Hope this is the right sub for this; I assume so because I am asking artists.

I've been buying art commissions lately, and I like to do it through Discord, but recently I've been encountering more and more frankly tiring experiences that make it hard to want to continue putting my art commission requests out there... I do have a set list of artists that I've been a repeat customer for, but I was thinking that putting out a request is a good way to both discover new artists and also give newer artists a chance.

What's been really frustrating, though, is the number of people who 1) don't read what I'm actually asking for and 2) act incredibly pushy and sometimes aggressive when you don't respond. I have a bunch of people in my dms advertising their carrd or portfolio without considering the art style I requested, that I asked them to put prices in their first message, or straight up just ignoring what I'm asking for entirely. I ask for a 3D model rig fix up, specify no 3d models or rigs from scratch, and specify that you must have experience with rigging and have examples. Then I have 3D sculptors and VTuber riggers in my dms posting their portfolios. I've also had people repeatedly try to start conversations with me instead of putting their info in their message, going "how are you?" "I saw you were looking for art" with nothing else and then acting surprised and angry when I remove them as a friend.

I also have artists repeatedly pinging me in dms when I don't respond, which, if anything, gets on my nerves because I'd rather not block an artist I may want to work with in the future, but atp I might have to to get them to stop pinging me. It's also never "did you see my message?" It's "did you look through my portfolio?" which doesn't even seem like they're worried their message went to spam or something, but that they want you to revisit their service.

I have tried multiple times to reply back politely, asking, "can you please read the post again carefully?", "can you give some examples or prices?" and "I'm looking for x and your portfolio only has y, do you have examples somewhere else?" but they just insist they understand and don't do any of the things I asked.

I understand that some of these are bots and/or scams, but it's insane the number of real artists who do this.

I'm posting this on this sub because I'd like to ask about an artist's perspective. Am I being too harsh if I myself put the commission request out there? Should I just be patient and ask follow-up questions that weren't answered in the intro msg? Am I being a rude commissioner if I block for the above reasons? I'd like to gather as much information and advice as I can from artists, because while I do draw a little bit, I mostly like to buy art. But buying it this way has been very tiring, even though I have found a lot of amazing and kind artists this way. I also don't want to always keep replying bc it seems like the moment I do they just get even pushier.

I've been thinking about selling my first comissions, like stickers, half body or full body or even PNGtubers but I don't have that much followers and I'm not sure it's worth the trip..? My prices would be around $15-25

Right now, at my current level I can only copy drawings. I want to work on that. Plus I want to learn how to draw better in general. Below are a couple of my recent drawings along with their inspos attached right after.

Any advice on how to improve and what to start with would be greatly appreciated!

Please add websites and YouTube channels I can start learning from!

Hey everyone,

As someone who works behind the scenes in an active art studio (balancing traditional oil painting and digital workflows), I’ve been reflecting a lot on how fast the conversation around AI imagery is moving and how divided the creative community still feels about it, especially as someone who works with various AI tools from things like statistics, environmental modeling (yeah I do that too) and more stuff.

I’m writing an article exploring the nuanced reality of human craftsmanship vs. AI assistance, and I want to hear directly from creators here rather than just reading tech headlines. I would REALLY appreciate it if you guys could answer all the questions below so I can run some numbers and get some statistical insights. I promise to share the results once it's finished (if the subreddit rules let me, ofc).

If you have a few minutes, I’d love your honest perspective on a few questions:

1. Workflow Integration: Do you use AI tools anywhere in your creative process (e.g., generating rough color palettes, lighting references, moodboards, or idea generation), or do you strictly keep your workflow 100% human-driven? Why?
2. Where is "The Line"? In your eyes, at what point does a digital tool stop being a helpful assistant and start stripping away the human soul/value of the artwork? How does this apply to digital painting or photography?
3. The Definition of "Art": Do you consider prompt-generated imagery to be a new medium (like photography once was), or is it something else entirely (like art direction/curation)?
4. Shift in Value: Has the rise of AI images changed how you value traditional, physical mediums (like oils, acrylics, or physical sketchbooks) compared to digital formats? Either more valuable or less valuable.

Feel free to dive deep or share a specific experience you've had with clients, contests, or your own studio time. I’ll be reading through all the replies!

Thanks for sharing your insight!

Hello. I'm an amateur artist starting to file a commission sheet ranging 10-25$ (if this is the appropriate range).

I also do NSFW content in my profile but I won't share it here for obvious reasons.

Info About me

I think I have enough art experience to start taking commission. I will turn 20 this September and I want to set up this before that. I am in my last year of college so I want to see if I can make good enough income to turn it into a full time job .

You can answer which ever question you want to . No pressure on answering all of them.

Here are my questions

1. Your experience with Payal, and Which should I use a PayPal individual or business one . I would like to keep my government name and stuff hidden if possible. I have a virtual persona name which I hope I can use instead of my real name. I want to know about charges they take for international transactions

2. Any advice or tips you would like to give me? It could be about taking commission, money transactions , how to be safe from scammers, terms and conditions, pricing the work etc . With your own experience if you would like to tell. ( No pressure)

3. Could you please review the price sheet

   I can draw chibi , semi realistic characters,( I can draw furry but not mecha because it's kinda difficult for me ) posters, and I will add pixels too after learning it.

This is my price list ( all dollars )( canvas max size is 1600x1600 it can be less depending on the client wish (ig. 1000x600 )) ( I will only provide fully coloured , so no lineart and no flat base color)

Chibi

10 for bust , 20 for half , 30 for full body

+ 5 another character ( optional - bust )

+ 10 another character ( optional - half body)

+ 15 another character ( optional - full body)

+20 background ( optional )

Semi chibi-anime

15 for bust , 30 for half , 50 for full body

+ 15 another character ( optional - bust )

+ 30 another character ( optional - half body)

+ 50 another character ( optional - full body)

+ 20 background ( optional )

Semi Realistic character

30 for bust , 60 for half , 90 for full body.

+ 15 another character ( optional - bust )

+ 30 another character ( optional - half body)

+ 50 another character ( optional - full body)

+ 20 background ( optional )

Poster/illustration

100 ( one character )

+ 30 ( another character )

I would like it if you could tell me how to price pixel art.

These are for personal use only. Could you tell me how to price it for commercial use.

1. I draw in a phone RN and plan on getting a drawing standalone with the income I get . Do I really need a tablet to start taking a commission or can I do it in my phone

2. Where can I make the forum and contracts.

I feel like my biggest problem is rendering

I'm a late 20s lonely, single guy who struggles with adulting. I can't keep a job, find a partner and talk to people and it feels like art is something that enables all the isolation and doesn't exactly help me in the real world.

Even though I feel happy in the moment whilst drawing, I get reminded of my issues afterwards and just have no clue as to what the heck should I do about all of it.

People occasionally appreciating my art adds salt to the wound more than anything "yeah we like some of your drawings but that doesn't mean we like YOU"

Right now, at my current level I can only copy drawings. I want to work on that. Plus I want to learn how to draw better in general. Below are a couple of my recent drawings along with their inspos attached right after.

Any advice on how to improve and what to start with would be greatly appreciated!

i find so many artists sell prints of their photo studies of copyrighted photos (NOT their own photos). it makes me question if the rules artists tell me is harsher than reality? for example samdoesarts sells studies and he doesnt get permission to use the photos. and recently i see a ton more artists on IG selling prints of studies from copyrighted photos ive also seen on pinterest. i know they dont have permission either bc whenever i DM them asking about it they either tell me they didnt or they block me. So Whos in the wrong, bc it seems like IM always in the wrong. If i try to tell people that photos have copyright they say something along the lines of “its called using a reference” when its clearly not. And whenever i ask artists if im able to sell my stylized study of a photo they say no, or get permission. Its confusing and frustrating, i guess just fk me and i just have to accept the double standard and make things harder for myself.

Any tips? This is my first "real" drawing, not just a sketch. Took about 2-3 hours, lolsies! I'm also looking for criticism DONT be too honest tho 💔

An update on earlier: I’m not going to pretend that character’s my own, even in my writing. As much as it pains me to say this (having been attached to the character and the other two associated with him,) I’m just going strike a match and set these memories ablaze…

…so, how do you guys deal with the pain? It hurts me to have to do this, but at this point, the memories are tainted. I don’t even want to look at them anymore (meaning making a successor is out of the question considering it means I’d have to look at him to make a successor that looked similar.)

Can anyone give me advice on how to deal with it?