Hey all! what are ya’lls some advices for someone who may or may not be starting out commission? Also asking for advice from the professional artists here.
Since this is because I’m starting to think whether I should start one because I’m beginning to need money for my art supplies-
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Just note it in your 1st post of your creative thread and in a reply to it. There was also this thread: Commissions Listings
I don’t think you should expect to get paid much or commissioned often; this is a hobby and people aren’t profiting from doing this.
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I’m currently in school for video game design and I also took video game design in 2013. The best advice I can give you is to get a domain and make your own website. Your website should include all of the work you’ve done and organized according to the artistic medium used.
There should be a section in your toolbar (aside from being a portfolio) where you take commissions. The second thing you need to do is create a professional profile for your career as a digital artist. You should make a LinkedIN account and a Twitter (you can also opt for Instagram and Facebook.).
Once you’re ‘connected’ you need to figure out a price for your work. There are thousands of people who charge full price for what they do. Just because pixel art is small doesn’t mean that it’s of less worth. Remember that Fire Emblem GBA was
made by professionals who received full salaries for making pixel art.
Nothing beats the truth, right? So, how do you decide what they’re worth? You use math. Calculate minimum wage in your state/province (because that’s where you live and you need that money to pay the bills.). Let’s use $10 as an example. It takes me anywhere between 4 to 16 hours to create a custom portrait, so I will charge no less than (the median sum of those two numbers, which is 10, times minimum wage, which is also 10.).
So, I charge my client $100 for a FULL CUSTOM PORTRAIT (absolutely no splicing whatsoever). I know this looks expensive, but you need to take yourself seriously as a professional pixel artist. If other people can pump out a custom portrait within 4 hours, good for them, they might only charge $40. Just remember that
what you are asking for is within reason
because you base it on your ability and your living situation.
DM me for more advice or help.
Edit: I almost forgot. Aside from creating your own website to host your portfolio and commission requests, Twitter and LinkedIN, you should sign up for Patreon. You might also opt for Twitch, or another streaming service with a chatroom, so you can record yourself doing your comissions. Hundreds of streamers do this every day and some of them make a living this way. People would happily watch you make pixel art, because it’s a source of learning for them.
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Unfortunately, in reality, commissions for GBAFE portraits work nothing like that. No one is going to pay $100 for a portrait because the standard is $30, even from very respected artists in the community.
Also, I would advise against setting up a LinkedIn or other professional directory page because of the grey legality nature of what we’re doing. Plant wants extra cash, not necessarily a career.
For this kind of hobbyist commission grind, the ideal is to be socially active - the most surefire way to get clients is to have them aware you exist. Most active artists in the community are on FEUcord, so Plant can set up art trades and mutual followings from there.
Unfortunately, what colleges will teach you doesn’t necessarily have bearings in reality as far as a specific niche. Colleges teach you how to succeed in your career. Plant is still in HS. And tbh, in the indie game space, the best way to become an artist for a game is to have broad visibility on social media.
(Obviously don’t undervalue yourself! Setting prices too low will attract low quality clients that will attempt to lowball or degrade you. It’s just that for non-commercial work that is not very applicable, you’re going to have to play by the rules that have already been established in the community. Glaceo and TheBlindArcher only charge $40 at most for their portraits.)
It’s well documented how fandom commissions work if you check artist websites or social media. You can easily charge $10/hour for commissions that require a skillset which is much more difficult to pick up and requires tool investment like cosplays, especially given the cosplay space isn’t undercut and yields a physical product. But that’s just not currently true for GBAFE portraits.
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