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Outside the comfort zone
6 years ago
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Commissioning an artist to make something they don't normally draw is a gamble, we might end up disappointing you... or it can turn out awesome instead.
Some artists might refuse the challenge because of quality standards, personal discomfort with the content you're requesting, or simply because of the worry of end up disappointing you.
If you ask me, I'd say it's very professional to decline the job for any of those reasons. However, I'm supportive of the idea of taking the challenge as long as the client is well aware that they are putting their money on an experimental artwork and the result is not as guaranteed as a regular commission.
Personally, I love taking these challenges, but I have a threshold. It has to be only a little bit outside of my comfort zone, because I don't want to severely risk the quality of the outcome just based on how personally uncomfortable I feel with the topic I'll be drawing... so it has to be small risks, things I can work on without risk of ending up curled up in the bathtub crying while the water cleanses my degenerate artistry endeavours.
By taking these challenges over the years I've been able to work on kinks and topics I was pretty uncomfortable with, and even gained some proficency at them after getting used. Now I can draw humans, soft bondage, tentacle, dickgirls, cuntboys, pokemon, no problem, all which I was very insecure about at the time each of these were outside of my comfort zone. Right now I'm trying to get decent at painting style... I'm still not very comfy about it, I've been trying for years now, but I feel like I'm almost there now.
Now I even adopted some of these topics into my own interests. My comfort zone expanded.
I would love to get commissioned to draw more pokemon, for example, and get more experience on that. Non-anthro ones, cuz anthro pokemon is not much different to drawing any regular anthro furry to me at least.
One thought I was pondering is how valuable is the idea of having a private practice in the specific topic instead of accepting the commissions about it as the training.
Doing some training to bring the skill in a specific topic up to an acceptable level sounds like it would be the most professional step to take before start taking commissions in that area, but options like giving a discount or at least making sure the client is fully aware of the risks sounds perfectly respectable too.
The big problem with doing a private training is that most artists are already partially, if not fully, reliant on the income their art is producing, thus they can't afford taking a break to train and come back later with a new power level and hair color... so the best compromise would be, as I mentioned, to give a discount and/or make sure the client understands the risk, and just take the challenge.
Of course I'm sure there are less adventurous artists, who have refined a specific skill, and would rather profit as hard as they can from it instead of exploring more skills and lower their income while they gain experience on it, or risk failure. Other artists are in a really tight budget so they can't afford taking risks... and those who irresponsibly do it anyway end up with a ridiculously long list of paid commissions and clients waiting for months or years, or unacceptable quality outcomes.
Some artists simply can't be intrepid and professional at the same time, because of their personal living situation, or their personal values and respect for their clients... or lack thereof.
Hmm.
If my cost of living was higher I would be forced to maximize my income and exploring outside of the comfort zone would be very inconvenient. Maybe this is why I don't get artist blocks, I just allow myself to explore and have fun pushing myself a little outside of the comfort zone as much as I can... because I'm in a situation where I can.
Yeah... I have fun doing this furry thing. This is fun.
Whatchuthink?
Some artists might refuse the challenge because of quality standards, personal discomfort with the content you're requesting, or simply because of the worry of end up disappointing you.
If you ask me, I'd say it's very professional to decline the job for any of those reasons. However, I'm supportive of the idea of taking the challenge as long as the client is well aware that they are putting their money on an experimental artwork and the result is not as guaranteed as a regular commission.
Personally, I love taking these challenges, but I have a threshold. It has to be only a little bit outside of my comfort zone, because I don't want to severely risk the quality of the outcome just based on how personally uncomfortable I feel with the topic I'll be drawing... so it has to be small risks, things I can work on without risk of ending up curled up in the bathtub crying while the water cleanses my degenerate artistry endeavours.
By taking these challenges over the years I've been able to work on kinks and topics I was pretty uncomfortable with, and even gained some proficency at them after getting used. Now I can draw humans, soft bondage, tentacle, dickgirls, cuntboys, pokemon, no problem, all which I was very insecure about at the time each of these were outside of my comfort zone. Right now I'm trying to get decent at painting style... I'm still not very comfy about it, I've been trying for years now, but I feel like I'm almost there now.
Now I even adopted some of these topics into my own interests. My comfort zone expanded.
I would love to get commissioned to draw more pokemon, for example, and get more experience on that. Non-anthro ones, cuz anthro pokemon is not much different to drawing any regular anthro furry to me at least.
One thought I was pondering is how valuable is the idea of having a private practice in the specific topic instead of accepting the commissions about it as the training.
Doing some training to bring the skill in a specific topic up to an acceptable level sounds like it would be the most professional step to take before start taking commissions in that area, but options like giving a discount or at least making sure the client is fully aware of the risks sounds perfectly respectable too.
The big problem with doing a private training is that most artists are already partially, if not fully, reliant on the income their art is producing, thus they can't afford taking a break to train and come back later with a new power level and hair color... so the best compromise would be, as I mentioned, to give a discount and/or make sure the client understands the risk, and just take the challenge.
Of course I'm sure there are less adventurous artists, who have refined a specific skill, and would rather profit as hard as they can from it instead of exploring more skills and lower their income while they gain experience on it, or risk failure. Other artists are in a really tight budget so they can't afford taking risks... and those who irresponsibly do it anyway end up with a ridiculously long list of paid commissions and clients waiting for months or years, or unacceptable quality outcomes.
Some artists simply can't be intrepid and professional at the same time, because of their personal living situation, or their personal values and respect for their clients... or lack thereof.
Hmm.
If my cost of living was higher I would be forced to maximize my income and exploring outside of the comfort zone would be very inconvenient. Maybe this is why I don't get artist blocks, I just allow myself to explore and have fun pushing myself a little outside of the comfort zone as much as I can... because I'm in a situation where I can.
Yeah... I have fun doing this furry thing. This is fun.
Whatchuthink?
From all the available active artists around here how many of them would act professionally? I would hope it's at least 80%, but I'm just guessing... and hoping. It's a place of freelancers after all, and I've seen plenty of horror stories about unprofessional artists still going on to abuse more clients.