#this seems like a more realistic option yknow? a small price to pay for a better end result

[melody-sy]

hold on, what if til countdowns end was a 2d platformer? with action rpg elements, super paper mario style. yeah i think this fits the vision better than 3d hallway levels, actually...

[aguydrawsgames]

I'm considering doing commissions, but I'm a little worried about it. I'm definitely not as good of an artist as a lot of the people I follow. You seem like you do a lot of commissions and I was hoping I could ask about it. Do you have any advice?

Oh boy okay long post incoming. Let me first apologize in advance for what may just end up sounding like dad-brand pragmatism, but I’ve done them off-and-on again for long enough to learn that honestly, commissions can be hard. Very rewarding sometimes, but hard. So here’s just what I, personally, have learned from my brushes with freelance commission work.

-Draw a lot and promote the holy hell out of it

I can’t judge whether anyone’s Good Enough to do commissions, but you lose nothing by trying! There’s a lot of skill out there; focus on yours. Post regularly, use the right tags (#commissions, #artists on tumblr, etc), and get used to reblogging yourself. Adding your information to as much of your own content as you can means that someone who hasn’t necessarily seen your formal commission page may see something else you’ve done, know you’re open, and can easily find out more.

-Simple, easy to digest pricing

This one might just be personal preference, actually. A simple, interesting commission page with a modest amount of clear-cut options is WAY more appealing to me (and easier to read) than something all over the place that requires me to do all my own math to figure out what the hell I’d be paying for what specific cocktail of services.

-Know what your time is worth

Commissioners come to you for a unique skill you can provide them, not the other way around. You’re not doing anyone a favor, you’re being compensated for your time and effort. It’s hard to balance prices that people will actually pay and a wage you deserve to be making (and we’re all underpaid here on tungle dot com, we just ARE), but charging

-Keep correspondence professional

Professional, not friendly. This is rrreallly important, especially if you hit it off and end up doing commission work long-term. Commissions are work and too few people recognize that. Establish professional boundaries with people right from the get-go, and stand by them. You owe as much as what the commissioner has paid for, and nothing else, and you’re gonna burn out real fast offering extra time and effort you’re not being compensated for, just to be Nice. DO be approachable, reasonable, and polite, but remember to protect yourself. ‘Specially if you’re a people-pleaser, like yours truly. Know the difference between making a small edit because you didn’t realize just how pointy a character’s nose was supposed to be, and revising 50% of your image for free because the commissioner changed their mind and expects the extra labor at no extra cost because “””it’s just art”””. And honestly? If that scares people off, fuck em. You don’t want to end up learning to tolerate that. It is an extremely difficult mindset to break once it sets in.

-Keep your expectations realistic

Maybe it won’t be an instant success. Every time is a gamble, yknow? Sometimes you get a lot of bites, then sometimes nothing at all. It’s normal. Commissions are not guaranteed, not for anyone, no matter how good they are, and if you can learn to go with the flow instead of getting too discouraged to keep promoting yourself, you’ll probably see more success. If the first time doesn’t work out, keep at it. Keep drawing, keep improving, keep putting yourself out there. There’s a lot of people who could be looking for exactly what you offer.