How to do (hobby) commissions!

🖥️ So you want to sell your art, ey?

Commissions is a nice way to make that little extra cheese and I’m sure many of you have probably thought about making some money off your hobby. However, you may not know where to start, how much to charge and where to find clients. I’ll be writing a small guide about how to do hobby art commissions, advertising your work and charging money — all based on my personal experience!

🦈 Build a portfolio

Think about what you’d like to sell, then pick your best artworks and showcase them. You wanna sell fully rendered characters? Post examples of your drawn fully rendered characters.

Some apps to build your portfolio:

• Artstation — a popular choice among artists.
• Cara — a growing anti-AI community.
• Carrd.co — easy small website maker. A nice way for both a portfolio and a commissions page.

Example Carrd by ZeeTheNecromancer:

🎐 How much do I charge?

Settling on a price is a bit of a difficult task and you might find yourself changing your prices from time to time. That’s okay! The important part: calculate approximately how long it takes you to finish a piece.

Many artists have an hourly rate, for example minimum $15 per hour; therefore if the average fully rendered half body takes you around 4-5 hours to make, that would make you around $60-$75.

You can calculate your rate by considering:

• How long does the artwork take?
• How experienced are you in art?
• Supplies cost (for traditional art)

Once you settle on your rate, you can go ahead and set up your base prices! Be aware that there might be changes on your prices if a client asks for a more complicated piece.

📠 Your terms and accepted payment

Make sure to write down what you can and will draw, what you won’t draw, and how you allow your art to be used (commercial or personal use). Mention your way of getting paid and in what currency:

• Paypal — widely known, usually the standard.
• Stripe — similar to Paypal.
• Ko-fi — a nice way to get paid even when the client only has their debit card. Money goes to your Paypal/ Stripe account.

It is important to receive payment upfront at all times.

╰┈➤ Either 50% upfront and the rest after your first sketch OR 100% payment upfront.

Example commission sheet by SweetlySours:

🫧 How do I find clients?

You might not believe me when I say this but, I’ve found almost all of my clients by just socializing. You heard it right! People cling to supporting friends and those that they feel comfortable with, so by socializing online in communities you enjoy (in discord for example), you already have a pretty high chance of someone wanting to support you and your work.

If you are in art servers, by complimenting other people’s arts and pointing out the details you love in their works, will get you many new connections.

Advertising is your friend, just don’t be spammy in someone’s dms. From small things like adding a “Comms Open!” in your bio + a link to your portfolio or carrd, to bigger things like advertising your commission sheets and examples in discord channels that are dedicated to advertising. Don’t forget to upload your works on your socials like Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Bluesky etc.

🌱 I got a client. WHOA? What do I do now?

CONGRATS! Communication is key. Ask about references and details to your client until you have a good view of what they want. Sketch something simple and show them, allow them to make changes to it if they want before you proceed further.

Be clear that if the client settles on the first sketch, you will not make any big changes regarding the structure or pose of the drawing, should they ask for them. Inform them about your progress or possible delays.

🍹 Last thoughts

Every artist has a different journey on commissions. Remember to never underprice your arts or tire yourself out, you can always pause your commissions when you need to. Best of luck!

💌 End of article. Thank you for reading! 💌