The Realms of Aegis

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Chapter Four, Page Twenty One

Finwik

on Sept. 16, 2007

– Working for Others –

I wanted to talk about working for others. Getting into design work, doing commissions etc. Just a few things Ive learned over the years.

After youve done all the NDA stuff, you move on to the creation. Most private commissions people dont care about NDA stuff though. Theyll usually let you know if they do.

1. First thing, make sure the client knows what they want, before you start working for them. Lots of times theyll be like, I need you to design a monster. Which is great! Designing monsters is cool. But you need specifics beyond that, dont start working until youve pumped them for more information.

Does the monster need to run on all fours, or upright? Is this a modern beast, or a fantasy beast? Does it need to have powers? What powers? If this monster a hunter, or a thinker, or a mindless rampaging beast? Get the specifics, because if you dont, theyll suddenly pop up when youve already done some work. I cant count the times Ive been hired to do some work, and the client hand to god didnt know what they wanted until after Id done some work for them.

2. Work in levels. You do some thumbnails; tiny sketches based on step ones info. Get those to the client. Let them pick what they like, what they want to change, etc. Sometimes if your client isnt very experienced, theyll get scarred at this stage, sometimes they dont understand what a thumbnail is. They think you cant draw, because your thumbnails are messy and they made a mistake. Be sure to let them know, these are VERY rough sketches, were trying to uncover what you want, so that we can save time.

Once they approve a thumbnail, youre to the next level. Kind of fill them in on this. Dont be a dork and go, Onward to level two now! in a bogus robot voice. Say, Alright, great. Thats the hard part, the first stage, from here on Ill be tightening pencils, so are you sure youre good with this? They say yes, you move on. They dont get to go back unless there are special circumstances.

Do the same with the pencils, you get them to give you the okay for the pencils, that way you dont need to go back and make changes, and if you do, then you wouldnt be entirely out of line to ask for additional tender. I mean, little things are fine, but if they want to change a pose or something, that is a lot of work, and often means an entirely new drawing. Work with them, but dont let them run over you. The same applies to inking, coloring, etc. With digital tools this all has gotten more flexible, but work is work, it all takes time. And Ive never charged by the hour, I always charge by the job, but I watch my hours too.

3. Tying things up, I always make sure, at the end of my transaction, that the client tells me theyre pleased. If theyre not, I press them a little to find out why, and fix it. Most of my private work is return customers. Which is why online you see so many of my works are anthros, yet Im not into anthro stuff. I used to do a lot of anthro commissions, and have return hits sometimes. Make them you friends, but business friends. There is nothing wrong with being friendly while also behaving in a professional way. I'd say 99.9% of the time I end of good or better terms with my clients.

On payments, with the average person or very small company, I request half up front, half when Im done. With large companies they act like theyre doing you a favor letting you work for them, and youll just have to wait. Ive waited a year to get paid. Its bs, but that is how the system works right now. Freelance artist = not getting paid on time. Just get used to it and have something to fall back on if you can. Until you hit it big and become a commodity, youll have to deal with that kind of thing. =]

If you have any questions, let me know. Hope some of you found this useful, Im certainly interested in hearing your thoughts.

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