Non-Commercial Commissions Info
Fees, First and Foremost
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Full Illustrations, that is, works which include backgrounds, characters, objects, and generally the use of most or all of an images 'canvas', are regarded as full illustrations. They are 300$ per piece. This fee is subject to change with demand, naturally, but not after work has been commissioned.
-- -- -- -- -- Spot Illustrations are pieces which do not use all of the image's 'canvas' and usually do not have developed backgrounds. Such works usually depict one object or character, although this is certainly not a rule. These are commonly seen surrounded by text. The negative space of a spot may be made transparent through use of an image's 'alpha channel', be sure to mention that you want transparency rather than blank opaque white if you commission one of these. They are 200$ per piece. This fee is subject to change based on changing demand, but never after work has been commissioned. snazzy spot illustration example. I can't put it under the pic cause it breaks the formatting. this is why I don't want to be a writer --> |
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Fees may be modified at my discretion. Most of the time they will stay the same as above, but not always, for the following reasons:
Large Size - You want something larger than 3000 pixels in the longest dimension. This may result in a higher quoted fee, but not always, especially if it is for a spot illustration.
Excessive Revisions - You want me to make large changes more than 3 times during final rendering. Small revisions are fine, demand as many as you want, a horn here, some tattoos there, it doesn't matter to me. But if we made it past the rough stage and you want to change a character's pose, facial expression, colour, and so forth, more than three times, there will be an additional 75$ charge per revision.
Commercial Rights - You intend to profit off of my work. Getting your commission printed and framed, using it for a DnD character sheet, setting it as a background on your computer, and so on, are all fine and dandy. But if you want to use it for your self-published book cover, custom tee-shirts (that you intend to sell), stream assets, and so on, you require the right to use my artwork for your for-profit ventures. Fees for copyrights are wide ranging, unpredictable and will require a custom quote and a contract. The terms of the contract are negotiable of course, but the need for the contract is not. No rights will ever be transferred, licensed, released, or otherwise, under any circumstances, to any individual or business entity, outside of a contract.
Fast Turnaround - You want me to deliver the piece in less than a week, start to finish. That will be an extra 150$, provided I can even fit it into my schedule. I will let you know if I think I can pull it off within the week.
Large Size - You want something larger than 3000 pixels in the longest dimension. This may result in a higher quoted fee, but not always, especially if it is for a spot illustration.
Excessive Revisions - You want me to make large changes more than 3 times during final rendering. Small revisions are fine, demand as many as you want, a horn here, some tattoos there, it doesn't matter to me. But if we made it past the rough stage and you want to change a character's pose, facial expression, colour, and so forth, more than three times, there will be an additional 75$ charge per revision.
Commercial Rights - You intend to profit off of my work. Getting your commission printed and framed, using it for a DnD character sheet, setting it as a background on your computer, and so on, are all fine and dandy. But if you want to use it for your self-published book cover, custom tee-shirts (that you intend to sell), stream assets, and so on, you require the right to use my artwork for your for-profit ventures. Fees for copyrights are wide ranging, unpredictable and will require a custom quote and a contract. The terms of the contract are negotiable of course, but the need for the contract is not. No rights will ever be transferred, licensed, released, or otherwise, under any circumstances, to any individual or business entity, outside of a contract.
Fast Turnaround - You want me to deliver the piece in less than a week, start to finish. That will be an extra 150$, provided I can even fit it into my schedule. I will let you know if I think I can pull it off within the week.
Commission Content
A Lonely 4channer Begs Me for Draconic Erotica
I generally will not object to your requests. I will depict violence and tasteful nudity, but I will not paint explicit pornography. That aside, if I find your request contains too much cringe, I reserve the right to refuse the commission. Sorry, but your pregnant sonic OC does not deserve my brushwork, and I think that's reasonable.
You may be familiar with other artists who charge more for works with more characters, detailed backgrounds, and so on. I am not one of those artists. I have nothing against them, and it is there right to charge as they please, but I will not charge more for complex poses, additional characters, or what-have-you. Similarly, I will not charge less for black and white work, 'sketches' or speed paintings, so go big or go home.
I generally will not object to your requests. I will depict violence and tasteful nudity, but I will not paint explicit pornography. That aside, if I find your request contains too much cringe, I reserve the right to refuse the commission. Sorry, but your pregnant sonic OC does not deserve my brushwork, and I think that's reasonable.
You may be familiar with other artists who charge more for works with more characters, detailed backgrounds, and so on. I am not one of those artists. I have nothing against them, and it is there right to charge as they please, but I will not charge more for complex poses, additional characters, or what-have-you. Similarly, I will not charge less for black and white work, 'sketches' or speed paintings, so go big or go home.
Production Process
This is section describes my general workflow, and what you can expect to be consulted on while work on your commissioned piece is underway.
Before anything else, you have to tell me what you want. In the biz, this is called a brief, but you don't have to be so formal about it if you don't want to. The more precise you are with your descriptions, the more accurate my work will be to your vision. Conversely, if you want, you can be intentionally vague and see where I take my artistic license, but be warned: remember that you only have three free revisions after the rough is approved.
Before anything else, you have to tell me what you want. In the biz, this is called a brief, but you don't have to be so formal about it if you don't want to. The more precise you are with your descriptions, the more accurate my work will be to your vision. Conversely, if you want, you can be intentionally vague and see where I take my artistic license, but be warned: remember that you only have three free revisions after the rough is approved.
Thumbnails are little pictures that set the scene in the most general sense. They are tiny, disposable pictures that you, the client, will approve or deny. I will supply you with three, and you will tell me what you like or don't like about the thumbnails, and I will come up with more thumbnails, and so on, until you're comfortable with the art direction and we can move on to the rough stage. Usually thumbnails are black and white, but I always work directly to colour so I think pitching black and white rough work is disingenuous.
Roughs are larger, more developed paintings that should fully convey all of the most important details. At this stage, you should be mostly happy with all of the major elements like character placement and pose, as well as lighting and colour. you may still order as many revisions as you like at this point, because the painting is fast and fluid, with low detail.
Roughs are larger, more developed paintings that should fully convey all of the most important details. At this stage, you should be mostly happy with all of the major elements like character placement and pose, as well as lighting and colour. you may still order as many revisions as you like at this point, because the painting is fast and fluid, with low detail.
Final / finished pieces are fully resolved illustrations with your final word declaring the piece finished. This step is pretty self-explanatory, but bare in mind that it is in this stage that the commissioned work is the least re-workable. At this point, you only get three free major revisions, so use them wisely. Consider the rough example above. If we had gotten to final and you wanted some more spikes on the dragon, I would consider that a minor revision and wouldn't deduct one from your total 3 major revision requests. If you wanted to change the dragon's colour, or suddenly want a resolved background and not an atmospheric dust scape as you see here, that would be a major revision. Try to do those in the Rough stage, please.
Paper, Please
Payment is due, at the latest, immediately before the 'Final' stage but if you pay earlier, I will work on your commission first at the expense of as-of-yet unpaid commissions. Invoices will be delivered via PayPal, which I will email to you. Once payment is received, work on the final will commence.
F.A.Q.
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What if I ordered a Quick Turnaround job and you still didn't get it done in less than a week?
I will refund you the quick turnaround 150$ fee. What if I don't like the Final? I will keep the fee if you do not like the final. Why? I don't believe you, because you approved the rough. If you liked something about the rough that somehow got lost during the final, that's what the revisions are for. Use them! I already paid you and I want more than 3 final revisions, how's that going to work? Any Final previews I send you with extra (IE, more than three) revisions present in the piece will be watermarked until you pay the additional Excessive Revisions fee. I lost my picture after my hard drive got corrupted, can you send it to me again? I am not obligated to keep a backup copy on my system. I may still have it by chance though, so ask anyway. I would recommend saving it to your Google Drive or similar just in case though. I don't think your fees are fair! I am not afraid of negotiating, but if afterwards you still are not happy with the quoted fee, just don't pay it and find another artist you'd be happier to work with. |
Are these prices in USD?
No, they are listed in Canadian Dollars. I will still accept US dollars if you want, though, and I will adjust the price accordingly to match the exchange rate of the day I send the Invoice. Can I pay through Bitcoin, CS:GO skins, Nudes, Exposure, etc. Please? No... unless its a really nice CS:GO skin. Will you paint (Copyrighted Character)? No, I am, at the end of the day, trying to go pro with major clients and that may be out of the question if I don't show respect for copyright. Do I own the picture? I paid for it, that means I own the picture right? Nope, that's why these commissions are only around a couple hundred bucks. You will never receive any copyrights or ownership or authorship except via a contract. Remember, illustrations aren't expensive because it's high-quality or well done (though it helps), it's expensive because of the attached copyrights and/or the artist is famous. |
Thanks For Reading!
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If you have some additional questions, comments, are on the fence, or just want to talk, please email me at thomaseldermanillustration@gmail.com or use the form. Quotes are free, questions are free, all correspondence is free, so don't sweat it!
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