24 June 2011

commissions and art trades

I absolutely hate commissions.
Usually I'll get requests on online communities or MMO forums. I would get paid in game currency or virtual commodities. In cases like these, no matter what shit I spew out, it's always "amazing" and perfect. The Selfy (TinierMe) I commissioned below was for PenguinPop's contest. Less than two hours of work, and I win first prize.
penguinpop art contest
But once it turns to real life currency, it all goes down the shit hole. They aren't willing to pay their initial offer unless they are 100% satisfied. Or they will nitpick at every detail and possibly change their desired theme every half hour, resulting in over 6-8 hours of work for an extremely low price. We are talking about the same people who are giving away their in-game items.

For those who have never been on communities such as TinierMe, Gaia Online, or even MMOs like Maple Story and FlyFF, here's how things work:
People will pay real money to purchase in-game items.
Then they will hold contests or requests commissions for artists in those communities, resulting in giving away those said items.
The amount of money I receive in the form of in-game items through a contest or commission is usually greater than the amount of money I would charge a 2hr commission.

What's even more messed up, is when I randomly create pieces in my own time or for school and then print them out, they sell for $10-$40 each print. These are not geared towards any specific audience, and was not intended to be sold. It just happened that I made them, I printed them out, and then people wanted them.
random art for school assignments
So the break down of this is as follows:
I CG something you request in -2 hours,
you throw at me $5-$10 worth of in-game items.
I CG something you request in 4+ hours,
you argue why $5-10 real life money is way too expensive.
I CG some random shit,
you throw at me $10-40 real life money and then offer more.

I do not understand commissions...
Alternatively, I love art trades and collaborations. To be able to share different styles and techniques - and sometimes merge it altogether into one piece - really opens up new areas to explore.

Speaking of which, I still have ::bell:: line-art up for grabs, since my collab partner for that got too busy to finish coloring it. I plan on redo-ing ::and yours:: and possibly looking for a collab buddy for that too. And although I've completed ::gaze:: for a dA contest last year, I feel like I should redo the environment as well. It was far too rushed, as I only remembered about the contest the day before the deadline.


  

  

No comments:

Post a Comment