pandacornn Posted December 12, 2012 I'm not sure if this would go here, so move if needed sorry and thanks~ U 3U Hello everyone~ I was just curious as to how many people would be interested in purchasing art of their DD's or have previously purchased art of their dolls! I would love to see pictures that people have purchased or what not~ I'm thinking of possibly offering it as a service (if that's even allowed here Dx ) but was just curious if anyone had done it before and wanted to see what kind of stuff was out there (: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nekopon Posted December 12, 2012 I'm interested in this as well. But I've already given a lot of art away, so bad for my future potential business. T__T; Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Error-Chan Posted December 12, 2012 Well i have had drawings of my got Error but before she went on to her DD body and my Obitsu50. They were for Points on DeviantART.com so I can only guess on how much £ they would be. This one was about 5-8point I think so about £5 I guess. and this one was 10 Points so about £8+ hope that helps^^ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pandacornn Posted December 12, 2012 Wah! Very cute!! THanks for sharing!~ I really hope more people post *u* I think this will be a very fun thread~ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
littlebearries Posted December 12, 2012 It is allowable to sell custom portraits of DD girls here... you would list it under this section: http://www.dollfiedreams.com/viewforum.php?f=44 Where all of our member made custom items/shops go. I'm interested in this as well. But I've already given a lot of art away, so bad for my future potential business. T__T; I wouldn't look at it that way... I would look at it as advertising. If you were to start a sales thread now, I'd know already that you make really cute drawings of people's girls. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
baldylox Posted December 12, 2012 I've had quite a few artistic friends send me pics of my girls and I love that kind of thing. I would gladly pay for more of them if available. So I'm sure if they are done well and not too expensive people would be interested in buying some. Cazzie has done this service before here and on FFM. You can ask her how things went for her, just shoot her a PM. And I agree with Littlebearries about giving away your art before. That is advertising and is a good way to get your "product" out there. This also allows you to show people what you can do by showing those pics of peoples girls as examples of your work. Billy I gave up counting the girls I own, they keep multiplying and won't stop. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
littlebearries Posted December 12, 2012 So I'm sure if they are done well and not too expensive people would be interested in buying some. This is really the key. I think you have to have a really good handle on how good you actually are (and not how good your friends and family tell you you are -_-). (and I'm just talking in general here, not specifically at anyone!!... I notice you (pandacornn) have a deviant art account, which I think really helps an artist get a grasp on how good they actually are) and very cute drawings, btw ) I've seen a lot of instances where people want *way* too much money for mediocre art work, and then get really upset when the commissions don't come flooding in. As an example... my artwork is "ok"... it's not worth high commission prices... or maybe even *any* commission prices. LOL! I like to draw, I think it would be fun to draw people's girls... but do I expect a flood of people to fall all over themselves to pay for my work? Heck no. I'm just not that good. When it comes to pricing: I have bought beautiful artwork of my dolls, ranging from $10-$15... usually done on the spot at anime cons... inked and colored with copics (nothing too detailed, but color, none-the-less). The artist does the work quickly, beautifully and I have an original piece of art to keep on my desk at work (I have one of Alna on my desk right now XD) If you want me to pay a higher price than that, it's going to have to be something really amazing and well worked. The proportions will have to be well done (I may not be able to draw the human body perfectly, but I think most people can tell when it's out-of-whack). ... hopefully that makes some sense, LOL. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nekopon Posted December 12, 2012 Thank you everyone for their input on this matter, and quite quickly. I agree with many of the points, especially on quality vs. price. I'm glad I will be able to share my skills here on DDF. Speaking if which, I can't believe I've been drawing at conventions for eight years now... Time really flies! In any case, i'm going to set up shop here hopefully by this afternoon. I'll be placing my convention pricing here (maybe a bit less since you can't watch me draw it live...). In regards to pricing though, I have products in the $10-15 range for sure but they are not colored. In my opinion, my pencil sketches in detail are ten times better in portraying emotions and expressions in comparison to using a few simple lines and a dash of color. Of course, I'll offer color options as well in copics and it will be more expensive just for the cost of processing and materials...but in the end, I think you really get what you pay for even in my higher priced pencil sketches. Of course though, this is just me talking so I guess the audience will be the judge of that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pandacornn Posted December 12, 2012 There's a lot of controversy in the art community about pricing artwork. People sometimes look at commission prices and complain about how expensive they are but the big debate topic was about how long it might have taken an artist. Considering that out in California, minimum wage is around $8, paying that much money would be justifiable granted they took that much time. People also spoke of artists who would undercharge and considering the amount of work they put in, it was almost a crime! I think that I personally charge reasonable amount for my artwork at conventions~ I've never sold art online for real money haha. I charge $5 for headshots, and $20 for full body (I used to charge 10 but they take way too long and they would pile up rather quickly) I have never sold digital art so I might be still toying around with prices ~ Thanks for all the input! I would still love to see more artwork that other people have gotten! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
littlebearries Posted December 12, 2012 As an example, here's one I paid $20 total for: (It's not quite this dark... but it's a crappy phone pic)... it's Alna, drawn out, inked, colored in and then put on cute scrapbook paper... and I'm really pleased with it, and with the price. I would absolutely commission her again if I ever see her at a con. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nekopon Posted December 12, 2012 littlebearries, that's really cute! How big is it as a whole? How big is the drawing itself? Just curious for figuring out prices. Thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nehelenia Posted December 12, 2012 Hm... I think I wouldn't. I prefer photographs of my girl to a painted portrait of her. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
littlebearries Posted December 12, 2012 littlebearries, that's really cute! How big is it as a whole? How big is the drawing itself?Just curious for figuring out prices. Thanks! 6 inches wide by 5 inches tall for the paper, 3 inches tall by 2 inches (at it's widest) wide for the drawing. Being one with limited space, I am a HUGE fan of small drawings... I also just commissioned a drawing of Jun (my Rise) from one of my favorite web comic artists, and it was $11 including shipping for a drawing on an art card (she hasn't made it yet though... so I can't show a pic). That drawing is just a quick sketch... but she is a very established web-comic artist... so I think it's a great deal XD I'll post a pic when I get it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SisterKyoya Posted December 13, 2012 I'm interested in this as well. But I've already given a lot of art away, so bad for my future potential business. T__T; I wouldn't look at it that way... I would look at it as advertising. If you were to start a sales thread now, I'd know already that you make really cute drawings of people's girls. As the recipient of one of those free drawings, after I picked up my jaw from the floor when I first saw it, I immediately wondered if you would ever consider doing commissions for mine and Raven's other DD kids. Naiomi's picture is so unbelievably perfect, even the subtle shading under her lip! It sits next to my monitor so I can look at it everyday. I am so very picky about artwork, and as another artist I'm not simply saying it to be nice. You really have an amazing talent. This is really the key. I think you have to have a really good handle on how good you actually are (and not how good your friends and family tell you you are -_-). On the other hand, sometimes you can go to the other extreme and when your family says nice things about your art talent, you end up convincing yourself that you aren't any better than mediocre. This is my problem, and taking my Photoshop class this quarter has really taught me a lot about seeing my work for what it is. My teacher and a friend of mine couldn't believe that I find my skills to be average, and gave me the look of WTF is wrong with you?? Needless to say that my professor asked if she could use all of my assignments as examples for later classes. I'm sure some of the other students got tired of her raving about my pictures in class. So don't over value your talents then they are realistically worth, but don't undervalue yourself either. It's a hard balance to find. As for commissioned artwork, I'd also be interested to know if there would be interest in digital artwork from photos, or vector drawings. For one of my assignments I took a photo of my nephew and used Photoshop to hand paint it as a faux oil painting style. Original photo Faux oil paint Here is also a visual summary of more that I can do (ignore the two on the far right, it was part of the assignment.) Upper left- original photo Upper middle- pencil drawing (done entirely in Photoshop) Lower left- hand shaded with pencil outlines Lower middle- Colorized B&W There is more of my pics on Flickr with my Artwork tag if anyone is interested. Much of the time I feel like a jack-of-all-trades. I have done a vector art piece of someone's DD here on the forums as well, but it's up to them if they want me to show it off. This is a cool thread because styles of artwork vary so widely that it's awesome to see what people can do. I think Error-Chan's style would be great for a commission of Dolly. ~Sister Kyoya Forum Blog: Badger Pocket Tales (Family story from the beginning) | { Old Family story reboot: Start Here! } Follow me on Twitter, Flickr & Instagram Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amara77 Posted December 13, 2012 Little bearries that is such a cute pic! I love the background!!! Nekopon I love your art work! I draw a bit myself so I don't put compliments out lightly! Your pictures for Halloween made me sad I didn't join in. I love your style! You could definitely do commission work. I adore hand drawn art! With everything being cg and photpo shop now I really just miss beautiful pencil work http://amara77.wordpress.com blog and shop Spoke too soon.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
juu-yuki Posted December 13, 2012 Mmmm, this thread brings back memories. I missed drawing . My tablet is in a corner collecting dust right now. I was actually an artist who took commissions before getting into DDs. There are a lot of people who will purchase artwork of their OCs back when I was on DA. I am sure some of the doll owners will too. Back then, I charge around $50-$100 for a full CG like the ones above. For chibis I charged $20. I don't know what the average prices for commissions are now since I left that whole drawing work for over a year now. But try browsing around Deviantart for ideas. http://juu-yuki.com Dolly Shop: http://www.lizanna.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DivinitaAria Posted December 13, 2012 Mmmm, this thread brings back memories. I missed drawing . My tablet is in a corner collecting dust right now. Wow, your drawings are fabulous! I wish I could draw and color like that ! I have gotten a commission of a doll I used to own I like to collect a few pieces of artwork each time I go to cons. Rise, Rise #2, Kasumi - Rise x 3// Ritsuko - 2B // Momo - M.O.M.O. // Nayuki -Mikuru // Romi - 09 // Makoto - Sailor Jupiter // Mikasa - DD07 (WIP) // Akechi - DDH-25 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
littlebearries Posted December 13, 2012 This is really the key. I think you have to have a really good handle on how good you actually are (and not how good your friends and family tell you you are -_-). On the other hand, sometimes you can go to the other extreme and when your family says nice things about your art talent, you end up convincing yourself that you aren't any better than mediocre. See, the difference though, is that when you're really good, and you think too little of yourself, people will still come flocking to your sales thread and buy from you (and often tell you that you're better than the prices you're charging or at least give you a *lot* of business). My statement was more about the people who post their ok, but not really sales-worthy art skills at the prices phenomenal artists ask, and then get really pissy and upset when people don't commission them... or even the mediocre/beginning (not so great yet) artists who post their work for free and get no takers and then get very upset about it. I've never seen a great artist who thinks too little of themselves get really pissy about it online and be all "Waaaaah!!! You guys are buying too much of my work and I'm not worth it, I hate you all and I quit!" but I have seen some pretty bad artists (or just ones who were too inexperienced to really be starting a commissions thread) be all "Waaaaah! No one is buying my stuff, and my friends and family all tell me I'm awesome and you should think so too! I hate you all and I quit!" But then, I'm a really harsh art critic, and really, I only want to pay for things I don't feel I can do myself. I look for people with unique styles, or the ability to really capture a mood. I also agree with: But try browsing around Deviantart for ideas. When it comes to getting ideas on pricing. I think for all that full color work, juu-yuki, that those prices are absolutely still reasonable. Same goes for your chibi prices. The artwork I've been buying in the $10-20 range are all half-hour to hour sketches, inked and colored quickly with copics... they're no where near as detailed as your digital color work. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nekopon Posted December 13, 2012 Thank you Amara77 for the kind words! Don't be sad about the Halloween event, there will always be other chances! My prices are also pretty cheap... Thanks littlebearries for the info on your Alna commission, it's really a cute little one! It gave me the idea of doing half-sheet commissions on my thread since a lot of people seem to like to have a small picture on their desk to display. juu-yuki, your artwork looks so colorful and happy! It just makes me want to jump up for joy! How long does it take you to do something so grand? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ara Posted December 13, 2012 I already have commissioned people to draw my doll characters, and plan to get more (I have a bunch of artists I really like and try to get one piece of each of them, but slots are rare and money tight XD). Here is one I got from Minttu on Tumblr, must admit though that I can't remember what I have paid for it....I guess something around 50€? I told her something about the characters, gave her reference photos and told her a few things that might be interesting to see with these two characters. Around three weeks later I got a roughly 2700x3500 big file from her with the picture I had chosen her because I'm not much into Anime-Aesthetic anymore and it would have looked silly with these characters anyway, but also because I knew she would be perfect for these two: I think many artists are grossly underpaid, but sadly a lot of people don't value art and have a distorted view because of the common prices in artist alleys on conventions and on DevArt and co. Of course you can't ask people to pay the prices used in business deals (or well...the prices SUPPOSED to be used =__=), but don't underestimate your own value. Best way is to look at other prices of people that are roughly on the same level you are, take in mind how long it will probably take you to make a certain piece (pencil sketch, full color with background etc.), think about what you would be comfortable to pay aaaaand...have your customer base in mind. There is no use of asking 250$ for a drawing when your style fits to a customer base that pretty much consists of young people with low income. Also the market is, especially because of the internet, very hard today. You have a lot of people who take commissions, but next to that you have people who do stuff for free or take suggestions. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chien Posted December 14, 2012 Ah! So much nice art in this thread. I both buy and sell commissions, so my hands were itching to respond to this thread. My opinion is to price your work at a price that you personally are okay with working at-- not a price necessarily to try to grab customers. If you feel your work is worth $10, charge $10-- if you feel your work is worth $100, charge $100. If you price it in a range that you don't feel good about, then you won't be very happy after you finish your work. I understand that during pressing situations, some artists will do things like fire sales with their artwork and do discounted commissions, though. In the end, you want to be happy with how much time you invest into your product, right? As long as there are no other cirbleepstances putting extra pressure on you, of course. Plus, you need to keep in mind what you're selling. When I do big, digital commissions I'll draw them at 300dpi and they're usually poster-sized. The client receives the big file and can then print it out nice and sharp at huge sizes. As an example, here's an old commission from four years ago that was priced at $70: Meanwhile, sketch commissions are not done at such a huge resolution and thus cost less because they take a lot less time to do. So a sketch commission that would be $70 looks like this: Even if you feel your work is worth $$$$$$ but want to charge $, there's nothing wrong with that as long you're okay with it yourself! As an example, a friend and I made custom dakimakuras-- the drawings are 689*20669 pixels. Each drawing took ~40 hours to do because they were just so big with so many finicky details. Here's the 100% of just an eye after I had finished the flat coloring: In the end though, how much did we sell one dakimakura cover for even though both sides were covered in art that took ~40 hours to draw? $35-- and the manufacturing costs were over $25. $10/2 drawings/40hrs = less than $0.12/hr. (If you're curious about what the final dakis look like, you can see them here.) However, we were okay with it because the dakimakuras were basically a gift to the fandom for being so great. Anyway, I know I tend to be wordy. Just to reiterate my point again-- price it at a level you are satisfied with for the work you put in (if you can help it). High or low, personal contentedness is important! However, I do agree that a lot of people sell their work for far too low, but there's not much you can do about that if the artist doesn't feel like they are worthy of charging more. I've had that issue with friends who charge $15 for frickin' AMAZING pieces of work, and even if I shower them with praise (that they deserve because WOW so good!) it's still up to them in the end to charge what they want to charge. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Izalith Posted December 14, 2012 Honestly, artists are underpaid for the time they put into their work. Consider that a really nice A4 drawing can take 8 hours to make and cost ~40... that's only $5/hr. That pays much less than flipping burgers... a job that doesn't take much skill in the first place. The problem is that you have casual artists still in high/school university offering relatively nice-looking commisions on the side for only $5-10... this really hurts those that draw art for a living. Dolls: Aozaki Aoko, Kujikawa Rise, Morikawa Yuki, Saber Lily, Shining Blade Sakuya, Neige (DDH-06), Akiko (DDH-07). Selling: Lucy Maria Misora, Hagiwara Yukiho (iM@S) Wishlist: DD Shibuya Rin (1st release) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nekopon Posted December 14, 2012 Pricing is a tricky thing. I'm bias since I started commissioning since I was in high school and throughout college. The prices on commission changes along with the economy. During my first few years, I could have charged $15-40, the same size was worth $15-25 several years after... Then I couldn't even get customers for a flat rate of $10 at one point. There are also a lot of artists to choose from now compared to before. I agree, a lot are starving students with ridiculously low prices too. As someone working in the professional industry- I make more money when working than doing commissions but I do commissions to put a smile on people's faces and for practice. Of course there is also that no one is going to pay me enough compared to real work per hour so I must never compare the two.. Out someone would be a very unhappy camper. :p Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DJStarstryker Posted December 15, 2012 I've been wanting to commission someone for art for years, but never got into researching who might be good for what I want. I have some original characters that I'd like someone to draw. I can't draw to save my life, but I'm a writer. I would like to see these characters come to life outside of video games versions or (more recently) a DD version that I've made. That's as best as I've been able to do for visual versions. Otherwise they just exist in words. It wouldn't be for anything DD-related though. I'm happy with my DDs in just photograph form. Are you ready to rock? ^_^ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites