so, you're aware of your friend's mortality and want to immortalize her forever?
recently, i've had the good fortune of doing some pet commissions.
while i don't know everything, i can tell you what makes them awesome.
i wanted to put together a list of five tips to have a really positive commission experience,
and this is just based on my favorite things about working with you guys, because you guys are
awesome! each one kind of has a client side and an artist side so that everybody gets something.
i think some people, their first inclination is to commission the first artist they can think of.
you really want to make sure that you like that person's art, because what
they make regularly is what you're gonna get. my favorite commissions are always the ones
where you just happen to love one of the paintings that i've already done,
and you just say, i like this painting, can you do one like this for me? that's
really easy to understand, and both of us go in knowing that i can actually achieve that.
on the artist side, know what you have. maybe have a flat price? definitely have samples
of what you want to do, not what you don't want to do. just make it easy as possible.
make sure everyone knows exactly what your prices are, and how to get ahold of you,
because if someone has to email you to figure out the answers to their questions, they're just not
going to bother. feel free to ghost us, but try not to tease us. so maybe you spotted an artist,
or you sent an email to ask about a commission, and for whatever reason, you just change your
mind, you don't really want to go through with it? i can't speak for everyone, but i am perfectly
fine with ghosting. sometimes, people will say that they are interested, but they need to find
some references or what have you and then they'll just get back to me soon, and then they don't.
that's fine, i will usually send a check-in email about a week later, but then sometimes
they will email back saying, oh no, no, i'm still interested, i'll just get back to you really soon,
and then they won't. it's just a little confusing because we want to make sure that we have
gaps here and there in case you come back, so feel free to ghost, but it's okay if you don't want to.
on the artist side, this is a good time to have your policies worked out. what happens
if you don't agree on something? how does payment work? are you taking a deposit? are you signing
a contract? how are you going to ship the thing, and who pays for what? what is your timeline for
finishing the work? lay everything out on the table. now, we're kind of getting into the meat
of it. have some nice photo references, preferably your own. photographs do have copyright. the fewer
images that we have to frankenstein together, the more accurate they're going to be. blurry photos
are just really difficult. don't give us too many options, because we want to please everybody!
as simple as possible is always the best. I absolutely make sure that i do thumbnails, and
it scares me because the quality of what i'm sending is gonna be poor. a thumbnail
sketch is just a scribble! but it's a lot less scarier than taking a direction
and then doing all of the work, and then coming back to find out that you just got it completely
wrong. thumbnails and sketches are awesome. so you worked it out, you did all the work,
and we're about to see the final piece. usually, this goes one of two ways. either they are just
dying with excitement and so happy, or they have a more critical eye and want you to change a little
something. now, you guys are paying for a service, so feel free to give feedback. don't be afraid of
breaking our hearts. the most difficult part of receiving feedback is translating the feedback,
because what seems obvious often isn't, so the more clear that you can be, the better.
sending a picture of the finished work is very terrifying and makes you feel really
self-conscious and afraid that they're disappointed and that you failed. so just,
you know, take a second. it could be just a matter of fixing something. of course,
you want to have reasonable boundaries. one thing i have learned is that when i think
that i'm finished, instead of sending it off right away to get approval, i take a photo of it,
i leave it alone for several hours. every time i come back with fresh eyes or i reduce the photo,
i will always see something, and you know that the client is going to see it too.
show it off! if you love what you got, let people know about it. it makes us so happy! it can give
us new work in the future, and it is just such a kindness that can change somebody's life. leave
them freaking sobbing, okay, and i obviously don't mean sad sobbing, i mean crying with happiness.
sometimes, we're dealing with grief, so compassion is so important. flexibility, too. make it as
convenient as possible. make sure you're following your time scale, do really good job shipping,
if you're doing that, accept responsibility if it doesn't arrive or something goes wrong.
the last impression is even more important than the first impression. that is what's
going to make people want to come back to you, that's what's going to make them suggest you to
others. you have the opportunity to change their life and give them something to remember forever.
thank you so much for subscribing, and i wish you all a very happy commission experience.