What kinds of things do people commission?

[qwerty]

This is a question for anyone who has any experience doing art commissions ~

1. I notice that on a lot of people's commission sheets they list prices for sketches vs. line art vs. flat colors vs. full colors. Do a lot of people actually commission sketches / line art / flat colors or do most people want "complete" artwork with full color?

2. What are some popular categories of things to commission (like portraits, pets, etc.)? If I'm not experienced drawing furry/anthro characters or robot/mecha stuff, how big of a market would I be missing out on?

[deltastic]

I have a lot of experience doing commissions- been doing them since 2005 So here's my takes on your questions!

1. It does depend on the person, but I've found that stuff that is colored flies best. It doesn't need to be "complete" IE: fully illustrated/painted/etc, but the people who want sketches-only tend to be more rare, or people who want commissions snail-mail sent to them. But, some people cannot afford a piece that is bigger and more complicated, so it's good to offer different tiers to suit different needs.

2. I don't think you'd be missing out on a big market. You should offer only things you feel confident in drawing- I've never seen an issue with people saying "i don't draw furry/mecha/backgrounds/etc" - having that listed up front helps people from asking and then getting turned down (or you having to turn them down), or otherwise suffer through a commission that you're less than confident about.

Generally, I think people list types of commissions (sketch, color, portrait, full body, icon) because it is much easier for people to decide from a list with pricing, like a menu, than it is to come up to an artist cold and ask about services and such. It's less stressful on both to know what they are getting into and what they will get out of it.

It's up to you if you want to only offer certain tiers/pricing, or only offer specific commissions on a special (only portraits only 5 spots!) or if you want to be generally open for any types of commissions. In my experience, the most important thing is to do what you, the artist, is comfortable with and that you are sure you can complete in a timely manner, and then also be sure to showcase work that you know you can meet the quality of. So I try to always show other commissions as my examples of what I can do- that way what you see is what you get.

Best of luck!!

[joannekwan]

I think I've only ever had one lineart commission and that was because they were intending to get it as a tattoo.
Everyone else asks for one of my coloring styles (flat color with some texture, cel-shaded, and fully painted).

Not many people ask for mecha from what I've seen. Usually people seeking those will find mecha artists. Same goes for furries BUT if you do a lot of humanoids you may get asked for a furry piece. Doing furry art or even accepting furry commissions can be pretty lucrative though.

[TAMAnnoying]

Everyone always asks for my 10$ sketches, mostly cause i seem to attract a lot of people who prefer rough lines and edges over completed works, but if its not sketches then usually its the finished fully colored and shaded final product with backgrounds and the like. so i guess in order it would be sketch, full color, cell color, line art. So id say it kind of just depends on what people like about your work. MOST people id say will always want fully done color commissions, i think my current audience is just really into sketches.

as for what the usual subject is... well... back in collage the main theme was character drawings people wanted for their dnd games or novels, then it turned into a lot of kissing poses, and now its mostly dragons. :v so many dragons