Advice: Teen artist - how should I go about taking commissions?

[dixiedyboski.livejournal.com]

Hello A_B!
Errrr, first ever LJ post here, correct me if I'm doing it wrong :3



Basically, I want to start taking commissions :3 But, lots of the posts here are about 'minors' buying/selling their art, and everything ending in tears and whatnot. Is it ok to take commissions at 15? Or should I wait 'til I'm older?
I know that research is important, and everyone says about having a ToS that you both agree to before you start sending money or anything, so if there's any problem on either side, you can throw it at the commissioner and run :3
Also, I know my art is not terrible. Its not wonderful either, but I know I'm improving and yes, I have done life drawing since I started GCSE Art. I could improve a lot on anatomy though, very very definitely. (curse you, silly anime phase.)
Also, would sending the money through my parents (they use paypal a lot for their bubble business) be a good idea?
And postage too. I would rather not send actual pictures in the post, but I'm sure badges would be ok.

So, any advice you have would be very very very much apreiciated <3

Comments

[squirrelly-kaku.livejournal.com]

There's some good advice there that could help you out. Honestly, how much it stresses you out will depend on you. XD; And to be fair, I was recovering from surgery as well around the time I was first doing commissions, so that added on to my stress as well.

In any case, from what I've learned from doing commissions, it takes a lot of organization skills and knowing what your limits are beforehand in order to have it work out in a less stressful way. Currently, freelancing is my only job, so I have a lot of time to dedicate to it. I can take on more work from art because I have no other obligations at the moment. I have a strict guideline of how much I need to complete a day before I rest. When I was doing commissions while working a full time job, I had to only take a small amount at a time, because that was all I could handle at the time.


So a lot of it is just knowing what your limits are. Whenever you do start commissions, start small and work your way up. Perhaps maybe one or two at a time. That way if you're juggling high school/college or work, you start learning how much you can handle at once. :3

[dixiedyboski.livejournal.com]

Wow. That must have been hard x.x
So I suppose just sticking with trades until I know how much I can do in a week/day is the best option, really. Thanks for your input!