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The Extent of Artistic Freedom
2 years ago
Now, I want to start this with a couple disclaimers.
1. This isn't directed towards anyone in particular, just something I've seen recently that has been rubbing me the wrong way in terms of commission culture within this community.
2. I hold no entitlement over how much an artist values their art and wishes for it to sell for. Your price is your decision and if you get people paying that price, then an honest good for you.
For those of you who don't know, which I imagine there are few, artistic freedom commissions are art pieces where the commissioner gets little to no say in the end outcome of the image being made besides what character is being used. Recently, I have encountered a few of these styles of commissions that I feel like are going too far with this model. I will not say who it was, but I saw a post recently describing that the artist would create an artistic freedom art piece for a flat $100 that could end up being anything from a simple sketch to a lined and flat colored piece. So, what is wrong with this model? The fact that the customer who is considering buying this commission is more or less gambling a pretty significant amount of money hoping to get something better than a sketch. I don't know about other people, but this feels pretty predatory to your customer base? "Pay a hundred bucks and HOPE that you get something worth your money from me," really, really doesn't make you look good to your customers, and I'm hoping this isn't becoming a "thing" that people are doing. I would ask anyone that's doing this to please, at least make it so that your customer is getting one or the other and doesn't have to think their money is being gambled on whether or not you feel like reciprocating that payment with something that normally wouldn't cost nearly as much. It really does sound like a scam, and that's what makes me uneasy.
Again, I will reiterate, if it works for you, it works. I can't argue if you're getting the results that you want, but PLEASE also consider the morality of it.
What do you guys think of this? Is it fine, should be looked down upon? I want to know your thoughts.
1. This isn't directed towards anyone in particular, just something I've seen recently that has been rubbing me the wrong way in terms of commission culture within this community.
2. I hold no entitlement over how much an artist values their art and wishes for it to sell for. Your price is your decision and if you get people paying that price, then an honest good for you.
For those of you who don't know, which I imagine there are few, artistic freedom commissions are art pieces where the commissioner gets little to no say in the end outcome of the image being made besides what character is being used. Recently, I have encountered a few of these styles of commissions that I feel like are going too far with this model. I will not say who it was, but I saw a post recently describing that the artist would create an artistic freedom art piece for a flat $100 that could end up being anything from a simple sketch to a lined and flat colored piece. So, what is wrong with this model? The fact that the customer who is considering buying this commission is more or less gambling a pretty significant amount of money hoping to get something better than a sketch. I don't know about other people, but this feels pretty predatory to your customer base? "Pay a hundred bucks and HOPE that you get something worth your money from me," really, really doesn't make you look good to your customers, and I'm hoping this isn't becoming a "thing" that people are doing. I would ask anyone that's doing this to please, at least make it so that your customer is getting one or the other and doesn't have to think their money is being gambled on whether or not you feel like reciprocating that payment with something that normally wouldn't cost nearly as much. It really does sound like a scam, and that's what makes me uneasy.
Again, I will reiterate, if it works for you, it works. I can't argue if you're getting the results that you want, but PLEASE also consider the morality of it.
What do you guys think of this? Is it fine, should be looked down upon? I want to know your thoughts.
I appreciate the PWYW [pay what you want] model, where the commissioner pays any amount they prefer -- typically with a minimum amount set by the artist -- and the artist will produce a work that's commensurate in quality with the amount paid.
For instance, if the commissioner paid only $20? They'll get a $20 sketch.
Did someone pay $100? They'll get something that takes approximately 5x as long as the sketch.
There’s one thing to be choosing the pose and such on your own.. it’s another to say the actual value of the ‘finished’ piece might or might not be comparable to the price paid.
The fandom has changed in worse all over, it's sickening
"Pay what you want" means the artist makes a gamble about getting a decent amount of money out of an artwork, while the one you described means the customer makes the gamble of getting a decent artwork
In both cases, while you have no obligation to deliver a decent counterpart, your reputation is also on the line and you could be flagged as a cheap person for it
Whether it's in one way of the other I think it should be looked down upon, it opens the door to predatory behaviors towards artists that would be used for cheap or customers that could get blinded by the halo effect