How to Start Commission Painting
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- Опубліковано 30 лип 2024
- Think you're ready to start commission painting but don't know how to begin? Were you asked to paint a model but don't know how much to charge? This video will answer all of your questions and give you some key tips that I've picked up throughout my +3 years of commission painting.
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0:00 Start
0:39 Intro
2:19 Step 1
4:07 Step 2
5:30 Step 3
6:44 Step 4
7:33 Step 5
15:44 Step 4
17:40 Key Tips
20:41 Patron Shoutouts
21:10 Viewer Submissions
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Music by Ironsmith
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Artwork by Ashley Erwin
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Some good points but I disagree about your pricing model. Maybe if you're doing it super casual that could work, but I think that starting at minimum wage and then going down is seriously undervaluing your time. I'd rather see a trend of commission painters as a whole raising their prices so that people understand and appreciate the time, effort and experience that the painter brings to the table. By undercutting the market I think that forces everyone to pull their prices down, which might be good for the customers, but it's not great for the painters.
You make an excellent point and I think you just have to figure out what mini painting is for you. I never found the sweet spot when it comes to pay but starting at minimum could be a good place to start
My one big thing that shouldn’t have to be said, take photos of EVERYTHING you do. Like even if it sucks, show people what you can do because someone will want what you’re offering if it’s the right price. Sometimes all someone wants is a few basecoats and a wash and that’s good enough. Plus it builds your portfolio. Point 2. Save all your photos somewhere for people to see your work.
Absolutely. I’ve saved all my work and it’s fantastic for showing people but also to look back at progress and bring to light mistakes you can fix
Good video, lots of good points there. I think you're right about starting with friends commissions, but as you say, once they're paying it's good to make it pretty formal and clear- it's just better for all involved
100% better that way. Every time I involve money with something, whatever I’m doing becomes complicated. Shouldn’t stop anyone from commission painting so the more clear and honest, the better.
I appreciate you sharing your experience but you have to change the mindset as far as your financial approach to this by stating that you will next be able to pay your bills. You are absolutely correct, if that's what you believe then you never will. I'm new to miniatures but have been a professional artist for 23 years. We have a saying in the tattoo industry, when all your clients are your friends then it's time to move. My prices are non negotiable they simply are what they are and my time is worth what I charge. Figure out what your are worth and that number should go up as skills improve even for your friends. By painting for them it is taking time away that could be spent painting for customers or projects for yourself that could eventually be sold. If your friends are friends then they should understand that. I don't ask my construction buddies to build me a house for cheap, that's silly. Same applies to my tattoos and will apply to my models here very soon. We need to get stop the whole starving artist mindset. Obviously your pricing must reflect the quality of your product. You want to make more money, then, practice, practice, practice, getting good= making more green bucks! Super simple just hard to commit to the practice practice practice part.
Awesome and very informative video! I lowkey want to try out commission painting now, thanks for the insights!
Do it! Although I’ve had some troubles from time to time, it’s a great way to make some extra money and it’s super fun!
@@thedrypaintpot you definetly make it sound like it's a lot of fun 😁
This is a good video, thank you. I recently completed my first commission, and have two more in the pipeline. I got it from selling already finished minis on eBay - I have a huge pile of shame so I asked a repeat customer if there was anything specific he was after, and he did. We agreed a price, and more importantly my terms (to your point about deadlines, “it’s done when it’s done”, was my main one!). I severely undercharged for my time but the client was happy and it’s a start. One thing I would add to your tips is to get your photography game as strong as you can - I think this was a major factor in selling my finished minis in the first place.
Happy to hear your first commission has gone well! No matter what, I feel like I’ll always end up undercharging but you’ve got to love what ya do and be proud to put your name on your work, even if that means an extra hour or two. Photography is something I’ve been working on because I totally agree, a good picture is a game changer when it comes to commissions
I'm thinking about getting into commission painting as a sideline and found this vid really usefull and insitfull, thanks @The Dry Paint Pot.
Glad it helped! Let me know how your first commission goes
I am looking into getting into commissions painting. So I really appreciate the video makes me feel like I can do it.
You can! I’ve seen bear beginners start commission painting, just depends on what your customer wants. I started by painting for friends and I was still very new at the hobby so you got this!
I'm treating commission work as a way to get practice in behind the brush. Currently working on my first *paid* commission (have painted lots of friend's things for free) and the biggest challenge I'm facing at the moment is leaving it at a basic standard as requested, and not pushing everything to the top quality. I would never learn the skills to quickly paint a basic, tabletop ready scheme if I was only painting my own models.
Quick tip for buying all those paint colors: learn how to mix paints. I’ve been painting with watercolors and gouache on paper for years and i’ve worked with 6 colors + black and white. That’s all thats needed most of the time. Get some fluorescent colors and other more special paints but dont buy 200+ different colors of paint. There is so much amazing content about colormixing out there. Can save you some money and gives you more flexibility ;)
Solid point! My first year of painting was spent mixing what I had with cheap paints. Can totally do the trick
Nice thumbnail of the Necron army.
Where do you accept commissions from? Do you have like a website or just post to socials?
Awesome video! I'd like to offer my painting services out there to anyone who reads this (If you want your miniatures painted in a single color) lol. I was wondering though, in which commission scenario would you find yourself getting the most anxious about the customers reaction to the finished results? 1: The customer is very precise about EVERYTHING involving the miniature build and painting. 2: The customer has absolutely no directives for you and leaves EVERYTHING up to you. Also, do you ever have "control freak" customers that request you to send them photos after each completed step so they can let you know if your heading in the direction they want? If so how would you handle that? 👍. Thanks
The worst is when somebody says that they “trust you” but then don’t like the finished result. For instance, I’m doing a commission right now for a buddy and he completely trusts my color decisions. It’s great because he means it and it allows me to give him the best that I can make. On the other hand, I did a commission for a guy who similarly let me choose colors and was unhappy with the results. This lead to revisions, wasted time, and more layers of paint. I think control over the project needs to be reasonable, find out what colors they want and what base they want and that’s it.
As for control freaks, never had one but I do send update pics on large projects (3 models or more) just to show that I’m actually working lol
I just got my first commission job, Three Slaanesh Seeker Chariots. Ive gone over "This is awesome, I wanna do it" to "ahhh... I dont know if I can... Am I ready"
Ended up saying yes. But I was still a bit, "Im not ready"
This video helped a little with the doubt. 😁 Thank You.
Glad it helped! How’d it go?
@@thedrypaintpot it went far better then I expected.
Turns out, the guy I painted for, was more then pleased. He gave my info to a handful of people, and, it just escalated. 😁😁😁
That’s fantastic! Congrats and I wish you the best of luck with your other projects
Great 👍 Vid & many §-Tier *_points_* you make. keep it up!!
(if you wanna swap Commissions, lemme know;-)
I love coheed and cambria
Hell yah🔥🔥🔥
Side note can I get your necron glow recipe? Looking at starting a necron project and would love a good green glow recipe
Actually made a whole video on it, check it out!
See, if my accounting courses were a little more like this video, I would have probably done a lot better in them!
All about those 💵💵💵💵💵💵💵
Oh, and that thing at 21:55 is a Khorgorath, a Khorne unit from Age of Sigmar.
Sweet! I rarely know the models that people tag me in but they’re so cool!
Awesome video man! Hey you're going to need to redo your intro now that your beard is gone!
Oh man, you’re right! Didn’t even think about that lol
My frank opinion, don't jump in yet if you are taking 4hr to paint a model.
Get it down to under an hr, and then charge more than minimum wage.
Trust me you'll feel way better.
Focus on speed because time = money.
You make a good point. If a single model takes ages, then you might not be ready to effectively commission paint. On the other hand, if you’re charging top dollar for certain models, especially characters, a few hours seems pretty standard from experience
I felt like I should charge like 2-5 dollars per marine and maybe 10$ for things like a dreadnought or veihicals idk because my friend likes the way I paint and he wanted me to paint them for him
I won’t have to pay for paint since he’ll give me the paints for his colors