This is a guide written to help anyone interested in commissioning a custom piece of artwork from me. This guide can be applied to either my safe for work or my erotic / not safe for work commissions.
Utilizing this guide will help you increase your chances of getting picked for a commission!
Commission Requests
Due to demand, and to ensure my clients will receive work I am excited to make, I have begun accepting commissions on the basis of personal interest and availability.
My form opens irregularly – you can sign up for my newsletter to be notified when I’m ready to take on new commissions!
When filling out my commission form, I ask you to describe your idea and characters to me – this is your commission request. I am more likely to accept a request that aligns with the work I love to make and includes enough detail for me to work with.
What you need:
As mentioned above, I need enough detail to work with. As an artist, I can provide some creative input, but I cannot read minds. Equally, sending too much detail can make things confusing! But no worries, this guide can help you find that happy balance!
While my commission form is closed, there are some things you can prepare for the day it opens:
- Prepare a shareable folder. Gdrive, Dropbox, DeviantArt stash are a good way to share images. Please note that imgur no longer allows you to host NSFW images.
Make sure this folder is accessible to anyone with link.
- Your references go in there! Clear labeling helps immensely. Labels can be filenames, subfolders, captions, etc.
Please always provide images in folders or albums. I cannot accept archives such as .zip or .rar.
Character references can be drawn or screenshot (for example from FFXIV). For videogame screenshots, please make sure to take them in good, clear lighting.
I can draw characters off a written description and inspirational images. However, this may incur an additional character design fee.
For poses, you can send me anything you like. It can be photos, other artwork, stickman drawings you made in MS paint, media screenshots, etc. I work in such a way that I replicate the pose in 3D before drawing it, which allows me to adjust the posing and angle, and is not a straight copy of the inspiration.
If describing or finding a pose is hard, you can specify an activity instead. This is a good solution if you enjoy the poses I come up with and want me to exercise artistic freedom.
For backgrounds, it is helpful to have some visual guidance as well. When requesting a background, please specify what type of environment the characters are in, or provide visual reference. A bedroom can be set up in many styles, after all!
I accept NSFW references, no need to warn for them. Please share ethically (use professional/public material).
Important: When requesting NSFW art of characters without NSFW references, please specify what type of body / genitalia the characters have. I’m a trans artist and do not assume genitalia based on aesthetics/fashion/body shape!
What you DON’T need:
Sometimes I get requests with too much detail, making it hard for me to focus on what’s important. Long passages of text take away time that I could’ve spent working on your piece. This list includes some things you don’t have to send me, to make this process easier and faster for both of us:
- Your character’s background story beyond 1-2 sentences. If this context will help me set the mood for the piece, I don’t mind knowing a thing or two about your characters! But please, no walls of text.
- Describing detail that will definitely not be in the drawing. For example, describing a back tattoo when you’re looking for a front view. When a detail is specified like this, my instinct is to make sure it’s seen in the final image.
- Passages of text for me to sift through and find a pose to draw. While I agree that written work can be a huge inspiration, English is not my native language, and some writing styles can be hard to read and take in for me.
- Every commission you received of this character ever. To get a better idea of what you’re looking for, please only send me previous work that represents your character best. You can send multiple pieces and point at specific parts of them for orientation (Face best on piece 1, hair best on piece 2, outfit like on piece 3…) – this is optional!
Most common reasons for not accepting a commission request:
While I cannot give this feedback individually, here is a list of common reasons for filtering out requests:
- Requesting something on my “won’t draw” list. Please review the list before filling out my form! If you are unsure, you can ask me via my contact form. I’m willing to discuss an idea beforehand to make it work for both of us.
- Incomplete references. This also includes references I cannot access due to broken links or wrong folder permissions.
- A request that I’d love to do, but was not able to fit into my schedule. Typically, I offer a waitlist spot in this case, but sometimes I will have to filter these out.
- Vague instructions or a link to something long to read for me to choose what to draw.
- Unfamiliar themes or characters. The commission includes a theme or characters that I am not confident in drawing. Believe me when I say you want art that your artist was excited to make and had confidence in creating!
Feedback and revisions
To ensure that my clients are happy with their commission, I always ask for feedback while working on their piece. This is typically done via email. When you get a WIP from me, please take the time to study it and let me know if I missed any details or got something wrong. In most cases, I am also able to make minor changes for free, but I reserve the right to bill you for numerous or bigger changes.
Please also let me know if everything looks good, so I can get back to working on your piece ASAP!
And as an additional note, please don’t feel pressured to communicate formally. It’s my personal habit to be semi-formal in emails since this is my job, but it’s okay to skip the formalities and treat it more like a chat! I use email because it is more reliable and provides a digital paper trail in case of disputes (neither of us can edit what we previously wrote, or suddenly disappear, etc).
I hope that reading this post gave you some pointers on crafting a commission request and preparing your files for my form openings! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me. I generally respond to my emails within a day or two.
