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43551 No. 43551
My career on fine art or illustration is a blocked path so I want to jump into getting comissions online.

First of all: Can I make a living out of this? How?

Now:
What sells? As in realistic vs cartoony or fetishes vs furry.
How do I stabilish an online presence?
How much should I charge?
How do I avoid Paypal messing with my dead presidents?
Is furry the only safe way?

I'm reposting this thread from /ic/ because they have not answer my questions proper and because here there may be people with more experience in the field.
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>> No. 43552
paypal, furry porn, and an FA account. Bam go have fun.
>> No. 43555
>>43552
But how do I get exposure on FF?
>> No. 43556
You just keep posting until people take notice. Once you've reached the level of "good," it boils down to whether or not you draw a popular fetish and pure, dumb luck. There are people on DA who are mediocre at best and charge a lot for pics (and some who even outright trace pics and slap a different head on it), and yet have tons of active watchers and sell pics like hotcakes. You will also find as good or better artists who are almost entirely ignored and are lucky if they sell a few pics for anything above minimum wage levels of pay.

Just try your hardest, post your works, and hope for the best.
>> No. 43557
>>43556
Also: draw fatties. Fatties are apparently VERY loose with their money. Just look at Axel-Rosered. Reading his "fundraising" journals will give you better advice than anything I can say regarding said fetishists.
>> No. 43558
>>43555
I have several friends that have done this:
Draw some examples, show work, and make a thread. People will spring at anything around 15 bucks, thats cheap as hell there.
>> No. 43566
>>43556
>>43558
I thought about starting on /co/'s drawthreads and then moving to places.
>> No. 43568
>>43566
Could be a place to start, though you probably don't want to come across as "advertising" commissions outside of your domain or places designated for such activity. IMO, coming across as exceptionally needy devalues your work and irritates people. Just post, have a commission journal on wherever you decide to host your work, and go from there. Also, don't price yourself too low, since it will make people question the value of your work or stop buying as soon as you raise your rates. You will eventually resent all of your buyers, especially if you bother to see what they pay other artists.

Oh, and Shame Cube. Hadn't seen that in awhile.
>> No. 43569
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43569
What sells: What you're best at. People are going to notice what you draw the most/best and what you like drawing. If they like the themes and shit you draw, you bet your sweet ass they'll want stuff that might fit those themes drawn by you. There's obvs NSFW/Fetish themes, but other examples are like, idk, I draw a lot of frilly dresses, I like frilly dresses, so people know that if they need frilly shit drawn, I'm their man. Shit like that.

You establish an online presence by posting consistently. Anywhere from doodles to full pictures, to I feel like consistent nice illustrations will bring more people that doodly stuff. Putting up sketches and wips can help too! People love seeing the process and shit.

Charging is definitely difficult. If you want to make a living offa it, you have to figure out how long it takes you to do a drawing and translate that into minimum wage. This might make you a little spendy to start out with, and some people are off-put by people who charge correctly from the get-go, but these people are dumb and probably not potential clients anyways. If you feel comfortable charging a little less than you know you should, feel free. You can always up your prices over time as you become more well known.

As far as paypal goes, here's how I do it: YOU send the invoice. Always. And list it as SERVICES. If you list a transaction as for "goods," people can say they never received them and they will WIN these disputes because you will have no tracking number to provide. The reason I say you should send the invoices is because some people know about the goods thing and will take advantage of that so they can chargeback you. Some say that the invoice thing means you don't get tips, but in the past, anyone who wishes to tip me has just sent a payment afterwards as a gift (gifts are non-chargebackable btw but not suggested for how YOU take payment because, as a customer, it looks hella fishy.)

Furries/Fetishes/Porn/ANY NICHE REALLY is a quick way to get commissions, especially if you have popular internet artists/friends to pimp/reblog your commission info. It's not the ONLY way, but it's def the easiest route and I don't think anyone could blame you for doing it to start out.

Other helpful shit: You can make, like, a sweet-ass orderform via GoogleDocs, which, once the orderform is finished, complies it all into an easy-to-use spreadsheet. I use it, the forms are okay looking (example:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1JaYId4nN1UPRgCw3pEvYfxlJZAuKKMGmZPSN0PSsEHc/viewform) and apparently completely customizable visually, I just haven't figured out that part yet.

Artists Beware (http://artists-beware.livejournal.com/) is a community that tracks bad artist/customers, so if someone gives you a shitty time, report their dumb asses, and make sure to check this place before you accept comm inquiries.

My general rule is to communicate only via notes/e-mails. Giving everyone your IM/Skype is kinda a bad plan, there are loads of people out there who are the type to ask how progress is every day (note to commissioners: it's totes cool to ask for updates every week or so, just don't make it an every day thing. :3)

In case of refunds, if they ask for a refund, refund them the amount MINUS how much work you've done. If you've half finished their art and they cancel on you, they only get half of their money back. If YOU have to cancel a commission, it's proper to refund them in full. Always take payment upfront. If the price is $50 or higher, you can take half upfront, half later.

Idk if I'm rambling but I hope this has helped! If you have anymore questions feel free to ask. :3
>> No. 43571
>>43568
I know that I first should biuld a fallowing before start commissing.

>>43569
Screencapped.
You are a <3.
>> No. 43598
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43598
>>43571
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