Take your time Morca. I am sure everybody can understand. Not everyone has the free time to do a lot of drawing. *hugs the very large red dragon*

unf!

I see you doing comments like this in other artist's journals and I have got to ask if there is a particular reason you do it? I was simply voicing my concerns. This almost seems rather disrespectful.

Nope, and don't take it like that, it's part of the playful personality. It's a fun statement. If you don't like the fun-nes of it, I don't know what to tell you. Based on your journal, no other commentary fits, as nothing I or anyone else says, is going to change your cycle. Only you can change your cycle.

unf! was indeed the most appropriate thing I could think to reply with. Would be curious to know just "why" you thought it was disrespectful.... as I can't fathom a single reason.

Maybe because Morca is explaining as best he can why he doesn't open for commissions, and that he's had some concerns about his own development as an artist and realises that he feels he "owes" some people art.

Replying with "unf" is at best inappropriate, and at worst is pretty much saying "tl;dr, here's a pointless comment".

Sometimes it's better to not say anything at all than to say something that doesn't add anything. I'm curious as to why you felt "unf" was in any way appropriate? Isn't "unf" the mock-sound of somebody dry-humping someone? :/

Just because you don't see a reason for something to be disrespectful doesn't mean it shouldn't be. Perspective is everything when it comes to public communication. If you took a moment to try and understand my perspective maybe you could see that I am in some sort of state of frustration when it comes to people asking for art.

Judging from one of your previous comments in another journal of mine which stated that I was not planning to take commissions in the near future, you replied with ":(" leading me to assume that your only position towards me was one that involved your desire for my work.

This comment here, while apparently innocent in nature, really does not reflect any differently. If you could not think of anything to comment with, why comment at all? My only conclusion would be that you wish to show that you're still interested in commissioning me, which this is not the journal for. Perhaps I am reading too deeply into things, and you will likely claim as such, but my perspective will not be changed unless you shed some light on your actions/words beyond that of a one worded response. I can only make assumptions.

Ssvanti's a nice guy and I wouldn't say a bad thing about him, but oh good lord THIS. You have no idea how many times I get comments that are just dumb, dumb, DUMB.

Ok, i don't actually get many comments at all, but i still sympathize.

I do understand your perspective, you already spelled out for all of us to see what your issues was, and that you were trying to work through it. You were being informative to us, and since I had nothing to say to the contrary to what you said, yet still wanted to show support, I did what came naturally, something that I do with all the other artists I commission and chat with. I treated you equally as a friend and playfully.

I already explained it wasn't disrespectful, but if you wish to continue to believe it was.... I'll take your suggestion and instead of trying to be supportive in my way, not reply. I felt like reaching out a bit instead of just reading the journal and closing the window. Of course my intent also wasn't to have my hand bitten.

As to wanting to communicate with you just for art.... nope. While I do want to commission you one day, there is definitely more to the community than just hiring an artist then moving on. I usually like to keep ties and chat.

As to the :( in the other journal, it made more sense to me to reply with a short and to the point reply than to drag out the exact same response with hundreds of words.

Most artist who are backlogged with work are busy, and the more time they spend reading journal comments the less they are spending overcoming their to do list or other issues. Sometimes I do long comments sometimes I do short comments, if possible I do shorter comments. The less you type the less people usually have to misconstrue or mis-interpret.

Fortunately it's a very small number of people misconstruing my one word or face comments.

I'll shoot you a note regarding the more personal comments I have.

You know, rather than typing all that, you could've just said "Sorry, I didn't mean to be disrespectful".

Had I been disrespectful I would have. Thus, that's why you see a wall of text.

If you had intended to be disrespectful it would defeat the purpose of apologizing, just because you got lectured. You have inadvertantly annoyed someone, when you intended to be pleasent. This is the sort of scenario where you should apologize, because it wasn't your intention to cause a fit, and yet, you did.

Furthermore claiming innocence and defending yourself with a huge convoluted POS gives off the appearance that you were intending to cause something negative, and fighting that you're innocent is counter-intuitive than just up and apologizing for your mistake.

I'm sorry you see it that way.

Sometimes 'no comment' is sufficient...

o.o wait...

Another phrase that fits this: Burnout.

I used to like that game.

Game?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7GG0Lasxjo

Played this for houuuurs.

Looks familiar. Playstation?

I played it on the gamecube, but it may have come out for the playstation later.

Burnout Revenge was the best I think ;) They lost it with paradise =(

Commissions should always come before personal gifts. If people don't understand that then they don't deserve your gifts.

Maybe I misunderstand where you're coming from, this does sound like a responsible attitude. But shouldn't it be up to the artist to decide and prioritize what to draw when? I don't think it's reasonable to expect an artist to not draw anything except commissions when they have some outstanding. I agree that people shouldn't feel obligated to draw giftart though.

As a note I should have the badge done by today. :P

There was no way I could respond to this journal directly without being self-serving. xp

What I'm saying is that if Morca wants to open for commissions as an additional form of income, his friends should not begrudge him for it and should understand that paid art comes before free art.

Gotta take things at a good pace for yourself.. I have to admit that's a pretty ornery cycle right there. But we got faith in ya that you'll figure things out for yourself draggy butt

I agree that it's tough to take on commissions when you already feel backlogged on work. My recommendation is to do the experimentation you want to do and get to the work when you get to it; if you're not enjoying your art, there's no point in doing it in the first place. Get your muse back and then think about finishing owed work and taking commissions.

I think the phrase you meant in your last paragraph was "bear with me." If, however, you really DO want us to strip with you, then all you had to do was ask. :3

*hugs* Take your time. Your friends will understand. The key is not to think about how seemingly far the new commissions are, but how close each picture is to getting done.

I always get the two mixed up. Oh well. It still works. :P

Just pace yourself dude and don't worry about it too much.

Honestly? The important thing is that you enjoy yourself and it should never start seeming like a chore except perhaps for a few rare occasions etc.

Maybe you just need to find motivation to finish the first ones?

Look at it this way: People who watch you/ commission you genually enjoy your art. I realize as an artist, you tend to be your own worst critic, or get bogged down from commission work, but the trust is that if people enjoy your work, you're doing it right.

That being said, I getting a damn slot if you ever open up lol

Life is long, there is always time for everything :P

Why do you owe people art? Are they gifts, trades, or otherwise things that are free? If that's the case, I would hope that they would understand your situation and won't mind if you do a couple of commissions first, before they receive their free stuff. After all, if you start doing art, you may get your groove going again which may help you finish the free stuff with more energy. :P

When I order a commission, I wait. Always. No matter how long it can take, I prefer a well done artworks than pressuring the artist and getting a shit crappy piece of art.
I just like whne the artist poke around sometime to say "I don't forget you, but I just don't have the time now" ;)

Whatever you choose to do Morc, just make sure you're doing it for yourself. You may feel like you "owe" people art, but I'm sure those people will be glad to see you post up anything at all, or just be glad to know you appriciated the art they gave you in the first place!

I'd like to think people give gifts to make other people feel better (and themselves by the act of giving, of course) and are not simply expecting something in return. <3

Obviously you would be wildly popular and fill up instantly, but of course that sort of attention brings with it its own stresses.

Work at your own pace. Come up with a plan, aim to do something each day, even if its a little thing or you have a day set out to actually do nothing in. But clearing out your 'backlog' should really be a priority. I know from experience that its not much fun waiting one someone whilst they keep opening up for new commissions. But at the end of the day its up to you, and sometimes circumstances dictate things more than the feelings of others, and rightly so.

No soup for you! -cocks shotgun-

You would probably be better off if you had someone who could help you focus and stick to your goals. A friend of mine used to be totally wishy-washy until they asked for active help with time management. After they had someone they respected help set their daily goals, they ended up working a lot harder to meet those goals. :)

Barring that, if you don't want external help, you need to just whip yourself into shape and get everything that's hanging over your head out of the way.

And if you need the money, stop doing trades and promising art to people for a while until you can get some commissions done.

Also, you don't have to stop yourself from doing commissions if you have a backlog. You just need to balance things responsibly and alternate between commissions and backlog pieces.

That's not a half bad idea. I had considered it but it seemed hard for me to actually feel pressured by deadlines that didn't really mean much. If there was some way I could make it feel like something needs to be due for a certain date I'd have more incentive to do it rather than to play games or make excuses.

I've found 2 good ways to keep myself motivated when I do a commission.

First: Only accept one commission at a time.
You can have a list of as many people as you want and keep/complete that list in whatever order you want but only accept one at a time. Create 10 slots, allow 10 people to fill it and as each previous commission gets completed, request information from the next guy. If they dont get back to you in a few days move to the next one.

Second: Only take half payment up front, half when completed.
This may not seem like the most enjoyable idea but money is a good motivational force. If you have money for the commission already in bank then the drive lessens. Part two of this is dont spend the commission fee until the job is complete no matter how much you need it now. Dont even think about it, check that its there and forget it exists until the job is done.



Speaking from experience, I know thinking of a commission as a job makes it a little more difficult to do something creative but its a good mindset. If you think of each one as individual contract work rather then something you do for fun or leisure it may also help give you the motivational drive you need to complete them.

If you take each commission one at a time, your not under any obligation to continue past the last one you were paid for. This allows you to pause any time you need to take a break to enjoy your own tangents or deal with other facets of your life. Your commissioners should also understand this (yes I'm looking at all of you ;P ). If you dont spend the money until the job is complete, if anything comes up that forces you to stop the work short or prevent its start you can give the commissioner a full or partial refund on a per-case basis.

I'd be happy to discuss more on this further if you want too Morca, you know my IM if you do ^_^

I do hope things improve for you Morca, maybe try and alternate what you feel is owed work combined with what you wanna draw.

Eh, but Morca... it's you! :O

Hello handsome pile of dragon love, Murrca. *^'===='^*

i think i'm getting in the same boat you are in x..x

as you can see on my journal footer, i still have a few gifts to give (including yours!) and i opened for commissions. i have quite a few to do, so i do the commissions first, and maybe take a break between commissions to work on a gift? i dont know if thats helpful at all xp just thought i'd give my input

I see a lot of people here stating that you need to pace youself. Well... here's something to consider, a bit of costing as it were.

Reguarding step 6: "Feel guilty about taking commissions because there are already people waiting for me to do art for them."

Keep in mind that the bill collectors, don't care who you might happen to want to give free art to. That's not their concern, what is their concern is that they're paid ontime. And so your first priority is to make sure that you have the money on time to pay them. If these people whom you're providing a free and highly desirable service to can't understand that you have bills to pay first, then perhaps they're not quite deserving of your time.

Reguarding the guilt part.. Yes, I've dealt with this quite a few times as well. I'm 'the nice guy' and running my own company, really means every decision you make in reguards to how your spend your time, directly relates to if you eat or not. There have been more then a few occasions where I've had to tell people 'no' because I couldn't afford the time, and they couldn't pay. (This isn't involving just hanging out, actual engineering tasks which they wanted me to accomplish for them) Truthfully this lost me some people that used to call on me. But I suppose it did weed out those people who were mostly takers, and not that understanding of the principle that 'Effort takes time, and time is equatable to money. If I spend all my time doing work for you, then you need to reinburse me with money, which translates to what you were paid for for other efforts that you did elsewhere.'

S'how the world works really. The internet generation, and furries by in large, seem to not be able to grasp this concept. After spending a few days with no food.. I grasped it rather effectively.

I know how you feel hun couse I am at the sae boat as you, theres nothing much I can say since I am also experimenting the same thing X_X

But I make Kaltezar's words my own. if you need money for bills, food, stuff, etc go for it. these thigns comes first then a gift to someone. And beena gift, these people have no right to ask if you are gonna do them, hence why its called a gift. its your choice to do it or not andf if you cant do it, these persons have to deal with it. :)

SO remember hun priorities comes first. If you ened the money and want to improve your art, open for Comissions since that will give you both ^^

*hugs tightly!*

What if the commissions themselves involve experimentation on your part? Wouldn't (usually) be as good quality as you working in your comfort zone, but could still result in people getting art and you getting what you feel is needed practice.

Dayum

Fuckin score on your username

*gives a big hug* seems a bit of a difficult cycle huh.

Sometimes priorities need to be made and lines need to be drawn between what you have and what you need to do. Its not like your trades or such are going anywhere and you can always come back to it, no reason to feel guilty, people should understand.

If need be, make a word doc or make a journal, listing who you have art to do for and a short desc of the scene you had planned to do. This way you can be able to pick up on it again at any time when finished with commissions. I tend to do that when I sometimes have commissions for myself or giftart to buy for others.

If you need the money, try to focus on commissions a bit, knowing on your mind that you need the money is all I am saying. People can wait and that art owed isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Is is quite similar to how I feel about taking commissions myself, which is kinda strange possibly o.0

I'd planned to say something reassuring or thoughtful here but I'm a little late to the party and the other comments have most of the bases covered. So I'm going to stand with what's always worked in the past and wish you the best of luck finding your balance.

Bagels.

just reading your journal gives me ideas to cut through the lazy. It' okay that you not doing commishions right now
I'd want to get one from you when your freed up alittle.

Hah, at least im not the only dragon artist whose like that. Frankly, unless they paid for said pictures, you shouldn't feel obligated to complete them. I know its not the nicest thing in the world, but ive personally burned myself on the "gifts for everyone" mindset, especially when it was "free requests."

Ive gotten to the point where i just take, and prioritize commissions. And only do the free stuff in between. I always feel a lot more artistic after ive drawn a few images, and when im not feeling artistic, money is a great motivator. XD So i just cycle in between the two.

But i can understand the feeling that you might not be improving. Since im such a low level artist, what i tend to do in that regard is try and find a picture i like, whether drawn or photo, and take an element from said picture, and copy. Whether, directly or indirectly. The other thing ill do is try different art programs... as there are a ton of them out there.

Dont know if you were really asking for advice, but id hate to see you cut back from your art.

A final thing to remember, you will always improve. Even if the only thing you improve on is the ability to draw the way you always do, faster. Practice makes perfect, and with practice comes speed. May not seem like the hugest improvement, but it matters. May seem like an odd reference, but think about professional gamers, especially the FPS and RTS kind. If you watch them play, it seems impossible how fast their mouse and keyboard moves are, but its really just practice and memorization. I like to think of art as the same way. Even if your not going to be a speed painter, practice leads to better hand movements due to memorization. But like video gamers, its a gradual slow process, with a ton of repetition. Think like a gamer, who has to make that picture perfect headshot about 20-50 times a game.

And wow im being a bit random on this one.