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My process is weird, prospective Commissioners please read
6 years ago
So a bit of a rant incoming, not because I'm angry but because there's been a lot of questions, mostly about how long people's commissions are going to take. I've explained in the past that all my art is done on a single layer. One. Uno. Single. That's why I call them paintings, I can't go and tweak different layers to fix things, it's all painted and cleaned up on a single layer. Obviously this is what sets my stuff apart, but it means my art takes longer because I have to paint each stroke individually instead of using a smudge tool or gradients. Point is, my stuff takes time.
I've admitted and apologized for how long my art used to take in the past. I was in college full-time and had a full-time job, and art was difficult for me due to projects and just how tired I was. People used to wait for months and I'm not proud of it because I think it gave me a rep for being slow. And I am a slow artist. Even now that I'm graduated and working on building a business from home, I still take my time with my art so it looks right to me. But I don't appreciate being constantly asked about how long a commission is going to take. I know you're waiting, so are 10 or so other commissioners at a time. The simple fact is with my process it can take anywhere from a couple weeks to two months to clean up your commission, especially if you (or another client) have a lot of detail that needs to be rendered. I'm more than happy to provide updates and keep communication open, but I don't enjoy being spoken to condescendingly or pestered every few days for an update. I've finished 11 paintings for people in just about two months (not including the 4 I've gotten final approval on and will be posted in a batch of 6 sometime this week hopefully), which is MUCH BETTER than my old turnout, but somehow this has made people even less patient and it's begun to stress me out.
I'm sure part of this is compounded by my posting personal art in-between batches, but please keep in mind often those paintings are done over a couple months too. My Twitter is full of sketches I'd like to color someday, and sometimes the muse strikes and I'll decide today's the day I color them. I've made it a point to work on personal projects alongside commissions in order to combat burnout, which was a huge factor in my struggle with commissions during college. Just because I decide to draw my OC's doesn't mean I'm ignoring commissions, I'm simply working on multiple images at the same time; Mine, yours, and the 10 other commissions in my queue all being worked on in tandem.
To that end I've updated my commission rules with a general timeframe for each step, as well as adding a Refund amount for which step the drawing is in if the commissioner decides they are no longer interested in my work. I've also updated a few areas on what I will and will not draw, as well as a few charges because of certain incidents I've experienced lately.
I hope you all can understand, but if you wanna have a go at me in the comments you're welcome to as well. This was just to clear some things up and get this off my chest, and hopefully help people understand my processes in the future.
I've admitted and apologized for how long my art used to take in the past. I was in college full-time and had a full-time job, and art was difficult for me due to projects and just how tired I was. People used to wait for months and I'm not proud of it because I think it gave me a rep for being slow. And I am a slow artist. Even now that I'm graduated and working on building a business from home, I still take my time with my art so it looks right to me. But I don't appreciate being constantly asked about how long a commission is going to take. I know you're waiting, so are 10 or so other commissioners at a time. The simple fact is with my process it can take anywhere from a couple weeks to two months to clean up your commission, especially if you (or another client) have a lot of detail that needs to be rendered. I'm more than happy to provide updates and keep communication open, but I don't enjoy being spoken to condescendingly or pestered every few days for an update. I've finished 11 paintings for people in just about two months (not including the 4 I've gotten final approval on and will be posted in a batch of 6 sometime this week hopefully), which is MUCH BETTER than my old turnout, but somehow this has made people even less patient and it's begun to stress me out.
I'm sure part of this is compounded by my posting personal art in-between batches, but please keep in mind often those paintings are done over a couple months too. My Twitter is full of sketches I'd like to color someday, and sometimes the muse strikes and I'll decide today's the day I color them. I've made it a point to work on personal projects alongside commissions in order to combat burnout, which was a huge factor in my struggle with commissions during college. Just because I decide to draw my OC's doesn't mean I'm ignoring commissions, I'm simply working on multiple images at the same time; Mine, yours, and the 10 other commissions in my queue all being worked on in tandem.
To that end I've updated my commission rules with a general timeframe for each step, as well as adding a Refund amount for which step the drawing is in if the commissioner decides they are no longer interested in my work. I've also updated a few areas on what I will and will not draw, as well as a few charges because of certain incidents I've experienced lately.
I hope you all can understand, but if you wanna have a go at me in the comments you're welcome to as well. This was just to clear some things up and get this off my chest, and hopefully help people understand my processes in the future.
ah for the process on commissions, i know the feeling, i've waited quite a while on some pieces, some way longer than they're meant to, but a few artists have kept me updated on either how the art is coming along or whatever circumstances may cause them to delay the art. although there have been a few times where i have to remind an artist once a month about my art because there are times they forget. it does stink sometimes but that's part of the process. I know that you've kept me updated back when i commissioned you while you were in school and for that i'm grateful.
You may want to switch to filling commission slots with applicants you select. This gives you the ability to limit your exposure to people who tend to refund or be overly anxious about timelines. Open for commission applications for 6 to 24 hours and then pick people and ideas you think would be a good fit or that you've had past good experiences with. Commissioners are also able to spend more time filling out their idea and reading your terms and workflow rather than racing to beat someone else to the send button. Might help!