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Commission tutorial
by-nc-nd
Published: 2009-03-19 17:19:52 +0000 UTC; Views: 298833; Favourites: 10013; Downloads: 4492
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Description
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
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Comments: 1342
Aw! I just lost the game on your signature XD it was fun
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I'd like to know that too
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Very useful information!
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thanks this really helped me
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Does anyone have some advice as to where I can let the DA community know that I'm opening commissions?
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OK, this explains a lot! I'm considering starting my own commissioning service and this is a great way to start.
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Do you have any advise for a situation in which you accept a commission, then find out later, as you work on it, that it's outside of your talent range? After you've tried everything you know, of course.
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I'm not the writer of the tutorial but I suggest you return the payment and apologise and explain your situation. I'm sure your commissioner would understand. 
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I've never made a commission or sold one, and I didn't really even know what they were.
I wanna make a small clay sculpture and sell it on here. But I dont really know how to make a commission and plus the supplies I'm using is old. Should I buy new supplies? Not only that but I've never really done clay art, should that even matter if it turns out well?
Thank you c:
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So is it mostly like a request but with money/points?
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When sending payment for a commission to someone (Paypal) How do you send it and they not know your address/shipping address? There is no need for that info for an art commission, especially a digital one.
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Sorry if this is a bit late but:
If you only give someone the email address you use for your Paypal account, all they need to is make a transaction to that email adress without ever seeing your personal details.
Hope that helps c:
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I offer commissions, but no one seems to want to buy... Any tips for that?
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Having a bit of a frustrating moment with a commissioner at the moment actually. Lack of communication especially, maybe even the fact that it's been 6 months and no commission, also refusing to answer all my emails and messages when I finally give up and ask for my money back. Yup.
I hate it when artists I admire disappoint me. 
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Yeah, the same has happened to me... I have two pending commissions out there, just 70$+ floating in the wind T___T If it's really bad, I'd suggest going to the LJ community called artists-beware, at least you can warn others to avoid that commissioner in the future so they don't get ripped off too.
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thanks, I'll look into that!
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Thank-you for bringing back your commission tutorial!
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Thank you very much! I thought about starting commissions, but my drawing skills on the computer just suck too much as of now.
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Thank you so much! I'm going to try starting commissions for decoden rings/iPhone cases so this was super helpful!
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What can people do with your commissions? Like, can they use it in other places or something?
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How do you know if you're good enough to make commissions?..
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Okay well now that I looked through your art, I'd say you're really good, and people will probably love your stuff
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You offer and see if anyone bites 
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You'll have to figure that one out on your own :3
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*_* lol well thx
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Thank you so much for makin' this! I knew a lotta this stuff already, but it's a nice thing to have. Especially when you're just thinkin' of startin' up commissions again. <3
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Itβs quite a nice list you have here. I have bin working with some commissions for a little over 2 years and even though some of it was common sense there was some useful tips in there so thank you .
DA is a pretty hard place to sell in the first place because it is such a huge community especially for beginners or artist that arenβt well know in the community.
I might add the suggestions to try to advertise in more then just once place. especially to smaller counties. as well keep one contact for all communities that you take part in.. I find this helps to get more commissions in.
(you are more likely to get commissions in smaller counties and sites then in large ones and it easier to get your name out there in the smaller communities. depending on witch community your part of you should make your work mach your clients ie anime cons = fan art/cosplay , furry cons = anthros /animals/ fursuits, and many more. The better you know what your clients like the better you can sever and work with theme to make there vision come to life)
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I would have a question about the prices
I have noo idea how much i should ask for
I only want to do point commissions because i dont have paypal but its so hard to know how much my drawings are worth
Some people tell me i am sell them to cheap others show me examples of alot better artists that ask just as much as i do
How should i know how much to ask for and what would you suggest ?
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It's a personal choice! When in doubt though, calculate minimum wage for your state and do not go below that. If you feel your work is not worth minimum wage, then don't do commissions until you are ready.
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well honestly this answer wasnt what i was hoping for XD
but i guess i just keep on doing it like i did
around 20-30 points XD
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Well, on this site, 400 points is 5$. That means that 20 points is about 25 cents. I hate to put it so bluntly, but anyone who does a commission for 25 cents is not making an intelligent decision. That's how much a gumball costs. You would have far more dignity if you just gave your work away for free.
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well like i said i dont know how much my commissions are worth
and for now people bought it for this price and not for more
and no i wouldnt do it for free since i want to collect enough to be sure i can have my membership for longer then those few months that are left =3
If you know about those money = points could you tell me how much 1β¬ is in points then ?
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Click on "shop" at the top of your page, that should tell you how much points are worth. You can use a currency calculator to find out how much that is worth in whatever currency you need if it doesn't already say.
I would truly recommend against low-level point commissions. I'm not sure how old you are, since it sounds like you're not able to sign up for a Paypal account on your own, but if you are trying to get a membership you might just want to ask for donations instead of accepting low-level point commissions. Once you start doing that it is very very difficult for people to ever take you seriously in the future, since they will expect that you only make cheap work. One day you will look back on it and regret that you decided to go down this path for the sake of getting an extension on your membership.
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well i raised my prices a bit now XD
I hope someone will still commission me ^^
Donators? Like where do you get those XD
I wouldnt like to just annoy random people giving me points when they dont even know me or have anything from me o.o
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You can go to Edit Page, then click on Misc, then add a Donate Points bar to your front page. If you want to use a journal to ask for points you can do that, or you can just leave the bar there and people will donate periodically. My mom did that and was able to renew her sub that way even though she didn't ask for anything directly. Just being nice and visiting people and saying thanks can lead to donations.
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I have a donation pool and i also leave a lot of comments/critiques on peoples work
i am sure they are nice but it doesnt really bring me as much as i would like
however you did really help me because i raised my prices now and i am more confident with them
I also added more details to my journal about prices
So it was helpful and i hope some will commission me even with those prices =3
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i have a question about paypal i have but how do they transfer money into the account? im still new to paypal
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I'd strongly recommend looking at the paypal site for that information
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Great tutorial!! Thank you a lot!! :]
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Thank you 
hmm...If I really want to start a Commission but I dont know much people :-s how should I advertise my arts and my commission too ?
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I want to start commission but I don't have paypal account, also credit card. So could I start commission only with DA point? and then if i have paypal account, could I change commission from DA point to cash?
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I don't know off the top of my head. I think you should check the Paypal and dA websites for that information, probably the FAQ
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I have a question, Oh Great Alexds.... How do you receive money?
On Paypal?
Do the fees really affect your initial payment?
I want to start commissions as well, but I don't know how to actually start...
Should I post an example gallery of different works?
How do I send my artwork? And can I say I only send digitally?
... I guess this was more than one question LOL.
Please help me >_
Ren
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All these questions have been answered in the comments
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Okay, this one hasn't been answered...
Do you use a regular paypal to receive commission pay or a merchant's?
I didn't know which one to choose.
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