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PSA for commission artists
6 years ago
Before I begin, I want everyone to understand that this is not directed at any one person. If you think this is directed at you, or that you may be someone I'm talking about in this journal, it's not you, please don't follow up with me regarding this. This is simply me advising/ranting a little bit about experiences recent and old.
To keep a long story short, I recently got a new job and commissioned a handful of artists with my newfound disposable income like the classy fellow I am.
Whenever I commission somebody I typically ask how long they think it will take to finish, not because I'm impatient or in a rush, rather, I get excited and like to have a rough idea of when to expect it. When I have sold art to people, I straight up tell them I am a very slow artist, just so they can be prepared to expect me to take a while.
A number of the people I commissioned quoted very fast turnaround times (a week or so), and its been well over a month to a couple months since I first paid them.
I very politely inquired with them if there were any issues, and that I wasn't rushing them by any means, and they politely responded that they were stressed and overworked and were trying their best and it would be done soon. Okay, understandable!
So, a few very polite inquiries yielding the same answer weeks later, and a bit of poking around later, I start to notice some patterns; people (artists) having trouble making ends meet and attempting to bring in as much art business as possible to fill the gap before it becomes more of a problem. At first glance, also understandable, but let me explain why this is a problem.
When you are struggling to pay bills, buy food, pay rent, etc, you are already probably under a lot of stress. I, as someone who has done commission work as a temporary source of income multiple times, can tell you that doing artwork for other people is also very very stressful. You're under pressure to not only do a good job by your standards, but also by your buyers standards, while trying to make reasonable deadlines for multiple people. TLDR: unless you are very practiced, speedy, disciplined, and not forced into doing it, living off of art commissions with average human expenses is next to impossible.
So not only are you stressing out over bills and life expenses, now you have the added stress of having to work on art you don't want to do, and the people buying your art now have their financial investment held emotionally hostage. This is unhealthy for you, frustrating for your clients, and ultimately hurts your business image in the long run.
If you are in a position where you are about to go under water financially, I promise, PROMISE you, unless you are the magical .01% of artists who can make an actual living through the stress, trials, and tribulations of being a freelance artist, there are better ways to fix your problem.
Go get a job.
"But I don't want to work for low pay and crap hours". Hey guess what, no one does, and what the fuck do you think most professional artwork is?! Do you think MilesDickheadDF just snapped his fingers and sold his first art commission for six thousand dollars? No! That person spent years building what they have, and I sincerely doubt they did it by starting 100% on art commissions alone. You are much better off starting off at some retail position, making a low, but semi liveable wage, while you get your shit together, instead of just riding a sinking ship downwards while stressing yourself out.
But I can't get a job due to issues™
Okay, so first off, you probably can, even if you think you can't. If you actually can't, living off of limited government income for the disabled or otherwise is better than the torture you are putting yourself through.
Regardless of either of those two points, while you're doing either of them, you can be working on your art business on the side if you truly want to.
There are literally hundreds of better options available to you than trying to pay off life expenses solely on sub-minimum-wage furry art income, I promise you.
Disregarding all of that, maybe you have a job, and maybe you just do art commissions for extra income, or hell, even fun, but, whatever the case may be, do not quote somebody a few days to a week, take someones money, and go months without updates, apologies, or even basic contact. That is shitty business practices at its finest, regardless if you are intending it this way or not.
I get it, you're stressed, you're dealing with some shit, and that is fucking fair, BUT, do not put your stressed self into an even more stressful situation while selling people a service you cannot provide, because that isn't fair to you, or the people supporting you.
/rant/
Once again, this is not directed at any one person. This spawned from the sheer amount of times this has happened to me and people I know both recently and in the past.
Don't PM me about this one, I'v spoke my peace on this and I don't care if you disagree. If you suspect you're one of the people I'm ranting about, I don't want an awkward confrontation or apology, I just want you to think about the situation and try to chart a better course for yourself for the future.
Have a good evening.
To keep a long story short, I recently got a new job and commissioned a handful of artists with my newfound disposable income like the classy fellow I am.
Whenever I commission somebody I typically ask how long they think it will take to finish, not because I'm impatient or in a rush, rather, I get excited and like to have a rough idea of when to expect it. When I have sold art to people, I straight up tell them I am a very slow artist, just so they can be prepared to expect me to take a while.
A number of the people I commissioned quoted very fast turnaround times (a week or so), and its been well over a month to a couple months since I first paid them.
I very politely inquired with them if there were any issues, and that I wasn't rushing them by any means, and they politely responded that they were stressed and overworked and were trying their best and it would be done soon. Okay, understandable!
So, a few very polite inquiries yielding the same answer weeks later, and a bit of poking around later, I start to notice some patterns; people (artists) having trouble making ends meet and attempting to bring in as much art business as possible to fill the gap before it becomes more of a problem. At first glance, also understandable, but let me explain why this is a problem.
When you are struggling to pay bills, buy food, pay rent, etc, you are already probably under a lot of stress. I, as someone who has done commission work as a temporary source of income multiple times, can tell you that doing artwork for other people is also very very stressful. You're under pressure to not only do a good job by your standards, but also by your buyers standards, while trying to make reasonable deadlines for multiple people. TLDR: unless you are very practiced, speedy, disciplined, and not forced into doing it, living off of art commissions with average human expenses is next to impossible.
So not only are you stressing out over bills and life expenses, now you have the added stress of having to work on art you don't want to do, and the people buying your art now have their financial investment held emotionally hostage. This is unhealthy for you, frustrating for your clients, and ultimately hurts your business image in the long run.
If you are in a position where you are about to go under water financially, I promise, PROMISE you, unless you are the magical .01% of artists who can make an actual living through the stress, trials, and tribulations of being a freelance artist, there are better ways to fix your problem.
Go get a job.
"But I don't want to work for low pay and crap hours". Hey guess what, no one does, and what the fuck do you think most professional artwork is?! Do you think MilesDickheadDF just snapped his fingers and sold his first art commission for six thousand dollars? No! That person spent years building what they have, and I sincerely doubt they did it by starting 100% on art commissions alone. You are much better off starting off at some retail position, making a low, but semi liveable wage, while you get your shit together, instead of just riding a sinking ship downwards while stressing yourself out.
But I can't get a job due to issues™
Okay, so first off, you probably can, even if you think you can't. If you actually can't, living off of limited government income for the disabled or otherwise is better than the torture you are putting yourself through.
Regardless of either of those two points, while you're doing either of them, you can be working on your art business on the side if you truly want to.
There are literally hundreds of better options available to you than trying to pay off life expenses solely on sub-minimum-wage furry art income, I promise you.
Disregarding all of that, maybe you have a job, and maybe you just do art commissions for extra income, or hell, even fun, but, whatever the case may be, do not quote somebody a few days to a week, take someones money, and go months without updates, apologies, or even basic contact. That is shitty business practices at its finest, regardless if you are intending it this way or not.
I get it, you're stressed, you're dealing with some shit, and that is fucking fair, BUT, do not put your stressed self into an even more stressful situation while selling people a service you cannot provide, because that isn't fair to you, or the people supporting you.
/rant/
Once again, this is not directed at any one person. This spawned from the sheer amount of times this has happened to me and people I know both recently and in the past.
Don't PM me about this one, I'v spoke my peace on this and I don't care if you disagree. If you suspect you're one of the people I'm ranting about, I don't want an awkward confrontation or apology, I just want you to think about the situation and try to chart a better course for yourself for the future.
Have a good evening.
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