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shingworksCommission tutorial by-nc-nd

Published: 2009-03-19 17:19:52 +0000 UTC; Views: 298871; Favourites: 10013; Downloads: 4492
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Yes it's true, new monthly tutorials are now available via my Patreon
>>>>> Get new tutorials and impress friends, children, strangers, etc with your charitable nature here <<<<<


Over the past three years I've done loads of successful commissions, and have commissioned others successfully as well. I have never had an issue with my transactions because I did my research before I started, and asked others who were doing commissions themselves how they were managing. However, not everyone has the time to go and note everyone (or, if you're getting noted, you may not have time to answer inquiries constantly)! So for your perusal and reference, here are some helpful tips to help you get started with taking commissions on DA.

This tutorial is more for people who offer commissions, but I have a few words for those who take them as well:

- Do your research. Make sure you're getting art from a reliable artist!
- Art costs money. Don't haggle down, its insulting. Don't forget, you're also getting free advertising when they post it to their gallery (for example, who here doesn't know Audley 's Castor ;3 )
- Don't be afraid to pimp the artists who did good work for you! Here is my list!



Raraarrar you know the drill, feel free to comment w/ questions if you got em, thanks for reading etc

The pics in the icons are mostly from the LJ random image generator, they're (c) to the internet, I suppose XD Except for Kash, he's (c) Geico.

My other tutorials:
Pose tutorial
Expression tutorial
Hand tutorial
Foot tutorial
Ladies tutorial
Fellas tutorial
Face tutorial

Coloring Walkthrough

Related content
Comments: 1342

dantesgirl In reply to ??? [2011-02-08 22:53:53 +0000 UTC]

Ah well, different volunteers have different opinions.

Congrats on the DD, I forgot to say!

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JuneJenssen In reply to ??? [2011-02-08 15:56:21 +0000 UTC]

this is brilliant! <3

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fusecore In reply to ??? [2011-02-08 15:50:06 +0000 UTC]

Excuse me, weird question, but what font is that?

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shingworks In reply to fusecore [2011-02-08 20:31:55 +0000 UTC]

Oh man D: I'm sorry, I have no idea. I flatten all my tutorials so I can't even go back to check...

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fusecore In reply to shingworks [2011-02-08 23:23:54 +0000 UTC]

Thanks anyway ^^

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fusecore In reply to fusecore [2011-02-08 15:56:31 +0000 UTC]

Nevermind!
Verdana on -85 tracking, only I can't get it as sharp as you have in photoshop, any trick to it?
The anti aliasing type doesn't seem to get me there.

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namenotrequired In reply to fusecore [2011-02-09 01:28:30 +0000 UTC]

If you reply to your own comment he won't be notified

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fusecore In reply to namenotrequired [2011-02-09 02:03:18 +0000 UTC]

He is, it's a comment on his deviation. ;3

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namenotrequired In reply to fusecore [2011-02-09 02:45:55 +0000 UTC]

Yes, but then you used the 'reply' button to your own comment to add something. He isn't notified of replies to comments on his deviation.

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fusecore In reply to namenotrequired [2011-02-09 13:57:59 +0000 UTC]

Ah I see! Thanks for that.

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namenotrequired In reply to fusecore [2011-02-09 13:59:04 +0000 UTC]

Anytime

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RainyDayFun In reply to ??? [2011-02-08 15:49:12 +0000 UTC]

Good advice! Thanks!

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KarToon12 In reply to ??? [2011-02-08 15:14:41 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for the great advice!

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ElizaMoonchild In reply to ??? [2011-02-08 15:06:57 +0000 UTC]

You got a DD!! Woot!!

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shingworks In reply to ElizaMoonchild [2011-02-08 20:32:04 +0000 UTC]

:3

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ArielRGH In reply to ??? [2011-02-08 14:07:35 +0000 UTC]

Really, really useful. Thank you very much for sharing!

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FiskXPhantom In reply to ??? [2011-02-08 14:00:47 +0000 UTC]

I've always wanted to commission but I never knew how!

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Janoera In reply to ??? [2011-02-08 12:35:24 +0000 UTC]

Cool, congratz on the DD^^ I've seen this a few months before and though it was really good, and I'm glad it's getting so much attention as it really is helpful~

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elbooga In reply to ??? [2011-02-08 12:26:51 +0000 UTC]

great tutorial and congrats on the DD.
I make plushies on commission and I can get pretty complicated requests from people only for them to be surprised at the cost (hello! it takes me days to make them). But its great when you make a customer happy.
I also recently started taking some of the payment before starting the work but I should have been doing this from the beginning. I had a bad experience when a friend of a friend commissioned something then when it came to payment all I got was radio silence.

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namenotrequired In reply to ??? [2011-02-08 11:18:13 +0000 UTC]

Congrats on the DD!

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shingworks In reply to namenotrequired [2011-02-08 20:32:14 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!

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SpasmofantenReturns In reply to ??? [2011-02-08 09:33:01 +0000 UTC]

I knew most of these things, actually ^^
But i haven't started my comissions yet, since i need a new creditcard! :3 This is good advice, and it's faved for sure! ^^ I'll probably use this to set up my comissions! :3

THANK YOU!

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FieldsOfFire In reply to ??? [2011-02-08 08:05:03 +0000 UTC]

I figured this would be as good a place to ask as any: are there any other PayPal-like websites out there that aren't actually PayPal?

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shingworks In reply to FieldsOfFire [2011-02-08 08:43:38 +0000 UTC]

I think Amazon and Google both have payment systems, but Paypal is by far the most widely used.

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FieldsOfFire In reply to shingworks [2011-02-08 08:44:25 +0000 UTC]

Thanks.

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CalionCreates In reply to ??? [2011-02-05 20:37:28 +0000 UTC]

So helpful! Thanks!

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Dude980 In reply to ??? [2011-02-04 23:49:31 +0000 UTC]

I just noticed, I've used all of your tutorials throughout my time here on DA and I am beyond impressed. You're method of direct delivery is great. Thanks man, couldn't have done half of my stuff (though it's not posted XD ) without you.

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shingworks In reply to Dude980 [2011-02-05 02:20:23 +0000 UTC]

Well, thanks very much for reading!

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Dude980 In reply to shingworks [2011-02-05 06:47:12 +0000 UTC]

always man, always

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trudycutie12312 In reply to ??? [2011-02-04 13:00:18 +0000 UTC]

this is the best commison guide i've ever seen

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shingworks In reply to trudycutie12312 [2011-02-04 19:19:45 +0000 UTC]

Thanks!

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ChubbyPikachu In reply to ??? [2011-02-04 05:09:06 +0000 UTC]

i absolutely love this! i wasn't sure what i wanted to do so far as commissions but now i have a great start thanks to you!

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OverlyEquipped In reply to ??? [2011-01-28 22:35:50 +0000 UTC]

Wow. This is really informative, and I wish I knew of this when I was starting to work on commissions a year ago. Thank you. o_o;

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YummiMookies In reply to ??? [2011-01-28 18:25:20 +0000 UTC]

If I were to offer traditional artwork and customer wants the original, how do I go about sending it? I know the shipping/handling cost is about $5, but the real problem is somehow mailing the piece to them without it getting ruined.

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shingworks In reply to YummiMookies [2011-01-28 18:33:38 +0000 UTC]

Probably in some kind of flat mailer with good support (you could also put some cardboard in there). Or a tube if you don't mind rolling it. I don't ship traditional art too often so I'm not 100% sure, I'm sure you could google it!

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YummiMookies In reply to shingworks [2011-01-28 23:26:12 +0000 UTC]

Ohhhh, okay ^^ I was just wondering how others did it.
Thanks!

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KeyOllie In reply to ??? [2011-01-28 06:46:53 +0000 UTC]

Great tutorial, as always.^^
I'll add this to my group's favourites, if you don't mind.

The members might be far from the point that people will seek them out for commissions, but better to teach them early.

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shingworks In reply to KeyOllie [2011-01-28 07:15:24 +0000 UTC]

Never too early to learn good business tips

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KeyOllie In reply to shingworks [2011-01-28 17:59:51 +0000 UTC]

Too true.^^

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bradleysays In reply to ??? [2011-01-27 07:42:15 +0000 UTC]

I've featured this as a Daily Feature on the front page of #deviantART-Related

#deviantART-Related is the unofficial group for the dA related gallery, and our Daily Feature is a private initiative to serve as an alternative to DDs while there's no GM for the gallery .

We featured your tutorial for today with the following description;

Commission tutorial by `alexds1 is a wonderful tutorial that shows you how to properly set up your commissions. Reading this is a must, for anyone who is thinking about setting up commissions.


Given 2011-01-27
Featured by =The--Last--Hope
(`namenotrequired is absent)

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shingworks In reply to bradleysays [2011-01-27 17:08:47 +0000 UTC]

Very cool, thank you!

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yeollie-chan In reply to ??? [2011-01-24 19:48:00 +0000 UTC]

I have questions about watermarks and .psd files.
Should you offer the .psd file of the commission to the commissioner?
And, should you make the watermark on a separate layer on the .psd, so the commissioner can take it off?
Thank you. ; u ;

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shingworks In reply to yeollie-chan [2011-01-24 19:50:51 +0000 UTC]

The watermark is to prevent the art from being stolen by people who didn't pay for it So the commissioner should get the largest file (I usually send them a flattened png or jpg, since I don't want to assume they have photoshop) without a watermark since they paid for it. If I'm allowed to post the commissioned art publicly, that art is much reduced in size and resolution and can have a watermark. Usually setting the resolution to 72dpi prevents any kind of printing anyhow, since it'll look super bad (but you can watermark to be safe).

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yeollie-chan In reply to shingworks [2011-01-24 20:19:48 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!
This is so informative.
This really helped with my problem.

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jacz13 In reply to ??? [2011-01-21 11:25:15 +0000 UTC]

People, help! I can't work out how to add links in comment... Please, reply anybody and tell me, I'll be grateful.

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shingworks In reply to jacz13 [2011-01-21 17:05:25 +0000 UTC]

Just copy paste the link, it should do it automatically

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jacz13 In reply to shingworks [2011-01-21 20:13:16 +0000 UTC]

I would never think about this... Thanks

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Icedroplet In reply to ??? [2011-01-18 23:16:53 +0000 UTC]

thanks for the tip

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contra-rawr In reply to ??? [2011-01-15 21:34:14 +0000 UTC]

this thing is amazing. thanks for creating it *_*

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Ionospore In reply to ??? [2011-01-13 05:59:49 +0000 UTC]

very helpful, thanks!

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