Definitely like the YCH's you've been posting for a while. Been budgeting towards commissioning you again some time. From what I've seen a fair bit of artists are having issues with YCH's in the last couple of years. Your YCH's have a great set of themes. That autumn one especially. <3

Don't really think there needs to be any changes! Make what makes you happy! (my opinion obviously)

Your work is always fun and wonderful to see.

That's incredibly sweet of you ;~; ♥

And oh I'll keep on doing things I like, I just like knowing what interests people so I can find a common middle ground :)

Unpopular, but real response....money.
Not a "To Expensive" argument, but alot of people have risen their prices, and the Job Market outside of Lucrative Careers is pretty Abysmal.

So just, not a WHOLE lot of money to waste....but also people have to be more choosey.
So, its a SUUUPPPER compeditive market atm

Yeah, I totally understand that. I like commissioning other artists as well, but it's something I unfortunately can't do as much as I'd like.

The economy has been pretty bad almost everywhere nowadays.

I've never been a big fan of YCH's. Echoing what Spirix has said, if I'm spending the money on a commission I want it to be -exactly- what I want. When I have bought a ych its because it was cheaper and from an artist I liked.

That's valid too! Hence why I tend to offer regular slots from time to time as well.

I do understand why YCH's are attractive to artists though. I have seen artists talk about difficulties in working with commissioners on custom projects. Its why I try to be very explicit with what I want, providing any possible reference poses, ect.

Inflation has provided a bit of a pinch too admittedly. Prices are up all over and for me, art is a very tertiary expense after my primary hobbies.

I think people are just tight on funds recently, so everyone has to be more careful.

Like that current YCH you have up, I'd snatch that in a heartbeat if I had the funds to spare. I just know it'll turn out gorgeous!

Completely understandable!! Life comes first, and commissioning can be quite an expensive hobby.

And aww thank you, I'm happy you like it!!!♥ I had a lot of fun sketching that one, I really hope I get to paint it.

👀 just wanted to say prices are missing on this page for the options https://www.furaffinity.net/commissions/maaia/

Also if peoples have no money... maybe you can offer cheaper sketch flat commissions, I mean you already offer that but your sketches are so clean I'm not very sure we can still call them sketches x) but yea maybe try to offer "quick sketches" with color option for a smaller price maybe will get you some clients, earn small amounts is still better than earn nothing ^^

I put the detailed pricelist with more examples under a link to my website there, but I think it got a lil hidden under the wall of text. I'll fix that ASAP oops

And I really like doing sketches, I refrained from taking those cause I thought they wouldn't be as interesting as my painted work. Maybe I'll do them again soon c:

Yeah, hate to be a part of the echo chamber, but money.
I mean my job isn’t even giving me 40 hours and my car just decided to stop working.
I’m looking at a total repair cost of over 3k.

No no it's a valid reason and I totally understand!
And I'm so sorry about your car though. I really hope you're able to fix it soon D:

It’s fine. Still trying to wrap my head around what to do.

Echoing a lot of folks already here, but ya - Money. Not that you're charging too much, if anything I always want to be respectful of the time and talent it takes to make works of art - but mostly that from my end extra money is tight.

I'm in between jobs at the moment - caught in a round of layoffs in June - and can't spend any money I don't absolutely need to until I get an income again.

I would have loved to get another commission from you, but I already had financial commitments....and literally just today I had water sloshing and draining into my car and after asking a mechanic what they thought, it is possibly a heating or evaporative core that will be in the ball park of 1500 to fix. So I need to try and sell my own stuff, otherwise I will have to take money out of a CD I have with my bank.

But I would say possibly putting some HD art packs together, I know Patreon and Ko-Fi are things for you, but you could have some 1 time purchase art packs, that people pay you for and you send them a link like back in the day before you had websites to host stuff like that.

Maybe offering smaller commissions that are very easy to make, things that have a higher margin cost vs profit. I have a friend that offers like really rough sketches starting at $75, as something he can complete in like a few hours.

Just food for thought, SO many YCHs are pin-ups and/or porn. You're kinda competing against a really large pool there. I'd love to see some more unique YCH poses, like action shots--like doing sports, or exploring strange new worlds, or even fight scenes.

Not that I can afford anything right now, but it always stands out to me on the rare occurrence I see those. Just food for thought.

I could try that! I'm in need of practice doing different themes, so those would work nicely.
Thank you for the ideas♥

You're welcome, hope that helps!