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A tip to commissioners
11 years ago
Let me slap this PS at the top
-I am willing to work with people on prices.
-I am willing to change things that you think are wrong with your commission.
-Speak to me. Communicate with me. I can't read minds.
-Contrary to popular(?) belief, I'm not an asshole. I am really painfully polite and kind to people.
Art is not easy to create.
You don't just blink and have the image appear.
Furry artists are a dime a dozen, so we have to charge accordingly.
No where I know of do artists charge as little for hours of work as we do.
Most furry artists charge less than minimum wage, sometimes a mere tenth.
When you commission someone, do yourself a favor. Look at other artists. Check out their style, their skill level, dig through their gallery, ask for a pricing layout. Then do it again for someone else. And again. And again. That way you know you will be getting the sort of deal you are hoping for.
I am a realist.
I do not have an 'actual' job (not from lack of trying).
I am a full time college student.
I will not allow myself to waste my time and energy on people who want to pay me only a couple bucks an hour.
That time is better spent practicing on something I want to draw, without needing to worry about bending over backwards to appease a particularly needy customer.
My art changes.
I improve every day.
You may not believe me, but I began drawing furries only about a year ago.
My style differs depending on my mood.
I work better given some leeway, some artistic freedom.
I find out new tricks to my art programs, I study up on how to become better.
I recently subscribed to a digital artist's magazine to help me further that goal.
Do not be surprised if the image you saw last week is lower quality than the image you see tomorrow.
That's normal.
Don't panic.
-I am willing to work with people on prices.
-I am willing to change things that you think are wrong with your commission.
-Speak to me. Communicate with me. I can't read minds.
-Contrary to popular(?) belief, I'm not an asshole. I am really painfully polite and kind to people.
Art is not easy to create.
You don't just blink and have the image appear.
Furry artists are a dime a dozen, so we have to charge accordingly.
No where I know of do artists charge as little for hours of work as we do.
Most furry artists charge less than minimum wage, sometimes a mere tenth.
When you commission someone, do yourself a favor. Look at other artists. Check out their style, their skill level, dig through their gallery, ask for a pricing layout. Then do it again for someone else. And again. And again. That way you know you will be getting the sort of deal you are hoping for.
I am a realist.
I do not have an 'actual' job (not from lack of trying).
I am a full time college student.
I will not allow myself to waste my time and energy on people who want to pay me only a couple bucks an hour.
That time is better spent practicing on something I want to draw, without needing to worry about bending over backwards to appease a particularly needy customer.
My art changes.
I improve every day.
You may not believe me, but I began drawing furries only about a year ago.
My style differs depending on my mood.
I work better given some leeway, some artistic freedom.
I find out new tricks to my art programs, I study up on how to become better.
I recently subscribed to a digital artist's magazine to help me further that goal.
Do not be surprised if the image you saw last week is lower quality than the image you see tomorrow.
That's normal.
Don't panic.
The whole 'I can get famous artists-' bit is what kills the furry community as far as commissions go. Only popular artists are allowed to charge minimum wage for their work? I see people who charge $200+ for a -reference- sheet and get away with it. People buy it.
I have made more commissions since raising my prices than I had when they were less than $5.
I charge less during the breaks between school as I have more time then to actually get art done.
Right now I'm balancing between school work, house work, and commissions.
I am, however, not unwilling to work out different prices with commissioners if only they'd ask. Generally I even go above and beyond for my commissioners, adding shading where they didn't pay for any, and that sort of stuff. However, when I spend two hours just working out a basic sketch because a commissioner can't decide what they want, and then to get it done and have them tell me it's a rip off, and then to FIX what they SAID was the problem... and then wake up to a journal about me ripping them off anyway?
That doesn't fly here.
Simply put, I'm okay spending my free time improving.
I do not need these commissions to live.
Some do, and I understand that, but I am luckily not one of them.
Money I earn from my commissions goes to paying off college debt.
If my prices are too high, and you're actually interested in buying art, say something!
That's an easy fix.
However, expecting me to spend another six hours completely redoing an image because you decide, in the end, even after making changes you specified, it's not good enough?
No thanks, I don't have enough hours in the day for that.
People price art differently, yes.
That is all the artist's preference.
This is why I encourage people to look around, check pricing, check the galleries, and figure out who is, in their minds, a better deal.
I charge more for porn for two reasons. One, supply and demand. Two, it is more difficult for me. It requires more interlacing of limbs and such.
I don't see how on earth I could be put on Artists Beware.
I fulfill my end of the bargain.
If someone is unhappy, I will do what I can to fix the issue.
I am willing to work out different pricing with people.
Whether or not I choose to value my time more highly than others is no cause for me to be put on that site.
I am allowed to price my art however I want.
If someone doesn't like it, there are plenty of other, and yes, better, artists than me out there to commission.
I am forcing no one at gunpoint.
I do not have a monopoly on art.
:|
That's funny, most people say I am an absolute joy to work with.
Maybe they're just lying?
I would ask anyone who I have treated 'horribly' to come forward and like.
You know.
Say something.
I don't bite.
This is the internet, it's not like I can do anything to anyone.
Hell, I don't even ban people from my streams who treat me like ass.
I do have one old example of a reference sheet, but honestly my reference sheets are priced exactly as my fullbodies and whatnot are. The price is not a solid $95, it's priced by whatever it is you want on it, if that makes sense? If you want it to have three fullbodies and one of them is of the character playing with themselves, and a headshot, I will charge you for one base fullbody, two additional characters (one NSFW), and the headshot.
I do have a husband.
I do go to college.
This said, I do have time, but I don't have time every day if that makes sense? I have three or so days a week where I can sit down and really work on art without worrying about homework, getting to class, and making sure I spend time with my husband. In the past I was able to spend eight to fifteen hours (straight) streaming, but that was before college started. I explained in my stream when she ordered it that I had school the next day, and probably wouldn't be able to finish that night.
We discussed her asking for a progress report, and it was a misunderstanding on both of our parts, and I get that. I thought we'd worked everything out?
As far as closed species being against the TOS, I see them all the time. Of course, I can't like.. sue someone for making a sheepdogue? I can't even report them. It was more "I reserve the right to bitch loudly if you make one" lol If you do it, will I hunt you down? No. Will I spam your wall with complaints and comments and rude words? Not at all. The most I will do is cry about it to a friend or two, and they'll pat me on the back, make consoling noises, and life will move on.
Most people who commission me leave happy.
Or at least, they claim to leave happy?
The other commission I did for this same person, she sounded content about?
It's hard to fix whatever the problem is if people don't say, "Listen Bu, you're being a dick. Stahp."
I am open to statements like this.
If people want me to stop doing something, or start doing something else, they just need to say so.
I really am a nice person.
I really do try to make everyone happy.
I am stupidly eager to please, and non confrontational.
I am a sheep-dog.
And I 'closed' the species because in the past few months I've seen creatures very similar to my fursona becoming a closed species and it was more an attempt to cover my own ass than anything? I'm actually cool with people making sheepdogues, as long as they ask me because I want to make sure they don't end up with something that's not a sheepdogue? Idk it's hard to explain over text lol
The issue I was having with closing the species wasn't because it was closed, it was because someone (a friend of the unhappy commissioner it turns out) was telling me it was illegal and that I could go to jail for closing a species? It didn't make sense to me, and I didn't want my species sheet covered with 'THIS IS AGAINST THE ~LAW~' scribbles, so I deleted that one and reuploaded it for cleanliness' sake.
Idk
I'm just sad lol
and scared
and shit like that
I know it sounds weird lol
I move a lot so I don't actually make many friends out and about in the real world. I've lived in four states in the past three years, from one side of the US (Maine) to the other (Oregon).
Streaming is really all the social interaction I get besides my husband (which is why I make sure I spend enough time with him). That's why I stream.
It makes me really sad and worried to hear that 'quite a few people' are looking to tell everyone that I'm a complete asshole, when I really don't think I am.
I've seen plenty of artists with attitude issues, Bu ain't one of them.