Commissions are hard, and they'll break your heart

[DokiDokiTsuna]

Just another sad and bitter rant...

So I've had commissions open for a while. Years, even. My comm poster is so old and out of date, it's almost not indicative of my current skills anymore (I might redo it if it would make a difference...).

Needless to say, I don't get many orders. And I try to make up for that by doing "chibi sales" a couple times a year, where I offer full-color art for 10 DeviantArt points...which amounts to less than a dime for at least an hour of work.

Sometimes I strike out even then, but I usually end up making 70-90 cents worth of sales (you have no idea how depressing it just was to type that), which indicates a fairly healthy amount of interest on its face. I mean, if 7-9 strangers ask you for anything, you can reasonably assume that it's generally wanted.

WELL, I decided to take a leap of faith based on that assumption. I said to myself, "Self...you are undervaluing your art. If 9 people will buy from you when you offer your art for pennies, maybe at least half that many will buy from you if you offer it for something that's actually reasonable. And that would be okay, wouldn't it??"

After all, people have bought my regular-priced commissions before...it happens at least once a year. So I decided to offer a sale that was still a huge discount but not nearly as obscene as throwing art away for cents on the dollar...I advertised my cheebs for one dollar each.

And I'm sure you can guess how this story ends, since this is a bitter rant and not a celebratory one...the week-long sale ends in two days, and I've gotten nothing. Not even so much as a friendly 'looks awesome; sorry I can't afford it' comment, which, EVEN though they're pretty annoying, would at least be something.

Oh, EXCEPT for one such comment from a former ART THIEF, who has apparently created a new account after I BLOCKED and reported their previous one last year! They probably noticed that I'd gone and hidden all their gross comments...I wouldn't be surprised if they've come back to steal my art again; I would check their page and start the process over but I really don't need another headache right now...

...Dammit. I just wanted to try to inject some hope and positivity into my last week of vacation. And all I got was more spit in my eye from the universe. T_T

My only consolations are that (a) AT LEAST I didn't take an even bigger leap and start offering adoptable characters for 500 points/5 dollars like I planned...that would have probably resulted in an even greater loss of emotional capital. :[
And (b) because I allow people to request commissions with personal messages, and I rarely post the resulting work publicly...no one on that site actually knows (for certain) how big of a failure I am~ ;]

In conclusion, I'm plenty pissed, but not nearly as pissed as I could be if I actually expected this to work out. At this rate, the day will soon come when I give up on myself completely...but, hopefully, little sparks of hope will keep pushing it off to a later date.

P.S. I'm just blowing off steam, I'm not really looking for suggestions, ESPECIALLY not suggestions in the vein of 'maybe if you improve your art more people will actually like it and want to buy it'.
Frankly, I will consider those personal insults. I believe my art is already more than worthy of being purchased, and I also believe I am mature enough to make that judgement with impartiality. I would prove it to you by showing off the awesome advertisement poster I drew up (which will now be forever marred by this experience), but I think that would count as soliciting and I don't think that's allowed here. =/

[nathanKmcwilliams]

I've done a few commissions where I got paid, and then...the people never used the art they paid for.

On one hand...hey...I got paid. On the other...they pretty much killed any momentum I'd have gotten from them using it, thus barring me from potential future commissions.
Pretty frustrating, especially when I busted my tail on the commission, and put in my best effort. I barely ever do them anymore because of that.

[Ghostie]

I feel this whole post in my soul.

I've opened for commissions before maaaaany times in the past, and I definitely have art skill. The problem is lack of marketing because I'm A) not a fast artist and B) work a full time job. I post on social media everything I do, and while I get like 2 likes out of 130 followers, that's 0 retweets or any way to spread me around. I always wonder how a new user with 12 posts has over 500 followers. And yet I post WIPs, chat to other art friends, and come out with some quality stuff with almost no feedback.

I've heard the whole;
"You're underselling yourself, price yourself appropriately."
Ok but no one buys it. Or-
"Improve your art and people will want it."
I'm already good at what I do. But no one helps spread word around of me, or cares in the end anyway. --Shrug--

I gave up by now. All I do is draw for myself and if people come by, they come by. If not, oh well. I don't really have the will or drive to draw for other people anymore anyway.

Worse, when I once moved in with an artist friend (I was in dire straights I don't wanna talk about it), and then moved back home when I couldn't find my own apartment out there, all contact with that entire circle of artist friends completely died. I imagine shit-talk happened about me, and... that's it. My activity after that totally died.

In some ways, my comic is cathartic. I draw for me - my story, my world, my ideas. And people who like it can come along with me if they want - which is awesome. It's way more free and less stressful than commissions.
-c-

[Eightfish]

Dude, 10 cents an hour?? Why are you even doing commissions at that point?! You don't need to make money to have your art be worthwhile.
I've done some at $15 an hour and even then I didn't think it was worth the hassle of dealing with other people's demands.

Also I know you're not looking for advice but deviantart is a terrible place to look for commissions. It's full of young people who don't have money, and they aren't looking to buy art on that website in the first place, so you're selling to people who aren't in a buying mood.

Like, I'm very likely to buy a chicken if I see one in the grocery store, but if someone on the street came up to me and asked me to buy a chicken, it doesn't matter how great the chicken is, I'm not going to get it.

You'd be better off going to explicitly art sale focused places, like doing video game skins, stickers, tattoos, DND characters or fursonas.

All the 100$+ commissions I did I got from art sale subreddits.

[GrimRose]

Deviant art is not the best place to sell commissions the whole point system is wack and you can't convince me otherwise.
There are other sites which actually offer a monetary system.
I gave up with commissions on DA ages ago.

Recently tried Artist n Clients. Haven't had many commissions but still more than deviant art. Plus it puts a limit on how much the lowest price you can sell on their, so unlike deviantart where you can sell your art as low as 10 cents, the minimum is usually $5.
Still tho that's pretty low pricing for the amount of work that goes in commissions.

[rajillustration]

I think it's very, VERY common to post availability for commissions and maybe only ever get them from close friends, if at all. I know people personally who've posted commissions because they desperately needed cash and got...no response. It has nothing to do with how good or not good their art is or how it was priced. It doesn't really even have anything to do with how many followers they have (because one of my friends in particular has Thousands.) It's just that commissions are a very niche luxury item that most people don't really need or know they want.

And like--I know you wanted to do commissions as a way to meet people and draw, and that's awesome, and I hope you the best that you'll find that, but as far as money goes, you'll find more than five dollars in your couch cushions, so go raid that couch, buy yourself a Ben n Jerries, turn on your favorite show, and have yourself a well deserved evening.

[ZatchZ]

Thanks for the tip! Imma go use this!

[Buurd]

Definitely posted commissions and had no bites before despite reasonable prices and skill.

As people have said Deviantart is not a great place to find commissions though. Because of the point system, its made people on the site undervalue artists to a ridiculous degree. Most there have grown to see 100 points as a lot. Meanwhile its about 1$ in reality.

I actually had decent luck on a local buy and sell page on facebook weirdly enough. Around Christmas I posted I would do cheap 5$ chibi style sketches for people. Ended up with a bunch of people who wanted to get something cheap but unique/personalized for their significant other, or something simple and cute to put on their family Christmas card. Could be worth a shot trying around certain holidays.

[SeraphicMayin]

Yes, commissions are very difficult to get. I remember in the first few years I also sold art for like ten or fifty dA points. I also has months and months with no one biting for commissions.

Now, I've been doing them for nine years and only last year (I've taken a break for a year cause comics) for a year had I started to make in the hundreds per month. All from DeviantArt clients.

Now, what I'd discovered is that clients often don't know what they want in a commission. They rely a lot on the artist for creative freedom. Only a small slice of clients I've worked with always knew what they wanted to see. This is unreliable when you're not a well established artist as everyone who has posted so far knows.

In my research around deviantart's commission and adoptable markets ...mostly just lots and lots of looking at successful ones and how they're different. There seemed to be two successful veins. Those that had a set style, super technically good art, and have just been grinding away at the commissions game for many years to establish themselves is one. I knew I would get bored making just pretty portraits so I looked for a different way.

That's when I came upon Your-Character-Here (YCH) commissions. These seemed to be promising.

For those not familiar, YCH commissions have a pre-drawn base of blank figures in some interesting pose that the creator can then auction or buy outright. It's only when I started making those did I even start to see a steady stream of people wanting my work. Because now people didn't have to think of their own pose, they could point at the one I made and be like: I want this one.

Here's the important bit: It was still slow going, but it was more than before so I knew I was going in the right direction.

After that, I got to thinking that I always want some kind of story illustrated in my art. Getting really neat portraits of characters is cool but anyone can do that. And if anyone can do it that means there is a LOT of competition.

That's when I started making YCH comic pages. Single scenes with a bit of dialogue. I decided that what I'm selling isn't the art or my style. I'm selling the client a story; a chance to point to the YCH and say I can see my OCs in this!

They're not easy to make and it does take a lot of experimenting to make something even off of Pinterest dialogue prompts for example.

But since making this and letting multiple clients order the same scene, I've made hundreds of hundreds of completed commissions.

I've made over 150 unique YCHs now and ALL of my YCHs are free to use as Bases, References, Inspiration to anyone for anything. This includes anyone wanting to use them to offer commissions. And I'm more than happy to confirm that as needed on dA.

It's taken me nine years of freelancing to figure this all out.

https://www.deviantart.com/seraphicmayin/gallery/69016239/old-ychs

These are all the YCHs and in September I plan to start creating more cause my comic Swaha is almost complete.

If they help, please feel free to use them as resources.

[tinalynge]

I am from the other side of the commission table.

I am an author and I heavily depend on artists to make art for me - both covers for my books, concept art for my characters and webcomics over my novels.

I know you are not looking for advice, but there are a few other places people search such as Fiverr and Sketchmob.

I have been scouring the different art sites so many times, to no avail. Deviant art scared me away due to no contracts, and in the end, I ended up usually using Fiverr and sketchmob. Here the contract is included and it works very well. Maybe you should consider signing up on those kinds of sites? The customer also pays before you even start the commission, so you won't waste time.

As an artist myself (though writing instead of drawing) I believe that people deserve to be paid for the effort they put into their art. I am sad that commissions are so troublesome for you ><

Just as an example, Chibis on Fiverr sells for a minimum of $5 but the ones I commission - because they need commercial use etc, costs around $50.

[GabiWolf]

I don’t believe a dollar is to much, and I don’t believe your art is the problem. It maybe the marketing. Did you only advertise on DA? You are missing out on other markets, like Instagram and Twitter. I see artist posting commissions there all the time. Also DA is filled with other artist that may not have the money or desire to commission someone, while other social media have non-artist that maybe all to happy to fork over a dollar for a cute little chibi.

[DokiDokiTsuna]

Dude, 10 cents an hour?? Why are you even doing commissions at that point?! You don't need to make money to have your art be worthwhile.

*shrugs * I know I don't have to make money with my art, but I'd really like to, and I guess I assumed if you do things like short sales and giveaways to give people a 'taste' of what you have to offer, eventually they'll start trying to buy your work for its regular price. You know, like free samples at a restaurant. Give a little, and get a lot more later...theoretically...

As people have said Deviantart is not a great place to find commissions though. Because of the point system, its made people on the site undervalue artists to a ridiculous degree. Most there have grown to see 100 points as a lot. Meanwhile its about 1$ in reality.

I agree that the point system changes the way people look at the cost of art, and in a bad way. :[ But I don't think that DeviantArt is as much of a marketing black hole as everyone here seems to.

I mean, I'm not stupid. ^^; Why would I insist on trying to sell commissions on a site where no one is buying them? But the truth is that a lot of people buy them there, every day. I know this because nearly every single artist I watch, from the hobbyists to the industry pros, sells their art in some capacity, and the vast majority of them have no trouble with it. Maybe they aren't rich, but they can at least do better than one measly buyer per year.

I've seen original characters auctioned off for over 500 dollars. I've seen people line up to buy art of a quality similar to mine for 10x the price. There's plenty of money in circulation on dA, you just have to be able to get at it somehow...

And I just thought, hey, I've been on the site for a couple years already, I finally surpassed a thousand watchers last year, I get a steady ~200 pageviews a day (and judging by my relatively low comment numbers, I doubt those are all the same people). On any other site, that would look like an opportunity. And I wouldn't be surprised if it was...just not for me.

[Buurd]

The the first part wasn't a reply to me but - the problem with taking commissions for that low of a price is that people begin to value it that way. When they know you've offered commissions for under a dollar, why would they pay the regular price? They'll just wait for you to post another one of these sales. I know not everyone is this way, but I think your mindset of it being a free sample isn't going to get you return customers unfortunately. The people who grab at those cheap commissions tend to be cheap people who target artists like ourselves who haven't found an audience for our commissions yet. I've also seen commissioners say they don't like to purchase from people underselling themself, for a number of their own reasons (i.e they want the person to be more confident before they buy, they worry "WHY is it so cheap")
It also ends up undercutting other artists, but thats a whole other thing I dont wanna get into atm haha

And i know youre not stupid, but I think what you see in this case is the Ideal. These people might have been on the site for years, might be promoting elsewhere, have good networking, etc. And with the adopts or things selling at super high prices - is it possible? YES! Absolutely, and there's nothing wrong with aiming for that. But usually people (at least regarding adopts ) want to pay those prices because its from THAT artist. Adoptable designs from certain creators sell highly because someone has enough of a fanbase for their designs that its hard to get a design from them - which in turn makes them more desirable. The price is partly due the design yes, but partly because its more rare in a sense.

I'm not saying "dont use deviantart, nobody commissions there" I just meant that its not uncommon for people to be frustrated with the lack of sales when promoting there. Unfortunately the market there is just really oversaturated, tons of commissions are being offered there by a ton of different artists.
I just suggest that because its so hard to get commissions even when dropping prices so low - stick to a good value for your art. If you get someone to pay that 20$ eventually, in theory it would make up for all those 80 cent commissions.

[silverraven0]

I just started doing commission for real and I need to hunt down the thread on twitter for days and shamelessly dming people or post it on their thread if they're looking for commission.

It's hard and I only able to got a commission after luckily stumbling into this very very nice guy who want a commission. I'm very lucky for meeting this guy and it's been a wonderful time drawing for him. But he's the only one tho. I will still need to hunt down dem peoples from the search button... (:'з」∠)

(but I'm very very grateful for that)

Mostly didn't reply or ghosted me after they said they'll look into my portfolio and such. I'm very grateful for whoever messages me back telling me they've got another artist. At least I don't feel much anxiety.

I tried artist n client some time ago, still got no order bit I know that competition for new user is tight, and I tried applied to reddit but it's also hard cause mostly is a pro or the price range is not suitable. I don't want to go back to deviantart, so nothing here.

[Buurd]

I think you make a good point here though - many seem to have better luck (while maybe not getting a ton, but hey one is more than none) when approaching someone who is looking for a commission.
Taking the extra time to search for the people who are looking to buy seems to increase chances of actually having a bite from what ive seen. Which makes sense, they're already looking to spend money on an artist after all.

Still havent taken the time to do this myself, but hey I also didnt get any commissions last year haha

[Zhengo]

Lol I feel this, getting commissions is so hard for me. As others have said sometimes you gotta hunt down the people who are actually looking for a commission and try to get a score.

[GesuGesu]

I'm also like @tinalynge and have commissioned others in the past. This is usually how I decide on which artist to commission:

1) I like their art style + skill is competent enough to match what I am aiming for. This is the most limiting factor of how I commission someone.

2) Someone I already know around the community or someone introduced to me through a friend. I trust artists I've seen around, already working on stuff, and frequently show up in my social media through the retweets and shares of my friends. Basically, if my friends trust you, then I would too.

3) Prices are decent. I don't trust art commissions when the prices are too low. Something must be up if their prices are low... It makes me confused so I just don't bother to commission something so unknown. I usually pay $30 minimum for anything.

--
As an artist who gets commissions once in a while:

1) Connections! Friends may commission me, or friends may recommend me to one of their friends who is looking to get art done. Finally, artist friends who cannot take a commission may simply pass their client to me as a reference.

2) Don't just wait for people to come to you, and look at job boards on various forums to answer posts looking for artists. I regularly scour Deviantart forums > job opportunities, and FurAffinity > Commissions when I'm really desperate for commission work. I also join a lot of servers regardless of my activity in them so that I can spam my commission sheet in all of them.

3) Apply for everything and be open to trying things that may not be in your comfort zone. There were some commissions I was able to get in the past on Deviantart because I was willing to do hentai, or weird fetish art that other artists with better skill than me wouldn't do. My friends joked I was a hyena for scrap-picking, but it got me money, so I can't complain. A lot of popular artist commission posts indicated they don't draw "furry/gore/mecha/NSFW/old people" so you should take a gander at those types of art.

--
On days like OP, I usually just take a rest from all that craziness and focus on my IRL job so I don't feel so sad about not being noticed.

[malverav]

I do a lot of commissions and have a few regular clients. Commissions suck. I hate doing them. I start a high paying job when I graduate this year and I can't wait to close commissions for-fuckin-ever. You don't have to monetise your joy - your art is not more or less valuable because you do or don't charge for it.

I'd focus on doing what you want to do, especially if you're making pennies from it. Draw what makes you happy and your customers will show up eventually.

If you want to make real money in art, commissions are not the way to go 90% of the time; you'll need work, like a comic book contract, illustrations, editorial work, starting as a finishing artist for books for brochures. Selling your prints, webcomic books, how-to pdfs and other merch. Commissions on their own for what people online charge for them ($10-15USD an hour) just doesn't provide the dollars to hours ratio that you need to live. Adoptables can work, especially if you can't stop making ocs and you were drawing them anyway.

The biterate you're seeing isn't reflective on your skill or worth as an artist (I'm enjoying your gallery, and think it looks really good!) because those posts rarely work! For commission work, I've had more success hawking to people already looking for art, mostly on twitter and reddit. Lots of people not replying or a polite no, but that's just sales. Sometimes I get a message from someone who's seen my work, likes it, and wants me to draw them something, great! It's rare though and you have to hustle.

I also make a lot of money from porn. Loads of people don't draw it or they don't draw it well, but I do. Find your niche; you might do a certain kind of commission (drooling demon on twitter does little 4 pose sheets, two in fullbody and two halfbody, and they're really really unique) that sets you apart from everyone else.

Good luck! It's a hard, saturated market out there and I hope that you can keep making good work!

[Zhengo]

That is an encouraging way to see how to make money from art besides having to work at a studio. I'd like to one day not rely on commissions and get by selling my own work. To which I don't know how to market

[silverraven0]

Okay, so I just found a site for advertising your commission. They're still newish so I can't really say anything about job offer you'll receive, but they're total free! It's a forum like sit and works most like reddit r/hungryartist.

I don't know if this is allowed or not but they're over there :

https://hypelance.com