Commissioner Question

[overapologetic.livejournal.com]

Hello There,

I am a commissioner and have been for quite a few years and just recently, in the last month, (March - April) I had an artist come out of the blue and say how fabulous my web site is and wanted to know if I could commission them. Now I don't usually commission anyone that comes to me out of the blue but the artist (who shall remain nameless) has rather good artwork and took the chance upon doing so to commission them. Now forgive me if this is rude or comes across as rude but if an ARTIST approaches you for a commission and such, would I be expectant in a quicker turn around? Or faster service then normal since they came to me? Would I still have the normal protection if I had gone to them and they accepted? I honestly think it's the first time I had someone come to me asking me to commission them and was on the back-foot. Is this also common practice or do the artists here rather have customers come to them?

Sorry for the rambling!

Comments

[mazz.livejournal.com]

I'd assume to expect the same turn around as anyone who were to approach them for a commission.

It's not common place for an artist to randomly message people trying to get someone to buy their art, I tend to report said messages as spam when they do try that with me.

[overapologetic.livejournal.com]

Does it happen often to you? It's the first time ever for me in years. Didn't think it to be spam myself til you mentioned it.

[mazz.livejournal.com]

every so often I get notes on FA

[lavenderpandy.livejournal.com]

I sometimes ask my frequent clients if they would like to commission me to fill up the needed slots or if extra funds are needed. They're pretty happy that I go up to them, but as for random people...I don't know.It's a case by case basis. Some will find it rude and others will be okay with it.

As for turn around, service and ect. I think you should expect for the service to be done like everyone else.You'll still fall under the TOS and any other rules the artist has unless they specifically say other wise.

You should ask them about whether this scenario changes how the commission will be handled.

[overapologetic.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I shall ask about their TOS cause I never actually saw them and since they approached me, I thought I'd be at the front of the line, naive I know cause I don't have people approach me like this and thought the circumstances were different.

[gatekat.livejournal.com]

I usually report such efforts as spam on DA/FA, though I've never had anyone who I watched, would want to watch, or faved anything of do so. I'd probably feel a little different if I liked the art they were trying to get me to buy. Exactly how they word it also matters a lot.

As for getting better service if I did commission them ... no, I wouldn't expect that. I would expect it to be timely and good quality for them with reasonable communication, but I expect that no matter who made the original approch.

[overapologetic.livejournal.com]

As said above, I never honestly thought of doing that since I tend to have a small group of artists I commission and stick with but seeing the art this new person did and the style seemingly different, wanted to try them out but yeah, if this happens again, I think I will consider it spam. And sorry about asking about the turnaround time, I thought since they were coming to a customer and such, there would be faster service.

[leahtaur.livejournal.com]

My impression when hearing this is that they probably also messaged a few dozen other users who have been known to buy commissions in the past and that you were just part of a batch of messages. :x

[overapologetic.livejournal.com]

You could be right. I was noted on FA but I believe if they note you on DA, you can see who else they grouped together for one massive message. This hasn't actually happened to me on DA either since I do most of my stuff nowadays through FA / IB/

[kalika-tybera.livejournal.com]

I'd expect typical turnaround time, whatever that might be for that particular artist.

That said, I usually report those types of messages as spam. I personally find it pretty unprofessional to randomly send out 'commission me' messages to people and would not commission someone who did this.

[overapologetic.livejournal.com]

Being this is the first time in years, I don't think I will do this again. The artist seems to be very odd with me when I ask for updates and such and progress. I'll just stick to commissioning people I know and not spam notes.

[aietradaea.livejournal.com]

I'm giving this commissioner some serious side-eye...especially when you say they've been "very odd with you" when asking for updates on progress. (How so?)

From time to time, maybe twice a year, I'll receive a message expressing enthusiasm or praise for a blog or a work I've done, and then asking me to do something - often check out their gallery and commission them, or visit a particular website, or sign up to a particular website (because they would just loooove to have my stuff uploaded to attract people to their site). The messages can be pretty convincing, right down to naming a specific work of mine that they "liked", and sometimes a "your portrayal of Character X was spot-on!"

And twice now, the "check out my gallery and commission me" ones have turned out to be a scam, with a gallery full of stolen art from somewhere else.

Sooo...yup, serious side-eye. Unless you already knew (or knew of) the artist beforehand and they didn't just pop up out of the ground, I'd be on your guard about this.

[overapologetic.livejournal.com]

I think the odd behaviour is due to a language breakdown / barrier as they didn't speak English as a first language and such and I've never even heard this artist before and I checked their gallery and they seem to have a steady stream of commissioners buying from them and not raising any red flags as of yet except for as said above, the miscommunication.

[coffeesheizen.livejournal.com]

Before I went on hiatus, there were times where I would contact frequent flyers of mine personally if they'd like a commission. Sort of like a "veteran status" type deal if they have been doing business with me for a long time. But I would never do that to an individual I haven't worked with before. So that is rather strange. I agree with the others on here and say you should expect the same turnaround as a regular person.

[mortymaxwell.livejournal.com]

I have had artists solicit me and it is really annoying. I hate receiving not safe for work messages and when I look at their terms of service, usually they have horrible rules that make me uncomfortable. Such as, "No refunds ever. If I have to cancel for personal reasons, you'll only get a partial refund or you'll have to pay commercial usage rights if you want to receive a high res copy of your personal use commission." I always chuck their messages in my spam folder and make a mental note to myself never to commission them.

I've also had artist friends express hope in working with me, if they know I have a particular project coming up, and I am okay with that. If one of my super busy friends has a break from their projects to do a personal use commission for me, sure, why not?

[overapologetic.livejournal.com]

I couldn't find the artists TOS unless I was going blind or in a rush, which is my fault. I too have artistic friends who I know and do business with and tend to stick with them. I'm going to give til end of May for the sketch commission I bought off of them and then never go back to commissioning random artists spamming offers.

[xilacs.livejournal.com]

I'm kind of with everyone else here. The only times I've ever approached someone as an artist is if they're a past customer who has purchased often, or someone who commissions an absolute ton of art, and even then, it's just like, "Hey! Your characters are gorgeous, if you'd ever like more art of them I'd love to get to draw them sometime! :D " or something. That's at the absolute most though. I would never approach random people like, "Hey buy my art thanks".

[overapologetic.livejournal.com]

This is literally the first time I had someone approach me for an offer to buy a commission from them as I do most of my business with a small group of select commissioners and friends and that's it. I think after this, I won't respond to random "spam" commission offers as I've been getting a whole laod of bad vibes from it.