Art Commissions

I’m surprised that there isn’t a topic on this, already. So I guess I’ll start one. ^^  
Use this topic to discuss commissions in general, like…
 
How much is too much? Should the price be compared to the quality of the art?  
Also, talk about past commissions you have done or ordered. Do you know any artist you think is worth commissioning? Have you ever commissioned something and didn’t get any art?
 
That’s all I can think off for now, just don’t promote yourself in this topic. Just say you’re open to commissions, and if someone is interested, they’ll contact you. Like in any other situation.
 
Please avoid posting commission sheets and all that. ^^  
Remember to be respectful of others!

I’m not an artist but I’ll just say this is a great thread and I’d even say I wouldn’t mind seeing it made sticky. Seems like a great place for artist to discuss their pricing and talk to potential patrons.

Depends really. Course, it doesn’t always have to be money. I’ve paid with music a few times.

@GargantuanBass  
Exactly, I once took steam games as payment. ^^

@TheXIIILightning  
Oh. So you art?

I think commission prices ought to be more about the quality itself. I would not recommend trying to ask for a sspartan living wage if you are a beginner artist; that is just absurd.

@GargantuanBass  
Yeah, I think I’ve drawn about 140 pony related drawings. ^^
 
Mostly normal digital drawings. I used to make flash animation and games, but it’s been almost a year. I think I forgot most of the coding by now. XD

@TheXIIILightning  
Well, music commissions on my end are open at the moment. Want to negotiate? :3

@GargantuanBass  
Umm, I’m not sure. I don’t know what I would do with a clip. XD  
Can you please link me up to your blog, and such? :3

@TheXIIILightning  
Um…I don’t have a blog. :T
 
I’ve got a youtube channel though. http://www.youtube.com/user/MrBassRabbit
 

@GargantuanBass  
Cool!  
I like the one called “Pinkamena Party Remix”, the most. ^^  
But again, I wouldn’t have any use for a clip. Sorry, but I can’t accept a trade like that… ;3;

Aw, alright then.
 
Also, what do you mean by clip?

@GargantuanBass  
But I have to ask you something. Do you have a producer?  
The mod of Ask MayneStream is a rapper, and has been looking for help quite some time.  
Maybe you could give him a call, and work on a project together, or something.
 
Just a thought. ^^;
 
Edit:  
I meant for a music clip, song, mp3. Stuff like that. XD

@TheXIIILightning  
I’m my own producer…I think. I really have no clue how the music biz works. I just make it for fun.

I commission a fair amount of stuff.
 
Price, it depends. My ultimate max is $50 for full shebang shaded stuff from artists I know will deliver good quality. Average is $25 from either somewhat unknown artists, those that I already know are good but will take a while, or simply artists that for some reason or another don’t get enough commissions to have higher prices. If I see an artist that fits my style going for less, even if I’ve never heard of them, I at least try to contact them.
 
That said, my experiences commissioning things are variable. I’ve been burned, heavily multiple times, by artists completely vanishing off the internet and taking my money, as well as artists taking my money and going “nyah, deal with it”. Other times an artist will stumble over themselves to produce amazing artwork in under a day and only ask for payment after the work is completed.
 
In general, though, if I contact 5 artists, one will produce something in under a week, another will take over a month, the third and fourth I will never hear from, and the fifth may or may not respond to me after several months with “oh, still interested?” out of nowhere. Of course, once a blue moon all 5 do respond positively, which makes the part of me that isn’t my wallet pretty happy and spams Tumblr with “commissioned by 20pixels” posts.
 
If I had to name a handful of artists off the top of my head that do good for good prices, I’d say Cynical Moose, Clopper Dude, Ponchuzn, FreedomThai and Kevinsano, in no particular order. Note that those are for NSFW stuff. For SFW, there are loads of artists on DA that will deliver quality work insanely fast for less then the price of a large pizza; the problem is DA is “kind of” not great for helping to find them, but they are there.

@20pixels  
That’s quite interesting, but you made a valid point there, about artists just taking money, and vanishing off the internet.
 
I’ve been afraid o commission someone mainly because my wallet can’t afford it, but also because I can’t have a guarantee that the work will be done. Most people want the money up-front, but that’s a risk for the commissioner. Getting payed after the work is done, is a risk to the artist.
 
Basically, a trust between bot people needs to exist. That is hard to find nowadays…
 
Oh yeah, and I’ve seen commissions on DA for about 20 points. That’s about 20 cents! Hell, it’s a bargain, but I’d just feel like a thief ordering something for that amount… I’m an artist myself, so I know how long it takes to draw something…

@TheXIIILightning  
Whenever an artist gets burned by a client not paying, people hear about it happening, because they have a Tumblr or DA that people follow. Whenever a client gets burned by an artist not delivering, pretty much nobody hears about it, because most clients aren’t artists themselves and thus are “nobodies”. It’s unfortunately a thing that happens more often than you’d think.
 
I personally think the safest way for an artist is to either provide a rough sketch “free” and then demand full payment to continue, or demand half payment up front, provide a low-res, watermarked image, and then the full clean image on full payment. I imagine, at least; my brain can’t fully comprehend the thought process behind fucking people over, so I prefer to pay in full up front. Which in retrospect has worked rather poorly. Oh well.
 
On the other hand one of these days I might open commissions myself, and I’m not sure I could accept people paying me anything before I actually finished the goods. Shit’s complicated.

ive commissioned PonyWise on deviant art and coommissioned other people on sites like gaia online but PonyWise was my first USD commission and i Was sure happy with it. Next Time i want to commission a music artist for a pony song. If you have done it before and do you reccommend a good musician.

So… Is this topic dead? ;3;

@TheXIIILightning
 
I guess so :/
 
The only thing I have to say is that commissions are a two way street, if that makes any sense at all. For every X artists I try to approach that are actively advertising commissions, X-Y will respond; of those X-Y-Z will deliver anything in under a month, and X-Y-Z-W will simply take my money and run with it. And the reverse happens. I’m sure; scumbags will commission something, get their pretty-damn-complete sketch or the full thing and never pay.
 
Essentially people and circumstances aren’t great. I know that some of the artists I’ve commissioned have simply fallen on bad times and can’t deal with trivialities like art. Others, they’re simply thieving scumbags that pretend they no longer exist, and I won’t mention names out of completely misguided respect for such things as archaic notions as common decency.
 
Anyone that’s taken notice of my name on random tumblr and DA commissions knows I’ve commissioned a fair amount of stuff. Going by money alone, well over half of what I’ve paid for has gone into multiple-month still pending commissions, and especially “artists” that have taken my money and ran with it.
 
Sigh. I guess it’s the reason I commission so much, because a part of me now simply expects people to fuck me over. And sometimes they don’t.

I’m thinking about starting commissions. Though I dunno what would be a fair price. I was thinking maybe $1 for black and white, $5 for color, $10 for a whole scene, etc. Any feedback on pricing and payment plans would be helpful.

@Applejack  
Sure thing, could you post a link to your art, or post some of them here?
 
Basically, its best if you time yourself while drawing something, then you can give a price to your work.  
“Should I charge 3$ per hour, or maybe 5$?”  
Stuff like that. ^^

@TheXIIILightning
 
Here’s my dA account: http://dbapplejack.deviantart.com/
 
Charge by the hour? Huh…never thought about that.

@Applejack  
You have a cute style, I can see you getting a few ones in the future. ^^  
I can’t and won’t tell you how much your drawings are worth, that’s up to you to decide.
 
I suggest that you pick a pony to draw, and do it step by step. Time yourself as you go along. Like this:
 
Step 1: Sketch  
Step 2: Lineart  
Step 3: Color  
Step 4: Shading  
Step 5: Background (if you want, most people include that as an extra)
 
Afterwards, reflect on the time and effort it took you to draw that piece of art, and put a price on it. ^^
 
Edit: Oh yeah, save those steps INDIVIDUALY so you can make a proper commission sheet in the future. ^^

Retracted ^^;