FA+
Shop
Artist's Choice
8 years ago
I have chosen JengaReinwolf and Nicnak044 for the small commissions this time around!
As always I want to make sure that I keep in touch with you all. Since this is now the second time I've done artist's choice I'm curious how you guys (especially those who submitted their characters) feel about this as a commission method at the moment, and whether or not you would like me to be transparent about why or how I make my choices. I can see how knowing my reasoning might help you understand and perhaps even employ tactics to increase your chances of being picked next time (for as far as that's possible), but I can also imagine that some might find it more fair if I keep these things to myself. I'm a bit on the fence about it myself.
Basically let me know how you feel about it, if you have any concerns or if you feel like it works out great (that is also good to know ;3). To clarify I will most likely not keep using this method as my only method of doing small commissions, but it is quite likely that it will become my primary method for taking larger commissions.
As always I want to make sure that I keep in touch with you all. Since this is now the second time I've done artist's choice I'm curious how you guys (especially those who submitted their characters) feel about this as a commission method at the moment, and whether or not you would like me to be transparent about why or how I make my choices. I can see how knowing my reasoning might help you understand and perhaps even employ tactics to increase your chances of being picked next time (for as far as that's possible), but I can also imagine that some might find it more fair if I keep these things to myself. I'm a bit on the fence about it myself.
Basically let me know how you feel about it, if you have any concerns or if you feel like it works out great (that is also good to know ;3). To clarify I will most likely not keep using this method as my only method of doing small commissions, but it is quite likely that it will become my primary method for taking larger commissions.
Also I was just wondering if your criteria for refs required a full ref sheet for you to consider a commission as opposed to a single image of a character?
Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. There aren't a great many things that I avoid, but there are definitely some things I'm just not easily inspired by because I either can't relate to it well or I just don't enjoy it much as a subject. I think I'll be doing a checklist of sorts for things that make me more or less likely to choose someone, so I can just link to that whenever I do an Artist's Choice type opening :).
Thanks for the thoughts!
Is this specifically regarding Artist's Choice, or are you referring to competition in general? If so that's definitely a tricky (if not impossible) need for an artist to cater to - after all the goal of most professional artists is to create a lot of demand for their work. Don't get me wrong - I understand the reasoning and I don't fault you for it, and you're probably not alone in feeling this way. It's frustrating for me, since I know I can't please everyone and no matter what I do I'm bound to let some people down.
Regardless thank you for the words of support and encouragement <3.
Stay awesome Caraid!
Kind of feel like a combination of different ways would work, choice, raffle, first come.
This is my concern too and one of the reasons why I'm fine with outlining my thought process on these. I definitely can't give clear cut guidelines that are guaranteed to get people picked - but I can probably outline what makes it less likely for them to be picked at the very least.
And yeah - I agree on the combination of things, and especially for small commissions I'm not too concerned about using various methods. It's mostly larger commissions (that are much more of a commitment) where I want a bit more control in the subject matter for a while I think.
Something to keep in mind is that artists are people and people are dynamic. I've had artists shoot down ideas saying its outside of their comfort zone or not a preferred content or theme. Then later upon asking again or just by watching their submissions I will see the previously rejected content become approved and something they are willing to work on.
Just because your character and/or idea doesn't appeal to an artist now, that doesn't mean it won't later.
With that said, there are certain characters or types of characters that I'm just less likely to feel much for most of the time, and I could attempt to outline those.
But, well, i'm an artist too, and i have done artist's choice a very few times too (mostly for raffles or limited edition commissions) and yeah, some characters are more intesting than others. In my opinion, a good idea could be (for example) 3 slots first come first serve (this helps for getting out of a comfort zone) and other 3 slots picked by the artist.
And yeah, I've alternated between methods in the past, and it works out well usually, except I really wanted a bit more control for a while and especially with larger commissions (which are more of a commitment). I suppose the next small commission opening I can do one raffle and a favorite pick combined for example - I'm not quite as concerned about smaller commissions.
Thanks for the feedback!
Btw, is awesome your philosophy of keeping in touch with your clients / followers. Its appreciated. (:
It's perfectly fine to do artists choice when you have such high interest, far better to see a character you want to do than to get something uninteresting by chance.
I'm glad it's not because you dislike my character but, honestly I wouldn't have held it against you if you did! People can't like everything and if he wasn't your style you can't help that. All the varied passions and opinions in the world is what makes this place more interesting to spend our existence!
Your level of popularity can be a blessing and a curse, the curse being ultimately having no choice but to disappoint fans. I hope you stick with artist's choice though because all methods of selection will disappoint someone and this feels the most fair.
Again, thank you so much for taking the time to reply to me and so many other people here. You frequently prove you're as great a person as you are an artist.
-Sammy
That said, if people know the reasoning behind your decision, it may help alleviate disappointment, or even the number of submissions. For example, if I know my character doesn't fit the bill I'm obviously not going to submit him in the hopes of a chance. On the other hand if I know what you want and had an idea on the backburner that fits, obviously I'd submit that.
Ultimately if you're not struggling for work, do what makes you happy.
But, you're merely human and subject to the whims and moods that come with that, not some deterministic automaton. How certain are you that reasoning from months ago will still apply today? Perhaps it's best not to put out information that may not apply in the future.
All in all I feel like artists choice is better for everyone, your watchers, the commissioners and the artists. If you're inspired by a character it'll show in your art and everyone wins.
if I ever get popular enough to have the choice, I'd love to try doing 'em that way too~
I also think it's good for you to keep your criteria as open as possible (meaning, no mentioning of your method of choosing ahead of time) because there are always exceptions and you'll avoid people trying to nitpick why you did or didn't choose someone. Art inspiration is so holistic that it's hard to wrangle into a set of criteria.