So, you're a furry artist. Maybe you've seen everyone else around the web selling their art to make a bit of cash, and think you'd like to get in on this gig too. Maybe someone's asked you to draw for them already. Maybe you think that taking commissions would challenge you and help you work on different types of material. Regardless of your reason, there's a few important things to note before you start out taking people's money!
What Will I Need?
First of all, you should consider the things you're going to need to get started.
You'll need, first and foremost, TIME. This is an oft-overlooked essential for any commissionable artist. Most of us don't do this as a full-time job - and perhaps you're studying, have a job, household chores, have pets/children to care for, have family responsibilities, or all of these things and more.
It is first essential to work out WHEN you will work on the commissions you take, and approximately how long things take you. If you are only going to have an hour or two a week for this, then perhaps it's not a great idea to try and squeeze paid work into an over-full schedule. However, let's assume you do have time on your hands: working out just how much is key to working out how many commissions you should take on at one time.
If it's going to take you six weeks to complete one commission, how long are you comfortable leaving the following customers waiting? Which leads to:
A QUEUE SYSTEM. Most artists in the fandom open for batches of commissions, fill these up, complete them, and then open for more. At least, this is the most sensible way to do it.
A common pitfall is to continually take commissions while working up a huge backlog of people who will be waiting for a long time, and thus are likely to be bugging you with emails for updates, becoming frustrated with you or even requesting refunds. This isn't something you want to run into.
The best artists in the fandom may be able to get away with leaving their customers hanging for a year or more - but let's assume you do not have 10k+ watchers and people willing to throw cashmoneys in your general direction. People are, quite rightly, going to be annoyed if they wait too long, and thus it's extremely important that you keep your queue managable in a reasonable frame of time - the maximum time that is generally considered reasonable is 6 months.
I'd recommend you keep your customers happy and your income steady by sticking instead to around a 3 month queue system.
A PAYPAL ACCOUNT. Most people are going to want to pay you via Paypal.
Don't make the mistake of asking for money orders and cheques only, as you're going to lose business this way. People do not want to go to the hassle of running down to a post office to mail stuff to you. People want convenience. And needless to say, convenience equals more orders. This is of course not to say that you can't accept other payment methods (if you're able to) when people request them - but having the most common payment method on hand is essential.
Remember: do not ask people to pay your Paypal fees, and do not ask people to send payments as "Personal" - this is a fast track to getting your ass banned from the service. Digital images should be charged as "Services" and traditional art should be charged as "Goods".
QUALITY ART SUPPLIES. This may seem like a given for the traditional media artist!
But just to be clear on it - you should, wherever possible, use archival quality supplies (art markers are NOT archival, this is the exception, but consider it carefully regardless), and acid-free paper of a good weight (no printer paper! Use Bristol Board, Illustration Board, watercolor paper, cardstock even!).
When you are selling art, you have a responsibility to make sure you've taken all reasonable steps to ensure it will last. Good supplies go a long way towards that.
MAILING MATERIALS. Again, this is important for the traditional artist. Ensure you have on hand materials to mail your art safely.
USPS flat rate envelopes, with a sturdy cardboard insert, will suffice for small commissions, or a "Do Not Bend" hardbacked envelope. Be sure to put any art inside a plastic folder or wallet that is taped down, in case the envelope gets wet. More expensive commissions will require better packing, or use of a poster tube perhaps to mail them.
Know where to aquire these things and always make sure your art is packed safely.
So How Do I Start Out?
Starting to take commissions will generally take the following format:
You make a post on your FurAffinity journal, or a Livejournal community, or forum of your choice etc etc, advertising that you are open for commissions. Include samples of what you can do and base prices. State clearly what you are not willing to draw. If it helps, be more specific in what you will draw, like "inked single character pinups, nothing adult", so that you don't end up with something completely out of your comfort zone.
SPELLCHECK your entry and try to sound professional!
Make sure you use a "slot" system, where you'll take a maximum number of commissions. Refer to the "Queue system" and "Time" sections above when deciding how many. It's always a really good idea to start on the modest side, maybe even taking 1 or 2 to begin with.
If you are making traditional art that you plan to mail, this is the point where you should obtain a quote or idea of how much it will cost you to ship the art - both domestic and international. Be sure to add the cost of your packing materials to the shipping cost, if applicable.
Potential customers will then contact you. They may or may not include full character and commission details at this point - regardless, the first order of business is to find out exactly what they expect you to draw, and you should ask them for a reference or description of their character (if not already supplied) as well as a description of the pose and scene.
This is a vital first step for one major reason - nasty surprises! There are plenty of them that can spring on you at this stage. Perhaps the character is immensely complex with massive wings and android legs and a sniper rifle and you realise this is going to take a lot more time than you thought - and thus you need to charge more than the base price. Perhaps the commissioner is going to ask for a pose or idea that you are not comfortable drawing, on whatever grounds. Perhaps you just do not like the sound of it and don't want to proceed.
ALWAYS get the description before quoting a final price or proceeding further!
Remember, never be afraid to say "No" to something you don't want to draw. Be polite, explain it is outside your comfort zone, or that you do not think your skills can do the customer's idea justice, and the commissioner will generally be glad you were honest with them!
Assuming that all is well and we're going to proceed, the next step to work out is payment. I HIGHLY discourage any artist, especially any new artist, to accept payment after completion. This is asking for trouble - buyer's remorse, sudden financial trouble, or just "disappearing commissioner syndrome" can see an artist left empty handed after all their hard work. It should be noted, payment after completion is common when working with businesses or in a professional setting. Furry should not be treated the same way.
The two best courses of action are either taking the payment in full up-front (small commissions in particular are best handled this way, i.e. values of $20 or less) or by taking a 50% downpayment with the rest paid either on approval of the concept sketch or on completion. If you choose to take 50% downpayment with the other 50% on completion, you should never send a reasonable size scan of the art before getting that last 50% payment. Send a thumbnail of maximum 300 pixels wide/tall as proof that you're finished, then send over the full scan/file in all its glory when you've got the last of your cash.
Once arranging payment, the commission process will generally involve you making up a concept sketch, and sending this for your customer to approve. This step is generally omitted with sketches and con badges, unless the commissioner specifically asks to see something.
Be prepared at this stage to have to change aspects of your sketch and send the updated sketch for approval unless you only need to add something trivial, like a spot under one eye or something. Explain to the commissioner that when they are happy with the sketch, no further changes can be made - some non-arty people or inexperienced commissioners might not know this!
When the commissioner approves the sketch, you can move onto the next stage, which is of course to complete the commission!
Remember: if the commissioner contacts you asking for progress updates, ALWAYS respond to their emails/notes/private messages, even if just to say "I've not started yet" or "I'm working on it". Nothing will quite sour a customer like ignoring their queries. Where possible, offer updates yourself. Little things like this will make your customers feel valued and happy to work with you!
And In Closing...
You are a professional, and the most important thing from your first commission to your hundredth or more is to act like one. Be friendly and courteous, and remember this is paid work! Customer service is as much a part of your job as creating the art is. Strive to maintain that attitude through all of your commissioned work, and you're already on the right track!
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