#ur character isnt uggo their heart is !!!!!!!!!!

[strawberrybabydog]

Sorry if this question is a bit dumb or anything, but how exactly do you get started with commissioning an artist?

ive wanted to commission you since comms have opened, and same goes for multiple other artists - but inbetween not having the money to spend on them, not knowing how to commission artists, safety tips/things to know to keep both sides safe and comfortable, etc etc im just a bit lost!!

do you have any advice or links or anything to where i could find some info on that kinda stuff? thank u so much in advance!! ^^

honestly i dont really know if there's a "proper" way to do it. here's usually what happens with me:

client: hi i'm messaging you directly somehow. hi. i want to commission you for my Thing me: hi thats epic ! do you know what size you're looking for? do you have any pictures of the Thing? client option A: yes i'm getting [size] and here's a picture of my Thing! me: ok great ! that will probably come up to [total]. i'll give you my paypal towards the end of me finishing and i can get started any time.

client option B: i dont know the size im looking for, but this is my description of what i want. me: ok ! well based on that, [size and total] is my suggestion because i think it will show all of the necessary detail but i can work with any size, we might just have to alter the pose/design slightly to make it work if it's smaller. let me know if this sounds okay to you and i can get started client: hmm that's still a little out of my budget i'll have to think about it me: no problem hmu if you have any questions or updates! <3

the only commissions i dont really like are ones where you have to put on a down payment before the artist has even started and then pay the other half when it's finished. i notice that only the really high-end artists do this and i understand completely, but for me, this just wastes my money by forcing me to pay to convert and send it. also, a lot of clients dont really like paying for something before it's even been started in general, which is reasonable.

that being said if you feel uncomfortable about commissioning someone, let them know upfront! be like "hey ive never commissioned someone before, im kinda nervous [about sending payments/talking/etc]" thats totally fine! decent artists will be more than happy to walk you through everything. hell even if it's not your first time, it's perfectly fine to be honest about being nervous. anything with Money Is Always Nervous !

a more social rule i dont break is changing my client's designs. re-posing a character? totally yes. re-designing the character or suggesting tips to make the character "better"? not really. i once commissioned an artist who told me my monochromatic character was too bland and literally refused to draw it unless i changed the eye colour or added 1 pop of colour. i tried explaining to her This Character Is Purposefully Not Colourful but she refused and basically just shit on my self-insert-sona for 10 minutes lol. minor design changes are completely fine (with approval from the design's owner) but "i think your character's ugly and i wont draw it until you agree to make it more beautiful to me personally" is really shitty. i guess, basically anything where the artist is making you feel weird/ugly/belittled/bad for whatever reason, but especially in the context of artistic design. a good artist isnt going to make you feel bad about what you asked them to draw no matter what it is. it's honestly really fucking weird to nitpick what someone else's personal character/design looks like anyways ..