How good is commission worthy?

DerektheAwesome · 01-01-2007 03:25 PM

I'm wondering how good art usually has to be for people to buy commissions from them, and what prices normally are for different styles and stuff. I'm asking this because I want to become a commission artist sometime.

I draw Manga/Anime style, and my best done is the featured deviation on my dA page.

Larissa_Rasputin · 01-01-2007 03:29 PM

Try surfing the forums on Deviantart under the jobs section. That could give you an idea for pricing.

DerektheAwesome · 01-01-2007 03:32 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Try surfing the forums on Deviantart under the jobs section. That could give you an idea for pricing.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ah, thanks, I'll have a look at that.

The_Gnome · 01-01-2007 03:47 PM

Thing is Derek, I think you could even make a bit of cash off of this. I mean, your not museum worthy (no offence :P) but youve gotten damn good in the last, what, 4 months?

Matthew_P · 01-01-2007 03:49 PM

I got a question for you guys (not meaning to threadjack :P)...

Will people pay for having their art inked and colored?

DerektheAwesome · 01-01-2007 03:49 PM

Are you talking about the prints, or is there something I'm missing? I'm talking about online commissions, without prints. >.>

DerektheAwesome · 01-01-2007 03:52 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Thing is Derek, I think you could even make a bit of cash off of this. I mean, your not museum worthy (no offence :P) but youve gotten damn good in the last, what, 4 months?

[/ QUOTE ]

Really? Ya think so? (I know I'm not museum worthy, duh. ) But I'd be surprised if I made any money at all. Maybe I should look into this further..?

TheDart · 01-01-2007 05:03 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I got a question for you guys (not meaning to threadjack :P)...

Will people pay for having their art inked and colored?

[/ QUOTE ]

I know that on some occasions, people will commission one artist to do a sketch for them, and then later commission other artists for the inks and colors. So it isn't unheard of. I don't know how common it is, though.

DaosX · 01-01-2007 05:30 PM

Yes, some artists WILL pay to have their stuff inked and/or colored.

Take comic book companies for example, they actually divide the process into 3 steps: artist, inker, and colorist. The same is true with some good pencil artist who cannot or simply doesn't like the final steps.

It also lets the artist focus on his strengths and frees up time.

DaosX · 01-01-2007 05:34 PM

As for Derek's original question...it'll REALLY depend. Art IS subjective afterall...so, if people like your work, they'll comission you. There's no "bar" that you have to pass by...although that shouldn't stop you from trying to get as high as possible.

I'm just throwing out names here...but take Armano for example. He's the artist for Squaresoft...some of us (myself included) absolutely hate his work, but he still has quite a large following of fans who absolutely loves his work. It really DOES boil down to individual people's preferences.

BattleWraith · 01-01-2007 05:41 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Will people pay for having their art inked and colored?

[/ QUOTE ]

Something to watch out for is if they received the lineart on commission from another artist. The artist in question may have some sort of aggreement that the buyer will not have someone else color the work, whether the buyer realizes this or not.

As for Derek's question about how good art has to be for commission....

I've seen a wide range of quality in commissioned work. Personally, as a baseline, I'd say that the commissioned work would have to be recognizable as the character someone is paying to have rendered. If I commissioned someone to draw my ice/cold corruptor, I'd expect to see something recognizable as my corruptor in the picture.

Aesthetically, I'd expect commissioned artwork to have more visual appeal than if I just took a screenshot and was looking at the ingame character model.

www.battlewraith.deviantart.com

Rowrsie · 01-01-2007 06:36 PM

I dunno Derek. Are YOU ready to do commissions? Me, I'm not ready for that yet. Being paid means the client gets to be picky and expect something in a timely fashion, so I'm pulling a dragonberry and not doing commissions :P That way I can be lazy, and draw how i want

DerektheAwesome · 01-01-2007 07:29 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I dunno Derek. Are YOU ready to do commissions? Me, I'm not ready for that yet. Being paid means the client gets to be picky and expect something in a timely fashion

[/ QUOTE ]

I've thought about that, and I don't really mind that much. I'm already doing that for The Forums. >.> XD

Rowrsie · 01-01-2007 07:51 PM

Well then put up a price list, and if you don't get anything lower the prices. if you get too much raise 'em. Start with a smallish queue of about 5. Put up examples of various levels like pencils, inks, color, color w/background etc.

Then go from there.

Snowlily · 01-01-2007 07:56 PM

Another thing you can to to test the waters as well is maybe start by doing art trades? Trades are still something in exchange for Art, and probably a better first step than jumping straight into comissions.

I have a friend who does comissions (but is not a CoH player) and she's said that free art, people love to get.. art people pay for is a whole other standard, and a hard one to get into.

She's been 'accepting' commsions for over a year now, and still only gets occasional jobs. She said the hardest thing was setting up her commsion page after being told 'wmg You're so fantastic!' and then nothing but crickets for weeks and weeks.

Name is very big too. "I bought a Graver' or "Hey I just got a Gill Bates commision' and people instantly know what kind of quality of work you got, without even seeing the piece. Establishing yourself (again through trades) might be a better way to go. Otherwise you're a lemonade stand in the middle of a blizzard. open for business but no one's buying.

Also. If you do commissions, you should be a little more stingy with the art you give away. No one is goign to want to pay for Art from you if you've got an open queue for freebies they can wait on.

Some comission artists do it, and I'm not saying you can't. But their queues are like holy relics, that get flooded the second they open up, even for one a month (See Jug's Calander thread)

Still, if you decide too, I hope it goes well for you. Making even a little pocket money with art is somethign a lot of us can only dream of.

TProtector · 01-01-2007 08:18 PM

i agree with most of the other things people said. i too would like to start comission but i dont feel ill be ready until i can start working at a constant rate and am convinced my art it worth it...also ill need to be sure i can afford the proper updated software before i start anything for a price....dont want to be stuck in my ms paint stages again...that wasnt fun...

mistformsquirrel · 01-01-2007 08:49 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I dunno Derek. Are YOU ready to do commissions? Me, I'm not ready for that yet. Being paid means the client gets to be picky and expect something in a timely fashion, so I'm pulling a dragonberry and not doing commissions :P That way I can be lazy, and draw how i want

[/ QUOTE ]

My opinion exactly <,<

Drawing for me at least, is theraputic. When I *have* to do it... it becomes massively stressful. If I ever do commissions, they'll be of the one-off variety. (Basically, I'd have a link somewhere saying essentially "If you like my art and would like a commission, contact me Here - I may or may not be interested but you'll never know if you don't ask!"

That way I get to keep things on my terms. Because frankly, I lose inspiration *fast* - and when that happens having to re-draw a pic can be downright painful. Only my Christmas project has managed to get me motivated to re-do it a 3rd time; and that's because its for someone I *really* like >.< as they've been a great friend to me for 4 years.

A Warrior's Friend: ID 335212 - Help Infernal save Valkyrie from Battle Maiden.
Above Mars Part 1: The Wellington: ID 159769 - Save Mars by destroying a monstrous battleship from the inside!
>.> My DA page, where I attempt to art.

whiteperegrine · 01-01-2007 09:07 PM

without even looking at the various responces this is what I would say....

whatever you can get and whatever people are willing to pay for. its just that simple.

I will say this though....take a look around at the other here that offer commissions. then you would gauge off of that...

personally I believe you should wait. in the short amount of time that you have been posting work I have seen a tremendous improvement in your work. given the anime/manga'ish feel your going for I would say keep going. start focusing in on cetain aspects....work on different poses and perspectives. once you have a decent grasp of these then give 'er a whirl... I say this not to be cruel but just as an honest opinion and my personal take on where you are now in regards to your work.

whatever decision you choose to run with though I am behind ya 110% Derek and I truely look forward to seeing more of your ever improving work. ~

...the sword is truth...

~whiteperegrine~

Darkjedi · 01-01-2007 09:21 PM

If you wanna do commissions, my recommendation is to get away from Manga/anime. SO many people do it and SO many people do it free, that you're working yourself into a corner that goes against commissions.

If you want to be an artist worth paying, you need a style worth paying for. Start working on your own look and you'll be doing yourself a huge favor down the road.

Just my $.02

Juggertha · 01-01-2007 10:03 PM

My summary:

1) Get good enough that you have your own style and that you are consistant in it.

2) Get a thick skin - clients will tell you if you are not giving them what they want.

3) Set aside time. Like any other job, if you're going to take it seriously, then dedicate time to it.

4) Start small and grow from there. First see if there is even a demand for your work, then start to gauge it from there. Also, chck out the competition and see if you can (in some way) compare.

Just my bits of advice.