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Posted 9 years agoTo the artists I've commissioned:
You spoil me. You know that, right?
No joke, you've been wonderful experiences.
You've not spent paragraphs detailing the many various ways in which a commission was not a good fit for your style (despite gallery evidence to the contrary), when what you really wanted to say was, simply, "I don't want to draw X."
Instead, you say "I don't want to draw X." (hasn't happened with you lot, to my pleasure) or "I can't [for cultural reason] draw X as-such, but I can re-interpret to Y while still keeping the spirit and intent of X." (has happened, and great art resulted), or "I don't know how to draw X." (and we look for ways to learn, and do), or "I can only draw from ref images" (so I seek them out -- sometimes from your own work).
You haven't made disingenuous suggestions for modification: Claiming small "tweaks" to a character would suffice, when paragraphs are spent detailing how it could not possibly work because of things that are central to the character, such as her gender, or her culture.
When you post that you're open for commissions, I've appreciated the already-posted notes about what you're comfortable drawing in terms of subject matter, and what you feel competent in drawing in terms of form, without any need to explain. Seriously, I don't need to know details. Being gay, for example, means little when it comes to depicting females, despite rumor to the contrary. Reasons for not taking a commission are your own and are private to your tastes and personality and experience, and are things I respect. Sometimes reasons are unique to a specialized form, have cultural impact, and are worth explaining, and then you show a way to design it which avoids those unique taboos, and simultaneously brings deeper meaning and symbolism into a piece, and it becomes better and more valuable art.
You've taken on challenges, where you didn't necessarily have domain knowledge of, or practice in, certain forms of art or anatomy or cultural references. You've been open to things, and you've been great sports.
You don't jump immediately to "We aren't art factories.".
You don't go on to lecture me how I really need to look at your gallery and see your style. I appreciate that you don't do this when any sensible client can be presumed to have done so, perhaps for some time, and perhaps he also passed the idea by several others -- perhaps, even, another artist. I'm sure some insensible ones do not, but you also don't presume me to be insensible.
You especially don't do so when the commission notes are spent discussing the personality and interests of the character (an approach I learned from a wonderfully successful commission, with my thanks), with only a couple notes on her construction, and not the style in which she's depicted. Particularly when what I'm asking for is something to capture her and her personality, without a request it be cubist, or Jackson-Pollock-Meets-John-Tenniel.
You most especially don't do so when it's readily apparent from your response that you are setting yourself up as an edifice that produces one, very narrow range of product: Penis .. Penis .. Penis.
Yes, you've spoiled me with your professional approach to trading money in exchange to making the world more beautiful. I deeply appreciate it -- it's been a very fun ride, and I hope that my commissions spoil you somewhat. Not too much, however, since I'll then worry that you're getting work that is just un-fun, un-valuable, and un-helpful to you.
What I'm interested in:
- Helping support your talent, because I can, and because artists in general are under-compensated and under-appreciated and there needs to be more beauty in the world.
- Giving you a break from the slog of porn, because there's more to art than sex. (But I'll keep the nudes, TYVM.)
- Providing you a chance to take an idea and run with it -- that's how Oddr started, and why Þiálfi looks so awesome, and why I'm looking forward to further work.
- Giving you an opportunity to expand your experience a little (and taking that opportunity is something I admire in any field).
- Enabling both sides to have fun with it, because that's how more art comes in the future.
.. And I hope that's what I've given you. Aside from my money, which I've considered well-traded, and will certainly seek to trade more of in the future.
Sincerely --
You spoil me. You know that, right?
No joke, you've been wonderful experiences.
You've not spent paragraphs detailing the many various ways in which a commission was not a good fit for your style (despite gallery evidence to the contrary), when what you really wanted to say was, simply, "I don't want to draw X."
Instead, you say "I don't want to draw X." (hasn't happened with you lot, to my pleasure) or "I can't [for cultural reason] draw X as-such, but I can re-interpret to Y while still keeping the spirit and intent of X." (has happened, and great art resulted), or "I don't know how to draw X." (and we look for ways to learn, and do), or "I can only draw from ref images" (so I seek them out -- sometimes from your own work).
You haven't made disingenuous suggestions for modification: Claiming small "tweaks" to a character would suffice, when paragraphs are spent detailing how it could not possibly work because of things that are central to the character, such as her gender, or her culture.
When you post that you're open for commissions, I've appreciated the already-posted notes about what you're comfortable drawing in terms of subject matter, and what you feel competent in drawing in terms of form, without any need to explain. Seriously, I don't need to know details. Being gay, for example, means little when it comes to depicting females, despite rumor to the contrary. Reasons for not taking a commission are your own and are private to your tastes and personality and experience, and are things I respect. Sometimes reasons are unique to a specialized form, have cultural impact, and are worth explaining, and then you show a way to design it which avoids those unique taboos, and simultaneously brings deeper meaning and symbolism into a piece, and it becomes better and more valuable art.
You've taken on challenges, where you didn't necessarily have domain knowledge of, or practice in, certain forms of art or anatomy or cultural references. You've been open to things, and you've been great sports.
You don't jump immediately to "We aren't art factories.".
You don't go on to lecture me how I really need to look at your gallery and see your style. I appreciate that you don't do this when any sensible client can be presumed to have done so, perhaps for some time, and perhaps he also passed the idea by several others -- perhaps, even, another artist. I'm sure some insensible ones do not, but you also don't presume me to be insensible.
You especially don't do so when the commission notes are spent discussing the personality and interests of the character (an approach I learned from a wonderfully successful commission, with my thanks), with only a couple notes on her construction, and not the style in which she's depicted. Particularly when what I'm asking for is something to capture her and her personality, without a request it be cubist, or Jackson-Pollock-Meets-John-Tenniel.
You most especially don't do so when it's readily apparent from your response that you are setting yourself up as an edifice that produces one, very narrow range of product: Penis .. Penis .. Penis.
Yes, you've spoiled me with your professional approach to trading money in exchange to making the world more beautiful. I deeply appreciate it -- it's been a very fun ride, and I hope that my commissions spoil you somewhat. Not too much, however, since I'll then worry that you're getting work that is just un-fun, un-valuable, and un-helpful to you.
What I'm interested in:
- Helping support your talent, because I can, and because artists in general are under-compensated and under-appreciated and there needs to be more beauty in the world.
- Giving you a break from the slog of porn, because there's more to art than sex. (But I'll keep the nudes, TYVM.)
- Providing you a chance to take an idea and run with it -- that's how Oddr started, and why Þiálfi looks so awesome, and why I'm looking forward to further work.
- Giving you an opportunity to expand your experience a little (and taking that opportunity is something I admire in any field).
- Enabling both sides to have fun with it, because that's how more art comes in the future.
.. And I hope that's what I've given you. Aside from my money, which I've considered well-traded, and will certainly seek to trade more of in the future.
Sincerely --
Regarding Oddr, Fálki, Bera, and Þiálfi...
Posted 9 years agoTagged by 
Umuhk [ http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/7522780/ ]. I'm breaking various rules.
Name: Oddr Þiálfason
Age: early 40s
Occupation: Scholar/Messenger of the Court
Gallery: http://www.furaffinity.net/gallery/.....er/166486/Oddr
1. He has a fraternal twin brother (Fálki), and a younger sister (Bera) from his other mother.
2. His eyes show his mood, like the rest of his world.
3. He prefers to use his own legs rather than ride a werewolf.
4. He collects books, which he likes to read at night next to a fire, probably with a drink at his side.
5. He can play a horn.
6. Like the rest of his kind, nudity is his norm, though he does have some ceremonial regalia.
7. He's being groomed as a novitiate by a ruling power.
8. He was a heraldic monster invented on a lark to give a friend something to draw: a woodwose with the head of a stag and the tail of a wolf. He was almost a cynoceph.
Name: Fálki Þiálfason
Age: early 40s
Occupation: Fisherman, Ice harvester
Gallery: http://www.furaffinity.net/gallery/.....r/198752/Falki
1. Lives with Oddr.
2. He's the dumb jock, counterpoint to his brother, the sophisticate.
3. It's rumored he's bedded all the available women in his village, and half the men. This rumor is not hard to believe.
4. He's his sister's favorite canvas.
5. He fishes dragon-fish. He caught his first one without his uncle's help on a summer's day on the water with Oddr and Bera.
6. He's somewhat intimidated by the mysterious attention shown his brother.
7. He misses his uncle a lot.
8. He's got moose features because of his personality. I wanted something that seemed lumbering and not-too-bright and associated with water.
Name: Bera Dalladóttir
Age: mid-30s
Occupation: Artist, ritualist
Gallery: http://www.furaffinity.net/gallery/.....er/196058/Bera
1. Lives with her mothers, Dalla (biological mother) and Þora (mother of Oddr and Fálki).
2. Art is a transcendent experience for her.
3. Practices a number of hand-arts: paint (petroglyph favored), tattoo, carving, metalwork, piercing, sculpting...
4. She was a bit of a punk growing up.
5. As she got older, she turned her arts to include ritual art, such as carving the antlers of those who died young.
6. Loves decorating herself -- frequently has cuffs and chains in her antlers.
7. Usually has paint-stained hands.
8. Her form is patterned off a Peary caribou. Sometimes their forward branches fuse, forming a palmate branch much like a mohawk. Go figure.
Name: Þiálfi Belason
Age: mid-50s
Occupation: Seer, Bear-herder
Gallery: http://www.furaffinity.net/gallery/.....176833/Thialfi
1. Mated to Þora and Dalla, and has three children; lives alone, near Oddr and Fálki.
2. Herds bears astride his werewolf, who has been with the family for generations.
3. Hold high status in his village, and is a seer/goði among them, providing advice and leadership.
4. Very much a traditionalist.
5. Had a brother with whom he was living, who was lost during a fishing expedition.
6. Tends to decorate himself sparingly, but well. The cuffs on his antlers and braids were made by Bera.
7. Has a dry wit, and good sense of gravitas, which Oddr's been learning from.
8. I have a fondness for reindeer as a motif, and got married in a reindeer hide. Go figure.
Umuhk [ http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/7522780/ ]. I'm breaking various rules.Name: Oddr Þiálfason
Age: early 40s
Occupation: Scholar/Messenger of the Court
Gallery: http://www.furaffinity.net/gallery/.....er/166486/Oddr
1. He has a fraternal twin brother (Fálki), and a younger sister (Bera) from his other mother.
2. His eyes show his mood, like the rest of his world.
3. He prefers to use his own legs rather than ride a werewolf.
4. He collects books, which he likes to read at night next to a fire, probably with a drink at his side.
5. He can play a horn.
6. Like the rest of his kind, nudity is his norm, though he does have some ceremonial regalia.
7. He's being groomed as a novitiate by a ruling power.
8. He was a heraldic monster invented on a lark to give a friend something to draw: a woodwose with the head of a stag and the tail of a wolf. He was almost a cynoceph.
Name: Fálki Þiálfason
Age: early 40s
Occupation: Fisherman, Ice harvester
Gallery: http://www.furaffinity.net/gallery/.....r/198752/Falki
1. Lives with Oddr.
2. He's the dumb jock, counterpoint to his brother, the sophisticate.
3. It's rumored he's bedded all the available women in his village, and half the men. This rumor is not hard to believe.
4. He's his sister's favorite canvas.
5. He fishes dragon-fish. He caught his first one without his uncle's help on a summer's day on the water with Oddr and Bera.
6. He's somewhat intimidated by the mysterious attention shown his brother.
7. He misses his uncle a lot.
8. He's got moose features because of his personality. I wanted something that seemed lumbering and not-too-bright and associated with water.
Name: Bera Dalladóttir
Age: mid-30s
Occupation: Artist, ritualist
Gallery: http://www.furaffinity.net/gallery/.....er/196058/Bera
1. Lives with her mothers, Dalla (biological mother) and Þora (mother of Oddr and Fálki).
2. Art is a transcendent experience for her.
3. Practices a number of hand-arts: paint (petroglyph favored), tattoo, carving, metalwork, piercing, sculpting...
4. She was a bit of a punk growing up.
5. As she got older, she turned her arts to include ritual art, such as carving the antlers of those who died young.
6. Loves decorating herself -- frequently has cuffs and chains in her antlers.
7. Usually has paint-stained hands.
8. Her form is patterned off a Peary caribou. Sometimes their forward branches fuse, forming a palmate branch much like a mohawk. Go figure.
Name: Þiálfi Belason
Age: mid-50s
Occupation: Seer, Bear-herder
Gallery: http://www.furaffinity.net/gallery/.....176833/Thialfi
1. Mated to Þora and Dalla, and has three children; lives alone, near Oddr and Fálki.
2. Herds bears astride his werewolf, who has been with the family for generations.
3. Hold high status in his village, and is a seer/goði among them, providing advice and leadership.
4. Very much a traditionalist.
5. Had a brother with whom he was living, who was lost during a fishing expedition.
6. Tends to decorate himself sparingly, but well. The cuffs on his antlers and braids were made by Bera.
7. Has a dry wit, and good sense of gravitas, which Oddr's been learning from.
8. I have a fondness for reindeer as a motif, and got married in a reindeer hide. Go figure.
