Posted

Jan 7th 2009

Well, I'm going to be hitting a sci-fi/fantasy convention in March, and I had to go and get my heart set on a costume idea that's going to be...pricey. Seen my Cardassian drawings? Think about that for a bit.

So yeah...now that I've admitted I am a complete and total nerdy loser...here's the deal. I already have some money towards this and I think once I sell back some books, CDs, and DVDs that I don't use, I'm going to get closer to being able to get everything I want for the costume without cutting into my day-to-day spending.

However...if I should find myself with no income tax refund check this year, even if I am able to make all funds required for the costume, I am very likely to have NO spending money whatsoever for when I get to the convention.

So I am starting to toy with ideas to make up the shortfall. And one of those ideas...is to take commissions.

I am not a very good artist compared to a lot of people around here. My style is not very "anime" or cartoony, and on the other hand not fully realistic, either. And what I can do in 2-3 hours is limited compared to a lot of people. Still, I've got to do something if I don't want to end up relying on the beneficence of Uncle Sam for my convention spending comfort (and possibly even completion of the costume, if I am not able to get a lot back from the stuff I'm going to sell).

But before I even consider opening for commissions, I wanted to get some ideas from those of you who take commissions, about the following things:

1) How do you determine pricing? What do you have to take into account? What gets the best response?

2) What do you do to avoid getting overwhelmed?

I admit, I have reservations about even considering this idea. I am NOT the most skilled artist on here by far and I know a lot of people, if they want a commission, would go to someone a lot better than I am. So I want to see if this would even make sense as something to do.