Art Mentor it really helps to have a career / day job - even if it's not related to art. (Software engineer here) not only does it make it easy to say no to low paying commissions, you have a way to easily base your pay scale. "Sorry, no, I make $XX per hour at my job I'm not doing art for you for less than that." Etc. Yes you'll get less commissions, but is that really a bad thing when you work much less for the same amount of money?
There is also the problem that you can work online to get better clients but sometimes as soon as they realize that you are not from their country they want you to charge "cheap" (because you are from a "cheap" country and your country doesn't value art too) so sometimes it's challenging to know how to price art but I know there are good clients out there and we need to value our craft, knowledge, and experience.
That really is a shame. Does that happen to you? Also, I’ve mentioned that in a couple of my past videos on Art Commission Mistakes and Why You Aren’t Getting Art Commissions. Valuing your artwork starts and end with you, and if someone can’t afford your pricing, that isn’t your problem. Know what I mean?
That really is a shame. Does that happen to you? Also, I’ve mentioned that in a couple of my past videos on Art Commission Mistakes and Why You Aren’t Getting Art Commissions. Valuing your artwork starts and end with you, and if someone can’t afford your pricing, that isn’t your problem. Know what I mean?
Artist's work needs to progress and somehow unionise , this lowballing bs needs to stop People need to Understand that ART IS A LUXURY not a McDraw-Burger
Omg I just made a gig on fiver and tried to make something out of it.But dude, when I watched your videos, my eyes literally opened! If every artist knew this kind of information, art industry would see so many new faces!But of course, there would be even bigger competition. Anyway, your videos are so useful.They really make me want to pay you money for this information, because I feel guilty for getting this for free! You are amazing.
Thanks I’m always happy to hear you found my content useful! There’s not a lot of info out there about commissions, am I right? And I definitely hope the landscape of commissions changes positively so that we all benefit from it. FYI I do mentor 1 on 1 if you want more individualized instruction as part of my Art Mentorship program. If you’re interested, DM me on my social media 👍 thanks for the great feedback!
I completely agree!!!...I have been directed to every single site he disagrees with ..to try and sell ...after seeing this video I'm so happy I didn't waste my time...The Mentor and his channel are literally GOLD
All great advice but something to take on count is that here in the Third world something like $15, $10 an even in some places $5 is more than minimum waige so sites like Fiver is a great help to sell art at a price that to be honest, most of the time could be impossible to be sold at that prices here in our homes. Also I would like to say that to start doing comisions it could be Ok but for sure in a long term is not good, but again, for example $15 here where I live is twice the minimum waige 😅
Have you seen my other videos on pricing commissions? That’s true that those prices may be decent, but don’t get caught up in your geography when pricing okay? Like for example how would a client know I live in the US and you don’t, yet I fetch a bigger price than you for the exact same artwork? It’s a limiting mindset I implore you to consider so that you can make some serious money 💰
hi i also live in a third world country and i think it is dangerous to perpetuate that this is okay in any way. i used to be part of a local/global commission group of facebook and because the local artists charged so low, all the (usually american) foreigners felt secure exploiting the low prices and low minimum wage. this has also happened in big industries and businesses in real life. after a while, they started to charge so low i regularly saw commissions priced to the equivalent of 20 US cents. not to mention outside of the internet, when i talk to local customers most of them are willing to pay industry price or higher, like jobs for art direction in shows and commecials.
Hello again! I have thought of a suggestion for a video I think can really help a lot of people. Could you do a guide on how to make a proper looking profile on DA? Im poking around at it, working on making my profile better with links and all, but the new interface is somewhat confusing when it comes to that ^^
The thing about artists undercharging themselves and hurting the market im seeing it a lot. And its so annoying! I used to be one of those, i got so low that i was working for free! Never again ive started now with base prices ranging from 50euro to 150euro. additional character is x2 the base price so 50x2=100 then its additional fees like details&complexity, background, revisions, license, things i dont draw often. I will up the prices once i get more clients or following.
It hurts to see prices so low that makes me angry but I can't talk I'm just as bad. I did up my prices as you suggested but I'm guessing the prices are still too low Idk. Also, the main place I've had commissions from were da and surprisingly twitter.
I’ve heard some interesting things about Twitter! I think that may be another area I plan on checking out for commissions in the future 🔥 I know it’s tough raising prices, but each work you do gives you the liberty to raise your prices too. It’s also about raising your confidence, okay?
In my opinion to raise prices you just remove any previous information about your pricings, and post the new ones as if it never happened It will filter out most of the people that are there only to take advantage of you!
Can I flip that and ask why you think you don’t deserve to get respectable wages? Furthermore, why don’t artists deserve to get more competitive and higher prices?
@@TheArtMentor oh no thats not what i ment, ofc everyone deserves to be payed accordingly, its just really sad how sometimes people dont have a choice other to underprice given the competitiveness of art comms, thats what i ment fjehfjrh sorry for the confusion
Hm. Did you watch my video on cheap artists? Just curious, because undercharging is always a choice, isn’t it? Nobody makes them, so that’s a self-limiting isn’t it?
Hm. Did you watch my video on cheap artists? Just curious, because undercharging is always a choice, isn’t it? Nobody makes them, so that’s a self-limiting isn’t it?
Yeah, everyone on the youtube say the same stuff. I can't remember the last time I got someone that wanted to commission me on instagram. There is so much distraction there, even I get distracted there. The one who would have good advice was Dan Ekis, but he closed his youtube. Maybe he is gonna come back all badass like when elvis did his big return. But anyways keep up these videos. I am hooked and you have me thinking like a business owner.
@@TheArtMentor well how to think like a business owner. Jeff Besos was not working get 100,000 friends before selling anything like tou said. Businesses start selling from the start, like the door to door saleman, someone will buy. I think the people who are on youtube telling you to build a following, do it to get more traction, attention and an audience so they can sell something.
Precisely, and then the issue arises of converting followers to customers: it’s the smallest ratio possible. Ever noticed that too? 99% of your followers are just lurkers and onlookers
@@TheArtMentor Yes, I have over 2K subscribers here. I'm an animator, with pretty good skills I guess. Also I have joined a community of 2 million people on discord and TH-cam, with artists of all kinds, so I can also advertise myself
I dont agree with undercharging, like yeah for a first world that is undercharging but for an artist that comes from a third world country? hell that even is more than the minimum wage in their respective countries
So consider that from another angle: who online knows where you live, and why should you care? And if you think you need to charge cheap for your country, shouldn't that empower you to charge more so that you can live EVEN MORE comfortably in your country? I made a whole video about this topic, would you like to see it?
Is there a community out there that can give you an estimate value of your art's worth? Like a discord community with a channel where you just post art and ask what the people think you should be paid based on at least 1 image? Like... Estimated average commission value: xxx.xx USD Estimated average regular salary value: xxx.xx USD ^ Something like that as a template. I like how the art mentor said "...That should not be $35. That should be xxx dollars regularly in a studio..." Would there be a BRUTALLY BLUNT but FRIENDLY community out there that provides only this kind of feedback?
Hi and welcome to my channel! How about this: my community. Just to give you a super secret tip, in the next couple weeks, I’ll be putting up a community post asking for my subscribers artwork and how to price and improve it for clients. How does that sound?? 😃 also, follow me on Instagram and I’ll put up a post about it soon too
Great videos! I'm trying to make plans for the (nearish) future of how I can become a freelance artist or full-time illustrator. I'm hoping to make some money off of mainly Patreon and hopefully TH-cam to help sustain me when I'm finally able to quit my day job.
@@TheArtMentor Not yet since I've been working on other ways to generate income first but it is part of my road map. There's just a lot to do and only so much time since I still have to work my day job.
@@TheArtMentor Right now my goals are to create more TH-cam videos and keep improving on them. I am just finishing up an online art course that I think has helped a lot and I plan to put what I've learned into practice for my next illustration which will be the cover page for the next chapter of my comic. I also have to set up my comic for printing its second volume. Lastly, I am also working on a short comic series that I believe will hit more towards my target audience. I am only doing a bit of marketing myself here and there for the time being. I think I will try and build up my devianart page again. I've only posted there very sporadically for the past *checks* 19 years. lol But your videos have inspired me to take another look into it.
@@TheArtMentor few month i guess , anyways , what are your thoughts on making commission video (instead of sheets) on tiktok . and is it reliable. I want to know based on your perspective, and better if you could make a video about it and let everybody knows about it , thanks
That’s a good question! I personally have t made any commissions off of tik tok, but I’m also not sure that’s the platform for it. It’s more geared towards quick attention and not paying clients. Similar to instagram, know what I mean?
People price their commissions low cause everyone else does and they do that in hopes they'll get commissions, they don't believe their art can gain clients if they try to charge $200 so cause of their worries and not believing in their art quality they opt in to charge $20
Too true and too sad, right? I personally understand not thinking you’re art is worth a few hundred dollars, but less than minimum wage? I can’t help but wonder who started that trend, you know?
@@TheArtMentor "force dynamic life drawing 10 anniversary addition", "perspective made easy by Ernest R. Norling" "Figure drawing for all it's worth by Andrew loomis" "Designing Creature and characters by Marc taro Holmes" Lastly "how to render for light , shadow and reflectivity by Scott roberston and Thomas bertling"
Hey Sensei! Thanks a lot for your vids! Can u make a video where can find DnD commissions? Most of my customers are from this amazing game, but i think i waste a lot of time posting in subbreddits of only "commissions". Anyway, THANKS A LOT EVERYTHING! (sorry for my english!) :D
Those are DeviantArt groups. Check out my video guide to DeviantArt if you want some more info on that. For forums, you can google DnD forums and find ones that have a section for commissioning artists, which some do. Any other questions?
Is Reddit still a good place? I draw furry pinups, and I see a very similar problem with Facebook. The people looking for commissions have very low budgets, and each post gets 50+ commenters before you even finish reading what the client is looking for. How does one deal with that? I heard from other people that getting commissions gets easier once you build a name for yourself and people are willing to pay more. What are your thoughts on that?
@@TheArtMentor I did, actually! But like I said, my experience so far has been over 50 comments on each [hiring] post, and people having budges under 100 (sometimes for multiple characters)
It sounds like you're not advertising yourself and instead just searching for postings from clients, am I right? Reddit is a stronger platform for self-promotion than finding work. Clients that pay well aren't usually advertising, they're seeking artists. Go check out my reddit guide again and you'll learn how to best do this
if people have reading and spelling disorder and thy make real good art how can get more then 5 fave it you need to add a description on what that art is this comment was writhed by the help of all google spellcheck program and auto book readers thank you
I would suggest maybe finding a friend or family member to proof read first, or maybe finding a nice online community for it. Having someone proof read would be very helpful for someone in that boat. I imagine it’s not too uncommon nowadays, so there must be some online support groups
Are people really undercharging themselves if there's thousands of them and only so many clients? Yeah commission sheets aren't professional practice, and they're not charging professional prices, but they're not professionals... Imagine some 16 year old on twitter trying to charge you $200 for a bust with wonky anatomy that you wanted to use for your meme D&D character. The market has self-corrected and these are the prices it naturally arrived at.
I think best practice is unless you already have a deccent following, starting out with commision sheets to test out the waters is a nice filter to check what your capable of doing. Pricing the quality of your art is important of course. Harsh as it to say but if your art looks indistinguishable from a 3 year old doodle then maybe you shouldn't do commisions just yet.
Unfortunately, yes most artists drastically undercharge bc they don’t believe in better. Pretty much why I make my content 😅 however, clients also have a value perception, so teenagers can’t take online payments and also a $200 client wouldn’t accept that level of artwork with obvious flaws, does that make sense?
@billyxxxx1738 can I object though? Commission sheets are an antiquated practice that wards off clients from purchasing from you. For example, I haven’t used a commission sheet in about 3 years now and have quadrupled my pricing. Also, I have less than 1k followers on every platform. Did you see my videos on why com sheets don’t work anymore?
@@TheArtMentor I have, though for me i'm looking around for different perspectives on starting out as a beginner artist. Your one of the first i seen that don't recommend sheets which peak my curiosity. Now i've been watching your other videos which i find insightful.
@billyxxxx1738 I mean there’s no harm in trying either way since you already have no art clients, right? So there’s nothing to lose lol. I just advocate for sustainable practices that can grow with you and won’t burn you out. Also just to take note of, have you looked into the pricing of those who give you the commission advice? Personally, I wouldn’t take art commission advice from a cheap artist if I wanted to make a business out of it 😅
I have ko-fi account where I have commission options, does that classify as a commission sheet and If so does that make me appear amateur? (Edit): Also what are your thoughts on "mademay"?
Hello! For your Kofi account, is that the same platform you look for commissions? Or, is it where you would direct clients? Also, can you tell me a little about mademay? I’m not familiar with that
@@TheArtMentor I direct clients to my ko-fi. Also madmay is something I just discovered as well. It claims to be a platform dedicated to art commissions specifically. They don't have a lot of videos on what they're about and how successful they are so I was really curious
I would personally recommend not doing that and instead having a conversation about your pricing. It’s the same with directing to any off-platform website. Have you seen my video on How to Talk to Art Clients? It gives you the best version of how to converse with clients and get them to buy your commissions instead. And I’ll check out that website! I’ve reviewed some other sites like in my latest video on Where Not to go for Art Commissions, which you may also want to check
Well I’m happy to critique the work and give feedback, but unfortunately, I don’t think I’m a good authority to advise on furry niche websites 😅 I don’t personally use them, so I wouldn’t be able to give practical examples to the level of everything else I teach. Like for example, I have a long history with the platforms I’ve made videos on, so that gives me some authority on them. Does that make sense?
Check out my Reddit guide, as I’ve gone over that platform in depth. With Twitter, I plan on experimenting with it. However, discord and fb have some common bad practices I don’t think are helpful for artists. Did you see that segment of this video regarding FB group?
@@TheArtMentor Yes but i think that a good facebook group to post is in a fandom groups i mean "the simpson fan group" and post there custom artwork in that style. Or post tattoo sketch in a tattoo fan group or pet portrait in a dog/cat fanatics group and dont a commision grup as you say. ( n_n)b
In many parts it is, like in my state. How much does McDonald’s pay per hour where you live? Even if that’s a little off, why should you price yourself like a minimum wage worker with high value skills?
Where do you love or hate to go to find art clients and commissions?
Is DeviantArt good? I'm only using it to Display my art. But I'm getting payments through Venmo. That is, when I start.
facebook
Is that a place you love or hate?
@@TheArtMentor hate,facebook people have scammed and discouraged me
@@quixotic2d Facebook still a thing? I thought everyone went over the Instagram and Twitter.
I've seen way too many artists completely undersell themselves over the years. I used to be one for like a year and decided "nope." I think that's why there are a lot of people who think art should be cheap and is easy to make. Folks who will have $10 to their name will get someone to do an art piece for them. Sitting at your work station for days or weeks at a time and then get slave wages is insane. More artists need to get a bit of a backbone because this low balling bs is infuriating.
Yeah it’s sad and pretty degrading, isn’t it? Have you seen this happen on any of the sites I mentioned in this video?
@@TheArtMentor DeviantArt artists are notorious for it. Looooots of really skilled artists selling their honed craft for pennies!
Yeah happens everywhere doesn’t it?
@The Art Mentor it really helps to have a career / day job - even if it's not related to art. (Software engineer here) not only does it make it easy to say no to low paying commissions, you have a way to easily base your pay scale.
"Sorry, no, I make $XX per hour at my job I'm not doing art for you for less than that." Etc.
Yes you'll get less commissions, but is that really a bad thing when you work much less for the same amount of money?
Exactly! Taking 10 $20 commissions is the same as taking two $100 commissions right? Quantity doesn’t equal efficiency
There is also the problem that you can work online to get better clients but sometimes as soon as they realize that you are not from their country they want you to charge "cheap" (because you are from a "cheap" country and your country doesn't value art too) so sometimes it's challenging to know how to price art but I know there are good clients out there and we need to value our craft, knowledge, and experience.
That really is a shame. Does that happen to you? Also, I’ve mentioned that in a couple of my past videos on Art Commission Mistakes and Why You Aren’t Getting Art Commissions. Valuing your artwork starts and end with you, and if someone can’t afford your pricing, that isn’t your problem. Know what I mean?
That really is a shame. Does that happen to you? Also, I’ve mentioned that in a couple of my past videos on Art Commission Mistakes and Why You Aren’t Getting Art Commissions. Valuing your artwork starts and end with you, and if someone can’t afford your pricing, that isn’t your problem. Know what I mean?
Artist's work needs to progress and somehow unionise , this lowballing bs needs to stop
People need to Understand that ART IS A LUXURY not a McDraw-Burger
Isn’t it terrible? Doesn’t it make you sad to see? Personally, it makes me feel bad for people that price themselves so low
@@TheArtMentor I've been there myself that's why It annoys me since when you start you look at others to gauge pricings and practices
I can see why artists would check the market first to get an idea, but why would anyone work on artwork that fetches prices less than minimum wage?
McDraw-Burger lol😂 good one!
Lol!
Omg I just made a gig on fiver and tried to make something out of it.But dude, when I watched your videos, my eyes literally opened!
If every artist knew this kind of information, art industry would see so many new faces!But of course, there would be even bigger competition.
Anyway, your videos are so useful.They really make me want to pay you money for this information, because I feel guilty for getting this for free!
You are amazing.
Thanks I’m always happy to hear you found my content useful! There’s not a lot of info out there about commissions, am I right? And I definitely hope the landscape of commissions changes positively so that we all benefit from it.
FYI I do mentor 1 on 1 if you want more individualized instruction as part of my Art Mentorship program. If you’re interested, DM me on my social media 👍 thanks for the great feedback!
I completely agree!!!...I have been directed to every single site he disagrees with ..to try and sell ...after seeing this video I'm so happy I didn't waste my time...The Mentor and his channel are literally GOLD
Haha thanks so much! I’m sorry you’ve tried and come to these realizations too. What kinds of commissions have you attempted to sell?
There is so many people priced their art around thousand dollar and seems to be getting pretty good number of orders. Check out yourself and see.
Then why is it so hidden? Are they the majority?
Holly shit I actually got my first 50$ comission today thanks to your videos.Omg.
Whoa really?! Congrats that’s so amazing! I am so happy for you 😁🔥 what kind of work is it?
How??
@micaelasofiavalentini3940 want some links to my videos on setting up your commissions the right way and where to really look for good art clients?
@@TheArtMentor yes, please!
All great advice but something to take on count is that here in the Third world something like $15, $10 an even in some places $5 is more than minimum waige so sites like Fiver is a great help to sell art at a price that to be honest, most of the time could be impossible to be sold at that prices here in our homes.
Also I would like to say that to start doing comisions it could be Ok but for sure in a long term is not good, but again, for example $15 here where I live is twice the minimum waige 😅
Have you seen my other videos on pricing commissions? That’s true that those prices may be decent, but don’t get caught up in your geography when pricing okay? Like for example how would a client know I live in the US and you don’t, yet I fetch a bigger price than you for the exact same artwork? It’s a limiting mindset I implore you to consider so that you can make some serious money 💰
@@TheArtMentor Yes, I'm currently watching all of your videos, is of great help thanks for all the help so far 👾
You’re welcome! I’m happy you’re finding them helpful 😁 any questions so far?
hi i also live in a third world country and i think it is dangerous to perpetuate that this is okay in any way. i used to be part of a local/global commission group of facebook and because the local artists charged so low, all the (usually american) foreigners felt secure exploiting the low prices and low minimum wage. this has also happened in big industries and businesses in real life. after a while, they started to charge so low i regularly saw commissions priced to the equivalent of 20 US cents. not to mention outside of the internet, when i talk to local customers most of them are willing to pay industry price or higher, like jobs for art direction in shows and commecials.
Hello again! I have thought of a suggestion for a video I think can really help a lot of people. Could you do a guide on how to make a proper looking profile on DA? Im poking around at it, working on making my profile better with links and all, but the new interface is somewhat confusing when it comes to that ^^
Hey that’s a nice idea! I actually just got into a conversation with a friend about that exact topic. What would you like to know about this idea?
@@TheArtMentor I'd like to know how to post videos onto my feed, a bit like how you did, I tried doing it via a journal but it didn't work.
Sure thanks for the suggestion!
The thing about artists undercharging themselves and hurting the market
im seeing it a lot. And its so annoying! I used to be one of those, i got so low that i was working for free! Never again
ive started now with base prices ranging from 50euro to 150euro. additional character is x2 the base price so 50x2=100
then its additional fees like details&complexity, background, revisions, license, things i dont draw often. I will up the prices once i get more clients or following.
That’s a much better mindset! I remember when I used to undercharge too. You always feel kinda taken advantage of and under appreciated right?
@@TheArtMentor yeah totally
Instagram Sucks, i agree. They just came in and starts asking for free, afterward proceed judging you the worst for doing nothing for them
lol so accurate!
@@TheArtMentor I think IG or FB are nice for the old clients that can bookmark you by following. I've got some true followers this way.
2 years ago posted and I still find this useful! But seriously I don't know where to go for platforms now, Im just starting out
Thanks I'm glad you feel so too! I have a video on where to go for clients, would you like a link?
@@TheArtMentor Yes I would like to see the video, can you send me the link?
@@TheArtMentor Hey thanks a lot, I actually found it on my own! Thanks a whole bunch for the tips, its really helped me start off
It hurts to see prices so low that makes me angry but I can't talk I'm just as bad. I did up my prices as you suggested but I'm guessing the prices are still too low Idk. Also, the main place I've had commissions from were da and surprisingly twitter.
I’ve heard some interesting things about Twitter! I think that may be another area I plan on checking out for commissions in the future 🔥 I know it’s tough raising prices, but each work you do gives you the liberty to raise your prices too. It’s also about raising your confidence, okay?
In my opinion to raise prices you just remove any previous information about your pricings, and post the new ones as if it never happened
It will filter out most of the people that are there only to take advantage of you!
That’s a platform I’m currently experimenting with, so I will work on that!
this guy gives out some good advice but they also expect everyonre to be able to not undercharge and still get coms
Can I flip that and ask why you think you don’t deserve to get respectable wages? Furthermore, why don’t artists deserve to get more competitive and higher prices?
@@TheArtMentor oh no thats not what i ment, ofc everyone deserves to be payed accordingly, its just really sad how sometimes people dont have a choice other to underprice given the competitiveness of art comms, thats what i ment fjehfjrh
sorry for the confusion
Hm. Did you watch my video on cheap artists? Just curious, because undercharging is always a choice, isn’t it? Nobody makes them, so that’s a self-limiting isn’t it?
Hm. Did you watch my video on cheap artists? Just curious, because undercharging is always a choice, isn’t it? Nobody makes them, so that’s a self-limiting isn’t it?
@@TheArtMentor oh ill watch it
Yeah, everyone on the youtube say the same stuff. I can't remember the last time I got someone that wanted to commission me on instagram. There is so much distraction there, even I get distracted there. The one who would have good advice was Dan Ekis, but he closed his youtube. Maybe he is gonna come back all badass like when elvis did his big return. But anyways keep up these videos. I am hooked and you have me thinking like a business owner.
Thanks I’m so glad you appreciate this advice! What have you learned so far about how to better approach your commissions?
@@TheArtMentor well how to think like a business owner. Jeff Besos was not working get 100,000 friends before selling anything like tou said. Businesses start selling from the start, like the door to door saleman, someone will buy. I think the people who are on youtube telling you to build a following, do it to get more traction, attention and an audience so they can sell something.
Precisely, and then the issue arises of converting followers to customers: it’s the smallest ratio possible. Ever noticed that too? 99% of your followers are just lurkers and onlookers
@@TheArtMentor Yes I have seen that, it become a sale funnel filter, that must be why they price their service at $999.99.
Yeah that’s pretty outrageous huh?
Just found this video....thank you. Been thinking about this for a long time.
Happy to hear! Which of these platforms made you start to align your thinking similarly?
Wait, but is TH-cam good for commissions?
I haven’t utilized this platform for it, but you could do that, I suppose. Do you already have a channel with a following?
@@TheArtMentor Yes, I have over 2K subscribers here. I'm an animator, with pretty good skills I guess. Also I have joined a community of 2 million people on discord and TH-cam, with artists of all kinds, so I can also advertise myself
okay have you ever tried to advertise your services? What exactly would you like to monetize?
I dont agree with undercharging, like yeah for a first world that is undercharging but for an artist that comes from a third world country? hell that even is more than the minimum wage in their respective countries
So consider that from another angle: who online knows where you live, and why should you care? And if you think you need to charge cheap for your country, shouldn't that empower you to charge more so that you can live EVEN MORE comfortably in your country? I made a whole video about this topic, would you like to see it?
Is there a community out there that can give you an estimate value of your art's worth?
Like a discord community with a channel where you just post art and ask what the people think you should be paid based on at least 1 image?
Like... Estimated average commission value: xxx.xx USD
Estimated average regular salary value: xxx.xx USD
^ Something like that as a template.
I like how the art mentor said "...That should not be $35. That should be xxx dollars regularly in a studio..." Would there be a BRUTALLY BLUNT but FRIENDLY community out there that provides only this kind of feedback?
Hi and welcome to my channel! How about this: my community. Just to give you a super secret tip, in the next couple weeks, I’ll be putting up a community post asking for my subscribers artwork and how to price and improve it for clients. How does that sound?? 😃 also, follow me on Instagram and I’ll put up a post about it soon too
Great videos! I'm trying to make plans for the (nearish) future of how I can become a freelance artist or full-time illustrator. I'm hoping to make some money off of mainly Patreon and hopefully TH-cam to help sustain me when I'm finally able to quit my day job.
Thanks and I’m happy you found my channel! Have you begun to seek clients yet?
@@TheArtMentor Not yet since I've been working on other ways to generate income first but it is part of my road map. There's just a lot to do and only so much time since I still have to work my day job.
Yeah I can relate, as I started under similar circumstances 👍 so what do you think your first moves towards that will be? Even little efforts count
@@TheArtMentor Right now my goals are to create more TH-cam videos and keep improving on them. I am just finishing up an online art course that I think has helped a lot and I plan to put what I've learned into practice for my next illustration which will be the cover page for the next chapter of my comic. I also have to set up my comic for printing its second volume. Lastly, I am also working on a short comic series that I believe will hit more towards my target audience.
I am only doing a bit of marketing myself here and there for the time being. I think I will try and build up my devianart page again. I've only posted there very sporadically for the past *checks* 19 years. lol But your videos have inspired me to take another look into it.
Great to hear, and I’ll be sure to check out your channel as well very soon! Let me know if you ever have any questions
But then.. where should i sell my art? Im really desperate because i dont know where to start!:')
I have a video that goes over just that! Would you like a link?
bro , you're like exposing the truth , If u are infront of me rn , I totally would hug u man , huge thanks brother im rlly grateful I found this video
Alright man bring it in 😂 I’m glad you enjoyed this! What did you learn about in this video?
@@TheArtMentor all the things about commission sheets , platform etc , its door opening information
Glad to hear! It’s really not widely discussed is it? 😅 how long have you been doing commissions?
@@TheArtMentor few month i guess , anyways , what are your thoughts on making commission video (instead of sheets) on tiktok . and is it reliable. I want to know based on your perspective, and better if you could make a video about it and let everybody knows about it , thanks
That’s a good question! I personally have t made any commissions off of tik tok, but I’m also not sure that’s the platform for it. It’s more geared towards quick attention and not paying clients. Similar to instagram, know what I mean?
People price their commissions low cause everyone else does and they do that in hopes they'll get commissions, they don't believe their art can gain clients if they try to charge $200 so cause of their worries and not believing in their art quality they opt in to charge $20
Too true and too sad, right? I personally understand not thinking you’re art is worth a few hundred dollars, but less than minimum wage? I can’t help but wonder who started that trend, you know?
@@TheArtMentor It's what others do that effects out selves too, it's only natural to see what others do and try to follow them.
That’s true, with many poor effects on the community as well
Thanks again. Do you have any book recommendations for beginners in colour/ digital painting? Can't seem to find any worth buying 😕
Yes, yes I do! I actually own quite a few. Would that be an interesting video topic? 🤔
@@TheArtMentor yes please. I have like five books already but I can't find a book for painting well not a reliable one anyway 😅
What books do you have already?
@@TheArtMentor "force dynamic life drawing 10 anniversary addition",
"perspective made easy by Ernest R. Norling"
"Figure drawing for all it's worth by Andrew loomis"
"Designing Creature and characters by Marc taro Holmes"
Lastly "how to render for light , shadow and reflectivity by Scott roberston and Thomas bertling"
@@TheArtMentor ohh and figure drawing by Michael Hampton
Edit: so yeah that's about it
Hey Sensei! Thanks a lot for your vids! Can u make a video where can find DnD commissions? Most of my customers are from this amazing game, but i think i waste a lot of time posting in subbreddits of only "commissions". Anyway, THANKS A LOT EVERYTHING! (sorry for my english!) :D
Hello! I’m so glad to hear you’re enjoying my videos 😁 have you tried DnD subreddits, DA groups for DnD, or DnD forums?
@@TheArtMentor sorry what are “DA gourps”? What forums u reccomend? :)
Those are DeviantArt groups. Check out my video guide to DeviantArt if you want some more info on that. For forums, you can google DnD forums and find ones that have a section for commissioning artists, which some do. Any other questions?
Is Reddit still a good place? I draw furry pinups, and I see a very similar problem with Facebook. The people looking for commissions have very low budgets, and each post gets 50+ commenters before you even finish reading what the client is looking for. How does one deal with that?
I heard from other people that getting commissions gets easier once you build a name for yourself and people are willing to pay more. What are your thoughts on that?
Yes it’s a great place! In fact I made an entire guide to using Reddit for commissions. Did you see that?
@@TheArtMentor I did, actually! But like I said, my experience so far has been over 50 comments on each [hiring] post, and people having budges under 100 (sometimes for multiple characters)
It sounds like you're not advertising yourself and instead just searching for postings from clients, am I right? Reddit is a stronger platform for self-promotion than finding work. Clients that pay well aren't usually advertising, they're seeking artists. Go check out my reddit guide again and you'll learn how to best do this
if people have reading and spelling disorder and thy make real good art how can get more then 5 fave it you need to add a description on what that art is
this comment was writhed by the help of all google spellcheck program and auto book readers
thank you
I would suggest maybe finding a friend or family member to proof read first, or maybe finding a nice online community for it. Having someone proof read would be very helpful for someone in that boat. I imagine it’s not too uncommon nowadays, so there must be some online support groups
Are people really undercharging themselves if there's thousands of them and only so many clients? Yeah commission sheets aren't professional practice, and they're not charging professional prices, but they're not professionals... Imagine some 16 year old on twitter trying to charge you $200 for a bust with wonky anatomy that you wanted to use for your meme D&D character.
The market has self-corrected and these are the prices it naturally arrived at.
I think best practice is unless you already have a deccent following, starting out with commision sheets to test out the waters is a nice filter to check what your capable of doing. Pricing the quality of your art is important of course. Harsh as it to say but if your art looks indistinguishable from a 3 year old doodle then maybe you shouldn't do commisions just yet.
Unfortunately, yes most artists drastically undercharge bc they don’t believe in better. Pretty much why I make my content 😅 however, clients also have a value perception, so teenagers can’t take online payments and also a $200 client wouldn’t accept that level of artwork with obvious flaws, does that make sense?
@billyxxxx1738 can I object though? Commission sheets are an antiquated practice that wards off clients from purchasing from you. For example, I haven’t used a commission sheet in about 3 years now and have quadrupled my pricing. Also, I have less than 1k followers on every platform. Did you see my videos on why com sheets don’t work anymore?
@@TheArtMentor I have, though for me i'm looking around for different perspectives on starting out as a beginner artist. Your one of the first i seen that don't recommend sheets which peak my curiosity. Now i've been watching your other videos which i find insightful.
@billyxxxx1738 I mean there’s no harm in trying either way since you already have no art clients, right? So there’s nothing to lose lol. I just advocate for sustainable practices that can grow with you and won’t burn you out. Also just to take note of, have you looked into the pricing of those who give you the commission advice? Personally, I wouldn’t take art commission advice from a cheap artist if I wanted to make a business out of it 😅
oof i remember when i used to do requests for free.. nice vid T.T
That’s cool! What kinds of requests did you take? I actually built my portfolio to start commissions through requests
That’s cool! What kinds of requests did you take? I actually built my portfolio to start commissions through requests
mostly characters for a single follow, in hindsight it was dumb since half unfollowed right after
I know the feeling, but I bet that experience taught you something right?
So what are the best place?
Have you watched my commissions guides?
Shameless Anatomy for Sculptors plug (it's actually a great book)
Oh yeah!! I have that book and it’s amazing! Have you used any of the creators’ other books as well?
I have ko-fi account where I have commission options, does that classify as a commission sheet and If so does that make me appear amateur?
(Edit): Also what are your thoughts on "mademay"?
Hello! For your Kofi account, is that the same platform you look for commissions? Or, is it where you would direct clients?
Also, can you tell me a little about mademay? I’m not familiar with that
@@TheArtMentor I direct clients to my ko-fi.
Also madmay is something I just discovered as well. It claims to be a platform dedicated to art commissions specifically. They don't have a lot of videos on what they're about and how successful they are so I was really curious
I would personally recommend not doing that and instead having a conversation about your pricing. It’s the same with directing to any off-platform website. Have you seen my video on How to Talk to Art Clients? It gives you the best version of how to converse with clients and get them to buy your commissions instead.
And I’ll check out that website! I’ve reviewed some other sites like in my latest video on Where Not to go for Art Commissions, which you may also want to check
Awesome video
Thanks! What did you enjoy or learn about here?
please. make video for furry artists !
maybe about furaffinity?
Well I’m happy to critique the work and give feedback, but unfortunately, I don’t think I’m a good authority to advise on furry niche websites 😅 I don’t personally use them, so I wouldn’t be able to give practical examples to the level of everything else I teach. Like for example, I have a long history with the platforms I’ve made videos on, so that gives me some authority on them. Does that make sense?
@@TheArtMentor Okay, I get it. your videos are still very helpful, thank you!
And thanks for your support! That’s a strong niche with good paying clients
Fiverr makes me mad 😡
Same here! What drives you crazy about that platform?
and what are the best places to post art commission?
Have you seen my guides? I’ve made a few videos on some of the better, more guaranteed places to go for art commissions
@@TheArtMentor I think a best places will be twitter,reddit,discord and some facebook groups.
Check out my Reddit guide, as I’ve gone over that platform in depth. With Twitter, I plan on experimenting with it. However, discord and fb have some common bad practices I don’t think are helpful for artists. Did you see that segment of this video regarding FB group?
@@TheArtMentor Yes but i think that a good facebook group to post is in a fandom groups i mean "the simpson fan group" and post there custom artwork in that style. Or post tattoo sketch in a tattoo fan group or pet portrait in a dog/cat fanatics group and dont a commision grup as you say. ( n_n)b
That can work, I’ve seen that. By no means is there an absolute way. Just make sure not to underprice yourself, my friend 👍
i subscribe
Thanks I appreciate your support!
15 dollars isn't the minimum wage in the US. they way you can be wrong so confidently
In many parts it is, like in my state. How much does McDonald’s pay per hour where you live? Even if that’s a little off, why should you price yourself like a minimum wage worker with high value skills?