Best places to get high quality commisions?

[Anonymous No.3904392]

What are the places online/offline to get actual commissions that are worth doing?

And I'm not talking about the places where DA "artists" make 10$ fastfood charts or any of those degenerate smut websites where they make furry or porn commissions.

[Anonymous No.3904420]

you sound too judgemental to be someone that's fun to commission to...
Adjust your attitude and then come back

[Anonymous No.3904428]

>>3904420
I didn't mean to sound judgemental.
It's just that now on the internet it is hard to find places where you can get a fair price for work that don't require you to sell your dignity.
Either that or to be underpaid because the competition has a race to the bottom as it goes for prices.

[Anonymous No.3904506]

You gotta start at the bottom, hard to break it to you.

[Anonymous No.3904508]

>>3904392
Shill your stuff on Twitter/Insta through fan art and regular posts, and make it so anyone who clicks on your profile knows that you take comms.

[Anonymous No.3904535]

>>3904428
You can't command high prices for private digital work because there is no physical product. Porn is the exception because a good nut has an established market value. Traditional work is entirely a matter of being connected to the local art community and networking yourself as an artist. That's also a rough start but can pay well once you're established and have the right clientele.

[Anonymous No.3904558]

How about Sketchmob? Some people sell their stuff for 100$ and up there

[Anonymous No.3904559]

>>3904535
That's a good explanation, thank you.

[Anonymous No.3904680]

>>3904508
>fan art
>dignity

[Anonymous No.3904700]

>>3904392
You're right to be turned off by fast-food style commission charts and low paying jobs on social media sites. They are not worth it, and there isn't really a ladder to climb as other people might suggest - at least compared to a normal illustration career. Working for business / commercial clients is much more rewarding that private clients.

>>3904428
>It's just that now on the internet it is hard to find places where you can get a fair price for work
It sounds like you might be interested in freelance illustration. If by 'high quality commissions', you mean real-world jobs that pay well from professional clients, then that's great. However, you'll need to shift your perspective away from this idea that you can just 'find places' on the internet that will hand you these high quality opportunities.

If you want high-quality commissions, you need to put in the effort to make the connections with high-quality commissioners to create an opportunity to yourself. In other words, art & creative directors are typically the people you want to connect with, as they are the ones who need illustrators to assign work to. Most artists will never bother to do this, because either 1.) They're too scared / nervous to do it, or 2.) They think high-paying opportunities will just passively be offered to them once they are popular enough on social media.

You need to be proactive in hunting down better opportunities for yourself. If you think there is a business or franchise that you think you could contribute illustrations to, then you can simply email the art director to express your interest in working with them, and to share your professional, standalone portfolio site. It really can be that simple - if you're good and the work is right, then they may commission you. If you do a good job, then they might turn into a repeat client and you've now created a steady source of high-quality commissions.

[Anonymous No.3904871]

>>3904700
Not that anon but thanks, that's good advice.

[Anonymous No.3904970]

>>3904700
Thank you! That's actually pretty simple. Do you think that social media pays a big role in applying? I guess some art directors could follow you but desu 99.99% of followers on eg. Instagram feels like random people who won't propose a good job

[Anonymous No.3904976]

>>3904970
For proper jobs social media means nothing. People hiring MIGHT find you on social but other than that nobody gives a shit about your follower counts.

[Anonymous No.3904984]

>>3904976
That's cool. So really a purpose of social media is when you have to shill your own product like art book, prints, patreon etc? When should I start caring about it? I hear some artists saying that it's especially important for freelance artists to post their shit on social media

[Anonymous No.3905008]

>>3904871
>>3904970
Happy to help!

Social still plays a role in trying to freelance and promote yourself directly to art commissioners for freelance opportunities.

> I guess some art directors could follow you but desu 99.99% of followers on eg. Instagram feels like random people
It doesn't matter that most people on Instagram are not in positions to commission you. Depending on what you, then art directors definitely have a presence on social media sites, and there is nothing wrong with connecting with them via those channels. However, I think this should all be supplementary to your own direct efforts.

For example, lets say you want to work for a certain publication / business. I like to do editorial, so we'll use a major national newspaper to illustrate my point. I found the account of their art director who posts their latest projects on IG, and I decide to follow them and periodically like or comment on some of their relevant posts (no personal posts - that's weird). If you have good work on your own Instagram, they may check you out and follow you. They may start regularly liking your work.

This is a positive result that can happen on social media, and it means that you are successfully now on that art directors radar. They know who you are, which is a huge, huge deal. Because you are now on their radar, you've strengthened the effectiveness of your inevitable promotional email that you'll send them. Now when you make that first contact, they have prior exposure to your work and you should have an easier time making that successful connection.

That right there is the value of exposure, and it's what makes social media a great supplementary tool to your own direct promotional efforts. It's a common sales technique: exposure first, then pitch. All of this can passively happen from the right people stumbling upon your work at the right time, but even if this isn't happening for you, then you should still try and directly create that connection.

[Anonymous No.3905037]

>>3905008
Thank you for explanation, I really appreciate it!!! Last question on my mind, are you focused on illustration or do you work in different fields? I'm a bit confused right now as an intermediate about whether should I focus on particular field i want to work in because I like different stuff like plen air painting, illustrating, graphic work etc or just don't worry and when I get better try applying for work in different fields and see what goes well? I would be thankful for any advice considering defining what kind of art career to pursue

[Anonymous No.3905128]

>>3904984
It serves as an extended portfolio and shows your public facing skills. It's also a general gauge of interest in your art, not so much the follower count unless it's crazy, but that other people see value in your work. An AD or editor doesn't have to like your work to know it will sell, but a quick glance at your social media can sway their opinion a little. I mostly use social media to weed out crazies and shitheads, but a clean presence with good metrics can move you higher up in the pile.

There's value in the things you mentioned because they can make you the most money and some of then add to your CV.

[Anonymous No.3905752]

Very good thread, thank you ogreanon

[Anonymous No.3905821]

>>3905008
I thought I'd never see a piece of helpful advice on this board. Thanks.

[Anonymous No.3905833]

>>3904392
What market? What kind of work? Buy out? License? Physical art? Digital?

Easy answer: hustle. Figure out what market you want to work in, find out who buys art. Contact them. Ask how to submit a portfolio. Do that. A lot.

[Anonymous No.3905948]

>>3905037

>are you focused on illustration or do you work in different fields
I focus pretty much exclusively on illustration in my one particular (but pretty versatile) style, with my income coming from a variety of different sources & types of jobs.

>should I focus on particular field i want to work in because I like different stuff
Your dilemma is one that many many others face - what should you do with your many interests? I think it's really important to have that one thing that you're really good at as it'll make getting paid work a bit easier. Doing so might mean you need to commit to one type of work more than another, but it can be really hard to know what path to go down.

I personally faced this with my two interests in different illustration styles - I liked loose, brushy digital paintings, and I liked simple, flat, more graphic work. I tried to develop these both at the same time, but found that I started growing frustrated with the digital painting workflow. I also found myself getting a bit more opportunities with the more simple / graphic work, and gravitated more towards focusing on that. Part of this process was a continuing effort to experiment and grow the styles I liked, and a part of that meant combining or merge these 2 styles that I loved. There was a while where I liked doing digital paintings that incorporated more line work and more graphic elements before ultimately committing to my current, simpler style.

I think something that might help is to take a look at some of your favorite artists who work in styles / mediums, and to look at what type of opportunities they get. For plein air painting - would you be happy with gallery life and selling your physical works in person? For graphic design - would you be happy with a salaried office job? For illustration - would you be happy working from home on other peoples projects? Part of this decision hinges on how entrepreneurial you want your life to be.

[Anonymous No.3906201]

>>3905948
From what I have gathered as an amateur, in house illustrator job are few and far between, would you say that if one were to go into illustration that they would necessarily have to freelance as opposed to a graphic designer where it seems like there's more salaried jobs in that field.

I guess it could depend on the city, (more art jobs overall in a major metro), but what would you say.

[Anonymous No.3906212]

>>3905948
Thank you for insight, it cleared my thoughts

[Anonymous No.3906243]

>>3904392
>f-fastfood chart
AHAHAHAHA stay poor

[Anonymous No.3906246]

>>3906201
I'd agree that - overall - full time, in house illustration jobs are pretty rare. Businesses that require the full-time efforts of one particular illustrator are not common. However, there are full time salaried positions that incorporate illustrations into their responsibilities. Art & creative directors (depending on the place) often will create illustrations as part of their job. A lot of times that can even just be delegated into an in house graphic designer (graphic designers are sometimes the ones that hire freelancers ). For example (again referencing editorial stuff), if you follow art directors in this field on social media, you'll often see them posting their own work that they made for their job. This is work that could have been assigned to a freelancer, but for one reason or another, was just handled in house. These positions often have a myriad of responsibilities (including the assigning & managing of freelance projects).

So if you wanted to go into illustration, you're more than likely going to be freelancing. Unfortunately for us, that means learning how to freelance and improving your business & entrepreneurial skills. It's a necessary part of the job (unless you have an agent), and it can be scary to start putting yourself out there professionally. It gets easier the more you practice and the more you get published & hired, however I think that initial struggle of starting to get the ball rolling with your career is - without a doubt - one of the most difficult things you'll do.

In many ways, freelancing across any industry (photography, copywriting, design, programming, UI design, illustration, consulting, etc.) - they all pretty much follow the same method of landing opportunities. As >>3905833 puts it:
>Easy answer: hustle. Figure out what market you want to work in, find out who buys art. Contact them. Ask how to submit a portfolio. Do that. A lot.
In many ways, it really is that easy. Of course, it's easier said than done.

[Anonymous No.3906263]

>>3906201
The line between graphic design and illustration is very thin in some places. Some designers illustrate as needed, others have dedicated illustrators, most graphic designers can't draw very well. There are studios and ateliers for illustration and thousands of in house positions in various places, but yeah it's mostly freelance to some degree or another.

[Anonymous No.3906285]

If anyone is really prolific in porn commissions or anything really edge or extreme, gore, hentai, furry, and would like to sell me (or license me) a pack of 10-20 unfinished line sketches for a fringe art project, please chat to me at @unopened.parachute on insta.

[Anonymous No.3906298]

>>3906246
>>3906263
Thanks for the answer, I have been so focused on getting good at drawing, it is now dawning on me that I have need of whole other skill sets to make this a career.

On the subject of agents, again from my ignorance, it seems they're more likely to court artist who are already established. Is that true?
Would cold calling art agents and agencies like art directors be a viable way of breaking in?

[Anonymous No.3906319]

>>3906298
Normally, you send agents a cover letter with your portfolio. It's really a matter of whether you want to give them their cut of everything you do. They like some proven success but an agency will take you if you do good, quick work. The upside is that it's a bigger field than say, publishing, and has more turnover as artists go full freelance or get more stable jobs.

[Anonymous No.3907186]

>>3906298
Overall, I'd say that agents definitely look for artists who are already established.

However, you can still get lucky and get signed on to an agency very early on - often times straight out of art school. I follow a lot of illustrators who have agents, and even reached out to some for agent advice. From what I gather, the ways people have landed their agents are:
1. The illustrator reached out to the agent to share their portfolio
2. The agent saw their work out in the world and offered to sign them
3. The illustrator was referred to the agent by another illustrator who was already signed
4. The agent tried to discover new talent and found them as they were graduating art school.
5. The illustrator previously had an agent but for whatever reason they want to work with a new one

Cold calling art agencies is technically a viable way of 'breaking in' to higher-tier work. However, it's not going to be easy at all. A lot of agencies often have some sort of instructions on how to submit portfolios for consideration.

I don't know if this is obvious or, but if you want to be doing any of this (cold calling art directors, agencies, etc.) then you need to get your own standalone portfolio site - something more professional than a social media blog, and something that is curated with your best, most relevant work. It's supposed to act as a snapshot of your best work, so that if someone looks at it for 5 seconds, they already know exactly what it is that you do. I personally use Squarespace (I liked their free themes the best), but Wix and Weebly are good. I wouldn't recommend coding your own custom site unless you're very good at that stuff.

[Anonymous No.3907953]

>>3904700
How much does style factor into the decision making process when hiring illustrators? I would assume that art directors would try to find artists that match the look of the project they're working on.
But at the same time, it kind of feels like some art styles simply have no professional market at all. I've never gotten around to hustling my art to creative directors and businesses because I can't really see any of my work being published outside of a comic or video game, which I'm not really in a position to work on right now.
Should I just force myself to work in a more mainstream/marketable style? Also, for freelance work, how important is your location? Most of the art/design work in my city are all on the graphic design and advertising side of things, all done in-house usually.

[Anonymous No.3907964]

>>3907186
Solid advice. I had an agent for a while, and they're great for getting work and dealing with the contracts and negotiating, but you have to be consistent, too - the more work you turn down, the less likely they'll contact you - their rep is on the line, for their 15%. And never blow deadlines. I never did, and my agent always stressed to keep her in the loop at all times, so she could get more time if I needed.

I stopped using one to go back to work and keep freelancing on the side. If you can get one to sign you on, who has a good rep for bringing in clients, but you better be ready to deliver.

[Anonymous No.3907969]

>>3907953
Art directors want art that matches the project. VERY rarely do they start with no style or look. Maybe if you've worked with one a long time, they'd let you steer that part of the project, but most of the time, they're matching you to the concept.

Location isn't as much of an issue these days. I work with people all over the US and the EU. In the past you could do that too, when it was physical art, as long as you could have Fedex deliver and pick up.

[Anonymous No.3907971]

>>3905008
Most art directors I work with professionally use personal recommendations and professional sources, like the Illustrators Guild yearly book, to look for artists. VERY few hire off social media.
If you want to work in the pro leagues, there are established venues for advertising yourself, that aren't social media. That's where art directors go. Especially agencies, they don't waste time on social media, they have no way of verifying the person posting the work actually did the work, or how long it took.
A portfolio submitted for review and some accounts on professional galleries will get you work.
Art directors don't have time to fuck around on social media.

[Anonymous No.3907977]

>>3906298
CALL. Most legit operations have someone on staff whose job it is to talk to you. You can't be tentative if you're going to try and be a freelancer. You have to call, make contact, ask ow to submit a portfolio. And once you make contact, remind them a couple of times a year you exist, by sending in samples of new work you've done.

I was told starting out that you get hired by getting noticed, and having the art directors keep your sample on their desks. It's not easy.

[Anonymous No.3907989]

>>3904700
Different guy but to add to this, i found one of the best ways to find jobs starting out is to reach out to artists in your general broad vicinity. Even better if they their work has a similar vibe, then check out where they get work and you have a whole new area to explore. its also good to ask them to take a peak at your work and for tips, most are happy to help.

Stuff like society of illustrators has a job board and if your near a major city many of them have some sort organization of illustrators with some resources but in my experience these are kinda meh.

It also sounds dumb but Linkedin is good for finding contacts. Find artists you like, see who their contacts are, shoot them a message getting to know them and tips, but be nice. Google isnt good for finding work but almost everyone who works has a linkedin and its a good way to have access to a ton of contacts you could hit up.

>>3907186
>>3906298
Agents are cool but like he said, they tend to go for established artists, cant hurt to reach out to them though if your work is decent though. It's rare but i know of at least one artist from my college who got an agent right off, but the agent found her, so it seems like luck.

Another thing you can do is look at the career websites of some top art schools in the US that have illustration majors, usually they have sections of their site with listed resources that you can look at without being a student and these will give you a decent map of nitch illustration resources.

But again, best way in my experience is to reach out to artists and see what they're doing in the nicest possible way. Many stories of artists starting out and getting their first batch of work are honestly just random luck of happening to meet someone.

[Anonymous No.3907992]

>>3907971
I get into heated arguments about this in school where i claim social media is questionably useful and they get mad and name some random artists who got work through it. People from all around the world have Instagrams, millions and millions, of course some of them get work through it, but it's a longshot in my opinion.

Why ask a random guy on instagram who you dont know and of questionable reliability when you can look at, like you mentioned, the guild and know these guys are at least actively trying to work, and probably have worked before on deadline.

Like it wont hurt, but the amount of people who have broken through with social media is questionable to me.

[Anonymous No.3907996]

>>3907992

That's actually a relief if true, I'm not good with social media, it moves fast and seems hard to get people's attention without coming off as a consumer with their hand out rather than an equal. Sometimes I click with others, but it's usually someone on my level who are just as lost as me or hobbyists. Need the face to face to network IMO

[Anonymous No.3907998]

>>3907992
I agree, and I'm going on what art directors and art buyers tell me. They just don't have time to scour social media for new artists. Plus, it's a low bar to entry, anyone can post anything to Tumblr or Instagram, but if you take the time and effort to join the Society of Illustrators, and join their galleries or even better buy an ad in the yearly book, you're showing you're serious.
It COULD happen, but most of the commissions on social media are going to be fan art type stuff, or porn.
Art directors need the flakes weeded out, like anyone else. Social media does nothing to do that.

[Anonymous No.3908357]

>>3904420
Adjust YOUR attitude or leave /ic/

[Anonymous No.3908572]

This thread is filled with surprisingly quality advice. Thanks anons!