I guess it's alright, I was actually looking forward to the july opening cause that would have been my first time commissioning you.

If it's any consolation, I am not quitting commissions any time soon. I'm just reorganizing how I do everything so I can be productive and more timely.

I don't know cause I would actually had the chance to grab a slot cause I was here early and next time I don't know if I'll get the same luck.

I think you should definitely do what makes the most sense for ya, dude, even if that means not doing the sketch days. I would suggest that, should you do away with them, you set up a way for folks to know in advance when you might open up (like a rough time frame) so that people know when to prepare to nab a slot from ya, given they go so fast! But above all I just hope you're able to get to a place where you're happier with your workflow and feel better about the volume of stuff that you're managing. Best of luck with finding that balance! I'm sure you'll figure out something good that works for you ^^

Yes I'd like to do that. I will be more comfortable with a schedule once I know I wont be running late on peoples work. Once I'm back on track I'll likely start opening on a planned date and time and make it concrete. That way everyone knows what to expect.

That sounds like an excellent plan!

If you wish to retain it, you could always adjust the format to better suit your workflow and volume.
Give out a set number of slots depending on what you're feeling comfortable with. Perhaps even let as many people submit ideas as they like and then you pick/raffle through them one by one as you have free time to work on it. There's no reason to have such a rigid daily structure, some months you may have a lot of sketches done and some you might have less, but it's more flexible.

I do like the idea of having people submit ideas and raffling through a certain number for the month. I've always been hesitant of picking them myself and having people feel like they aren't given a fair chance at work from me. Picking at random may help.

It's something to consider. Thank you!

Nothing's wrong with dropping sketch days - considering you're sniped faster than a PS5/XBSX/30x0 card listing at retail price... it may be time to change things.

Maybe a queue system could also work? Similar to how some other artists do it, where certain days are allotted to work, but you can't rejoin the queue until your pic has been done&paid for?

HAH! That's for sure. They go a little too fast while I'm trying to get people queued up.

I might move on to doing a simple queue in no particular order. Still keeping it monthly. Gotta think on it for a bit.

Thanks for the input!

Yes, I would not object to waiting a few months for a pic if it meant we would be on the queue - I feel that was sort of the intention of limiting us from being on the sketch queue during consecutive months.

Understandable, and take it easy as you can.~

Thank you for the support!

It's definitely a difficult thing to think on and I don't envy the task ahead of you! Still, I want to preface this with something others have already said: you need to do what works best for you first and foremost!

I really like the sketch days commissions - I like that they're quick turnaround, that there's a lot of artistic leeway for you (wonderful surprises <3), and they're pretty affordable too! I always feel like I can try for one even if I've got other commissions going at the time.

That being said, there are a lot of limitations from the commissioner standpoint - completely understandable ones! Regular commission openings with a slightly longer process opens up possibilities a little more for things like sequences with multiple characters or bigger pieces in general. The one month cooldown on daily sketches is great, but the slots still get quickly snapped up by people who can pay close attention. There's no perfect way to handle it, but missing an opening because you were in a work meeting never stops sucking, haha.

All in all, I love your art and I love getting art from you, so I'll be happy to follow however you decide to move forward! As long as you're happy with your work and your process, it'll be great! And honestly, even just keeping open lines of communication like this makes commissioning you one of the most awesome experiences, so thank you! <3 <3

Thank you so much for being supportive. It's always a joy to work with you and I'm happy you have gotten something out of my sketches and that you find it worth it. How excited people get for sketch openings is one of the reasons I continue the sketch days.
Finding a good way to give everyone a good chance at getting slots regularly...now that's difficult.

I think it's great you're ahead of the game, before the situation put you in a bad spot or cut off options.

Thank you for your confidence in me! Now I just have to decide how to do this moving forward.

An issue of volume and too many clients too little time can be fixed with increased prices.
Your work is incredibly detailed and well thought out, it's easily worth much more than you're charging.
As long as you're getting too many clients to handle its usually safe to increase prices - I hope you're able to find a balance that works for you! Doing that can be the hardest thing about doing freelance work like this, tbh.

I'm going to be adjusting prices for sure. Partly because I still hardly make a living wage, but also because my work does seem to be in high demand these days.
I struggle with the prospect of pricing out some of my regulars, even if I still get enough people to fill my queues. Its something I'm going to have to make peace with eventually. It's comforting to know people don't think I am ripping them off and I have room to charge a little more.

Anyways!

Thank you for your support and input! Always appreciated.

Honestly if I were you I'd raise my prices! Your work is crazy popular - you could easily charge more and do less work overall. Or maintain roughly the same throughput and just have more cash in your pockets. Something to consider... ;P

Thank you for the input! I do think I need to raise my prices but I'm always hesitant. It's less daunting when several regulars tell me to increase the pricing. It's always hard to evaluate what my work is worth especially when everyone around me seems to undercharge.

Maybe sketch days could be more spread out like once every 2 days or something like that, and if you're worried about it filling up too quickly open 2 months at a time.

Bump your rate, your slots fill out within literal minutes. You'd probably fill up in one hour at double what you charge currently.

Some have stated a lot of great suggestions, and I love your art, your content, and what you have been doing so far. (Honestly, you're such a beast considering you've been doing the daily sketch dealio).

If I may make another suggestion, potentially a hybrid of your old system and some/most of the great suggestions. I do believe you should up your prices a bit (the amount of detail and your consistent work seems awesome). And definitely consider a raffle system, one I've seen done before is people commenting on a journal post and then the artist running a random number generator to select the winners for the number of slots they're accepting that month. (P-Sebae does this on a semi-monthly basis)

A next level one would be to use google forms (or something similar), have necessary details in it (commissioner name, FA/Twitter info, payment info, comm description, refs/sketches, and whatever else), and then randomly selecting a number of forms to fill your slot. The person I've seen use this method has their form open for 24-36 hours, this allows them the ability to personally sort through and pluck the comms they like, notifying the winners and then filling out a queue. (Angrboda did this last time, and had a nice list of 3-4 images to complete weekly since May)

You do awesome work, and you have many fans and followers who adore your work. I hope you are able to relax and enjoy your July, I wish you the best and hope that you are able to find the perfect balance for the remaining year! If you would love a hand in setting something up for it, I know I'm a stranger, but I have a few google form templates on hand I'd be happy to help you out with.

Keep being awesome!

This is all great input. I appreciate the thoughtful response.

I am definitely considering the raffle system and having people pre fill out forms. I had actually forgotten about google forms till now. I'm going to write that down and look further into it. I haven't touched it before but it looks straight forward enough.
Could you possibly share some templates if its easy to do so? If just for reference to see what other do.

Thank you!

With the quality and speed you do your commissions as well as the demand, I'm very surprised you haven't charged more for your work. You've most certainly earned it.

Thank you! Now the trick is figuring how much I should adjust my pricing.