Me: *stayed up til 7 am working on client shit* Fuck this shit I’m going back to sleep.
Me: *sits at computer*
Me: *doesn’t do work*
Me: *doesn’t go to sleep*
Me: *just sits and thinks about that time we pretty much bought Dip N’ Dots with Chris Metzen*
When WoD launched, we cleared out the entire guild bank to prep for all the new items we’d get. The plan was to fill every single slot in every single tab with a Plain Letter <Written by Tareanus> containing lyrics to Smash Mouth’s All Star because I’m twelve years old.
edit: THERE’S MORE alright so obviously I wanted this to be anonymous so I’d wait until like 4 AM in the morning to log onto my precious Tareanus and write out all these letters and the moment I saw somebody who was in the guild pop up on my btag I was OUTTA THERE it was some Bond shit
Now the challenge was getting into the guild to deposit these letters because anybody could see from the logs who deposits an item, and I wasn’t about to be a fool and have Silane deposit roughly 680 Plain Letters <Written by Tareanus>. But the people who have invitation privilages are all higher-ranking self-respecting members. Who could I trust enough to establish cahoots?? Who else could commit to this level of sin?
The point is I never pulled it off which is a tragedy, but mostly it’s a testament to the fact that I am both A: stupid enough to not plan two steps ahead and B: dedicated enough to spend two hours of my early morning for two weeks copy/pasting “So much to do so much to see so much to do so much to see” roughly seven hundred times.
lol guilting artists u call friends to try to make them make u art is shitty pass it on
this is probably y a lot of artists seem very distant btw
and honestly its a bunch of similar stories so maybe instead of trying to make someone else make you something pick up a pencil and draw yourself some hella free art
Tev really isn’t gentle at all, there’s probably going to be blood. Enough to satisfy his bloodlust but not so much that he ends up hurting his partner
I’d just like to mention, for those of you who are afraid of getting commissions, that out of all of the artists I’ve commissioned, burdwow was the only person I’ve had to request a paypal chargeback for. And its not exactly a small sample:
ALSO: I have a lot of trouble spelling the word commission
tfw I knew Tevruden was a thing the moment I laid eyes on the massive amount of artwork that circulates. Whenever I see a picture, I know whom it is the before I see the titles on it
In 15 years of getting artwork commissioned, I’ve had three artists flake on me. One I just wrote off, because my whole purpose in commissioning them was to offer financial aid in a way their pride would allow them to accept. One I requested a refund (and posted publicly about when they refused – I did eventually get my money back after 9 months of back and forth) and one… I don’t even remember what happened.
Commenting on this because I’ve seen a lot of posts about artists and commissions floating around this morning- if you’re at all concerned about getting a commission, Google is your friend. Treat it like Yelp- you’re going to have negative reviews because some nitpicky customer couldn’t get 2 dozen changes to their finished piece and otherwise was an unreasonable toerag, but you’ll also get ‘This artist has terrible business practices. <lists legitimate complaints>’
I am a huge proponent of supporting artists; I was a freelance illustrator for 2 years. But these are some of the things I’d watch out for:
– Constant emergency status. Money shortages happen. But if every 2-3 weeks there’s a new ‘I need money’ and there’s no output, odds are good you’re never going to get a product. If you choose to support this artist, think of it as a donation rather than a commission.
– A relative unknown (not a lot of samples in an online gallery) taking a large quantity of commissions – Could absolutely be legitimate; they may not post their stuff online for a number of reasons. But they also could be new to the business of freelancing and easily take on more than they can handle. Proceed with caution.
– The only means of contact is via tumblr. Tumblr is infamous for eating messages, and if there is no other way to contact the artist (email, DA, Skype, whatever), then that… feels really shady and fishy to me. Email gives both of you a written record of what has been sent, and written records are your friend if there’s a dispute.
Be sure you get everything in writing. ‘I am paying for a 2 character, full body, colored commission x, y, z’ will protect you if the artist produces a single bust of a stick figure.
For the artists – Ask another successful freelancer how they handle their business. All of the artists I’ve ever approached have been friendly and warm when answering questions, so don’t be afraid to talk to them! Communication is huge; don’t hide from your customers- EVER. If you get in over your head (believe me, it happens to all of us), talk to your clients and let them know what’s going on.
Try not to spend the money before the art is complete if at all possible. There will be times when a refund is the best way to maintain a good relationship with the client. It’s never fun when money goes out instead of coming in, but freelance illustration is a repeat-customer game. If they’re happy, they’ll commission you again. (Which is not saying the customer is always right and you should bend over backwards to make them happy)
Annnd I have to head out to class, but if anyone wants to talk about the business of Art, my askbox/messaging is open.
Your art is amazing, you’re amazing because you keep on trying and improving, I’m proud of you all for continuing, instead of giving up. Cause I have met people who gave up on drawing, even tho their art was great, So I just wanted to remind you that your art looks fantastic, even if it’s just a simple drawing of something, you are still improving.
