Hi, I'm a writer and I'm brand new to the forums here. I'd like an artist's perspective on something. Please keep in mind I have NO IDEA how this works. Okay, maybe some idea, but just keep in mind my questions are completely genuine.
After doing a bunch of research into publishing and selling novels (something I have zero experience in) I decided I would try to commission some art, and someday post it places (WITH CREDIT) to generate some interest in my book. I'm asking how to go about doing this. I want to do it as ethically and respectfully as possible. As far as ethics go, I think the following goes without explaining, and I fully intend to do these things:
-pay
-give credit wherever possible and NEVER crop out the watermark
-ask for permissions before posting anywhere
-be polite
-I understand it's always the artist's choice if they want to do the work
-I understand art is time consuming and can take upwards of 40 hours to finish, depending on what I ask
But please let me know if there are more things I should think about.
My questions:
-How does one start asking to pay people for art? I have a few artist friends, but that doesn't mean they do commissions. I can browse through Deviant Art, or any other site and find an artist I like, but that doesn't mean they sell it either.
-If I want dozens or so images total, is there a community where I can submit these requests and people respond? Knowing that it's always the artist's choice whether they want to do business or not, I was hoping there was a place where I could submit requests so I don't have to go from one artist to the next over and over for all dozen or so pictures I want.
-----Is it respectful to approach an artist with a number of requests? I know it's a lot of time I'm asking for. Is it respectful to show a list of requests, and ask if there are any they'd like to do?
-----P.S. Yes, I understand dozens or so images will cost thousands and thousands of dollars. Before you start saying "Don't rely on this art to sell your work," I'm not, and I want the art for myself too.
-Is there an online community I can turn to where people are always interested in doing commissions? I did take a look at Patreon, but I found it was more about donating to artists than it was about paying for individual pieces. Was I mistaken?
-How do the artist and requester usually agree to payment? i.e., who sets the price? I don't want to insult an artist by asking for too low a number. Do people like use a payment system like PayPal to prevent fraud? How do both parties ensure that full payment is made and the work is completed- is there any such thing as downpayments for expensive work?
-If for any reason I want something changed about the finished product, how can I ask for this respectfully? I'd be willing to pay extra if the change is significant, but then again, how can I avoid getting something significantly different than what I was looking for? I think sometimes the requester asks for a sketch, right? How does asking for a sketch work? should I offer to pay a small fee first?
-Is it right to give a very detailed request, or should I give the artist more freedom? I'm a little afraid that putting too much detail in a request could scare artists away because it makes it sound like I'm too picky and or would be difficult to work with.
-----How much back and forth communication is appropriate between the artist and requester? Again, I don't want to scare anyone off by talking too much.
There's really no TL;DR for this post, sorry. Thanks for reading if you got down this far. Any help is appreciated.
Thank you!
After doing a bunch of research into publishing and selling novels (something I have zero experience in) I decided I would try to commission some art, and someday post it places (WITH CREDIT) to generate some interest in my book. I'm asking how to go about doing this. I want to do it as ethically and respectfully as possible. As far as ethics go, I think the following goes without explaining, and I fully intend to do these things:
-pay
-give credit wherever possible and NEVER crop out the watermark
-ask for permissions before posting anywhere
-be polite
-I understand it's always the artist's choice if they want to do the work
-I understand art is time consuming and can take upwards of 40 hours to finish, depending on what I ask
But please let me know if there are more things I should think about.
My questions:
-How does one start asking to pay people for art? I have a few artist friends, but that doesn't mean they do commissions. I can browse through Deviant Art, or any other site and find an artist I like, but that doesn't mean they sell it either.
-If I want dozens or so images total, is there a community where I can submit these requests and people respond? Knowing that it's always the artist's choice whether they want to do business or not, I was hoping there was a place where I could submit requests so I don't have to go from one artist to the next over and over for all dozen or so pictures I want.
-----Is it respectful to approach an artist with a number of requests? I know it's a lot of time I'm asking for. Is it respectful to show a list of requests, and ask if there are any they'd like to do?
-----P.S. Yes, I understand dozens or so images will cost thousands and thousands of dollars. Before you start saying "Don't rely on this art to sell your work," I'm not, and I want the art for myself too.
-Is there an online community I can turn to where people are always interested in doing commissions? I did take a look at Patreon, but I found it was more about donating to artists than it was about paying for individual pieces. Was I mistaken?
-How do the artist and requester usually agree to payment? i.e., who sets the price? I don't want to insult an artist by asking for too low a number. Do people like use a payment system like PayPal to prevent fraud? How do both parties ensure that full payment is made and the work is completed- is there any such thing as downpayments for expensive work?
-If for any reason I want something changed about the finished product, how can I ask for this respectfully? I'd be willing to pay extra if the change is significant, but then again, how can I avoid getting something significantly different than what I was looking for? I think sometimes the requester asks for a sketch, right? How does asking for a sketch work? should I offer to pay a small fee first?
-Is it right to give a very detailed request, or should I give the artist more freedom? I'm a little afraid that putting too much detail in a request could scare artists away because it makes it sound like I'm too picky and or would be difficult to work with.
-----How much back and forth communication is appropriate between the artist and requester? Again, I don't want to scare anyone off by talking too much.
There's really no TL;DR for this post, sorry. Thanks for reading if you got down this far. Any help is appreciated.
Thank you!