Hey friends!! First, thanks everyone that has given me love, favs, and attention, both on my personal art projects as well as my ever present commission backlog I chip away at now and again! I read all of your comments, appreciate all of your favs, and thank everyone for watching my humble little corner where I play with my characters like silly little action figures :3

I have already made quite a number of fantastic new friends from those who have left lovely words of encouragement and appreciation on my posts, and I look forward to meeting and talking with more of you guys going forward as well^^

Just as a note also, if anyone is interested in getting some art with any of my characters (both sfw and nsfw ideas are on the table), just send me a note and we can talk some details! I’m also available on Discord (primarily) and Telegram (if needed) to chat with you guys too, so just shoot me a message and we can connect :)

———

Unfortunately, the main point of this journal is to rant a bit and set a personal boundary. I’ve been recklessly commissioning many artists since around 2022 or so, after I had spent a year or two at my current job and reestablished a healthy savings after the woeful apocalypse that was graduating college in 2020. In my few short years as a suspiciously wealthy furry (not particularly wealthy at all, just poorly managed spending habits on art, lmao), I’ve established really great relationships with a large number of trusted artists; my most frequented getting special artist folders in my gallery. Even outside of my large circle of frequented regulars, I’ve had the joy of working with hundreds of artists, who have all mostly given me a very positive and memorable experience as a client.

Mostly.

As of late, I’ve had some pretty negative experiences with some artists; whether it be comically long wait times (we’re talking over a year wait), little to no correspondence, poor end results, awkward conversations, difficult means of securing a commission, or just straight up getting ghosted after paying and never seeing the money again. It’s really demoralized me from branching out when it comes to commissioning new artists, or even commissioning artists I’ve had on my radar for quite some time. I think the fandom at large has a serious issue when it comes to artist/client relationships, both in how some clients treat artist poorly and how some artists seemingly abuse this inherent level of respect and patience awarded by clients; creating a vicious cycle where some artists feel like they sit above the fandom at large and have complete power to dictate when and how the client gets their commissioned work, based solely off of past precident that they themselves created. Anyway, I digress; it’s not my place to soapbox.

Needless to say, I think it’s in my best interest personally to stay with the artists that I trust and respect. I wanted to take the time to document my regulars and trusted artists here. This journal will act as to showcase my personal experiences with them while also offering my recommendation for those I think are very much worth your time to commission. This list includes artists I trust, artists that I have had wonderful experiences with and have great relationships with, and also artists that have unbeatable value vs quality, impressive turnaround times, and open lines of communication to never leave you in the dark.

Hence the title of this journal: If you are not on this list, I probably won’t commission you..
That also includes artist that ask me to commission them too. If you’re an artist and don’t see your name here, chances are I will reject your proposition. Nothing personal; honest. I have just had some negative experiences lately and don’t want to put myself in that position again.

MY BELOVED REGULARS:
 smutzkii — my OG regular. Her weekend sketches are my favorite to commission. She has since started a very popular Patreon (I don’t subscribe to Patreons, sadly) so weekend slots are hard to come by nowadays, but if ever the opportunity arises, I will never say no to snagging a weekend sketch slot. She is a wonderful artist and an even better friend ^^
 glooum — $50 flat rate for sketches featuring 1-3 characters, often times with a background included. Stellar artist, amazing grasp of anatomy, usually offers multiple rough sketches to choose from right away, and despite usually working on upwards of 5-6 comms at a time, will always finish within the month. I’ve done batch comms of 5 different arts at a time with him, and they’re always done within the month. I often call him “Glooum my beloved” for a reason.

MY TRUSTED REGULARS:
 butteredshep — proportionally more expensive than the rest of my list, but they are incredibly worth it. Their level of detail is to die for, and they always ace drawing my characters, no matter who is up. Usually longer wait times and longer periods of radio silence, but I have never been ghosted nor let down with a finished comm. They were a dream artist to comm when I first got into the fandom, and I’m so happy to consider them a friend and trusted artist. They are impossibly sweet, too ^^
 ariozyn-soulcatcher — a wonderful bean who often holds commission specials, including sameday sketches and week-long wing-its for incredibly reasonable prices. Another artist who aces every character I give to her. She sometimes forgets comms, and her art manager can also forget to send pictures too, but she will always give you a comm that never misses.
 taintedstar — they have a telegram channel where they post comm openings, super reasonably priced and usually has them finished within a day or two! Very great work! They also designed my catboy Calvin ^^
 boypretties — A wonderful artist with an unbelievable grasp on anatomy that does timed sketches for incredibly reasonable prices. Those timed sketch hours disappear quick, so get them as soon as he posts them!
 knlght — Another awesome artist that does great sameday sketches ^^
 kaitoharo99 — Often holds discounts for very high quality sketches!
 dirtyjace — Same as above!
 renhard — out of everyone that has ever drawn my fox Scotty, he’s one of the best! His style is so soft and warm! Always love getting commissions from him, and always works so quickly too!
 wormsking — $20 character sketches! An impossibly great deal, and she usually finishes them in a day or two! Many of my friends like working with her too ^^
 gordonb — another great $20 character sketch artist!
 darinakanfff — unbelievably high-quality full render pictures for total bargains! Another artist that draws my foxes so well ^^
 dxm8 — She loves drawing dragons!
 kicoffe — She loves drawing beautiful girls :3

YCH ARTISTS I TRUST:

 starryprince — often gives me a massive bounty of additional versions for no additional cost! I especially like the spicy versions he offers me :3
 annairu — her YCH’s go quick, and the lead time to completion can be a little long, but I have never ever been disappointed with her quality. She is amazing!
 flamero — a quick base filler that does nice work ^^

EVERYONE LISTED BELOW ARE TRUSTED ARTISTS I WILL 100% WORK WITH AGAIN:

 mankokat  q-nik  kivahunter60  gimka  kohevkass  ketty  f-r95  saronrot  aussieneon  nootkep  yshanii  puddingpaw xeshaire sirod 1cassius1 zefa valbits el-gallo snowy18 box-cat maaia gehirnlie castycom yosha mataki

(this list can and will be modified with additions / subtractions as needed)