Total Art Soul - for artists

Hi everyone

Just after a bit of advice please.

I'm feeling a bit guilty because I'm painting a Commission at the moment, only my second one ever, and it seems to be taking so long. It's my fault really, I keep going back to it, doing a little and then leaving it for a while. It's a challenge, a seascape, first time I've painted waves.

I just wondered, when you accept Commissions, do you agree the price up front? Do you agree the timescale up front? My client is so unbelievably understanding and lovely as I started it late anyway due to a very close family bereavement.

I would really appreciate your thoughts on this, thank you.

Jude xx

In my (very limited) experience, some commissions are great fun, and some are agony. I will only accept commissions that tickle my Muse and really interest me, because I know how much I drag my feet on projects that I'm not enjoying, and that's not fair to the customer. Unless, of course, the customer doesn't mind waiting, which brings us to your questions!

I *always* agree on the price up front, and require a nonrefundable deposit up front as well (usually half the total, minus shipping). That way, I won't put lots of time and energy into a project only to have the customer change their mind. No loss for them if they haven't paid anything, but a big loss for me unless the piece is something I can easily sell to someone else. (I once made the mistake of not requiring a deposit from a friend, and I never saw the money. Lost the friend, too. Needless to say, I am very wary of working for friends now.)

I think it is a good idea to agree on the time frame up front as well. This is mostly for the customer's sake, so the artist doesn't take forever to finish, but it also benefits the artist… because the artist doesn't take forever to finish. I know that if I don't have a deadline, AND I'm not enjoying a project, I will find anything else to do instead…. and I hate that feeling of a project hanging over my head.

If you find you simply can't finish by the deadline, make sure you communicate with your customer. Discuss a new timeframe and do everything in your power to honor it. I will bust my butt to honor a deadline -- which is why I hate deadlines -- but I know they are necessary, at least for me.

I've done some commissions. I do agree upon the price before accepting the job and also require a non-refundable deposit. That way I'm not out the cost of materials and time I've already put into the work. (Plus hopefully it weeds out the less serious, more likely to flake on me people.) I also accept full payment up front if they'd prefer and to be honest, so far all of them have chosen that.

I also work out a deadline with them, taking into account what I have going on at that time and when they would need it. I'm another one who needs a deadline to keep me on track.

apologies if this turns up twice but google just had a bit of a moment on me Now, what was I saying?

It's funny how knowing you've got to do something can cause problems with a project, especially if you're not used to working like this. It sounds like you've got a fairly easy going arrangement which can be a good thing but I'd tend to agree with the others here about setting yourself up some terms for next time.

There are lots of good websites out there offering advice and sample contracts, one such is
www.artquest.org.uk/artquest/artlaw/cont...ioning-an-artist.htm

This should give you the confidence to draw up a simple, reasonable agreement for future use, the terms are laid out so you don't have to worry you're being unreasonable and you will come across as more professional. You wont put off serious customers, in fact this should reassure them as its for their benefit too, but it will weed out time wasters.

As for this one, keep going, do your best and if your'e worried about your customer, keep up a positive dialogue. People who commission an original piece are interested in you as an artist and they will enjoy hearing about your journey with this piece. Talk about the things you're enjoying and you might remember why you wanted to do it in the first place.

Most importantly, remember you've got us behind you if you need to come and bang your head on the desk occasionally

I think most people understand that you can't force creativity. I do mostly commissioned work and it's rare that someone presses me to get something done.

I always give an approximate price and try to stick to that but I do give myself a little bit of leeway since you can never exactly know how long something is going to take.

If it is someone I've never dealt with, then I ask for 30% deposit up front. People I deal with a lot I don't bother to ask for this because I already know they'll pay me.

The other thing I always do is communicate via email. That way I have it in black and white as to exactly what they have asked for. It's happened to me in the past that I've followed a brief and then the client has told me it's not what they want. Being able to go back to the emails, is really a good way to be sure of exactly what they said.

I'm glad I found this thread, as I am thinking of adding information about commissions to my blog and am trying to set prices.

Here is what I have. I am thinking of setting a specific price per square inch (depending on medium) and an hourly rate (standard). I've decided that I'll require a deposit of half of the purchase price (before shipping) before I'll start...but in that hourly rate, do I include the time spent sketching until I have an image the customer likes, or just the time I spent making the final product? Does it sound exorbitant to charge $1.00-$1.25/sq. in for an acrylic painting, and $.75/sq. in for a watercolor or gouache piece, plus $11/hour? What about mixed media and linocuts?

Help!