authoratticusdecker

[authoratticusdecker]

I don’t know if this will be helpful. It’s more of an essay with pictures, but hopefully it will allow potential commissioners of any artist to visualize the process. 

Disclaimer: I’ve been doing private art commissions on the internet for about a year. So, I’m no veteran, but I’ve worked freelance for years and I have been paid for various creative endeavors for 10 years, mostly in print design, copy writing and mural painting. This Tumblr/Twitter commission scene is weird. It’s the Wild West. And this is just the way I do things. It might not be how every artist goes about it.

Anyway. Let’s go.

So, you want to commission an artist… well, first things first, you need to decide what you want.

Maybe it’s a scene from your fanfic or original story. Maybe it’s your D&D character. Or maybe it’s just a thinly veiled self-insert and your favorite video game bae of choice. (We’ve all been there. No shame.)

Perhaps you have a very very specific idea. Maybe you have no idea whatsoever. Preferably you are somewhere in between, but either way, you are going to need references.  

Let me say that one more time.

Ok. That’s it. Thanks for reading. 

I jest. Rest is under the cut. It’s long.  

Keep reading

[authoratticusdecker]

Yeah, . . . I would have to study for over a year to draw this good.

Concept art of Guts’ Golden Age era sword and the dragon slayer + prosthetic arm concept sketches for the ‘97 anime

[authoratticusdecker]

I think about what my younger self thinks of what I’ve accomplished thus far. Is that weird?

Your 10-year-old self would be very proud of what you have achieved.

Keep going.

[authoratticusdecker]

[authoratticusdecker]

Fanfic writer: Stops posting. Disappears. Is never heard from again

Fanfic readers: Are you okay? Did you die? I hope you’re receiving my reviews. Please be alive. I miss you

Fanfic writers: Rising from the grave after 1.5 years. “I’m back, bitches. And guess what I have in store for you... that’s right, absolute hell.”

If you want to read some of my writing, check out my AO3 account!

[authoratticusdecker]

Writers be like: And then I actually had to write it, ya know? And it was so hard. I thought the scene would never work out.

And other writers be like: But it turned out good, right? I hope so. Writing can be so hard sometimes.

And then some more writers pitch in with: Wait, you actually write?

And normal people are sitting there like: If writing is so hard, why do you do it?

And writers be like: That’s not how it works. We don’t call the writing. The writing calls us. Sometimes it’s hell, but the writing demon summoned us to be the writers, and we cannot refuse the call.

But the writers are also like : I refuse the call every other day.

And folks, that’s just what writing is

If you want to read any of my writing, check out my AO3 account!

[authoratticusdecker]

I’m writer 4. I just sit back and let my characters shine.

Types of Writers

Writer 1: The writer that never sleeps

Writer 2: The writer who sold their soul

Writer 3: The writer who kills everyone

Writer 4: The writer who doesn’t know what happens next

Writer 5: The writer who researches every tiny detail

Writer 6: The writer who forgets what they’re writing

Writer 7: The writer who never writes

Writer 8: The writer who edits as they write

Writer 9: The writer who disappears for 1.5 years

Writer 10: The writer who is never heard from again

So which one are you?

[authoratticusdecker]

Yes. We authors all know this struggle.

Stories

[authoratticusdecker]

Which one are you guys? I’m defiantly #2 for sure. 

[authoratticusdecker]

This is what happened to me yesterday with my book The Stars that Unite Us. I had a plot in mind, but my characters chose to do something better. 

Me: *has a plan for my story while writing*

Me: *suddenly goes in a completely different direction*

Me: