Greetings!

Welcome to Part II of this little informative series on commissions. The last one was nicely received, and some had some good points that they wished would be brought up. Some of those questions and points will be mentioned in this specific article (or hopefully so).

To recap, last time I covered some very general points on how to get started in taking commissions. Building on that, this article covers how an artist should protect him or herself from those who would take advantage of your good nature or your inexperience, and sometimes both. And sometimes some folks are straight up thieves in disguise. By the end of this article, you should be in a position that will protect yourself from those who are unscrupulous, while at the same time saving you from appearing standoffish or worse, a sneak.

What do I mean by being a sneak? Well, imagine a car salesman, all smiles and such, offering you what appears to be a great product. But you can’t have it until you’ve paid up front in full. You do so, and then it turns out you bought a lemon. It’s sneaky and underhanded, and as an artist you definitely do not want the perception of you to be this way.

Naturally, one may ask how do you go about protecting yourself. First, you need to know what to watch out for. Starting out, you likely will want to make yourself look as available as possible. While this has the potential of getting your name out to many people, there will be those who will try to take advantage of that. Always. Human beings generally will attempt to get things for free anytime, anywhere, if they think they can get away with it.

To protect yourself, it would behoove you to keep an eye out for various signs of people who may be looking to get a freebie off you. Signs such as the following:
- False promises
- Impatience
- Badgering
- Demands for examples, especially of their characters

False promises would be along the lines of something like this: “I don't have money now, but I know I will get it soon. You can go ahead and send me the image and I'll get the cash to you asap.”

Impatience would be along the lines of a client constantly contacting you with notes or emails. "Is it done yet? Can I see? I want to see now!” Sometimes the contact is daily, and I would think a good way to tell if someone is impatient if they're contacting you on a couple days basis (as in they contact you every couple or three days roughly). It’s understandable for a client to want to see some samples of work to see how the progress is coming, and I know I have teased an artist or two in the past to see work, but there’s a difference between someone teasing and someone being overly insistent. You can tell because they will constantly be asking to see what you’ve done right now, and frequently can lead into Badgering.

Badgering is the higher form of Impatience. "I need to see what you've done so I know it's being done right." They may want samples, usually good sized ones, and they’ll want it quickly. Sometimes they’ll send change after change to the original image, which may be something small, or it may be taking what was once a single character image and turning it into a comic, for the price of a single character image. Remember, if a person who is unscrupulous thinks they can get it for less, they’re going to try for it.

Granted, communication between the artist and the client is key. Both parties have to be involved in the process in order to get a good image. However, there is such as thing as too much communication, or unwanted communication. So be wary if they’re constantly bugging you. Not just for the annoyance factor.

I should also note that some people will badger you for a commission even if you aren’t accepting any right now. They want your art and they want it bad, or so they say. Some may even seem threatening. Just be firm, and let them know that you’re not taking commissions at this time.

Some will demand ‘examples’ before they even commission you. I know of a few artists who have been approached by potential clients who will try to get the artist to draw up characters, with the reasoning that it’s to help them ‘make up their mind’ about hiring the artist, be it for a comic or whatever. If someone needs their mind made up to commission you when they contact you, then they’re not worth your time. A client who truly wants to commission you has already made up their mind before they contacted you in the first place. That’s why they’re commissioning you!

This is not to say you should be distrustful of all potential clients’ right off the bat. Just to keep an eye out. Be pleasant still, but have those signs in the back of your mind to watch out for.

Now for the biggest part to protect yourself over: getting paid. You have worked long and hard on an image for a client, and, in your good natured and unassuming way, you trusted the client when they said they would pay you after you sent them the full sized image.

I say this is a huge red flag. Do not, under any circumstances, give up the actual full sized image until you have received payment first. You do that and you have lost any and all bargaining power you would have had with that person. Some people may deal with you in good faith and actually will pay you after they get the image. An unscrupulous person will not. And you’re now out the cash you deserve.

The best defense against you not getting paid while also making it appear you're not being a sneak and taking advantage of the client is to split the charge. Half up front before you begin work and half upon approval of a small sample image showing the finished work. Once you have received the rest of the payment, you give the full sized image to the client.

This insures that the client is now committed. Money is involved now, and they are much less likely to back out. It basically locks them in, and they have a vested interest in getting what they’ve paid for. If there are any changes to be made, they can suggest them after the sample image has been shown to them. Once they have approved the final sample image (which, I would recommend you watermark, just to be on the safe side), they will need to give you the rest of the cash. It is at that moment that they are put into a position that they must trust you to hold up your end of the deal and give them what they paid for.

This may seem heavy handed and a little distrusting, and to be honest…it is to a degree. You don’t know that faceless client on the internet from Joe Snuffy down the street. There is no level of trust you can build up with such a person in just a few short minutes per contact that would allow you to just give them an image and wait patiently for payment to arrive.

Now it is perfectly understandable if they are having trouble with the funding, such as getting it together and the like. That’s fine. It happens to all of us. This is part of why communication is key. Just let them know you’ll happily hang onto the image for them and they can pay up as soon as they’re able. Once the money is in your hands/account, they get the image. A person who is investing into your work will definitely come back and most likely will be grateful that you’re willing to work with them, and they will work with you.

Some may suggest that you should take full payment up front. How is that better than you giving them the image in the hopes they’ll pay in full afterwards? Now they are put into the position of trusting that you are going to keep your end of the deal. And why would you? You have the money. The only thing keeping you from just taking off with the cash is your conscience. Oh yea, and the law too, but to be fair, it’s a bit difficult to prosecute someone who’s done something like that online. Not impossible by any means, but it is a bit difficult. It’s why it’s difficult for an artist to prosecute a thief who basically stole the work from you after you did it and gave it to them while expecting to be paid. Both directions are possible, and I have made commissions with artists who hold up their end of the deal after paying in full many times. But I knew the artist’s reputation was good by seeing how they interacted with others and how quickly their turnaround was, so I was able to judge that making the upfront payment was a safe one to make.

Sometimes it doesn’t make sense to split a payment for an image ($1 pics, or $5 for example). But requiring half-and-half payments protects not only yourself, but your client as well.

Now do not assume that someone is showing the signs of trying to rip you off if you have been delayed in getting their image to them. Clients are still customers, and they do want what they paid for. They will eventually contact you if you haven't talked to them or put out the word you're not going to be available for a little while. I would recommend that if you haven't told the client anything after two weeks at the absolute most, contact them. If you’re going to be behind, let them know. They usually understand and will work with you. If you’re not able to do it, let them know. If you have been delayed for weeks or months, do something to let them know you haven’t forgotten. Show them some decent sized rough sketch work to see that you have been working on it. I know I, as a client, am comforted when I am shown the progress if I haven’t heard anything in weeks or months. A client will stick with you a long time if you communicate with them. I have hung in there with an artist for two years, because that artist let people know what was going on in their life, and had direct communications with me.

Trusting a client is difficult, and there’s naturally only so far you really can go. If you interact with them a lot, then use your best judgment. However, I would recommend against preferential treatment for anyone. Treat all the same, and you will be seen as being fair.

Your best defense is to be courteous and gracious, but firm, with the client. Even one who is unscrupulous naturally can be won over to do the right thing if you’re pleasant and don’t budge on your policies. Just let people know, this is how things are and that’s how it’s going to be across the board for everyone. You’ll never know if one is usually a thief or not if you use the above advice to your defense, mostly because a true thief will likely leave you alone, and nobody tells the world that they were going to steal from you anyways, so you’ll never know. Nor really need to know. Cause it won’t matter at that point. Those who want to commission and are willing to pay will come. Those that don’t want to pay may try, and they may not. Either way, you’ll get those that you do want.

I hope you found Part II helpful. If you have any questions just ask, or if you have points for me or others to consider, by all means point them out. Part III I think shall cover what your client should expect from you, and what you should expect from the client. Part IV will be direct more towards the clients, as it will cover what they should do to protect themselves against unscrupulous or pushy artists. I know, it’s a horrible thing to suggest, but if there’s unscrupulous clients, the reverse is just as true for artists. Besides, you may take commissions, but you might also want to commission others. Part V will cover any miscellaneous items, and I think go over advertising in a little bit more depth. Maybe. Or maybe just cover questions, comments and concerns from previous articles. We’ll find out.

Until then!

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