Well... I'm going to address here very fully, some stuff its copypasted since its general advice that I've given before and that may help again, just tweak it to fit your own circumstances and such.
First of all, I wouldn't recommend doing commissions when this was your thread a few days ago. If I were to be someone interested in commissioning someone, then I saw a thread like this, I would avoid the person.
https://forums.tapas.io/t/i-forgot-how-to-draw-rip/78370
Don't get me wrong, and I don't want to be rude but if you're rusty and unable to draw certain things... not many are going to risk themselves to pay for something that they are not sure is going to be according to what they had in mind, if they saw your portfolio then they'll expect work in that quality, and if you're rusty, then... that means the quality may be inferior.
Most of the time, people aren't going to commission you for having open commissions, those that will commission you will come from works that you've posteed.
Among the art community, is not recommended to open emergency commissions, why? You may get people attracted, but the basis of it is very exploitative: You work hard with a quick TaT for a very cheap price because you're desperate. And if you don't work that way people simply think "Oh well, they aren't desperate enough" so they won't commission you if you take long, or don't have extremely cheap prices. Or some really just want to see how actually miserable you are and if it's "worthy" to "help" you.
Personally speaking, when it comes to making an income, have around 3 plans first and leave art as your 4th option, there are jobs and gigs that people have no issue paying for, since art is a luxury then many simply don't feel like it is a required investment, so that's why have it as the least successful plan to make money.
Now, sorry for the reality check. Now I'm going to copypaste a few things here.
As far as I can tell there is no better nor ideal place where to get commissions, that changes depending on your public, sometimes it could be A social media or it could be B or C. It fluctuates but is mostly because of you.
If you didn't get a single commission nor job offer based on your services, then something is definetly wrong with (It could be A reason, not all of them, or well..... it can be sometimes) how you do things.
- Price
- Presentation
- Activity
- Self promotion
- Service
- Accessibility
Price:
I'll keep it simple. You need to have a a stable, solid price. Some people may see first how you engage with previous stuff and if they notice you go for any price based on what the other person offers, then they won't be sure if you're charging them extra and most will feel angry if you offer someone else a "cheaper" price. Not to mention, if your abilities are not that great then people will get offended even more at the point of considering it "a scam".
So, keep in mind the fundamentals: Look at your style, look at what you're offering, then compare yourself to both local and international market, check for something either in between to see what can you do for your prices and maybe guarantee better chances to get commissioned. Keep in mind your time but don't necessarily get yourself attached, in case you're not from North America or Europe, to those specific prices, charge based on what you need according to your local currency. A lot of people consider their month and needs saved by making $300, but of course, if you're starting, try get satisfied by being able to pay public transport or a service like Internet or Electricity.
Presentation:
This is very important, you have to give the image that you're an artist, not only by having a username that matches with your other socials, a pfp that at least looks decent and with your own art. But you'll also have to attach to your bio the places where to find you, be it a master link like Carrd or Linktree.
Because the mayority of people won't try to search within the results of the forum to find your art, and others won't put on the job of googling your username to see if they can find you, even so, it could lead them to someone completely different but with a similar name.
You have to be accessible and easy to find, if not, people will be limited to see you only in the space you share.
Your attitude: There are things regarding a commission price list that may make it look unnappealing, be it vibrant colors, unorganized assets, lots of text, lots of samples and prices, confusing add-ons and so on. You need to keep it simple, or delicate. It has to be appealing to the eye, a lot fo people make the mistake that by using vibrant colors is going to attract more people but in truth it will only be seen a second because reading may turn into an impossible task.Having a decent font is important, it has to be easy to understand, it has to match a bit your works and especially: Numbers need to look decent and easy to read as well, there are lovely fonts with curls and swirls but when it's time to read the numbers is nightmarish. Another thing to keep in mind is keeping a few samples and prices, avoid putting a bunch of text or several stuff in the image (Yes, try it to be a single one because if you go for more than 3-4, then people will scroll by, no one wants to open galleries or click images to see them in bigger size, so try to make it easy for any person interested)
Activity
Now... the part that everyone hates, this is totally different from Self-Promotion but it's gotta be mentioned anyway, leave aside having to share into several places, think about your main account.
In your main account, you need to look the part, you need to look active, that you're an artist that is taking jobs, that is quick to respond, that can have a quick turnaround time to deliver pieces and so on. I always think: An artist that posts at least 2 times a week has better chances that one that posts 2 times a month, sadly, being fast and pumping drawings is important, especially if these are different from one another. Or you can post something everyday, be it a rough sketch, finished work, another wip, a little practice, a reel or video and switching constantly.
Try to work faster not harder, but make it "look" as if you're so hardworking and fast and neat and bla bla bla. Doesn't need to be perfect, only needs to be posted.
Self promotion
Well, this is the obvious one. Having the main three: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Sharing in like... 100 fb groups, participating in tweet artshares, using reels, stories, hashtags, yadda yadda... every time you make a new piece. Nowadays in Facebook groups, especially commission ones, you need to put that the art is yours in the post, price and a link to either your commission pricelist or gallery. So, with more reason is important to have solid prices.
Having the extras: Tumblr, Reddit, Discord.
The first one... is only good for fanart, so try to grab people's interest with that (Especially fandoms of series that are currently trending), Reddit and Discord are the same about: participating, being active and then being in several places and sharing your work besides prices or a link. Again, most of the time in places that are communities, you'll need to engage with people, no one is going to be interested if you only dump your works in the channel, want feedback, engage, want people to know you're there, engage.
There are other places where to get commissions: Here in the forum, DeviantArt's forum (Services/Offers sub-threads), Furraffinity or other groups or communities.
I always recommend:
Share in as many places as you can the work you just finished, and then maybe twice a month, your commission price list.
Don't be affraid of replying with your art and prices to a post/thread despite having around 300 people already doing it, you never know who may be interested as well.
Sadly, self-promotion is deeply attached to Presentation and Activity, so it's important to keep a proper balance of the three.
But again, keep in mind that you're reading what they post and that you can actually be up to the task and not just throwing your price list for throwing it, avoid sending your pricelist especially to posts where people are seeking for advice regarding what to do with an artist that is not delivering work to them, I've seen this happening several times, and always considered the same: The people that only do that instead of providing assistance to the other artist's client with their unpleasant experience are being disrespectful and out of place.
Service
Now, while doing commissions, what service do you provide? Why someone should hire you? What makes you different form another person I coul hire? Do you have clear differences to have different prices for certain services you provide?
Accessibility
Do you have a portfolio, a place where people can see your work, be it separated in galleries depending on the type of commission you offer, or the style, or the service, etc? Ko-Fi is great to keep things organized in a gallery (sample 1) or having a better structure of your commissions (sample 2) since you can better manage and strike part of the part above.
And this adds to the methods of payment you have available, through which services, which currency and so on.
But do you have an index or place where these things can be seen? Like a linktree or cardd where all the important information: Art samples, prices, ToS, TaT, Other services, other works, socials, etc can be seen?
Remember than when you're the one offering to reach others, you need to basically have things kind of served in a golden plate, for others, opening something as mundane as a link is a mayor task that needs motivation, interest, curiosity, basically "doing you a favor" so yeah, you have to be extra appealing so they properly check you out. Many won't search through your profile, socials or open up each link, so having an Index may make things more accessible, especially when they don't have to open many tabs.
And now, this is another part that you also need to keep in mind. You are an artist in need, YET that doesn't mean you're desperate enough to not question anything.
Most of the time scammers have targeted specific hashtags that some artists use, or specific words, thus depending on your settings, if you have open comment section then you'll receive the typical "Omg I love this, plz dm me" or "love it, are u open for commission".
If you have a comment section limited to only those that you follow and followers, the most common thing to happen is that they end up in your spam messenger folder.
Here is a detailed guide I've made to identify scammers:
Typical "hello are your commissions open", no question mark, just blunt
Ignores your actual prices, doesn't bother to ask about your ToS, TaT and other stuff
Probably over flatters your art
"Hey I'm willing to pay you (Usually is $300) so it isn't stiff"
Wants to know your name and which country you're from
Wants your email and would likely ignore a Paypal.Me, you asking for THEIR email or an Invoice link
Would claim there are issues with their bank or Paypal if you insist in sending them those instead of your email to them
Pfp that are selfies or typically some white woman in a minivan?
Few photos on their account, be it of children, selfie or a pet?
Following a lot of accounts but not many actually follows them?
How does the scam work?
They want your email so they can send you a fake “invoice” from Paypal.
They'll show you a screenshot of the money being sent
You'll see no money in your account
They'll claim they did the invoice and to check your spam folder since Paypal "does that sometimes to them as well"
Then they'll try to make you panic through them accusing you of scamming them
If you check the "Paypal" spam email, you'll see it's not well written, refers to you as Dear Costumer or your name (In case you gave away your real name to the person)
Basically there are two alternatives to the scam: One is about your account having money on hold so you have to send money in order to "unlock it" and receive it. The other one is about having to upgrade your account to Business in order to be able to accept the payment.
The most common Scams are
“I want a drawing of my daughter”
“I want a picture of my son and our dog”
“I want you to draw my 25 ocs”
“Hi my team and I analyzed your work you’re growing fast and developing fast”
“My team saw your portfolio and considers youre have a lot of talent and we'd like tu support artist and allow them to have real payment”
Yet another type of scam
There is also another type of scammer which is about some stranger coming and claiming to be some kind of Art Manager, they make artists and clients connect with one another through them but honestly. Just by looking at the conversation you can get all the red flags of the world.
I would put it in a Summary but it gets broken from time to time, so not to flood with screenshots, check it here
NFT Scam
This is already a bit common, is the typical of someone once again coming and flattering your art and being so in love with it, or totally talking as if you have some kind of "gallery" thus want to buy your work, and ask you to put it on a platform so they can bid for it and buy it, also trying to lure you there with the "Oh is a crypto currency, is really expensive, you'll have lot of cash <3"
The quickest way to get rid of them and notice they are scammers is by either having a Google form, Ko-Fi or any "extra step" platform for others to Commission you and telling them
"Hello there, feel free to make your request in the following link" and the link to my Ko-Fi Commission page
The usually never respond, and those that do it totally ignore the link or greeting and go straight to their script, usually trying to pressure you to give them your paypal email, name and even Nationality, in an attempt to fill on the most important aspects before sending you a fake Paypal email that will likely end up in your Spam folder (With logic reason)
As well, some are so bad at scamming that they totally ignore when you're a digital artist and proceed to treat you as if you were a traditional portrait artist, they talk about inches. Most of the time, genuine clients ask in pixels or simply go "I want it be enough for a pfp but also to use in post"
Always remember to memorize the official emails of the virtual wallet or transaction app/website you use, for example, Paypal's are only two: Member@paypal.com or Service@paypal.com.
They will not arrive in your Spam folder
They'll address you by your first name not "Dear costumer"
Paypal won't have some kind of urgency for you to act
You don't have to pay any kind of fee, to either "unlock" a payment or "upgrade" your account
You, as the seller are recommended to have a Business account, since that way you can remove your Address, email, phone number and real name from your invoice at the time of payment, you do not require the client's email and there is definetly no reason at all for you to give yours. When you create an invoice you can send it as a link by clicking in the three dots, and the client can pay normally
Scammers will claim that their bank won't allow invoices, but if that were true, they won't be able to pay through "Friends and Family" (Never accept payments like this) nor "Goods and Services" (Not as bad, still not recommended, less successful in case of refunds) either.
