In my opinion the most perfect part of this journal is the very last line.

As a consumer, this is always one that gets me. I never know what's best. Provide a solid idea, or artistic freedom?
And I always feel like I'm being super demanding when I provide an idea, especially when it comes to details and such.

I don't mind artistic freedom, though I'm more comfortable with it when it's a commissioner I know fairly well who has worked with me before. My friend Zwerewolf often times will give me a budget and let me choose what to draw, which I appreciate because I am confident I know his characters well enough to just go on my own. If it's a first time commissioner though, it can be a bit stressful because I'm not sure what they like, and having too little info in that case can be kind of nerve wracking. This is only in the case of artistic freedom where I'm given a character and just kind of let loose to decide the entire commission myself.

I think overall, I really prefer to work with loose artistic freedom, in that I am provided a character, their personality, likes/dislikes, and maybe a general theme (i.e. 'steampunk', 'looking out into the clouds', 'flying') and then left to interpret the rest myself. This is where I feel I excel most with commission work, as I'm not restricting my composition to a specific pose or having to make sure I don't forget all of the details the commissioner wants me to include. It's definitely a two-way street, as having too much info (Character in this pose, with this expression, this background, and this prop) can be just as confusing as not having any at all.

Oh and this is Inkmaven by the way haha, just realized before posting I'm on Jellybean's account.

Well I've worked on a lot of commissions and I can say; It depends on the commissioner/character.
For example: CoolDoggo96 wants to commission you, asks you to draw his husky character, who is just exactly that. A husky. That is exactly all you know about either the character or the owner. Now you get artistic freedom, what would you do? Draw what you like? Maybe the guy hates werewolves. Draw what you think what the guy might like based on nonexistent data? Insecurity for miles.
In this case, artistic freedom is the worst.
On the other hand, take your snake. You already know that you can go with a tribal/jungle setting, you know she's confident as a character as a main trait. So I already have ideas what I could be doing what you would probably enjoy.

So yes, i personally love artistic freedom with maybe a hint of direction (like how I usually ask for a mood, or prompt otherwise) when I can see that the character has personality. Otherwise you'll just get a generic happy jumping doggo with no personality if that is your character and you give me no guideline/description of what you want. 8T

I can work with both but I like having a bit of flexibility on how to present the idea instead of being told the exact action. I would focus too much on getting exactly what the customer wants down on the canvas and the overall piece tends to become stiff looking. I think a customer can have a specific concept in mind, but (for me) I think the overall piece would look better. They shouldn't be completely apposed to some visual suggestions by the artist.

What I dislike when a customer is just too lazy and says, 'Artist freedom' even when I try to request additional information so I would have some structure of how to draw their character. If an artist is fortunate enough to get a lot of work, being told "artist freedom" for all of their work load can become tiresome. Leads to a creative burn out quicker in my opinion and experience.