Advice

[mellehz.livejournal.com]

Not a warning, just need advice.

Got a note on DA about a commission. This person's DA page is bare; no art, no faves, one watcher, and three journals. Her request was for me to draw her character as a wolf or a lion, and then she gave me a description, so I'm thinking there's no actual ref sheet.

I'm very dubious about taking this on, and thought I'd ask here if people have been in a similar situation with an empty account, how they handled it, etc. I just don't want to get ripped off or anything. Thanks!

[Update] Despite titling the note 'commission', the user got confused between a request and commission after I pointed her in the direction of my prices. She's since canceled her request after learning she'd need to pay for it. So yeah, just a little misunderstanding there, heh.

Comments

[wyna-hiros.livejournal.com]

Make sure you get paid up front.

[katze-neko-mew.livejournal.com]

I agree totally. They have probably just come to DA looking to buy art, which is common to see. They don't mean harm, they just don't have anything up yet themselves.

[hobokitten.livejournal.com]

I agree with this as well.
Get full payment up front.

[koi-suru-usagi.livejournal.com]

I agree as well.
A commissioner's Guardian Angel goes by the name PUF, aka Payment up front

[iguanaartgirl.livejournal.com]

beat me to it.

Any time you are unsure if a commissioner will run off for any reason, get paid before hand. That way, if they're gonna run, it's before you invest any time.

[coyox.livejournal.com]

Agreed. only guaranteed way.

[aerfox.livejournal.com]

Just get them to pay up front or give you a deposit. If they refuse either of those, then it's likely they're a viper in the grass.

[fiercereaper.livejournal.com]

Pay up front or deposit. They might just be a person with little web presence, or very new, but better safe than sorry.

[lastres0rt.livejournal.com]

Payment Up Front, and... I'd insist on SOME form of reference images. Even a sucky one is better than nothing, especially when someone's brand spanking new.

[mellehz.livejournal.com]

Yeah I've just inquired about a ref image so maybe she has one or can make one, if not, I've asked her for a more detailed description to work from.

[spiffystuff.livejournal.com]

As long as you don't have a bad rep, customers should pay up front.

[mellehz.livejournal.com]

I always have people either pay upfront or after I've shown them a sketch anyways, I never work beyond sketch if I haven't received payment. I was more concerned about the bare account/no ref image but yeah I suppose if I've got payment, all is well. Thanks!

[spiffystuff.livejournal.com]

Ah. Well, it wouldn't hurt to let them know what your redraw policy is (ie, you get 3 sketches, then I charge for each new one") but beyond that, maybe they don't have anything more specific in mind and just want to see what you'll do with it :)

[mellehz.livejournal.com]

Good idea, I don't even have a redraw policy currently XD

[thaily.livejournal.com]

Would you take a commission from someone who mailed you and had no DA account? :P
An empty account just means they're not artists themselves and they use it to watch others, or in your case, mail people to draw a character which may not have been drawn by anyone before.
Always get at least a deposit of course.

[mellehz.livejournal.com]

Good point. I guess I just tend to associate empty accounts (this goes for all websites) with trolls or people who just aren't serious...since then they have nothing to lose.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

Yeah I know what you mean, always pays to be careful of course.

[tizzrah.livejournal.com]

I, personally, don't see how not having a reference image and/or an empty DA account signifies someone trolling for free artwork. I didn't have a DA account at all for a very long time, yet I still commissioned quite a bit of work from artists, and I rarely ever supplied reference images if just because I have a good number of characters to work with, and not all of them have been rendered before. I don't see why in the world you would treat someone like this differently than any other person interested in commission work, or why this should even be of concern, especially if you have a professional system set up to prevent being ripped off.

[mellehz.livejournal.com]

Just had some concerns is all and wanted some opinions, because in her initial note there was no word of payment, and since then my concerns have been proved correct (see edit to this entry).

[nambroth.livejournal.com]

Just saw your edit and had to chuckle. I get those very frequently..

"Will you draw me this and this and this? kthx"
Then I give them a polite rundown of how my commissions work and some prices, and I either never hear from them again or they tell me they can't or won't pay. To be fair, most of them are young teenagers (or younger). I am always a bit surprised at how many kids under 13 are on the site (and therefore breaking the rules).

[kayla-la.livejournal.com]

Just read the edit. What a shame. I can understand not being able to AFFORD something at the time, but sometimes I grimace at all the people who are all too happy to leech off artists for free...

Glad you got it worked out, either way!

[kalika-tybera.livejournal.com]

Ahahaha, seriously! I had someone just yesterday send me this exact PM on FurAffinity:

"Do you know anyone as good as you who can do free requests?"

I'm sure he didn't mean badly, but... a lot of us need to pay bills and eat and do this for a living. Asking that to a complete stranger is a little rude.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

I've had people whine at me about how they never get any free art as opposed to undeserving people (like the friends of artists and people who pay for it I guess) in a thinly veiled attempt to weasel free art out of me, thinking maybe I'd feel sympathy for them rather than contempt. Which was only made worse when I pointed them to the VCL requests/trades forum section and they whined that those artists who do free art are too sucky to draw their characters.

Oh man, people..

[madhentairabbit.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I can't say I'm much surprised by that kind of thing anymore. There's basically two attitudes at work here:

One is, of course, the whole "information wants to be free, man!" mentality which holds that "anything I want should be given to me for free because... well, because I want it, and because profit is like, evil, and stuff."

The other, IMO, is that a lot of people in the fandom seem to get caught up in a certain sense of false intimacy due to the whole "we're different, 'cause we're Furries, so we're special, not like those icky mundane hyoomins" schtick. They think that everyone who calls themselves a "Furry" is automatically their friend... and hey, a friend would't charge you money for a favor, would they?