How to get started doing art commissions?
- Thread starter SACHAROON
- Start date
It will definitely be slow at first (I did commissions on and off for 12 years before I landed solid work - I started at 13/14 doing pixel art/digital art & graphic design and I'm nearly 30 now having only just landed a really great freelance role last year - the art biz is a tough nut to crack). The key is consistency and you have to work *just as hard* at finding clients and pushing your work as you do working on the actual art itself. Make sure you provide lots of examples so people can see your full design potential - but be selective and curate what you show - don't just upload everything. ALSO figure out what's currently popular right now and see if you can tailor some designs towards that kinda thing (certain style of art, certain themes etc) - that sometimes piques peoples interest enough to click on your profile etc and view your other work.
People usually want to see a price guide too (even if you put price range instead of a set price it usually stops people from immediately clicking off - you can filter people out then so you don't end up with tonnes of messages asking for prices who then just ghost as soon as you mention a price). Sometimes you have to start with lower prices but it depends on your experience and skill level. For years I sold myself short and it was a pain in the backside and I will NEVER recommend anybody sells their work for less than it's worth or the time put into it - so make it affordable but also make sure you compensate yourself for the work you put in. As time goes on you can slowly increase prices. You can always ask for people's opinions to get an idea of how much to charge for your work - or compare it to someone with similar style or skill and base your price off theirs.
I had a quick look at your shop and your digital piece is really good- bright colours and clean lines so you don't lack in skill by any means! It's more a case of marketing and getting some more examples up there.
Some suggestions are post your commission openings on deviantart forums (I haven't used it in a few years but it used to be good for gaining interest and I found a regular commissioner through that) and also try Fiverr if you haven't already. They do take a 20% cut of anything you earn however, so keep that in mind when pricing your commission services!
I hope this isn't too much waffling on haha! I wish you luck
People usually want to see a price guide too (even if you put price range instead of a set price it usually stops people from immediately clicking off - you can filter people out then so you don't end up with tonnes of messages asking for prices who then just ghost as soon as you mention a price). Sometimes you have to start with lower prices but it depends on your experience and skill level. For years I sold myself short and it was a pain in the backside and I will NEVER recommend anybody sells their work for less than it's worth or the time put into it - so make it affordable but also make sure you compensate yourself for the work you put in. As time goes on you can slowly increase prices. You can always ask for people's opinions to get an idea of how much to charge for your work - or compare it to someone with similar style or skill and base your price off theirs.
I had a quick look at your shop and your digital piece is really good- bright colours and clean lines so you don't lack in skill by any means! It's more a case of marketing and getting some more examples up there.
Some suggestions are post your commission openings on deviantart forums (I haven't used it in a few years but it used to be good for gaining interest and I found a regular commissioner through that) and also try Fiverr if you haven't already. They do take a 20% cut of anything you earn however, so keep that in mind when pricing your commission services!
I hope this isn't too much waffling on haha! I wish you luck
Tylerhelt14
Senior Member
Do a commission of something popular. For example, the k pop group BTS is very popular so You can do a BTS member art commission and I bet it will be very popular.
thank you so much for the responseIt will definitely be slow at first (I did commissions on and off for 12 years before I landed solid work - I started at 13/14 doing pixel art/digital art & graphic design and I'm nearly 30 now having only just landed a really great freelance role last year - the art biz is a tough nut to crack). The key is consistency and you have to work *just as hard* at finding clients and pushing your work as you do working on the actual art itself. Make sure you provide lots of examples so people can see your full design potential - but be selective and curate what you show - don't just upload everything. ALSO figure out what's currently popular right now and see if you can tailor some designs towards that kinda thing (certain style of art, certain themes etc) - that sometimes piques peoples interest enough to click on your profile etc and view your other work.
People usually want to see a price guide too (even if you put price range instead of a set price it usually stops people from immediately clicking off - you can filter people out then so you don't end up with tonnes of messages asking for prices who then just ghost as soon as you mention a price). Sometimes you have to start with lower prices but it depends on your experience and skill level. For years I sold myself short and it was a pain in the backside and I will NEVER recommend anybody sells their work for less than it's worth or the time put into it - so make it affordable but also make sure you compensate yourself for the work you put in. As time goes on you can slowly increase prices. You can always ask for people's opinions to get an idea of how much to charge for your work - or compare it to someone with similar style or skill and base your price off theirs.
I had a quick look at your shop and your digital piece is really good- bright colours and clean lines so you don't lack in skill by any means! It's more a case of marketing and getting some more examples up there.
Some suggestions are post your commission openings on deviantart forums (I haven't used it in a few years but it used to be good for gaining interest and I found a regular commissioner through that) and also try Fiverr if you haven't already. They do take a 20% cut of anything you earn however, so keep that in mind when pricing your commission services!
I hope this isn't too much waffling on haha! I wish you luck
you're so kind, my best wishes go out to you!
