Ok this is like the fifth time i've asked this, but what would be a good way to start taking commissions? If i ever find the time to slowly start taking comms, ill probably start small here on bsky first lol - ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

advosart.bsky.social • 10 days ago

Ok this is like the fifth time i've asked this, but what would be a good way to start taking commissions?

If i ever find the time to slowly start taking comms, ill probably start small here on bsky first lol

Comments

impyerium.bsky.social•10 days ago

I've seen you can create a limit of sorts on Ko-Fi if you want to only take a small amount at a time. Not sure if it's the best way to start as I don't create anything like art myself but it's a possible suggestion

advosart.bsky.social•10 days ago

Idk, I currently have my Ko-Fi set up as a tip jar. Not sure if I wanna limit it just for comms.

mrnostalgic.bsky.social•10 days ago

You don’t need to limit it.

Kori has an option for commissions separated from the tipping one.

So if for example you where to say “I want to open 8 slots for icon commissions” you could do that without affecting the tip jar. And once 8 people “bought” the commissions it would automatically close.

advosart.bsky.social•10 days ago

Ok now that's perfect. Assuming there's no other caveats, I'll look into properly setting up my Kofi.

iamkat95.bsky.social•10 days ago

Been doing commissions since covid.
Depends on how you want to go about it and what you want to draw. Feel free to dm me and i can respond as fast as I can!

do you need help with prices? How to manage incoming requests? how to take payment? etc

advosart.bsky.social•10 days ago

I pretty much need help with everything lol. I've never actually done large scale commissions like this before.

advosart.bsky.social•10 days ago

Ok so far the only good option i'll be looking into is using Ko-fi.

If I do eventually open comms, I'll mostly try to keep it here to hopefully incentivise people to move over here from Twitter lol.

xerothehero.bsky.social•10 days ago

Can anything be allowed or do you have a style only? Like i heard of artists who do only animals or men

advosart.bsky.social•10 days ago

So far in the drafts of my TnC, the only thing i have a hard no on are Overly detailed characters and NSFW stuff

xerothehero.bsky.social•10 days ago

Ah good

denizenblue.bsky.social•10 days ago

I already have ideas for you, I'll be watching for if/when you open!

zerozivan.bsky.social•10 days ago

Seems like a solid plan.

eepycalic0.bsky.social•10 days ago

Ko-Fi and Vgen are the main two I see, but I prefer Ko-Fi since their layouts are very simple to understand and you don't have to do paypal shenanigans or any of that. It also gives people who want to support but can't afford a full comm a way to in the form of coffees ^v^

advosart.bsky.social•10 days ago

Kofi is sounding like a much better option

eepycalic0.bsky.social•10 days ago

if you do open up comms, I'll have to check them out! Your art has been something me and my buddies all love seeing and even if I can't get a slot I'd be more than happy to throw money at you for makin all are days better ^v^

advosart.bsky.social•10 days ago

Well I can't guarantee I can promise the same level of quality for the comms, even if they're just sketches

eepycalic0.bsky.social•10 days ago

That's reasonable, most comm artist I see tend to put more effort/quality into personal works since they have attachment to them.

ablankmask.bsky.social•10 days ago

I use Ko-Fi for smaller commissions that need little to no personalization.

Then i have a caard with a price sheet, where people can email me if they want something bigger/fancier than what's on Ko-Fi.

Some people use VGEN, but its catered more towards "by VTubers, for VTubers".

advosart.bsky.social•10 days ago

That's good to know. Kofi might just be it then.

comradecorvus.bsky.social•10 days ago

I'd argue against the notion that Vgen is too "vtuber focused", a number of artists I follow use it and I legit think that if an artist has a lot of options for what they want people to be able to commission, then Vgen is a perfect fit.

Otherwise yeah, KoFi.

ablankmask.bsky.social•10 days ago

I see a lot of varying artists use it, especially here on BSKY.

However, every time i go to the front page (which is, arguably, the DISCOVERY page), its always Twitch emotes, Stream assets, and VTuber Model previews. It definitely feels skewed in favor of VTuber content.

elroc.bsky.social•10 days ago

Think about your possible prices, create your TOS (Terms Of Service) which are very important, the SCOPE of what things your ok with drawing, and your planned workflow with clients (wips, corrections, estimated times, etc)

guidinggale.bsky.social•10 days ago

Generally speaking, the first thing you would want to do is make a public ToS and minimum-general price list so that your possible clients can mostly filter themselves based on budget and personal preference - 👑

opawulfen.bsky.social•10 days ago

And you'll most likely get a lot of interest. So you'd want to consider would you do first come, first served, artists choice, random, a queue?

Each have pros and cons to them.

advosart.bsky.social•10 days ago

I think it's only fair to do a FCFS system

opawulfen.bsky.social•10 days ago

That's a pretty common choice. The big issue is time differences. Just keep that in the back of your mind.

advosart.bsky.social•10 days ago

Time differences as in timezone differences?

opawulfen.bsky.social•10 days ago

Yeah. Like if you're in SE Asia and open noon your time certain parts of the world will be asleep or middle of their work day.

advosart.bsky.social•10 days ago

I am in SE Asia, I already have to deal with the fact that my friends live halfway around the world from me. Unfortunately this is something i have to deal with, so i'm aware lol

zwei2x.bsky.social•10 days ago

Establish strong terms-of-service, scope and a portfolio.

Make a carrd https://carrd.co/ (look up examples of people who have one for commissions) and set up an e-mail for this.

Or lookup a service like Vgen (but those take fees for each transaction).

exentio.sexy•10 days ago

Try to get yourself a Vgen code, you set your commission categories, and assign to each as many slots as you're comfortable with, and you're set. You could even do Skeb-like stuff tbh

advosart.bsky.social•10 days ago

Idk any of those words, but it does sound like a neat and organized system. I'll look into it

exentio.sexy•10 days ago

Vgen is a platform for commissions, it makes things more organized than accepting everything through DMs on social media
Skeb-like commissions are basically no-contact, you get a request that can be more or less specific and the artist has lots of freedom, the commissioner only gets the final result

exentio.sexy•10 days ago

Skeb and Skeb-like commissions are popular because they're cheaper, the artist can experiment and play with your characters, and the result is a surprise. My pfp is a Skeb, for example

advosart.bsky.social•10 days ago

Looks like I need to log in with Twitter to use Skeb, and I don't trust the stability of that site anymore. Are there any alternatives?

exentio.sexy•10 days ago

That's why I mentioned Vgen, but you need a code, they have Skeb-like as a category since Skeb itself is Japan-only (unless something changed)
Although it is weird that they still only allow Twitter logins, especially since they literally sponsor Misskey
Pixiv should also offer similar services btw

abrasahira.bsky.social•10 days ago

So, I've recently started commissioning off of Vgen, and it's kind of like skeb and trello had a kid.

Consider giving it a shot with a couple YCH's to test the waters? You have the option to set your TOS and turnover times on it.

advosart.bsky.social•10 days ago

yeah but there's a whole process to get a key for vgen, and i'm not going through all that effort for something that i don't need urgently and might not use much lol. I'll stick to looking into kofi for now

abrasahira.bsky.social•10 days ago

Completely valid!

Kofi is pretty great as well.

dodokers.bsky.social•10 days ago

Talk to someone who's extremely experienced about how to set your terms and conditions. It's all fun and games until you're making the fifth adjustment that the client didn't even originally ask for on a piece concept that's super unfamiliar and you're lost in stress about if it's 'good enough.'

habitrenadoods.bsky.social•10 days ago

I'm trying to remember who was skeeting recently, about a commissioner who asked for a certain anatomy to be "a little bigger" like five times in a row (this artist had hyper specifically as a no-no)

arcticfox975.bsky.social•10 days ago

Just say comms open but have a price sheet set first.
Sometimes making a ych is easier to get quick comms for quick money.

advosart.bsky.social•10 days ago

I kinda wanna try just sketch comms, so its probably gonna be cheap and quick, nothing to complicated that it needs a price sheet

And a ych sounds boring tbh. As much as I'd like it to be easy, I wanna have fun with my art

foxyoreos.bsky.social•10 days ago

Sketch coms are super-fun and I recommend them. The only caveat I'll give is that commissioners are very good at figuring out the limits of what you can get done in a time limit and asking for exactly that limit.

foxyoreos.bsky.social•10 days ago

I found that as I got faster as an artist, the scope of what critters would ask for increased at the same amount pretty consistently.

I think setting some boundaries there is important.

But overall I think they're *really* fun, I'm glad I started doing them.

foxyoreos.bsky.social•10 days ago

If things are too vague (and I'm not saying not to keep them vague, there are advantages to this as well) - but that will open the door to push things a little bit.

If somepony commissions 30 minutes but asks for 2 15 minute sketches, is that OK? What if they squeeze in 3 10 sketches?

foxyoreos.bsky.social•10 days ago

Again, not me saying don't do it - I think timed sketches or doodles or that kind of thing - *great* way to start commissions, there are a ton of advantages. Sketch commissions are my most popular type, and I love them.

Just something to be aware of.

galua.de•10 days ago

have a price and an example of what the finished product will look like, at least

arcticfox975.bsky.social•10 days ago

That's entirely fair

habitrenadoods.bsky.social•10 days ago

Price sheets are also good for defining limits of the ask and expectations for the asker. Show examples of outcomes, define the process (some artists charge per hour regardless of complexity vs a finished piece, for example), if back and forth/edits are allowed, will there be WIPs etc.

advosart.bsky.social•10 days ago

that is true. Guess i'm gonna have to sit down and plan out how i wanna do things

habitrenadoods.bsky.social•10 days ago

Importantly, set clear guides and expectations. Even something like "30 minute single-character guided sketches (char ref/some posing but otherwise I decide), no drafts, flat/B&W/no BG, SFW only, 3 day turnaround, $20" will ensure y'all on the same page. It benefits/protects both client and artist.