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Commission tutorial
by-nc-nd
Published: 2009-03-19 17:19:52 +0000 UTC; Views: 298846; 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
Thank you! It was very helpful! One question... how do you become known for commissions? Should I just post that I'm taking commissions on my profile page and wait? And thanks for the helpful advice!
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Yep, or ask friends to help post in your journals, or other things. I think I gave some advice on that too in the tutorial
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thx... not gonna do it now tho i fell and got a gash in my arm..and a lot of cuts so, i cant draw good for a bit
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I know you're more into doing commissions with money, but I'm more interested in points, so could you give me a little bit of advice please?
I want to start doing commissions but for points, I just want to know what a reasonable amount is for say a sketch, full colour, full body w/no background and simple background, etc...
and somebody wants a commission do I just draw it and then they give me points afterwards?
I still found your tutorial helpful
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Same as what you'd ask if you were doing the commission for real money, just convert to points. A 15 buck commission would be around 1600 points or so. The problem is that kids on dA are afraid of big numbers, they want a 10 point commission (which is a little over 10 cents). Don't work for 10 cents.
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Alrighty then, I'm going to be quite cheap, but thank you! This has helped a lot
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You probably shouldn't. Keep in mind an individual point is worth less than a cent, and that all your money is basically going to deviantart (since you can only spend points via deviantart, and can't convert them into money). If you really really want to, then okay, but look at the conversions and charge the same amount as you would for if you were doing a real commission. A $15 commission would cost around 1500 points.
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where has this tutorial been all my life!!
thank you for making something so helpful!
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How would you suggest I get the word out about my commissions? I would love to do them but I don't know how to get people to see what I have.
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Well, the suggestions in the tutorial are a good start! Or riff off of those and get creative with your marketing, I guess
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Thanks =3 this tutorial is very helpful.
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I really appreciate this. This is a HUGE help!
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Thank you for sharing your knowledge. This should come in handy a little later.
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Thank you sooo much. I'm starting commissions soon and this helps me so much!
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Man, if there would be an election for the title "King of Tutorials" I sure would vote for you!
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Haha, well, check out *tracyjb 's tutorials first, she is ostensibly the best tutorial maker/ artist in general that I know of.
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Yes, I remember seeing her art some time ago.
She's undisputably a very talented artist, and very, very good at what she's doing.
Her work on expressions are remarkable.
Still, for my taste, your stuff is more appealing. No offense towards anyone.
Maybe it's just too much cats for me.
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haha, well, it's flattering that you enjoy my stuff :3
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Hi! So, I have a question (a very stupid one at that) About the paypal payment, how does that work actually? Like step by step instructions. How do they pay? What information do I have to give them so they can pay me? etc. Moreover, I'm probably going to get a Visa gift card instead, do you think it'll still work for commissions?
I'm rather new to commissioning for other people, and would like to earn a few bucks to help my family and be able to actually donate to some organizations/people who need it. Not that I earn a few bucks, I also get to make someone happy you know? When other people draw my OC's as gifts and such, and get super happy. don't know why... ANYHOW. I'll appreciate it if you have anymore tips on commissioning. Even though I'm not one of the best artists out there, I'll still work my hardest! >:U
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Haha, well, the best best place to find that info is on the paypal site, actually! They have a pretty comprehensive explanation section for all of your questions, and probably explain it better than me. If you're under 18, you'll need a parent's cooperation to sign up though. Usually you have to hook it up to a bank account, so there's that too.
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Thanks for the advice! I probably wouldn't start commissioning very soon, but I'll try. xD
P.S Thanks for the tutorial too. It was great help! O:
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This is a very helpful tutorial to be a newbie at commissions like me. <3 Thank you.
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I've been trying super hard to get commissions, and I just can't get them.
Things have taken a turn for the worst lately, and things have gotten rather desperate.
I've lowered my prices considerably; even offered to draw things for any amount of donations, but I still haven't gotten a single bite!
Now I know I'm not the next Michelangelo, but jeez.
Plz help; is there anything else I can do to gain peoples' interest?
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Looking at your gallery, I would suggest getting some good examples drawn up and advertised. It may seem like a pain drawing for no reason, but on the first page of your gallery I saw a couple of sketches and a tonne of paper textures.
90% of what people will ask you to draw are original characters, so that's what needs to be in your gallery. If you don't have a lot of inspiration for this, it might be worth your while offering five slots of free full colour digital pieces on the forums (offer it to the five with the "most interesting characters" so that you don't end up doing 5 girls in a black t-shirt.. -__-).
I look around for cheap commissions every so often, and if what's on the first page of the artist's gallery doesn't represent what I want to buy, I won't even bother to contact them. If you were going shopping for a black skirt, you wouldn't walk into a store that only had pink in the window, would you?
Goodluck (:
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Wow, thank you for your advice, I think that's what may have been the issue.
My gallery has been in need of some trimming, and some original characters outside of what I usually draw would probably help alot!
Thanks again! I'll definitely try that.
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Aside from increasing your marketing/ presence at external sites, or getting a plug from some topic-relevant source, I don't know :C Sounds like you're doing everything right. Sometimes the customers just aren't there... if that's the case, I would personally try looking for a part-time job or something else instead, since commissions are really not a very dependable source of money, even for really well-known artists.
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Okay, thank you.
I'll try to get on a bunch of other sites as well, maybe that will help.
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God I've been needing something like this, I never know how to approach pricing more than anything else! Thank you for creating such a fantastic and in-depth tutorial!
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thanks man..... great help for me ^_^ now on with commissioning!!!!>
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Oh man, thanks for this. SO MUCH. I've been toying with the idea of commissions and was wondering how to go about it.
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I'm aiming to begin commissions, this guide is exactly what I needed to help get me started! Thank you so much! ^_^
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Awesome tutorial! 
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thanks for the great tutorial! It's really helpful
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Thank you for this tutorial, while I had an idea of how to go about doing commissions from seeing the way some of the people I watch handle them, this gave me a bit more insight on them.
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This is super helpful 
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Any suggestions on that problem? 
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just ask for points? i guess?
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I always wanted to do commissions when i was further down the road. this tut will help a lot organizing and preparing for that time
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This is super helpful, I just decided to open up commissions myself, and found that I pretty much ended up following your instructions to the letter, though I didn't look at this beforehand, hahaa! These are all excellent tips to keep in mind, I'll be referring back to this, definitely.
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Looks like you've got a good sense for commissions then XD Good luck on them!
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Haha, I certainly hope so! Thanks, dude.
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