Detailed commission FAQ, dos and don'ts and rules

Taking into account a few years of my experience, some recent events, few endlessly returning questions and tiresome explaining, I felt that this FAQ is much needed.

I sure as hell hope that this doesn't sound rude or anything, please remember I'm not trying to scare you away, I'm trying to fix both the issues that some of you had with me, and the issues I had with some of you. I'm taking most of the blame here, because even if only 1% of you isn't satisfied with my services, that's still too many unhappy customers. Sometimes I wasn't acting professional and I am not afraid to admit that, sometimes I was too overwhelmed to handle everything so this gotta change. Fair and square.*

*needless to say, by reading this journal you agree to the terms and conditions yadda yadda blah blah blah let's not be dicks to each other, I respect your rights you respect mine.

And keep in mind that I am aiming at making the process more enjoyable for you and me, and what sounds like a soulless treating is important to keeping the communication fluent and should be a no-brainer really. I love my customers, so I think that you guys deserve to have all this info upfront.

I'm also sorry for the gigantic wall of text. But this was long time coming.

Okay, let's proceed to the

What payment methods do you accept?

PayPal and Western Union, with paypal being the main option. Western Union is for these rare cases when you can't use paypal for whatever reason.

Why do I need to fill this paperwork for you? -----> (PLEASE READ)

As I said many times, I am fully professional and I do my taxes AND my government is shit and they force this stupid paperwork on me. If you were to hire any other self-employed freelance artist to make art assets for your cool-ass game, you'd be probably facing the same conditions. It secures both parties and I even made it one-time formality to make it easier for you guys if you were planning to make multiple orders. Read up on the details

What exactly do you need from me in terms of details of my request?

Some of these are obvious, some are not.

Obviously, I need each reference that you deem essential and important. (Description will do just fine if the character was not depicted before.)

Less obviously, this leads to another question: Granting me artistic freedom. Yay or Nay?

Basically, I love artistic freedom as a rule. I really prefer the orders where the only description is to depict character X doing something.

To put it simply, don't be overly specific. This is not meant to discourage you, I'm guiding you to a better outcome. Because looking back at it, the commissions with more freedom granted to me were simply better.

-good description example: "Please make me a drawing of Shadow the Edgy Hedgehog running away from zombies while he's shooting at them in the abandoned school."

-bad description example: "The drawing is in the frog perspective and Shadow the Edgy Hedgehog is running from left to the right side while being chased by 35276523 zombies, they all look like an American middle class families with two kids, their skin colour ranges from honeydew to moss green, also the light is dim and maroon red like if during the blood moon, also here are 23784367 reference photos of the abandoned school I want this piece to be taking place in."

PLEASE, remember I am not discouraging you to be creative. But all in all, it is important to nail down important details and essentials, nothing else. I know my stuff (I think). You can always request a WIP sketch if you wanna review my vision, or we can hammer out the finer details together. Artistic freedom, man, don't be afraid of it! Being super-specific isn't always helping

What applies, and what does not apply for the extra NSFW fee mentioned in your price list?

Rule of thumb: if it can be uploaded to deviantart and not get banned, it does not require extra fee. So for example, a character which is naked in the bathtub can be considered a mature work but it does not necessarily get charged extra because there is nothing sexual going on in the drawing. Only porn and artwork clearly sexual in the nature gets charged extra. If you're unsure, please feel free to run by me the details of your order for my review.

Additionally, what counts as a complex background? I really need my commission to have some sort of background, but I don't wanna pay the extra fee

I have a new separate guide just for that. Under plenty of circumstances your request doesn't necessarily apply for complex background fee, so please read up on the detailed explanation over there. I can always help you alter your order in such a way where the background isn't complex anymore:  what is and isn't a complex background for meSince I am opening commissions again and there have been some changes related to the price list, I thought I'd clarify something that's been bugging some of my clients for a while, and also something that my new clients might find useful.
Simply put, where I draw the line on what is a complex background, and how you can get around this. Sometimes you don't even need a complex background without realizing it, so this guide might save you some money, and me plenty of time required to complete your order. 
The simplest definition I can give on a complex background, at least for me, is that it's an intricate scene crowded with plenty of different elements. Complex background is a background that takes me more time to complete than the characters themselves.
HOWEVER, on the other hand I am going to point out the types of scenery that are NOT going to be charged extra for the complexity, these types of backgrounds might be more than simple flat colo


When would you like me to pay you? Upfont or after the work is done? Do you accept partial payments?

This one is simple. You either pay me upfront, grant me full artistic freedom and I surprise you with the final outcome. Or you can pay me after accepting the Work In Progress sketch I provide for your review (most people choose the second option).

As for the partial payments, I can't accept them for the same reason I need the paperwork from you: taxes. The amount that is mentioned in the contract must be the same as the single payment I'm gonna have in my paypal history. Because taxes.

Can I determine the medium you will be using for my picture?

I very much prefer digital art and it is used by default, unless you have a very specific request (for example if you want to receive the original art for some reason). For traditional art I use Copic markers, pencils and watercolours. I am not gonna lie though, digital art is my forté, so it will most likely look better than traditional.

Could my commission ever be turned into a poster?

Well, to put it simple, I always provide high resolution files to my clients, and you can do with them whatever you want. You own that piece so you can even resell the prints if you wish.

My high res files usually have 4000 pixels in the longer dimension so that should be enough for you to make posters on your own by using your local printing services.

I myself don't offer poster shipping other than the posters that you can order in my deviantart shop: foxinshadow.deviantart.com/pri…

WHEN is my order going to get finished? (this is probably the ultimate question number one)

Okay, so... this is a very vague matter, so the answer is as much vague.

Mostly it depends on how busy I am at the moment. People make this assumption that when I take their commission, I am working exclusively and only on this one drawing. Well, it does not work like that. At any given moment I am working on at least five different orders simultaneously. It has to be like that, in order to maintain a steady workflow. There were some cases where I had to take too many commissions which caused a major delay, but we're not here to talk about wonders of freelance life. We're here to talk about facts.

And the fact is that if you're unsure whether you'll receive it within two days or two months, and if it is super important for you to receive it ASAP, then you're absolutely entitled to force a specific deadline on me and you have a full legal right to do so, because yes, I have a wonderful commission policy. It will be mentioned in the contract you'll receive from me.
 


Deadline is optional. If you opt out of it, you lose your right to brag about lazy artists being lazy. I can officially take as long time to finish your order as I find necessary, because I am pretty damn busy over here and usually working on multiple orders all at once.  

I try to please everyone (hehe) and I understand that waiting is frustrating, so slap a deadline on me if you want. I'm perfectly fine with that.

Moreso, the WIP sketch you're going to receive from me ensures that the work will be completed. However, if you received a WIP sketch already and you did not give me a deadline when you could, then I will not reply to messages asking about update, unless it is very important to the process/I personally request contact. BELIEVE me, I remember about every order, and it will be done when it will be done. IT WILL

Once again, I am SORRY if this sounds cold as fuck but that's the way it has to be. War, war never changes



And now  


First things first, there are obviously the topics that artists personally prefer because we're all human and we're not drawing machines, am I right?
So keeping that in mind, the best advice I can give regarding what you actually should consider ordering (if you need that kind of advice) is to browse through my gallery and maybe my Personal Favourites folder to actually find out what I am feeling the best at: foxinshadow.deviantart.com/gal…

I said this already that picking the best topic for the best artist suitable for this topic is essential to getting a satisfying commission. I'm not saying you should be extra careful while picking the topics for me, I'm saying that you can literally see the outcomes and better pick up the appropriate theme for the appropriate artist Maybe there are some artists out there better than me at portraying your ideas? It might be a good idea to run by me few of your projects for my review, so I am allowed to pick the one that I am feeling the best at.

Now that this is sorted out here is the actual LIST:

I am very good at: Ponies, obviously, do I have to list that? I am also more than fine with all sorts of anthro and furry stuff, be it safe or porn. I am very passionate about digital painting so I'd love to see an influx of more scenery-oriented commissions, and also humans. People tend to overlook and actually have to ask me if I draw humans at all. Yes, I do draw humans! And their style can range from anime-ish to semi-realistic. I am also not discriminating any fandom at all, while I am mostly brony-oriented I see no problem working with something I might be not familiar with. I can draw all sorts of stuff, ranging from your anime waifu to spaceship concept art. Again, don't be afraid to ask.

Things I might be willing to draw: This is where it gets tricky. Basically, the "maybe" topics are mostly judged case by case. And it's mostly about fetishes, let's be honest. Some of these might stay private, at my request.

For example, I don't particularly like futa, but drawing it is not that much of a big deal for me. Maybe all I was saying is that I need to hear the details of your order to know if I'll be actually capable of drawing whatever you request.

I am also rather sceptical about extreme realism/exaggerated body fluids/exaggerated body parts.

Things I am definitely not going to draw:

Well, this is still mostly about fetishes, but also the styles and techniques I am operating with.

I am not going to make vector art, at least not for now. I don't have any interest in it, I don't find it appealing. I don't do animation, web design, I do not code, I don't do 3D modeling either.

I am also not the best pick for design work of any sort; I'd rather avoid making logos, logotypes, font works and so on and so on. This is not my field of work, I am a digital painter, not a digital designer.

There are also some fetishes that have been requested in the past/I had some bad experiences with them/I know I'm not gonna draw:

I am not gonna draw inflation, micro/macro, foot fetish, vore, weight gain, pregnancy, babyfurs/diapers, Sonic porn (just... NO), water sports, scat, scalies, extreme muscles (bara), extreme gore, coprophilia, necrophilia etc etc, I think you get the drill.

And so, due to the... sensitive topics listed above, I have a right to reject commission requests for personal reasons.



Phew! So I guess that is all I wanted to cover folks, I believe that those of you that wanted some additional details on commission process got their answers in one giant journal and this will save me some talking later, and that it's gonna help you make it quicker as well. If you have some additional questions I am always here to answer them, to help you get through it with me aaaaaand I hope that you'll enjoy working with me.

I am usually open for commissions, and you can look up the rest of the info in separate submissions:
    Important changes in commission policy PLEASE READ
This annoys me as much as you, but this is forced on me rather than chosen, so let's overcome these obstacles together, shall we?
The changes are as follows:
The prices are going to be increased slightly in order to fit better to my local tax law. I really don't want to get you into details of that. Check out the current price list: 
First time you place an order you will have to sign "Contract to perform a specific work" with me. This includes sharing personal data with me, shipping information to be exact (but you'll get mine in exchange) and also you'll have to send me a scan of a signed page. Photo will do as well.
This is completely normal among freelancers, imagine you are treated like a company ordering art assets from me. I need a paper for that.
All the personal data is completely safe with me, as I don't have any interest in sharing it. Still, it's required.
I 


I also have a secondary deviantart account for non-furry and non-pornographic material, maybe you'd like to check it out: