#and i dont want artists to undersell their work

[grymmdark]

going to the massive annual craft fair in my city. i both love and hate it bc on one hand, i love handmade stuff, but on the other hand, i only have like $60.

[skeletoninthemelonland]

First of all, so so sorry your situation. Im in a similar one actually so I really hope you're okay. Even though it's not dire, mine isn't either, it's very draining and can be super overwhelming since you dont have the support of your parents to guide you. People have already mentioned keeping documents in order. you mentioned commissions, time how long it takes you do to things and decided how you'd like to be paid based on the hour. Do Not undersell yourself. If you're uncomfortable with people maybe seeing your real name/using real info for payments, there are companies that work as your registered agent (at least that's what it's called in the usa) that you can use the address of for a yearly fee

You can also look into passive income things with art like making stickers for redbubble and Ive heard about artists making stock images before but I don't know how that really work tbh ^^;

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here's a good post on general adult knowledge

here's a post on things to know once your out

Always Pay Rent First. Normally there's always some sort of way to get food, losing your apartment makes it super hard to keep a job

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As for staying sane, people really help. Not necessarily even talking a whole ton.

Going and sitting at a cafe or park. wandering around a mall.

It's why I adore anime cons. You can look up board game or crafting groups in your area. If you're lgbtqia you can look for nearby queer centers, they're really helpful for advice and resources. Libraries are ridiculously useful. My nearby one hosts plenty of events and has a poster board for nearby event happening. You can just spend the afternoon there.

Journaling and deep breathing and calm music all really help me too.

Therapy has always been the most helpful but not everyone has access to that.

Also getting a good nights rest. So many of my problems have been helped a lot by getting better sleeping habits

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As for where to move, think about things like climate, laws, how the people there act. My town is super queer friendly but two towns over they're very much not, so be careful. Normally a simple google search on the name of a town can tell you a lot about it.

When picking out apartments, things like if you have animals or a car are super important. I have a car so Im looking for somewhere that has dedicated parking cause I can't afford someone hitting it when it's parked on the side walk.

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There are jobs that lead into other jobs. Knowing powered equipment, such as forklifts, can score you better paying jobs in the future.

If you're looking into something art wise, just focus on portfolio, no one cares if you went to college as long as you can do what they need.

There's also apps for things like setting up dog sitting. I've also heard of event staffing companies that'll give you jobs as they come, never done it though so look thoroughly into that.

you can look up the average rent/utilities and such of a town you want to live in to get an idea of what you'll be paying

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Credit score is super important in the usa to renting, but I don't know if you have that or an equivalent. If there's is, there should be secured credit cards that help you start building credit if you have none.

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Just remember that this won't last forever and you got this!! it's painful and scary but it's temporary.

Also remember that you still deserve better even though you're not being abused, it still hurts and that's vaild.

I dont know if any of this is helpful but I wish you the best and feel free to ask questions if you need anything :D

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[lywnx]

hello!!!! I'm thinking of starting commissions and was wondering if you have any advice? I don't want to do anything super serious yet, my skill isn't good enough yet, but I figure for 7 bucks someone somewhere may want something I'm willing to draw.. idk you do comms and your art is very pretty so I figure you'd be a good person to ask

AWW thank you!! this is gonna be a bit long sooooo!! more under the cut!!

the first thing is to not undercharge your work. some artists start by selling their work for 1usd, 2usd and think this might make others more interested bc its cheap right? but thts not how it works. the price you put is how much your comm is WORTH. when i first came back to instagram (with NO following) my prices were $10 for a bust, $15 for a halfbody and $25 for a fullbody. keep in mind i worked faster back then but my quality wasnt the same that it is today. so generally u should aim for similar prices, this way youre not losing too much and not underselling yourself. even if it doesnt take long to draw, people are still paying for ur knowledge and time. doesnt matter if u take 20 mins or 3 hours. n its likely to get peoples attention too, since a $15 piece might be better in quality than a $1 piece right? once youve got a stable income, you can start by upping your prices. i always like to tell people to keep a difference between prices since each piece is very different. a fullbody by me costs $95 today, for the fact the composition takes a bit to create, its a more complex piece, etc. so dont go with 15 - 20 - 25. try to go with 10 increments at the very LEAST. 'oh but i am not getting as much comms anymore!!' ur working less for more money. now ur taking ONE $40 commission instead of 3 $15 commissions. another thing is, giving how all social medias are not fit for artists right now, things will be a bit harder. when i first started i had access to twitter and instagram algorithm wasnt so bad. nowadays, differnt story. but do NOT let this stop you. take advantage from all sites available to you, promote your art everywhere. a good tip is to be present online. interact with your public, others, share their works, create a community. this is what matters the most. this is what will get you far. i also reccomend discord serves tons (u can join mine! its on my carrd), as u can reach even more people. try to keep ur social media as active possible. but also REMEMBER TO TAKE BREAKS. ur mental health is also important and burnout is something serious. no matter how hard this can be, u got this. remember, that artist that gets $300 in a comm also had to start somewhere. u can do this.

[a-wild-kobold-appeared]

I dont wanna be given a friend discount by an artist. I want the friend tax to be imposed on me!! Charge me heckin 20% more and ill still gently threaten you with a massive tip on top

By the way also just tip artists in general, they do good work and- everyone before me has said this before- but they undersell themselves a lot!!

Give them that big hecking tip.

[bowtiestash]

Commissions are open! Reblogs are appreciated :^)

Please refer to this google doc here for more commission information. (Open slot information will be included in it.) I will be taking commissions via my commiss.io, where you can request a project. 

If you have any inquiries, please EMAIL me at bowtiestash@gmail.com! Since I am not so active on tumblr, it may take a while for me to get back to you if you DM me here. 

If you’d like to support me but can’t afford a commission, there’s also my ko-fi you can donate to. Any little donation/commission helps loads, especially since I can’t handle a job right now. 

[rainbowsans]

Idk if anyone's asked this yet but do you have any advise for someone who wants to open commissions but isn't sure how to?

I’ve had some people ask me this and I’ve been trying to make a long post about it but fjdjjdjdjf in all honestly I’m also still learning too

But from my experience here’s some stuff I know!

never undersell yourself or your art, if you’re having trouble deciding on pricing your art there’s helpful resources online about the subject in hand in a more detailed manner. keep in mind in how long some drawings take you and work with that. your time and work is important

you don’t need a fancy sheet for your commission examples and prices like some artists have, just something simple can work! a commission sheet should have 3 things: examples of your work, prices, and certain rules!

in your rules, don’t be afraid to make sure you point out on do’s and dont’s in your commission sheet or descriptions! no one wants to work on something that might make them uncomfortable, so make sure you type that down somewhere in your commissions post so others can know what you can or can’t draw wether it be complexity, fandoms, and triggers and such!

some artists form of payment is different so make sure you know what works best for you, my way is the “pay upfront” type of thing but other people work differently so there’s plenty of other resources of that in the matter

communication is key! make sure you always keep your commissioner up to date on their commission and such, not every single day every second but if something comes up or if you have any questions they’ll understand, patience is key but maintaining good communication with them is good too!

and most importantly! make sure you have a paypal! when your taking commissions you wanna have a PayPal for people to properly pay you, and PayPal is the best way to do it!

[bubblyernie]

hey! i'm just starting out with posting art to social media and getting commissions ready, and i was curious how you went about outlining yours? how do you set a price range? also, how do you keep yourself motivated to draw often? thank you! love your art btw, it's lovely!

Hi! That sounds lovely broski, good on you for getting your art out there! This is gonna be a lot of writing so

I usually give like really vague advice when it comes to this stuff so dont feel obligated to follow it, thats just my personal experience. That being said, I have been doing this for quite a long time (like...7-8 years being online, maybe about 5 as a commissioned artist)

So first things first would actually be to ask your audience. I know thats hard when youre just starting out so theres not many people there. Basically my rule of thumb of “when should i open commissions?” is when someone asks you “hey what do you charge for commissions?” because then you know you got like, a payoff. 

Same goes for prices, you can usually ask your audience what theyre willing to pay because everyone is different — people who market super big and professional illustrations will likely have adult clients who can pay more than people who do it as a side job/hobby and market towards a tween/teenage audience. Don’t undersell yourself (guilty as charged, my bad) but don’t price so high that your audience can’t afford it (tricky balance but youll learn to gage it with time). Also remember to factor in experience, material cost and time cost — I’ve been steadily raising prices since I started, I didn’t jump in with like, 40 bucks off the bat, I started at 15. As my experience and speed grew with the medium, as well as my audience, I found myself being comfortable with charging more.

Definitely find a work-life balance. I am NOT by ANY MEANS a standard, like im off the shits for posting daily so dont force yourself to do that. Im motivated because like, well, 1. its my career 2. it’s my job (and yes those are two different things) 3. i like being able to fulfill the wishes of whoever’s willing to support me through monetary means!

Lastly just like. Find what works for you? Idk if you want to do this as a full time job or just for some extra cash, just make sure you have guidelines and are friendly with your commissioners. How strict you are with them is def up to you, just remember that at the end of the day there has to be mutual respect

[aintmyjewelry]

thoughts on concert ticket prices

If we’re looking at just the actual price before the additions, I have such a love/hate relationship. Some artists are super cheap for like no reason like I got see Keith Urban, 3rd row for $50 which was truly unbelievable i dont even know how anyone gets away with that but it was great and i think he was highkey underselling himself especially since he had 2 opening acts.

I think the number of acts you get with a ticket really makes or break the sole price sometimes. For example, when Kenny Chesney tours he has 3-4 opening acts it’s a whole fucking festival before he ever comes on stage and I’ve gotten his tickets for like $100-$200 on their own which i mean I’m getting a whole day concert it usually starts at 1pm and goes until 11pm so yeah i’m gonna flush out a little more willingly.

But then I see some people like Justin Timberlake who is rightfully a big name but certainly had not been touring that frequently when he put out his latest album and he’s charging $200 to sit in level 300 and i just??? he’s been out of the game I cannot trust i’m gonna get a stellar performance he’s gotta work up his trust again with his audience to charge that much. SAME GOES FOR THE JONAS BROTHERS. do not be charging me almost $300 on your reunion tour when i dont even know how you guys can perform together. Haven’t seen it since like 2011!

Now, if we’re looking at this as the price after all the Ticketmaster additions and “Service” fees I get really fucking fed up. I saw Dan + Shay once and the service fees were equivalent to the price of another seat. We essentially bought another seat in the arena just in service fees and I think that’s fucking insane. I get the point of adding on if you request the tickets to be mailed to you, which i prefer to do, but if i’m just printing them or they’re on the app??? what the fuck am i realistically paying for. I swear sometimes they tact on more because they know popular artists will have more fans willing to pay for the price gauge..... *cough* Taylor Swift, Harry Styles..... *cough*

Okay, well, that was probably way more opinion than you actually wanted but in conclusion, fuck service fees but actual price of one ticket before fees usually isn’t that bad if you look at what you all get :)

ask me “thoughts on ______”

[spearxwind]

Hey! I'm a fellow artist that's in love with your work! Seriously it's amazing! I was wondering if I could ask a question that you can totally ignore if you don't feel like answering but I don't have any art friends to ask. Do you have any tips for a person who's new to the process of doing online commissions? I've never done any before but always wanted to, life just threw an expensive curve ball at me too so now's probably a good time to start 😅 any suggestions?

Gosh I’m not too versed in this but!! I’ll try and give you some tips!!

1. definitely use paypal for this, if it wasn’t obvious. it’s pretty much the standard. Refer to this thread for more info (its a very good thread) https://twitter.com/CritterValley/status/1196531931644477442?s=202. don’t undersell yourself! just bc you’re new to the game doesnt mean you have to earn less than what you’re worth  2.5  if this is for an emergency feel free to do an announcement with that in mind, people will often be more willing to help if there’s a goal in mind, and they get cool things in return! 

3. definitely charge upfront always, speaking from experience. unless its something super expensive in which case you should charge half of the price upfront and then charge the other half before sending in your work to the client

4. don’t have high expectations when starting. some people immediately get commissions, and others take a good while to get clients because, if you’ve never done comms then chances are you have not attracted a client crowd. this is super normal so don’t be disheartened if you dont get many people at first! just keep at it for a good while!

5. have set prices and clear examples of each, plus have your post as easy to read/ easy on the eyes as possible. i cant count the amount of times i wanted to commission someone but I didnt bc their contact info/process was incomprehensible or their image announcements hurt to look at 

idk if im forgetting anything atm but!! i hope this helps!! good luck dude you can do it! i believe in you :D

[leeloooonfire]

I get why a lot of people might feel uncomfortable with ABO - if its handled wrongly, it can be very damaging.

But the same goes for fluff or hurt/comfort or any other genre/fic themes.

I've read stories about falling in love which were supposed to be ok, but portrayed incredibly unhealthy relationships as ok and the healthy ones.

At the same time, I've read ABO stories were the author handled the very complicated topic of gender, sex and forced upon stereotypes very delicately, carefully and in such a healthy manner, I was seriously impressed and happy to have tried the fics.

And a lot more people should read these fics instead of the fluff where one of the characters suddenly has an abusive and controlling partner, but this fic is claimed as the "not-fucked-up" one.

Also, I seriously dont understand the comment 'a dying fandom'...let's be a bit honest here. A fandom only dies when the people are not willing to do content anymore. A fandom doesn't die with the end of a show or with disbanding of a group, but because people choose to stop creating (which is their right and its absolutely ok to move on) and if people choose to not consume creative content anymore.

To the person who wrote this comment and anyone like them:

1) if you're unhappy with the stories or art to pick - create it yourself. You want something? Do it yourself. You claim your fandom is dying? Work for it, honey.

2) maybe, if you let authors and artist try whatever they want and you support them instead of insulting, they will come back with content you will enjoy....maybe you could commission them to do so if you like their writing or art style? (And creators: dont give it for free and get the money for the work you do, dont let them take it from you. You deserve this kind of validation as well! And dont undersell yourselves - you and your time and art are more worth than most of you think)

Maybe you could have been an active member of a fandom who supports creators instead of insulting them with such comments, because that's not ok.

3) honey, do us ALL THE FAVOUR and read the tags. Are you this lonely and bored that you have to comment on fics you'll probably dont like due to the topic? Get a job or a hobby...maybe start writing....and then write your own god damn stories. How about this?! ;)

I know this isn’t the typical fare for this blog, so I understand if it doesn’t get posted, but I felt this needed to be highlighted to a wider audience than my own.

The rise of ABO fic is not the death-knell of a fandom. Far from it. Some of us (not all) simply want to explore gender identity within the safety of much-loved characters.

ABO isn’t everybody’s cup of tea. I get that. That’s fine. I refer you to the ancient fanfic edicts of “don’t like, don’t read”, or taking it one stop further, in the words of a valued member of my fandom “don’t yuk on other people’s yums”.

I’m sure I’m not the only ABO writer getting this, and as much as this comment stung (it was more personal than the previous trolling I got), what made my day was watching my fandom rally around and ever so politely smackdown this commenter. Much love to them all.

[image ID: an ao3 comment that reads “Why is it when a fandom dies, that this omega/alpha/fuckknowswhat shit is always the last thing left standing? The decent authors migrate elsewhere but the weirdo’s remain. Like cockroaches.”]

—

I’m not going to post this as a comment of the day because, like you said, this isn’t what this blog celebrates. In fact, this is the type of comment that makes me wonder why this person even clicked into the fic in the first place. 

A/B/O isn’t for everyone. Neither is fluff or hurt/comfort or whump or any other genre of fic. I’ve never actually read an A/B/O fic myself, but I’ve been learning more about the genre in the last year or so and I think I could probably find some very interesting stories there. I’m just not reading much of any kind of fiction at all right now. My brain is too occupied with the real world, unfortunately for me. 

Much like RPF, A/B/O gets a bad rep in fandom and in the wider non-fandom world. People don’t understand it and so they mock it. They reduce it down to the most shocking stories and think everything is like that. Even if it were, that wouldn’t be a reason to hate on it. It certainly isn’t a reason to compare fellow fans to cockroaches.

I would encourage people to take a breath and reconsider before they post this kind of message - especially in an author’s comment section. Why ruin someone else’s day when you really don’t have to? If something isn’t what you want, just leave quietly and let the people who do like it enjoy it in peace.

[the-tragic-heroine]

hello! i am a singaporean artist as well, and hope to venture into merch making. i was wondering if you could tell me where you got your acrylic charms and enamel pins printed! and also, if you dont mind, some advice on boothing at cons! i really love your work aaahhhhhh;;

Hello!! Thank you so much ;v;;;; I hope this reply wasn’t too late orz I’m really glad!!! I got my acrylic charms from Vograce and my enamel pins from yyyproducts! Contact them both directly and talk to the service reps if you would like to order from them :) Just be aware that when it comes to sharing merch sources, companies can be overwhelmed with orders and make the quality of their work go down.

As for advice on boothing at cons, is there anything specific you would like to know? If not I’ll just lay out some very general pieces of advice that I think are pretty important!

Smile, be friendly, don’t push people to buy your work, but also engage with them if they seem like they’re interested! Boothing can be scary at first because it is very much a social job, but the more you do it the more you’ll come to recognise social cues from potential customers. Try not to seem too disinterested or be on your phone all the time!

Don’t undersell your work! Check prices of what other people are selling and try to match for something similar. Keep in mind the production price of what you made and make sure you make some profit. Sometimes I see people selling merch for EXTREMELY cheap and this only hurts fellow artists.

Don’t overestimate how much you can sell. It’s easy to think it would be better to order merch in bulk because the more you buy the cheaper each product is, but it is more difficult than you might think to sell every piece unless you are already a popular artist. What will happen is that you will end up with a stock of merch you just can’t get rid of gathering dust and taking up space in your house. For example, for prints, 5-10 of each design for a con is already enough.

Don’t be disappointed in yourself if you don’t make as much as you expected or if you didn’t sell much of an item. Although we follow market trends such as selling artwork of popular subjects (popular anime, cute cats and dogs), it can also be difficult to predict exactly how well something will sell. It’s not necessarily the fault of your artwork. Plus, if a market is too saturated with a certain subject matter, it can also make things more difficult! It’s good to keep up with trends but don’t rely on them. Nowadays, they change too quickly.

Make friends with other artists! Give yourself some time during the con to walk around and say hi to other boothers. It’s a good way of putting yourself out there, gaining new followers, and even trading some merch. (Art trades typically happen within the last hour on the last day of the convention.) We all want to support each other! I especially love supporting small artists as much as I can.

Booth together with other people! It is so much easier to handle boothing when you are working together with a partner. I often group together with around 1-3 other artists and we help each other when it comes to setting up, making sales, and packaging up merch for customers. It also won’t be as boring during the lazy parts of the day when traffic is low.

Boothing is more tiring than it seems. Sure, you’re just sitting around all day, but with the amount of people coming and going it can be quite draining. Prepare yourself to be spent once the day is over. This is probably a given for any event but be sure you get enough sleep the night before!

Wow, that was a lot more than I expected to write! It really depends on the person but for me, as tiring as it is, I love boothing and it is always so rewarding knowing that people are willing to pay money for your work. Sometimes I’ll see familiar faces and people wearing my merch and it just makes me so warm and fuzzy inside. 

Wishing you all the best with your convention endeavours and please do drop by to say hi if you see me! ;v; I love meeting new people and making new friends! Thank you for the ask, dear!

(If this is helpful for anyone, feel free to reblog!)

[miranda-mundt-art]

What advice would you give to younger teen artists that was to start commissions for the first time and what is the exact process?

Everyones process is different. Obviously people are inclined to go for cheaper because they think it will sell more but you have to think of the reason why you are doing it - to make money in some capacity- so you can’t completely undersell yourself. 

What I try to do is break it down by  

How long does it take me to do it (time)

What do I accept as a basic per-hour rate (worth/experience)

Example, if it takes you 2 hours to do a fully colored portrait and you are okay with making $10 an hour then you’d charge about 20 bucks for a fully colored headshot. Where as if it takes you 2 hours but you only charge 10 then  you’re essentially making 5 dollars an hour. I know my prices aren’t the lowest, I often think that they are too high. But you have to know what you can handle and certainly dont do 6 hours worth of work for the equivalent of 1 dollar per hour, you know? 

Also, I do it so that I get paid entirely in advance- I talk with the person and discuss what they want and then when I accept it they send me the money. I know a lot of people will do sketches to start and then once the person agrees THEN they send the money. It’s up to whatever you think makes you more comfortable. I think it’s good to check in with them though if you have a question in the middle of what your working on. Let me know if that helps and feel free to PM me if you have any other questions! 

[jacintavu]

*has casually been stalking your Tumblr while waiting for things to render* Do you have any specific way you chose your color schemes? Also, what's your process of creating OC's? And any tips for anyone aspiring to become a commissioned artist? Sorry for all the questions...

hi!!! dont apologize for your questions! feel free to message me here or dm on twitter at any time :) im always willing to answer!! i on the other hand would like to apologize for actually being the worst at giving advice so HERE U GO

in regards to color schemes i have a really good eye when it comes to picking colors that scintillate well together (which can be a good thing if you want that, but that isn’t necessarily the case LOL) In some of my more recent models I picked a large range of colors that seemed to work together!! i dont know how i did it but my thinking process was basically> what color does a pond look like? yellows, greens and blues? what colors are interesting when you use them in shadow with those colors? purples and reds! this basically led to a complimentary and analogous color scheme happening in multiple places but they didnt clash and meshed well together. if i find colors clashing, i will try to ask myself why they dont look good together. is it because the color doesnt match the scheme or does it take away from the overall composition? i hope this helps??? IN TERMS OF OCS... i dont really take care of my children all too well?? i have 7 children, S E V E N!!! i am constantly rehashing them, changing their names and appearances since i’ve had them since i was 10! but for two years now i haven’t changed their appearances because i’ve finally settled down with an iconic look for each of them that i genuinely feel like, is them! (their names are still constantly changing)they like to thrive in my brain but when it comes to fleshing them out i have a really hard time. Concept art and character design arent really my strong suits, so i try to come up with characteristics that i want to see in a person, and what i see in people that i dont really like. Those two things can make characters more believable in my eyes? 

in regards to becoming a commissioned artist, just do it! theres nothing stopping you or holding you back! definitely dont undersell yourself too! you dont have to aspire to be an artist if you are already one :D