I think it would be polite to ask the comissioner if you can post it on your own gallery since you did the artwork. Seems fair.

It's still your work, you retain all the rights unless the hired you for a "work for hire" piece, in which they get all the rights to post, sell, and redistribute the art.

If what you are selling are normal commissions, you can make prints, sell the work, post it on any sites you please. I normally have a full ToS that they need to read through and agree to before they commission me to make sure everything is straight and both I, and the client know what to expect. But yes, you are in your full right to post your work, especially for free on FA and other such sites. It would be, however, nice to credit the commissioner in the description.

^^^

Yeah, but the question wasn't about law, but etiquette. He can legally do whatever he likes, but being polite helps you retain customers and acquire new ones.

True dat. ^ ^

Don't mean to interject but wanted to clarify on your character post. That unless the character is trade marked to the person (which costs several hundreds of dollars or more and usually only done for companies) no person retains legal rights to their characters. (not always the case but 99.9% of the time it is)
It's more of a common courtesy to just not claim other's characters more than a legal thing.

Would love to thumbs-up this comment. So many people in the fandom don't realize this fact, and it can be quite annoying at times.

I feel it is the artist's right to showcase their hard work. I personally encourage it with all of my commissions I purchase!
I k ow some artists have an additional fee if the customer wants it to be kept private.

From the other end, I typically wait a month after the artist has posted the work in their gallery before posting it I. My own. When I do post it, it is done with a link to the artist's account page and the original artist's submission page.

Hope this gives you some insight. I know I'd love a commission from you someday!

Yuureikun said it. Your art is your property legally as soon as it is made. No one actually has rights to it unless you legally give it to them. Posting what's done by commissioners is more of a courtesy from artists rather than a right most times. And selling intellectual rights to your art is usually priced way higher than probably what you're selling for.

And unless you drew a copy righted character, you have full rights to sell/post your art anywhere you please. Commissioners don't.

Many artists will post recent work, it gives other potential commissioners a better idea of what they might get from you, it isn't a requirement though and not all artists upload all their work. If you don't have a ToS up for commissions you might consider having a journal for it. I doubt many commissioners will mind as long as you mention who owns the character, just like they should be mentioning you as the artist when they upload to theirs.

The way I understand copyright law, you own the art, but they own the character. Which means you can use the art in a professional portfolio and the like, but posting it to DA or FA or the like is entirely up to the original characters owner.

There are situations where an artist might not post to their gallery, such as the commission being a gift that the person it's intended for doesn't know about yet, or if they themselves do not intend to post it because it's an image of a private nature to them.

I had a commission from Wolfy Nail that was just a picture of my family that he opted not to post because he felt that his watchers may say offensive things concerning it because it was a sickening sweet portrait with a happy pup and proud parents (which might garner some weird fetish banter that he felt we might have been upset by). We were able to post it of course, but he did not, despite the fact that it might have opened up the possibility for similar commissions for him because it was well done.

As for whose property the art is, that is USUALLY assumed to go to the person commissioning the art. They will often give permission for reposting by the artist because it gives them more exposure which other furry artists in particular LOVE, but I agree with most of the others here. You can ask if it's okay, no one will mind that you asked, but a few may have reasons for declining it.

I would water mark (embedded) the completed art work so "grubby kids" can't call it theirs.
the commissioner obviously gets the unaltered Item.

In all honestly it would be professional to ask your commissioner for their permission before posting their artwork. Now most people really relaxed
on that rule of posting material, but all in all when a commissioner buy an original idea to be design by you although it is an original piece of art,
you as the artist do not retain legal rights to that picture because the idea is not your own. Now if someone was to commissioned you to draw an
original idea to be showcased in a magazine or a museum you as the artist would retain rights to that picture.


In short the intent behind the picture is what plays into the legality of ownership of the art piece, my idea my product. Your idea your product. Now
you can easily create a cause stating that any art you create you have the right to duplication without monetary compensation. That would be the
most legal route you could go. All in all just keep it simple and just ask and document.

Some artists show it, some leave it up to the commissioner.
I've seen some artists charge a minor privacy fee of 10-20 dollars if the commissioner doesn't want the work posted, to compensate for the lack of potential advertising that the picture would represent in their gallery.

All that matters is that you settle the issue beforehand and remain consistent.

I hope I didn't confuse you with my comment on your Commission Info page! Sometimes I ask an artist if they'll consider not posting it to their gallery, as I like to keep my characters off FA. They have the right to post it and if they insist on posting it to their gallery, that's usually fine with me, it's just a preference.

One thing you might do is to create a separate account for your commission work, if you don't want it on your own page.
Most artists post their commission work on their pages, and give a link to the owners of the characters, or the commissioner.
I personally like this, because it gives me a way to find more people to follow. I have no clue how many people I follow who I found from art posted by an artist I like. An extra benefit to posting your commissioned work is that prospective buyers can get an idea for the work you're willing to do for them.

Generally it is normal for an artist to post a piece of art that they've been commissioned to create, unless they have explicitly agreed with the commissioner to keep the piece of art private for the commissioner. Posting the commissioned piece is a form of advertising for the artist, and helps them to sell future pieces of art.

I feel a bit off-put of the artist *doesn't* post something I commissioned - as if s/he doesn't think it's worth it. :)

Usually both parties post it.

Although, you might have a third option yourself. Maybe you could offer "the whole enchilada" at a reduced price, if they agree to only have it uploaded on sexyfur. Just a thought.

I always do, but again I always state upfront that is part of the deal, unless there is a special request the art remains private.

As it is, you as an artist have every right to post your commisioned work as a diffusion thing, no so much to reuse it as paid media if characters belong to the other part. Is common courtesy to agree on the diffusion thing with the commisioner beforehad, some artist choose to charge a little extra to keep the work private, others do it bona fide.

I always sort of assume that the artists I commission will post it into their gallery. I imagine it will differ from person to person with how they feel on the subject, but it seems like the normal thing to do, with both parties posting it in their respective gallery. As others have mentioned, a lot of artists charge an extra % of the total cost if the commissioner wants the work to remain private.

Either way, I certainly don't mind any commissions I get being posted by the artist, I like to think of it as a cool way to get my characters seen by people that wouldn't otherwise have had a chance to see them.

Well I'd be honored if you posted mine :P!

I personally just ask people whether they'd be comfortable with me posting their commissioned image(s). If they say no, then I don't post it. Then everybody's happy.

It's pretty much assumed that the artist will post the commission unless specifically asked not to. Personally its nice when the artist likes the end result enough to post it, keeping it hidden would be weird, almost implying that the artist thought it wasn't very good.

On FA, it seems like the default practice is for both the artist and commissioner to post it, but both parties should still ask just in case one of them has a different idea of what they want or are expecting.

As far as I'm aware, it's fine for both parties to post it if/whenever they feel like.

I generally post commissions I've done that I think I'd like to showcase, though if a client requests it to be private I'll certainly comply with that wish.

I post commissions, and I have that in my TOS that I will post the commissions and the WIPs. to NOT post is a special arrangement. It can be requested, but it has to be requested, because otherwise I post, usually with a tag of [COMMISSION] here.

I just started some work with the OP. I plan to retain rights to the character's IP, but it's not something I plan to turn a profit on or something essential to my personality. So with a handful of exceptions, ya'll draw whatever you want with her.