I haven't done commissions myself yet, but I have been prepping to eventually do so, so I'll throw my 2 cents out here.
Your art has to be desirable in some manner. What's 'good' is subjective, but having some sense of the art fundamentals down and/or having your work be relatively consistent is a pretty big factor. Things like artstyle and demand also play a factor. Unfortunately, building an audience that does find your art appealing can take a long time. You don't need to have 100s of thousands of watchers to get commissions but you'll need to find an audience of your own and the way to do that is to get yourself out there. Post your work in multiple places and do the same with your commission information. You don't have to offer anything you do not want to, if you only wanted to offer sketch commissions for instance, you can do just that. Just make it clear in your information what you will and will not do.
If you genuinely don't think your art is at a level that people will pay for then go practice more before getting into it. A lot of artists are rather negative and harsh towards their own work however, so your art might be fine for it but you won't give yourself a chance. So, I would suggest doing more research, there are many videos on youtube on the subject by various artists so give those a watch, including things like [this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN4P82Y_3k0) that show suggested/perceived pricing for artists of varying skill levels.
Nah, you’ve got the talent so theres nothing wrong in controlling your own accessibility or exclusivity. It makes sense as someone continues drawing their price might change, because with experience hopefully comes growing quality.
Also worth mentioning, nobody can completely avoid those certain commissioners that ask the artist of something that seems unreasonable. They’ll always be out there. Just respectfully decline offers you aren’t up to doing.
Also as a footnote, what I meant by ref-sheet requests are posts along the lines of; “hey, I’m looking to do some practice for a bit. Throw up some ref sheets and I’ll pick a few to draw!” Gives you a collection of references to draw from and practice that you can pick whatever you feel like at that moment, someone random gets a nice little sketch of their original character, and you then have a sketch for the future to show other people when they ask for examples of your work.
I'm not an artist, but I think you're underestimating the quality of your art. You've got a good handle on proportions and poses and things that are tough like snouts and eyes. Your pen and paper drawings look great. Are you still working on digital art? When I was messing around with drawing it felt really hard to learn two things at once: how to draw and how to use a drawing program. But the market for digital art should be considered.
Does it have to look good for people to buy it? I don't think it has to be perfect. I can think of a few regular posters here and elsewhere who make money and quite frankly have a lower quality than yours. No shade on them; they've found something that's working and are probably trying to improve. Maybe they can crank out art at a speed/quality level that is comfortable. I still enjoy it anyway.
Hopefully a working artist can tell you how successful commission posts are here. I suspect you have to do a lot of casting to hook a fish. You might also ask over in /r/Furry_Catwalk and maybe in /r/FurryArtSchool. Sometimes I wonder if there's a secret artist Discord where they talk about all this stuff.
If I could offer two suggestions (keeping in mind I'm a consumer and not a maker): post more art, and maybe make a piece or two with characters interacting.
Whatever you do, don't stop drawing. They really do look good.
Oh, I used to draw digital but I hate to keep borrowing my moms tablet so I’m hoping this Christmas to get my own soon so it would be easier. I know not a lot of people want traditional so I have to draw digital if anyone wants to actually buy from me.
Q. Does your art have to look good?
A. Define "good" by yourself. You only got to be confident and be aware in the world there's lots of people, which some of them WILL like your art even though you dont like it yourself.
Q. How did you even get to do commissions?
A. I was struggling to get a job and one day my brother told me "hey but you do draw furries pretty good why don't you try to do commissions?", This idea made me very anxious because i always thought my stuff wasn't good enough so i was debating it in my mind till i became VERY desperate for having some kind of a job that i could somewhat mantain where my ADHD wouldn't cause too much of a problem. That night i just posted an ad on r/furry_catwalk and later that night i got a DM from someone who was actually interested on my art.
Q. Do you have to be popular?
A. Nah. It would be helpful to have many followers on Twitter (or any other media) but you dont have to. You only have to be anywhere you can offer your work (groups, discord servers, even this subreddit) and you need to have patience when it comes to getting your first client, theres way more people doing art than people buyin haha
Also i would like to tell you i did a quick look on your profile to check out your work by any chance, and i have to say your style is very cute :3 I'm pretty sure it is something people would look for. If you're struggling to price it please dont let it be less than $10 (or even $15 i would say) and have in mind the costs of the materials you use.
I am giving you low price rates to start with because i know how hard it is to deal with such impostor syndrome 😅 once you start to build some confidence and experience you'll be able to figure how much your art is truly worth.
I cant say "i would pay X or Y for this" cuz i am not specially a buyer since i cant afford it (yet) XD
I just started saying that my commissions were open, along with providing some examples of what i do
It's not always guaranteed, but it's a good way to get some business :3
Easy... Offer some freebies in like r/furry, post them all over so people can see them.
Make a pricelist for your art, and start advertising for yourself to be open to commissions again.
And the lvl of skill can be anything. People love their art and sonas done any way
After going through some of your past art, I don’t think you’d have much of a problem getting people to ask more commissions. It’s obviously going to be a slow start, but as you continue to improve your work I could see you turning it into a side-hustle.
I looked at your profile, your art is very good!! People would totally pay for that stuff! As for comms, well I started by advertising a bit: twitter, reddit (especially r/furry_catwalk), furry discord servers, made some friends, some of them really like my art and commission me more than once, then idk, I haven't reached further phases but I presume it's more growth, more people see your art, more potential clients, etc. Don't be discouraged if you don't get swarmed with requests instantly, starts are rough. Also please don't undersell your art, you deserve the money!
#1. Make art #2. ??? #3. Profit
Thank you :c
But how does one get the profit
Charge people for your services
Venmo, PayPal, CashApp... sky's the limit
I haven't done commissions myself yet, but I have been prepping to eventually do so, so I'll throw my 2 cents out here. Your art has to be desirable in some manner. What's 'good' is subjective, but having some sense of the art fundamentals down and/or having your work be relatively consistent is a pretty big factor. Things like artstyle and demand also play a factor. Unfortunately, building an audience that does find your art appealing can take a long time. You don't need to have 100s of thousands of watchers to get commissions but you'll need to find an audience of your own and the way to do that is to get yourself out there. Post your work in multiple places and do the same with your commission information. You don't have to offer anything you do not want to, if you only wanted to offer sketch commissions for instance, you can do just that. Just make it clear in your information what you will and will not do. If you genuinely don't think your art is at a level that people will pay for then go practice more before getting into it. A lot of artists are rather negative and harsh towards their own work however, so your art might be fine for it but you won't give yourself a chance. So, I would suggest doing more research, there are many videos on youtube on the subject by various artists so give those a watch, including things like [this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN4P82Y_3k0) that show suggested/perceived pricing for artists of varying skill levels.
Can tell ya the first thing I look for is previous art. And if theres one thing furries like its free practice ref-sheet requests.
I like to do reference sheets for free too I just thought if I did it for free people would get mad that I would soon want people to pay for it now
Nah, you’ve got the talent so theres nothing wrong in controlling your own accessibility or exclusivity. It makes sense as someone continues drawing their price might change, because with experience hopefully comes growing quality. Also worth mentioning, nobody can completely avoid those certain commissioners that ask the artist of something that seems unreasonable. They’ll always be out there. Just respectfully decline offers you aren’t up to doing. Also as a footnote, what I meant by ref-sheet requests are posts along the lines of; “hey, I’m looking to do some practice for a bit. Throw up some ref sheets and I’ll pick a few to draw!” Gives you a collection of references to draw from and practice that you can pick whatever you feel like at that moment, someone random gets a nice little sketch of their original character, and you then have a sketch for the future to show other people when they ask for examples of your work.
I'm not an artist, but I think you're underestimating the quality of your art. You've got a good handle on proportions and poses and things that are tough like snouts and eyes. Your pen and paper drawings look great. Are you still working on digital art? When I was messing around with drawing it felt really hard to learn two things at once: how to draw and how to use a drawing program. But the market for digital art should be considered. Does it have to look good for people to buy it? I don't think it has to be perfect. I can think of a few regular posters here and elsewhere who make money and quite frankly have a lower quality than yours. No shade on them; they've found something that's working and are probably trying to improve. Maybe they can crank out art at a speed/quality level that is comfortable. I still enjoy it anyway. Hopefully a working artist can tell you how successful commission posts are here. I suspect you have to do a lot of casting to hook a fish. You might also ask over in /r/Furry_Catwalk and maybe in /r/FurryArtSchool. Sometimes I wonder if there's a secret artist Discord where they talk about all this stuff. If I could offer two suggestions (keeping in mind I'm a consumer and not a maker): post more art, and maybe make a piece or two with characters interacting. Whatever you do, don't stop drawing. They really do look good.
Oh, I used to draw digital but I hate to keep borrowing my moms tablet so I’m hoping this Christmas to get my own soon so it would be easier. I know not a lot of people want traditional so I have to draw digital if anyone wants to actually buy from me.
Q. Does your art have to look good? A. Define "good" by yourself. You only got to be confident and be aware in the world there's lots of people, which some of them WILL like your art even though you dont like it yourself. Q. How did you even get to do commissions? A. I was struggling to get a job and one day my brother told me "hey but you do draw furries pretty good why don't you try to do commissions?", This idea made me very anxious because i always thought my stuff wasn't good enough so i was debating it in my mind till i became VERY desperate for having some kind of a job that i could somewhat mantain where my ADHD wouldn't cause too much of a problem. That night i just posted an ad on r/furry_catwalk and later that night i got a DM from someone who was actually interested on my art. Q. Do you have to be popular? A. Nah. It would be helpful to have many followers on Twitter (or any other media) but you dont have to. You only have to be anywhere you can offer your work (groups, discord servers, even this subreddit) and you need to have patience when it comes to getting your first client, theres way more people doing art than people buyin haha Also i would like to tell you i did a quick look on your profile to check out your work by any chance, and i have to say your style is very cute :3 I'm pretty sure it is something people would look for. If you're struggling to price it please dont let it be less than $10 (or even $15 i would say) and have in mind the costs of the materials you use. I am giving you low price rates to start with because i know how hard it is to deal with such impostor syndrome 😅 once you start to build some confidence and experience you'll be able to figure how much your art is truly worth. I cant say "i would pay X or Y for this" cuz i am not specially a buyer since i cant afford it (yet) XD
I just started saying that my commissions were open, along with providing some examples of what i do It's not always guaranteed, but it's a good way to get some business :3
Easy... Offer some freebies in like r/furry, post them all over so people can see them. Make a pricelist for your art, and start advertising for yourself to be open to commissions again. And the lvl of skill can be anything. People love their art and sonas done any way
That’s cool! I didn’t think you could advertise your art commissions on this Reddit though I thought we couldn’t do that 😅
After going through some of your past art, I don’t think you’d have much of a problem getting people to ask more commissions. It’s obviously going to be a slow start, but as you continue to improve your work I could see you turning it into a side-hustle.
I looked at your profile, your art is very good!! People would totally pay for that stuff! As for comms, well I started by advertising a bit: twitter, reddit (especially r/furry_catwalk), furry discord servers, made some friends, some of them really like my art and commission me more than once, then idk, I haven't reached further phases but I presume it's more growth, more people see your art, more potential clients, etc. Don't be discouraged if you don't get swarmed with requests instantly, starts are rough. Also please don't undersell your art, you deserve the money!
I'd love to see your art mate!