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Commission tutorial
by-nc-nd
Published: 2009-03-19 17:19:52 +0000 UTC; Views: 298842; Favourites: 10013; Downloads: 4492
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Description
Yes it's true, new monthly tutorials are now available via my Patreon
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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
I have a question, do you have to mail commissions to the people who asked for them or do you just upload them to Deviant?
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Umm jw how do you send art to someone privately ??
I sound so stupid XD
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Email would probably work just fine. If your file is too big, upload it on sendspace or something like that!
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I really don't understand how people pay you on DeviantArt, and how you could trust someone to pay you after giving them the piece.
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You pay on Paypal, and do the art only after you've received the money (like the tutorial says). If you don't deliver the art in a timely manner you will lose your online reputation and people won't buy from you again.
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Ah, that makes sense. Do you put a link to your account as well?
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Forgive me if you've answered this already, but would you suggest receiving money by snail mail? I was particularly thinking I would have them male the money and within the three business days it usually takes, I would draw the commission and such. I dunno though -- does this seem...safe?
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Generally you shouldn't do anything until you have the money, so I dunno about your doing the work while you wait. In terms of safety, mail does get lost, and you can't get back 20 bucks if it goes missing. However, a safe way to send money through the mail is through checks (which take time to clear) or Money Orders from the post office, which are as good as legal tender but can be cancelled if they are lost, which is nice. They also don't take time to clear.
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I have a question, how does the commissioner get the art? For example, do they just see it on DA, or what? :3
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Please scan the comments right ahead of yours, I've answered this exact questions a few times so the answer should be there :3
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Alright, I read it ahead. However, how do you send them your
art, if it's a computer drawn piece?
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Dunno if you found the answer to this one, but usually you'd e-mail them a high resolution imagine or something. If you're really small name and do cheap commissions, both parties might be OK with just having it posted on dA.
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Ooooooooh, :'3 Okay~ Thank you, thank you~
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I need to know if $40 seems reasonable for a complex background scenery and 10$ for the full body character..
Plus should I send the original artwork by shipping to the client or should e-mail/post in deviantart for them?
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Try breaking it down by how much you want to charge per hour of work. A good base price is minimum wage for your area. And you decide on the shipping arrangements between you and your client!
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This is all really good advice. I have one question, though. When you do a commission over DA, do you send the finished work electronically or do you send them a physical copy?
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I answer this one all the time XD Just check the comments, probably only one or two above this one, the answer is there!
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Ah, thanks. Sorry to bother you about that. 35 pages of comments is just a lot to sift through.
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Oh, whoops D: It's probably on any one of the pages, it is evidently the one thing I needed to answer in more detail
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Actually, I was planning to do commissions on summer and this helps a lot!
Thank 
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This is fantastic! I've been trying to figure out a way to maybe start commissions, and this is very helpful
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after drawing the commission do u have to mail it or ... ?
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You work that out with the commissioner before you start! If they want the original piece, they should pay for shipping/ handling as well when they pay you.
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Thank you SO much! I've been searching everywhere wondering how Deviants even start commissioning; yours made the most sense. Thanks for posting this! 
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THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! This tutorial was the most helpful. I have been interested in starting commissions to earn an extra buck but have been unsure as to where I should start. am so glad that i stumbled across this. Thanks again! I will now have to tell others about this and go check out your other tutorials!!
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Thanks very much for uploading a very detailed tutorial on how to do commissions, I plan on doing commissions soon and I needed to know exactly how to do it
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XD "Nowadays everyone and their mother are offering commissions."
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How do you get paid by the person getting the art done?
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Paypal is the best way. I'd really really recommend against things like dA points, they don't give you any money, and unless you are doing commissions for thousands of points, you will likely not be getting paid the amount you deserve.
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Thank-you! I really liked your tutorial. It helped me alot. There should be more people like you!
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Thank you so much for that, It's very good for me ^^
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If i were to make a payment for a commission then would that transaction appear on the credit card? Also if it did what would the name be?
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If i were to make a payment for a commission then would that transaction appear on the credit card? Also if it did what would the name be?
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ah..ok, thanks a lot ur a great help..Godspeed to you..:>
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Hi, I like your tutorial, it's really informative,for us.. anyway im just curious on how will you deliver your output art to your costumer, do you send the softcopy(psd,jpg,png etc..) of it through email etc..? or you gonna print it for shipping?etc....I really wanna know..I would like to open a commision but my idea about it is not that adequate..hehehe so Im gathering informations ..thanks a lot hoping for ur response.. :>
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I send a hi-rez copy for digital art, the only kind I do. I don't mail it (if they have a file they can do it on their end) but if you did, you'd have them pay shipping. File format is up to you. Not everyone has photoshop though so you might want to send it as a high-resolution lossless format like .png or high rez .jpg. You can also ask them what they prefer if they are knowledgeable.
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HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!
Just as I left to update my info, I got a message from one of my friends saying that they want a commission from me. I'm so happy I could cry.:animecryplz:
This can't be a coincidence. It also can't be a coincidence that just as I wanted to reach out to other people to solve my major problem, two people come asking for my help, and I succeed(I have a low self-esteem problem).
I'm just over-joyed. Thank you, DA! Thank you, God!
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This is really great advice, especailly for someone who's completely new at this. I'll be taking a lot from this. I just have a question. Can someone here look at my gallery and see if my talent is commission-worthy? I know I have a decent degree of skill, but I'm not too awfully sure if it is commission worthy. That, and does anyone think that my pricing is fair, relative to my skill, that is?
Y'know what? I'm thinking of having a "First Ever Commission" discount because I'm new at this and I need to get my feet wet(nothing's gonna teach ya better than good ol' experience). I'm thinking a 25% discount for the whole commission. I'm put that on my commission info right now.
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But this still doesn't answer my question: What exactly is a commission in the first place and how do I use them?
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A commission is a piece of art that you buy from an artist. I'm not sure what you mean "how do I use them"... you'd use it in the way you'd use any piece of personal art. You aren't really allowed to use a commission as your exclusive logo or art if that's what you mean, that's going into copyright and legal issues. Mostly is it done so people can see their own characters and ideas in someone else's style.
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I'm not good at doing drawings really, but I make graphics well and can make photos into paintings in photoshop, could I do that for commissions? also I doubt a lot of people know about me, how would I get people to know about my commissions?
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You can do anything for commission as long as there's a market for it. I can't tell you if that exists, that would be up to you to determine through researching. As for the other question, it's answered in the tutorial and several times in the body of the comments here so give it a read
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Is it illegal to draw a copyrighted character for someone? I think it is but i just want to know for sure.
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Yes, it is. The likelihood of the owner (like for Pokemon, that would be Nintento) coming after you is very slim, but it can happen. More and more nowadays Artist Alleys in conventions are not allowing fanart to be sold. You are legally not supposed to make a profit from other people's copyrighted work, but you can do something else, like an art exchange or trade or something.
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Awesome, but I'm not a billboard.
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I might start my photo work again next year if 2012 is good to me. This is good to know. Thanks!
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