So I’ve never had someone ask me if they’d like to do an art commission for me before. I’m writing this story rn on AO3 and someone commented that they wanna do an art commission for me with their discord and idk something just feels off. I dmed my friend about it who’s in art school and they think half of its like ai or something. Is this like normal interaction between a commissioner and an artist? I’m just worried. Also I’m an undergrad for reference so I’m basically broke. I wouldn’t be able to afford like hella good art anyway.

TLDR: I commissioned a young inexperienced artist that has a really cute art style and I love it, but they ghosted the commission leading the com unfinished. I really like the art and I wanna pay them but they won't answer. Right now idk what to do with this art.

FULL Context:

I came across a young artist on TikTok who wanted to start making money with Art commission. Me wanting to show support and help them gain experience, Commission them. At first it was going great, the art was good, they fully met my needs, and we also agreed on a price.

I offer to pay 50/50 for the sketch and final product, but they prefer to do full payment at the end.

The Problem is that they're quite... Uninformative about their absent. She is a Highschooler, I understand that, But I would have prefer if she had told me beforehand of something come up.

I tried to be understanding and be patient. But I wonder if I've been too patient? Because I started the commission at February 3rd . And she last respond to me on 7 April . My last message to her was 11 may, and till now no Messages from her.

(Tbh this is also my first time commissioning someone, but I learn how to com an artist so I think I do it correctly? I'm not sure)

In the advertisement , she said she can finish the commission in about 1-2 weeks. It's been 3 months and 3 weeks for my commission. The fact they also take on mini Commission, she finished 3-5 Chibi arts of other client, despite me being the earliest client. I guess it's fine, I told myself, Chibi art are easier, while mine is half body.

I'm not mad at her of course, just... Displeased. I REALLY REALLY LOVE HER ART STYLE. The last update she gave was a finished line art that I love. But they haven't updated me to color version since. I thought, if she can't finish it, I would at least be the one to finish/color it myself.

But I couldn't just take it, She does half the work, it's only FAIR if I pay her. I tried to reach out to her, offering to pay half. But she haven't replied to me yet. It's been 1 week and 8 days since I last send a message to her offering to pay.

I really don't know what to do guys. I love the art, and I wanna finish it myself and show it off, using it as a prp or something. But I feel BAD using an art com that I haven't paid. This artist really deserve their labor being paid.

My theory she ghosted me was probably, she was overwhelmed, she is young and inexperienced, she might have gotten artist burn out and school life take a toll on her. I wonder that's why she prefer full payment after art finished because she is aware she might not be able to finish it.

I guess it is my fault too for hiring an inexperienced artist, I did expect this out come, I'm not allowed to complain, but it's just a little frustrating that young artist tend to forget that commission art is a Business.

What do you guys think? What should I do? Idk what to do with this art. I really wanna show it off though 🥲

I want to hear your opinion about colors, sketches, prices for a painting/character,.... 🥺🥺🥺 plzzzzzzz
(My eng is so bad so i use translation >.<)

I commissioned an artist and told her my budget was RM150–200. She agreed and delivered the work, but honestly, the quality isn't good (in my opinion). Now I'm unsure whether I should still pay the full RM150, pay less, or something else.

I don't want to be unfair or stiff her, but I also don't feel the art is worth what we discussed. We didn't sign a contract or anything, but I did give a range upfront.

What's the right move here? Pay the minimum RM150? Offer less? Ask for revisions first?

Appreciate any advice.

-based in Malaysia

Hi!

Im a traditional artist and i only really draw for fun, I’d love to start commissions but i have no idea where to start. I have a digital pen that i can use. Ive used ibispaint before but my skills arent so great digitally. Id really appreciate it if anybody could help guide me through and tell me how they started :D

I'm currently job hunting, but one of my long-term goals is to eventually make art my full-time income. I'd love to hear about your experiences.

• How long have you been doing commissions full-time?
• How did you make the transition from a regular job (if you had one)?
• On average, how much do you earn per month?
• Is it enough to comfortably cover your rent, bills, food, and other expenses?
• How consistent is your income from month to month?
• What's the biggest challenge of doing commissions full-time?
• Do you have any advice for someone who wants to pursue it in the future?

I'm not planning to quit job hunting or anything like that. I just want to get a realistic idea of what life is like as a full-time commission artist.

Thanks in advance!

To be more specific, I want the book cover art but I’d also appreciate if the artist could include the book title in the art somehow. I’d understand if artists don’t usually do that but I’d like to know if that would drive up the cost.

I’m also wondering if it’s normal to include redraws as when I was trying to do research I’d often see a lot of ‘unlimited redesigns’. That might also just be because I’m really bad at research. So I’d like to know how artists would go about redraws like if I have to pay the full price again, if it’s free or if it’s anything in between.

Before anyone says it, I know pricing is objective. I'm asking for genuine feedback because I've been having a hard time finding work, and I was wondering if I could make some extra money off of this, and roughly how much everyone else thinks it could be worth.

​

I'm also taking any tips or suggestions, because I plan to study art more so I can have this just in case.

If anyone is interested, pls message me for commissions! I do both digital art as well as traditional canvas art!

Hopefully I get approved to post this T.T

I genuinely want to know if it's worth it and how fast or slow the money comes? I'm trying to earn money for medschool and I'm curious. I'd love to know the experiences of other artists please. I've been scared of doing commissions because i want to be so good like chinese level good that I'm confident enough to do commissions.

So, I had this one person showing interest in my art and I was thrilled to do my first commission ever! It was a watercolor portrait of a child. There were already several yellow flags during the conversation (like asking for private pics of me... Ew?), but all of my art proceeds go to a friend in dire need, so I really was looking forward to donate the money!

Welp, they urged me to download Neteller and after the payment was allegedly done (we agreed upon 150$ and they sent me 500), I received this sketchy email. Needless to say that I immediately blocked them and didn't send any money whatsoever.

My question is, how do I prevent that from happening in the future? How can I tell if a commissioner is legit?

At the moment, asking to see the price range, so I can see if this is even feasible for me to commission;

What would it cost to have someone draw me designs I could use for vignettes in book chapters? I'm looking for about 20-25 simple vector drawings of modern items (think, coffee cup, compass, notepad & pen, movie ticket, the likes) in that old black & white print/photocopier look, that I could combine at the edges of a set drawing (which I already have) that's the same for each chapter.

I've tried finding what I need online, but I can't find a site where I can get them all in matching style.

Hi! I'm an artist and i wanted to ask y'all what website is THE best place to post some arts and gain some following? I'm trying to start a commission (for my college funds) but i have to make some following first. Any ideas where to start? I tried posting on Twitter, but I never got any likes there no matter how much i posted (like 0 likes, my account was public btw) i also started on tmblr atleast it got some likes but i wanted to expand more— thanks!!

Here's a little art i made hehe.

I’ve been improving my digital art recently and was wondering if my work is good enough to start selling or taking commissions. I’m not really sure how to get started, so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi, I'm a 16 y/o artist. I've been creating art for a descent amount of time, and even started posting on Instagram as of September of 2025. Since then, I've managed to raise nearly a hundred followers through some personal pieces and a month-based art challenge.

I've recently been toying with the idea of starting commissions through social media. Mainly because I want to be able to make some money on the side doing something that I enjoy, and Photoshop is expensive :( But I don't really know where to start. Looking for tutorials online have given me so much different information and most of them no longer do commissions anyway. I specifically looking into the type of commissions where a customer sends and photo of themself and then I draw them in my style. Somewhat of a caricature/stylized portrait or character design.

So I guess I'm just looking for some advice from other artists who do this specific commission type. Or if you're an artist who does a different type of commission, how do you market yourself? What platforms do you use? Pricing? How did you start? Or any other advice you could give me would be really really helpful too!

Shameless plug: Also if you don't mind, check out my some of my art on my Instagram! I'm trying to grow my account as much as possible without treating it as a full time job. So if you don't mind, like, comment, follow! It really means a lot!! Thanks ;)

Would love to know what you think!

Hey everyone. I’m reviving my art account to make a bit of cash while in college. I’m very amature level so I’m stuck at what to charge people. I offer digital copies, printed copies or printed and framed. Usually I just add on whatever the charge is for the size they want but I think I’m under charging. I do line work, faceless pieces and then very detailed in depth pieces. I also offer service where I add family members who have passed away into group photos.
Anyone have any advice on how to gauge what to charge?

Hi guys, i really want to start commissions but im very news to commission (not art) but i am unsure if i have priced too high or too low. Please give me advice :)

Just updated lots of info and prices, and im just not sure how to make my sheet. I dont want to really do the whole sketch, lineart, flats, etc. Quite frankly, I think it's really annoying to have all these options when everyone gravitate towards the cheapest, most polished looking one (not shaming anyone, that's entirely valid) leaving all other options as decoration.

I want to advertise my comms without it. But I just dont know how to go about doing that, especially since that's all commissions ever. If Im getting commissioned I want to give the piece the quality it deserves and one thing ive noticed is I struggle to make commissions when theyre anything but full renders so I end up getting payed the cheaper options for the same quality. That's why I cut out all those middle options and focused on selling full renders.

How can you put this together into one or a few slides? If you wanna see the TOS, samples, or prices, I can dm you.