I think the goal is to be concise, but not omit any detail that you really want to see in the picture. It's easy to get carried away with an idea that you're really passionate about, but sometimes you have to step back and consider how much the artist really needs to know. I try to keep the description down to one or two short paragraphs; one about the scene and another about the characters.

It varies from artist to artist, and what exactly I want to get out of it. Sometimes it's detailed description of what happens before and after the picture, other times it's just a link to a reference and a permission to go wild.

One thing I've found that works nicely though is to kind of think of it as a stage play. To get believable performances, you need to give the characters a motivation. Instead of saying "he has a hungry look in his eyes", say "he hasn't eaten for four days". The latter gives more for the artist to work with.

I tend to give an artist a ref sheet and then a vague description because I like seeing what they come up with. If they want more information I'm more than happy to provide it and if I want something specific I'll specify it, other than that, they get a lot of free reign. A lot of the time I'm just like: "I want you to draw this character in your style, you pick the pose, situation, etc"

Too often see people commissioning different artists for basically the same picture. I don't want that. I want the artist to have fun and draw something they enjoy drawing.

Most of the time it works out well, occasionally it has backfired though and I get a pic where I go, "Nope"

Guys ! Thankyou so much for your replys and my apologies for not replying sooner.

It seems that we share a common ethos on the approach to a commission , I'm glad as I sometimes thought I was being a bit lazy in my descriptions to the artist , but if they like to have a little free reign then that works out well!

Thanks again !