I'd be thrilled to be able to get another piece of art from you. Either more YCHs or badges seem more like what you're wanting to do.

Perhaps a lottery system for a group of badges? That way people that can't be at the computer at a ser time get a chance, but you won't be swamped?

That is not a bad idea. I will have to think on that.

I totally understand where you're coming from on this. Here's a couple of thoughts for ya to ponder while you figure this out.

- How many badges can you reasonably do in a specific length of time? The last thing you want to do is overwhelm yourself and burn yourself out again. However, if it's something you truly want to get into once more, set yourself a reasonable goal and stick with it. Only you can come up with what a reasonable goal is, however.

- Lets face it, you're a high demand, high prestige artist in this community. Somehow, I don't think people who managed to get a hold of one your limited YCHs in the past few months or so are going to be upset that they managed to win one, even if you do decide to open up full commissions again.

- Because you're in high demand, and there are a lot of people who would love to get any art from you, perhaps you can limit the number of times people can get something from you in a particular time frame so you don't end up drawing the same characters over and over. Keep things a little more interesting for you that way and help prevent any future burnout. Lets face it, there are some people out there with a lot of resources available to them and they can tend to monopolize the commission market (yeah, I can be one of them myself, though I haven't purchased a lot of commissions recently... XD)

- IF you do decide to take commissions again, I would recommend you put in some sort of "right of refusal" in your TOS so that you can reasonably say no if you don't like the idea somebody wants to get from you. One of the hardest things I ran across when doing commissions myself was trying to draw something that I just wasn't feeling or into. Maybe even have it be some sort of application process where potential commissioners propose an idea and you pick one that sounds interesting to you.

- You've been burned by commissioners in the past. Maybe you can reach out to some other active artists in the community and see if they've encountered this commissioner before and whether they had a positive experience with them or not. If a potential client has a bad reputation, there's reason why you should have to deal with them.

-most important thing... Whatever you decide you are going to do, it has to be something that YOU want to do. It's easy to get caught up in the idea of being popular and having a lot of fans, but if you spend all your time trying to please everybody, you're only going to end up making yourself miserable in the process. Art should be an outlet for you, not something you have to do because somebody expects you to do it. Make sure you're doing art for the right reasons, and it will remain something that you enjoy doing.

Hope this helps you think things through. I'm always open if you need somebody to talk to about these types of things. I may not have a lot of art experience to draw on (heh... pun...) but I do have a buttload of life experience that has been known to come in handy from time to time. :P

Sláinte!
Brock

Thanks for all of your thoughts, Brock. Overwhelming myself is my major concern. After reading your thoughts I keep thinking of continuing the YCH's (because it makes me happiest) as well as taking badge commissions in a very specific manner.

What would your thoughts be about telling the community that I will open for badges on X day (which would be a week before that day) and then take badge commissions for that day only. This would give everyone a heads up that I will be opening and will give them the time to get funds/ready/et al. I might get two commissions, I might get twenty. Who knows. But I think that might be a solution to both problems.

I have been around the community for over 15-years so the idea of "being popular" and "having lots of fans" is not important to me. I just like to draw and color. I forgot that last time.

That sounds like a very doable solution to me, assuming you could handle taking 20 at a time without feeling burnt out. Maybe start with a set number as a maximum and see how it goes? Can always increase or decrease based on how it works out.

I kinda figured that was the case, but I know artists can easily forget that so it's become kind of a standard bit of advice for me to hand out when needed. ;) It's also important to, well, not separate business from pleasure, but to realize that they're not necessarily the same thing. As somebody who makes a living doing "artistic" things (Graphic Designer) for a living, it's vitally important to set aside time to do things for you apart from what you do for others. It's all about balance.

A jumpkick from me to you, apropos of nothing.

There is wisdom in taking on only what you feel you can handle. If you open for badges, use slots to limit them. Maybe even do them YCH-style. How you allocate the slots is up to you. Some folk take in strict first-come order, others pick at random, others run auctions. Your choice, and you don't have to use the same approach each time.

I keep leaning on doing both YCH's and opening for a single day for badges. Tell everyone that I will open for badges on a specific date and take all that I get.

You have over 2000 watchers. How many might decide they want a badge...

I think continue with the YCH's, and also maybe take badges, but you get to exercise discretion over which characters you want to do so as to not burn out. It'd play to favouritism I suppose, but at the same time, it's your time, and you want to take projects that interest you.

Thanks. I think I will continue with the YCH's. I will also be doing badges; but on a limited basis that will be announced at a later date. ^_^

Why dont you finish the sketshes, just to dont do the same draw over and over, them you do YCHes...
about badges, does it sell? couse if it do sell, you should open comissions for that; and about full comissions, your draws are amazing kiddo! im sure a lot of people want to buy it... i must adimit i cried a little when you went offline for 6 months, couse you were the reason i made my fursona.

~best wishes, good luck!

Hey Yuri. Thanks for the comments. I actually went offline for 3 years, . I am going to continue the YCH auctions for now and I plan on opening for a "one day sale" of badges in the future. My most recent YCH preview went up this morning so expect the fist of those to be open for bidding soon.

^_^

well... i've been crying for the last 2 and half years. hahaha.
the sad reallity is that im not paied in dolars.. what makes actions cost me a lot.
i cant wait to buy one of your draws... unfortunately im not able to do it.
and please... dont go away, again.

Interesting soliciting opinions, you're a wonderful artist, I am glad you did the YCH. Overall though the prices and demand made it uninteresting though the foreshadowing was helpful to see what might of came out.

I miss backgrounds which is what your YCH's seem to not include, the devil is in the details and that's what I most liked about your art. Your character are still well designed but they feel like they need more dimensions that they are a part of a world instead of just an expression.

If you choose the YCH model may I suggest you consider adding more details (commisioner approved of course), the higher the price goes.

If you choose to go semi-commish perhaps you may want to get suggestions of what others might like to see, either in polling and picking your favorites or through some random determinination.

Anyway hope that helps, happy to see you back doing furry art.

Thanks for your thoughts. I agree that the prices went a little nuts for a while. I think the community is beyond that type of crazy now, though. So I don't expect any of these to go for super high amounts.

A few people have commented that they wish the pictures had backgrounds. And I agree. I think the current batch that are up for preview will have backgrounds added in. It does make the picture more fun to view. The first one will only have a very limited bg, but that is because of the angle.