so, hey. i see a lot of artists on here who do commissions, and i see a lot of artists who do commissions very... unprofessionally. poorly, even. and i see a lot of artists who can come across as very entitled, in a way, or who are expectant of customers to be the ones to take measures to protect them, the artist, or meet the artist's needs, or be patience to a fault with the artist, and like... that's not how it works.

yes, customers should be willing to work with the artist and should act respectful and politely during a commission, because that's just the nice and proper thing to do. but customers are still customers. commissions are BUSINESS. even if art is your hobby, or commissions are your hobby, the SECOND that money changes hands, that is considered a business transaction and you, the artist, must act in a professional manner throughout.

i think that the world of the commission business is making a lot of really cool strides in making things fair for the business holders as well as the customers. it's not as easy for customers to con money out of people, for example, since you own your own business and don't have to adhere to a company policy of "the customer is always right" and stuff like that. you have a LOT more power and freedom to handle yourself in a way that you want to, and that'll often be the thing that'll attract customers to you, and i think that's really cool and awesome and that's what i love about being a commission artist honestly!

but i see a loooooot of people who just... don't see this as a business, and thus, don't act professionally. or, at least, don't learn how to act professionally. i know i sure didn't know how to do things professionally when i first started doing commissions, but i learned, and now i do by best to ensure that commissions go forward with good communication, customer satisfaction, and understanding from all sides. and making mistakes is to be expected. but my issue is with people who have been employing the same bad business practices for YEARS but still have no concept of how they should be treating their customers or running their business, and then getting mad when people call them out it.

I DUNNO WHY I SUDDENLY FELT THE NEED TO TYPE THIS, i guess i've just been seeing quite a bit of entitlement come from artists (on tumblr especially) and it just reeeeally grates on me