Commissions!

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Commission pricing for Illustration work, effective February 2012

Note that prices are a general guideline - I'll charge a bit more for high-detail images, and there'll be a bit of a discount for anyone willing to pay me to draw my own characters, for repeat customers (depending on image complexity), clients in countries with a favorable exchange rate, etc.  

This "rate card" is intended as a general baseline.  Typically, you contact me and tell me what you want.  If I'm up for it I'll send you a quote (based on these numbers but shaped by the requirements of the piece), and if you don't die of sticker shock then the ball starts rolling.

Line work

5$ - quickie sketch with some minor photoshop cleanup
15$ - pencils (a pencilled illustration as opposed to a sketch - more attention to detail)
25$ - inks (with slight corrections as necessary)
50$ - full digital re-ink

Color work

40$ - inks + vector shading (like my comic or "speed" pieces)
60-80$ - digital re-ink, vector shading (the best bang for your buck!)
80-120$ - digital re-ink, mask shading (like a lot of my DA submissions)


There's no pricing chart for my design/photoshop work at the moment.  If you're interested in that, contact me and we'll work something out.  Digital design work, concept work and 3d modeling/rendering can be one hell of a timesink and my quote will be based off of the projected difficulty and time requirements.

The above prices are for single-character images with basic to moderately detailed backgrounds.


The Fine Print : Content and General Guidelines

- There's a broad range of subject matter I'm up for drawing.  My gallery is a great baseline for material.  I've been commissioned to draw quite a few pinups I never would have drawn otherwise - sometimes it's a lot of fun, sometimes I take on a job because I have bills to pay.  Which is which should be fairly obvious to the trained eye.  While I'm historically averse to the inflation, vore, anime, fan art and anthro genres, I'm not averse to making money.  That said, I do reserve (and have exercised) the right of refusal.

- Elements of sequences are treated as individual commissions and are handled as such from a payment standpoint.  If the sequence is to be posted as a complete composition, the final comp work is done after the sequence has been paid in full.  Sequences are a lot of work, and financial assurance does wonders to grease the rails.

- Multi-character illustrations are going to cost more than single character illustrations.  Multi-limb characters are going to cost more than characters with the standard complement of arms and legs and heads.  Hands and heads take the most effort to get right.  The above rate card is the basic range for a single character illustration - expect the quote to be higher for more complex pieces.  

- Unless the piece is explicitly agreed to be private, all pencil and ink work is submitted to my DA scraps and most (nearly all) color work is submitted to my DA gallery.  "Adult" pieces may be censored or edited depending on content... or may not be submitted at all, depending on the composition.

The Finer Print : $

- For new clients I'm likely to ask for half down after pencils, with the remainder before shading is finished.  I've had a fairly good experience with this over the years, but there are a couple of clients I've written off, and a few pieces that haven't been finished or posted due to payment issues.  This is explicitly to establish trust and to keep unpaid commission time to a minimum.

- For repeat customers payment flexibility is an option - some have paid in full on completion, some have paid in full on pencils, some have had car trouble and paid in full weeks after the fact. The caveat is that this depends entirely on how the client / artist relationship develops.  Like all artists, there are some clients I enjoy working with, and some clients I work with.

- If you commission a pencil piece and elect to progress that piece into a finished illustration, the progression is handled as a separate commission and the two are paid separately (and posted separately).  This effectively counts as two commissions, with the price of the pencil sketch subtracted from the second image.

- I don't do "slots" - I'm a working artist and as such I'm accustomed to juggling a number of clients.  I have a lot of experience with this.  Worst case scenario, your piece takes me a few weeks to complete.

- That said, typical clear-plate commission completion time depends largely on client availability.  While I can turn around a "me" piece in a day, the negotiation, approval, payment and completion process typically stretches completion time quite a bit - anywhere from three days to a week on average.

- The "discount for drawing my own characters" doesn't apply to pencils - pencil work is a flat rate.  Size of discount depends entirely on the complexity of the piece, the amount of time it's likely to take, and a bunch of other factors including the nature of the piece and how well we get on as client and artist.  Discount in all likelihood does not apply to multi-character illustrations.

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Commission Info is here : If you're thinking about commissioning me, give it a read!
© 2012 - 2024 solios
Comments6
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kerrybelly's avatar
so what would be an example of a quick sketch vs a pencil sketch?