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X/Twitter, Free Sketches, Commissions?
2 years ago
General
Hello everyone,
I feel I'm long overdue for an update, so here goes nothing.
I started uploading some of my drawings to X/Twitter recently. I'll be uploading highlights from my FA gallery over there until I'm caught up, to which I will likely continue uploading everything alongside FA. If X is your preferred platform or you'd like to receive updates there, feel free to follow me on my page [Here].
As many of you know by now, I give away free sketches to anyone who finds specific Easter eggs hidden within my drawings and stories. These are meant to be hidden references that if you know them, you'll see them. Not all references are straight forward and may require a bit of decoding to discover the answer, and some uploads may have multiple references to throw you off the scent. I've had a ton of fun engaging with the community, as some of you have gone full detective mode to find these; However, I won't be giving away hints as often moving forward. Originally, I didn't want these to exceed 4-5 hours invested, but somewhere along the line I found myself spending upwards of 17+ hours on them. Any future sketches will be aiming for the intended 4-5 hour mark as a way to push myself to learn new ways to increase the efficiency of my art process. Whereas I may no longer hint to these Easter eggs, know that almost every upload dating back to about a year and a half ago has one. I love hiding these, so you can look forward to seeing more with future uploads. Happy hunting!
I started giving away these sketches because I wanted to see how well I handle drawing for others. My experience thus far has been mostly positive, as I find it fun trying ideas I likely would not have explored otherwise. Now that I have a good idea of what works for me, I'm starting to consider taking commissions, but there are a few caveats I'd like to discuss. Drawing is a hobby I do on the side and once it begins to feel like a job, I stop enjoying it. A few of the free sketches I've drawn felt strictly transactional and that sapped the fun out of it. On the contrary, I've formed lasting connections with people that make the experience that much more special to me. I know not every interaction will result in this, but I am trying to find a balance between the two. The solution I'm thinking of is to open commission forms and select the ideas I'd love to draw regardless of other factors.
However, If I did open for commissions, it might be one or two slots per year. For a fully colored and shaded drawing, it takes me roughly 50-60 hours, but that's only the time tracked in my art program. I'm still learning, and each drawing consists of several additional hours of research for references and anatomy. Now saying this may seem like I'm forcing myself into this, but it's something I genuinely want to try. I'll admit I'm a bit uncomfortable with the idea, but personal growth doesn't happen in the comfort zone.
Despite all the progress I've made with my art, I still struggle with perfectionism. Every drawing is an emotional rollercoaster between I love and I hate this, with the latter unfortunately being the outcome I settle upon. After spending that much time on a drawing, I get so fatigued that I don't even want to look at it by the time it's done. I'll maybe look back on a piece of art a year later and think, "Wow, this almost looks good." Needless to say, I think very little of my art, which is why it's quite difficult for me to put a value on it. There's many artists out there who are objectively better than me, but in order to make commissions afforable, they charge less for their talents. Given my current circumstances, I may have to charge a little more than what I believe my art could be worth and that makes me feel bad. I'm stuck in this dilemma where I want to try this, but I don't know what is an appropriate price that justifies the time investment and added stress.
I'd like to start a conversation about this in the comments to gather outside opinions. How interested are you in a commission from me? If you were to get commission me, what would you like me to draw? After reading the context this journal, how much would you be willing to pay for a commission from me (USD)? Is there more ways I can utilize X/Twitter aside from simply uploading my art?
I would greatly appreciate your feedback, as it will aid in the decision making process.
I feel I'm long overdue for an update, so here goes nothing.
I started uploading some of my drawings to X/Twitter recently. I'll be uploading highlights from my FA gallery over there until I'm caught up, to which I will likely continue uploading everything alongside FA. If X is your preferred platform or you'd like to receive updates there, feel free to follow me on my page [Here].
As many of you know by now, I give away free sketches to anyone who finds specific Easter eggs hidden within my drawings and stories. These are meant to be hidden references that if you know them, you'll see them. Not all references are straight forward and may require a bit of decoding to discover the answer, and some uploads may have multiple references to throw you off the scent. I've had a ton of fun engaging with the community, as some of you have gone full detective mode to find these; However, I won't be giving away hints as often moving forward. Originally, I didn't want these to exceed 4-5 hours invested, but somewhere along the line I found myself spending upwards of 17+ hours on them. Any future sketches will be aiming for the intended 4-5 hour mark as a way to push myself to learn new ways to increase the efficiency of my art process. Whereas I may no longer hint to these Easter eggs, know that almost every upload dating back to about a year and a half ago has one. I love hiding these, so you can look forward to seeing more with future uploads. Happy hunting!
I started giving away these sketches because I wanted to see how well I handle drawing for others. My experience thus far has been mostly positive, as I find it fun trying ideas I likely would not have explored otherwise. Now that I have a good idea of what works for me, I'm starting to consider taking commissions, but there are a few caveats I'd like to discuss. Drawing is a hobby I do on the side and once it begins to feel like a job, I stop enjoying it. A few of the free sketches I've drawn felt strictly transactional and that sapped the fun out of it. On the contrary, I've formed lasting connections with people that make the experience that much more special to me. I know not every interaction will result in this, but I am trying to find a balance between the two. The solution I'm thinking of is to open commission forms and select the ideas I'd love to draw regardless of other factors.
However, If I did open for commissions, it might be one or two slots per year. For a fully colored and shaded drawing, it takes me roughly 50-60 hours, but that's only the time tracked in my art program. I'm still learning, and each drawing consists of several additional hours of research for references and anatomy. Now saying this may seem like I'm forcing myself into this, but it's something I genuinely want to try. I'll admit I'm a bit uncomfortable with the idea, but personal growth doesn't happen in the comfort zone.
Despite all the progress I've made with my art, I still struggle with perfectionism. Every drawing is an emotional rollercoaster between I love and I hate this, with the latter unfortunately being the outcome I settle upon. After spending that much time on a drawing, I get so fatigued that I don't even want to look at it by the time it's done. I'll maybe look back on a piece of art a year later and think, "Wow, this almost looks good." Needless to say, I think very little of my art, which is why it's quite difficult for me to put a value on it. There's many artists out there who are objectively better than me, but in order to make commissions afforable, they charge less for their talents. Given my current circumstances, I may have to charge a little more than what I believe my art could be worth and that makes me feel bad. I'm stuck in this dilemma where I want to try this, but I don't know what is an appropriate price that justifies the time investment and added stress.
I'd like to start a conversation about this in the comments to gather outside opinions. How interested are you in a commission from me? If you were to get commission me, what would you like me to draw? After reading the context this journal, how much would you be willing to pay for a commission from me (USD)? Is there more ways I can utilize X/Twitter aside from simply uploading my art?
I would greatly appreciate your feedback, as it will aid in the decision making process.
Don't know how much orders you would get if you open for commissions since there are may artists here which have all great artwork. But since you want to do only 1-2 per year that should not be a problem.
About the price with your ammount of details you don't have to start too low and I think people could be willing to pay arround 40-50$ for a headshot and arround 100$ for Halfbody and even a bit more for fullbody. If you do background you could charge up to 20/30$ extra.
This is only my opinion and experience from the artists I know and have Art from.
Hope you will get more feedback that will help you.
Also speaking from having met quite a few artists, I think your being critical of your own work is perfectly normal, it's simply something you have to work on and it can be quite a hard process, I know I'm just a stranger on the internet but honestly you draw really beautifully, try not to be too harsh on yourself. ❤️