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Rubycored

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... but how come it's so hard to find artists who are at least a bit enthusiastic about doing commissions?


After getting myself a full time employment and having a bit more disposable income I've been shopping around for a number of higher-priced/quality commissions (originally, my hard limit was $20 per full coloured commission, nowadays i've been investing a number of ~$30 commissions); some artists I found and eventually commissioned was great, not only in the final product, but generally been great people to talk to and to maintain long-term business and friendship. Not to mention there are a number with whom I have commissions for the past 4 years and/or more than 5 times and still going strong


However, they still amount to an agonising minority over the amount of prospective artists I have approached.


You see, for me, commissions isn't simply about paying artists to draw things I want - I also want to challenge artists to draw something that's one step above what they're used to draw, to allow some artistic freedom on the artists' side to experiment things they would have otherwise been hesitant to do so with other commissions, and most importantly, to enjoy having drawn my commission/artists as much as I enjoy receiving their end product and stare at them for extended period of time.

Instead, there have been a number of artists who, after a brief conversation with them, gives me none of those impressions. Most of them gives me one-word answers ("ok", "yes", "thanks" etc), complete refusals to answer general questions ("just pay me and I’ll draw what u want"), or doing a piss-poor job of actually wanting to maintain the commission/communication with their buyers (not in terms of slow to respond, more like not willing to discuss the character details, the ideas, and share any sort of WIPs for possible corrections, or even having a history of rant journals, etc)

I do not deny that the times are tough, pays are reduced and stress levels are high, and artists need all the financial support they can get; but really, if you want to offer your service to other people; is it too much to ask for that you actually give them impression that you want to do the said services you're offering, and perform some sort of customer-retention, instead of just making it sound like some sort of demotivating/demoralising chore, and you'd rather do other things?

I could not be bothered at how dirt cheap you're offering your commission or the quality level of the artwork you offer; but if you lack the human attitude of the whole business, I'm going to invest my money on other artists who are more willing to make the commission a pleasant one.


Maybe I'm just being overly idealistic or my (moral) standards are set to unrealistic levels for artists to follow; so I would like some perspective from Artists' side if anyone would like to offer some.


But otherwise, for the "minority" of artists that makes commissions awesome (and vise versa) , love every single one of you :heart: and keep up the awesome work!

Rubycored



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Current Status
Sneak peek at the full commission history. - only listing recent paid commissions from October 2010 and on.

Last Update: 14 March 2017

< Recently Concluded Commissions >

649 - NegaNeon [14] - fav.me/datv4vu

< Ongoing PrePaid Commissions (Since start of 2015) >
653 :bulletgreen: SweetPasuteru - 3 / 4 Digital Lineart
652 :bulletgreen: SesakaTH - 5 / 5 Concepts
636 :bulletgreen: ChicoStyx - Traditional Comic (Sketch complete, converting to lineart)
632 :bulletgreen: Steampunk-Jellyfish - 2 / 3 Digital Coloured (Ongoing)
630 :bulletgreen: bramhistory [4] - 2 Digital Coloured (Ongoing)
627 :bulletgreen: SoulCentinel [3][IB] - 1 Digital Coloured(Ongoing)
599 :bulletpurple: Astral-Wingz - 3 / 5 Traditional Coloured (Ongoing)
588 :bulletpurple: MsDinoGoat [12] - 1 Digital Flat + 1 Digital Sketch (Inactive)
570 :bulletpurple: Redfoxsoul - 1 Digital Shaded (Inactive - waiting next contact)
568 :bulletgreen: NegaNeon [13] - 1 / 2 Digital Flat (Ongoing)
541 :bulletpurple: NegaNeon [12] - Mixed concepts (Inactive - Project on hold)
540 :bulletpurple: bramhistory - 1 / 2 Digital Coloured (Inactive - missing colour scheme for some characters)
530 :bulletpurple: NegaNeon [10] - Mixed concepts (Inactive - waiting next contact)



List of old artists that needs to be tracked down ASAP :|

This shows artists that I have already paid for; but have incompleted their side of the task and have gone-under. Need to find their current active account (if any) or further contact details.

not a complete list (don't be feeling relieved if you're not on it but still owe me stuff =p):

ArtByRiana [Feb '09] - Last Contact: Feb 2013
KiraFan [Sep '07] - Last Contact: June 2013
kageru-hinoryu/SgtAngel777 [x7][May '09] - Last contact: March 2013
TomatoBisque [Feb '09] - last contact: May 2009
ShadowKirby22107 [May 07] - deactivated
Tomoko-Tottori [Jul '10] - deactivated
youfuckingl0ser [May '09] - March 2014
KuaKness [Sep '08] - March 2013
monthofjohn [x2][Mar '08] - last contact : August 2012
LiteRadiation [May '08] - deactivated
tienchou [2007]
Chochi-blue [2008]
SaiTeyaa [2008]




Journal

Hello everyone :wave:

Lately I have been getting interested in Science-fiction styled armours - that is, futuristic, cyborg, robots, etc.. So special priority will be given to artists who specialise in that area.

A special plus too to artists who have play(ed) The Guardian Legend (an oldschool NES game).
————————————————————————

< Conceptual Designers >

> I can take the final artwork in any styled (Sonic, anthro, human, cyborg etc) - since for armours I am merely looking for the design itself, so the resultant work need not be of particular style.

> you will given a number of inspirational sources and images from which you will then come up with an original design based on the theme
> Armours will involve various themes: from Classic/Fantasy to Sci-fi/Cyborg
> The designs themselves will be quite elaborate (E.g. Megaman/Halo) but need not be too detailed (E.g. Gundam/Transformers)
> You maybe requested to come up with colour schemes, depending on the commission

Examples of successful commissions: Rhynier $15 commission by DKDevil :thumb348477513:

————————————————————————————————
< Payment Policies >
I generally work by pay second rule - that is, I will NOT pay for the commission UNTIL the full commission has been completed. I will pay in installments if required (as in, if I ordered 3 drawings, I could pay 1/3 of the price if the first drawing has been completed) Requests for upfront payments or deposits will not be granted. I have had too many problems involving artists simply not doing the work after paying them in advance and I now have to get tough on my payment policies
————————————————————————————————

Thanks in advance!
Rubycored



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Journal

Hello everyone :wave:

This journal is intended solely for active commission buyers. But anyone is welcome to input opinions.

You see, lately I have been wondering into a rather personal dilemma.

Many of you might have noticed that over the last couple years I have been actively buying commissions (Subscriptions/Premium Accounts, Paypal, dA points and the like) to a large number of artists. While many of the artist have done a very good job in doing their duties and I have enjoyed every single artwork I have received in return (there is one artist who I am interested in commissioning for the 7th time).

The problem is, while most artists have properly performed the duties that they have been paid to do, unfortunately there are others (and even more problematic, they account to more than 40% of total artists i have commissioned) who have, by now, given me the impression that they no longer want to perform their duties anymore (reasons are plenty*, and I specifically exclude ones who have known personal problems and/or have been in constant communication).

It's kind of painful to reflect on it, but I felt that, after many years (some commissions were paid as far back as 2007), I felt something needs to be done, but I really don't want to get into controvertial scenarios with the artist.

So, anyone know what to do in this situation? Would you try contact them again? Would you try have  them to try finish what they have been paid to do? or would you try push your luck and go for refund of the amount paid? Or just forget it completely and just write it off as a "bad debt" commission? I did a calculation couple nights ago, I've spent more than €2000 on commissions since 2007, and it's sad to realise that only €915 [updated 19 June] worth of paid artworks have been returned.

Thanks in advance!
Rubycored


* - examples include, but not limited to:
> Outright ignoring messages, etc
> Delaying delivery of work months after months
> work on part of the total agreed amount, and ignore the remainder (e.g. do 4 out of paid 10 drawings)
> left/changed account without notifying the buyer(s)
> changed style that no longer compatiable with what I am interested in


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Journal

Dayum, I have now been officially 7 full years on deviantART :O_o:, i still remember the days when I hit the "sign up" button on 5th April 2004....


how time flies :dummy:

Rubycored


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Journal

#1> first DA avatar 08 Apr 04 ~ 25 Apr 04
#2> second DA avatar 25 Apr 04 ~ 08 May 04 (by danlev)
#3> third DA avarar 08 May 04 ~ 12 May 04 (by DragonForce03)
#4> 4th avatar 12 May 04 ~ 17 Jun 04 (by danlev)
#5> 5th avatar 17 Jun 04 ~ 16 Nov 04, 17 Nov 04 ~ 22 Feb 05, 14 Jul 05 ~ 24 Nov 05, 28 Dec 05 ~ 30 Dec 05 (by di0xygen)
#6> 6th avatar 16 Nov 04 ~ 17 Nov 04 (by Darkbluetails, requested to be taken off)
#7> 7th avatar 22 Feb 05 ~ 14 Jul 05 (by Lady-Blue)
#8> 8th avatar 24 Nov 05 ~ 28 Dec 05, 02 Dec 06 ~ 29 Dec 06 (by MattGreen)
#9> 9th avatar 30 Dec 05 ~ 01 Feb 06 (by MattGreen)
#10> 10th Avatar 01 Feb 06 ~ 23 Feb 06, 14 Mar 06 ~ 27 Mar 06
#11> 11th Avatar 23 Feb 06 ~ 11 Mar 06, 29 Dec 06 ~ 13 Jan 07 (Took off Age2003 with permission, purged by dA for it had "Plz" in it, during March 2006's Second PLZ Account Purge)
#12> 27 Mar 06 ~ 04 Apr 06 (Used for 2006's April Fool Joke)
#13> 04 Apr 06 ~ 02 Dec 06, 13 Jan 07 ~ 24 May 07, 25 Nov 11 ~ 24 Apr 14 (Made by kwanzaa-robot used with permission)
#14> 24 May 07 ~ 08 Jan 08 (by GeorgiaLe-FlayART)
#15> 08 Jan 08 ~ 02 Feb 08
#16> 02 Feb 08 ~ 16 May 10 (By kittytheAngel, shared avatar)
#17> 16 May 10 ~ 16 Oct 11 (by kittytheAngel, shared avatar)
#18> 16 Oct 11 ~ 25 Nov 11
#19> 24 Apr 2014 ~ (By ShoutboxZombie)



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Featured

2014.April - Looking for Armour artists! by Rubycored, journal

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