#tumblr is Not my Portfolio tho i hope ill draw and post more finished stuff too!!!

[luwha]

Do you have any tips on how to get started as an artist? What websites, how to get exposure, or even how to set up and actually do commissions?

All right! This is something complicated to talk about because every artist will have an different experience, but the hint is: almost all social medias work in similar ways.

So i’ll answer one by one!And my friend, it’ll be a journey.

Note: Every artist/professional have different views and different experience. I’m not specil or the holy grail, it’ll be based on MY experience on the field and i don’t speak for other artists! Don’t forget to ask more than once person, and more people on the same field (comic artists, freelancers, MArvel/dc, animators, charter designers, etc).

Ok there we go:

What websites

Depends on what you will show, i’ll suggest tumblr because here is where i succedded, but we have Deviantart, Twitter, Hentai-Foundry(18+), Drawcrowd, and even facebook. Ill suggest Tumblr and Twitter for you who draw like me, random pieces, some nsfw, fandom; and mostly Facebook/Deviantart if you’re going to promote your art in general, with only super polished stuff, if you want to launch comics, etc.

The websites can be all done at once tho, depends on how much time you will work on! I personally can’t work with many, i have ADHD and it’s a little harder to me to work with many, but i’m sure you can pull it out!

I cannot say much of Instagram, so i hope my followers can help me with more! Please comment!

Exposure

The exposure depends a lot, and you can do it in many ways, but the first i suggest is FANDOM. Many people see fandom as the crushing evil who destroy all (i’m talking about the popularity of the games, not the community), but it’s an amazing way to get your art to be seen and shared, because people love the characters and feel closer, you connect more with them.

If you want to refuse and start with OCs and personal works, it may get harder because on Fandom the characters are already emotionally linked, while you’ll have to build it from 0. From this, i suggest you to be funny, making memes or stuff, because this gets your job spread. Don’t feel ashamed or frustrated and don’t give up, always take a LOT of work to pull it!

And INTERACT. Save some hours on the day to talk to other artists, draw some fanart, make trades, the before/after art thing, find artists who draws the same content that you do because you can learn a lot and have a friend with the same interests! I’m a very shy person and personally i’m afraid of interacting, but don’t let it stop you, you have more than this option if you’re not comfy with it!

Giveaways are a good way to be seen, to be known. Never think you’re drawing for free, wasting your time, you’re building up a field, you’re interacting with people, it’s not an ‘free‘ art for you: It’s being paid, trust me.

Commissions

First of all: Having a huge fanbase (followers, shares reblogs, dunno) isn’t the only thing you will need. You know that friend that loves you as heck? Always support you?  Always talk to that friend. They’ll be probably your first clients, because they know and trust you, and believe in you. They’ll build your confidence, because it’s not easy dealing with all sorts of clients. It’s a good chance to make a friend happy and learn a little about profissionalism!

If you don’t have many of those friends, make ‘ghost client‘ commissions. When we deal with Logos and Design, we create fantasy companies to create a portfolio. A pizza place to create a mascot, etc. It works here too, it’s a way to show how the commissions will turn out, the product you’re offering, the time you spend.

DON’T BE AFRAID OF TALKING TO THAT ONE POPULAR ARTIST WHO DOES LOTS OF COMMISSIONS. They started like you, they were a personal shitpost blog too. They have experience, and they know the rules you should set, how to make the commission page readable, and avoid scams. And more, they’ll know PayPal and other plataforms to help you to set up! They may not be able to help you to the bones, but know THAT FRIEND? They’ll be the one that will help you to be familiar with the plataforms you can use to pay. Trade 1 dollar, then refund, then see how it works, to avoid future problems.

Dealing with people may seem hard, but there are stuff that are the basics that shouldn’t even need to be mentioned, but i’ll do it because i’ve seen professional artist to do it:

Be always kind. It’s like a job interview: not everyone likes lots of jokes/emoticons, neither everyone likes to be threated coldly, but kindness is the key.

Patience: Sometimes the client never commissioned before, you may have to teach and guide them, and sometimes the even you beg for the client to make it short they’ll send a 20 pages fanfic. You must know how to reply the email and ask again for them to NOT do it. Kindly. Sometimes you’ll deal with people who were scammed/dealt with bad commissioners, and they’ll be a little suspicious of you, you must understand where they came from but don’t bend over either, since they can ask different kinds of payments you may not be familiar. Sometimes it won’t happen, and it’s ok!

Know yourself. yes. KNOW YOURSELF. How many time takes you to finish the piece? And what if something bothers you, you find an struggle? In how much time you can solve and still deliver the commission in time? Every artist have a time to finish a piece. I studied animation so i have an habit to draw really fast, but artists who work with digital painting like oil on screen need more time because our styles are different. You need to know so you can offer the client a time. It’s scary paying and never hearing of the artist again. Make ways for them to see that you’re working, post progress if it takes longer, make a Queue page for them to see why it’s taking so much, if you’re working on someone’s else art. LET. THEM. EMAIL. YOU. to make questions, let them know that they CAN talk to you, that it’s not an annoyance.

Be communicative! You pen is messed up, a shark invaded your house? Let they know. Some wont visit your blog daily, so you may have to email. You have to be patient. And KIND. You’re afrad of artists you love? Some of your commissions are afraid of you. It’s natural to feel afraid to be closer to those who we admire, that’s wy we mess up talking to the crush, so let them know that it’s fine, that you’re here for them as well.

The clients ARENT ONLY YOUR MONEY GIVERS. They’re people, they can be easy or hard to deal with, but they’re people who support you or like your job. NEVER mock their requests, never make fun of them, don’t share their personal information (such as gender when it comes to paypal). The client pissed you off? Annoyed you? Didn’t pay/scammed? if MUCH, tell it to your artists friends IF THEY ASK, but don’t go on making callouts. You don’t know, I already happened to have a client who didn’t pay and i never finished the piece, and after months they explained what happened.

Protect yourself. Don’t finish pieces withot being paid. If much send a very basic sketch that can’t be used for anything. Will happen that scammers will try to get the sketch and don’t plan to pay. Well. Anyway.

And finally: The fanbase. You will need some followers, that’s why the other steps came first. You wont get fanbase if you’re passive agressive, or threat them badly. Be kind, trust me. It’s a daily job interview.

Commission system is A JOB and must be done like it. You have to take it seriously, if you don’t plan on doing it properly, it may not be what you want. It’ll take you time and skills you will develop. Long time to work? Let the commission open. Short time? Open 3~5 slots and close while you work. It’ll depend on you how you will deal with it.

EXTRA: Don’t underprice yourself. You will HARM BADLY other artists, people who need it seriously will be forced to down their prices. Know the currency, know dollar if it’s your first, if not, learn. You’re on X country but selling on dollar? Prince on the dollar, base it on the hour system, the wage so you don’t mess up with others. If you need help, ask your friend or the sempai, but please don’t harm us, we already work too cheap :/

Well, this was a long travel and long ass text i bet, but yeah i don’t even know how to put a period i talked so much omG HOPE IT HELPS!!!