I always feel a little sad when I discover that most of an artist's gallery consists of commissions. On the other hand, I understand why that is. It would be the same for me, but most of the commissions I do are private.
To be honest, I'm a little tired of doing commissions, but my family and I need the money.

>>7891559
I can't figure out how those painters during the nineteenth century can layer glazes right.

>>7891559
as a certified /int/, genuinely how do you start doing commisions? i dont have any social media and just want to be able to make a few bucks on the side. How do you do it?

>>7891586
I don't know if my case is comparable to others', but
>I've been uploading my stuff online for years
>I've always been into in weird shit, so I accidentally found my niche
>once I felt relatively comfortable with my skill level, I submitted a comic to an adult website in my niche that publishes comics
>I created numerous comics for them, and through that and my regular artwork, I became relatively well-known in my niche
>people started sending me emails asking if I take commissions
>unfortunately, since I didn't know about that, I ended up charging too little
>someone who really likes my artwork decided to create their own adult website focused on publishing comics and illustrations
>he became my "whale" and I've been working with him for years
Honestly, I think this is the long way to get commissions. The right way is to get followers by publishing your own artwork online. Once you have enough followers, you can start taking commissions.

>portrait ratio for international standard paper (~0.7:1) is smaller than the permitted instagram portrait ratio (0.75:1, AKA 3:4)
this is fucking stupid

im so fucking tired. drawing never gets easier or faster. Its always hours and hour of drawing no matter how good you are. Even if I magically became ten times better than I am now, I'd still be drawing for hours trying to punch above my weight because I can't just half ass something.

>>7891631
What else would you do if not drawing? Im lucky because i really have nithing better to do

>>7891640
just doomscrolling, so this is better I guess

>>7891631
That's why people say "Learn to love the process" because what you're doing now- even though you may be doing it wrong- is what you're going to be doing for the rest of your life. For me I do love it, but my stamina is absolutely trash. I can go 30 mins to an hour pure drawing before I get fatigued and the rest of my life is so shitty I have some bad vices that really sucks up all of my time+energy.

>>7891631
>>7891679
You are never going to make it a career with how you're treating art, it's not going to get easier, in fact it'll get a lot harder if you feel shitty the whole way

>>7891709
> feel shitty the whole way

By no means I feel shitty while doing art, it's the most fun part of my day and I constantly want to do it. I haven't been treating MYSELF well and it's affecting my art stamina

>>7891580
I read that monet had to study the science behind light to paint it.

>>7891679
People who love the process are also people who can draw really well tho. If everything you draw looks great then I also would love to do it, but when you are constantly struggling and your drawings turn out mediocre anyway, then it's difficult to love it.

I do like working with pencils tho. It's fun working with sharp and precise tools.

What do you do when you are too sick to draw?

>>7891825
Reading books, watching movies for inspirations.

>>7891818
Why are you people all so fucking neurotic and retarded?

this time I'm only 24 hours late

File: G_grT7_aAAAO9wR.jpg (51 KB, 747x589)

51 KB JPG

How do you finish a piece you really really don't want to work on but you have to?

>>7892142
I guess that's where having a good plan and routine comes in handy. If you know what to do to make everything look good, then you just do it again

routine only works on sub 80 retards. Actual intelligent people will constantly be arguing with their own brain to do anything, because we need to be convinced of everything. Just doing something without thinking is out of the question.

>>7892197
I never said anything about not thinking. Of course good artists treat every page as a new challenge but they still have their routines and tricks. They have a reliable and effective process they mostly follow.

>>7892197
I thought like this for a long time but more and more I feel like relying on spontaneity has been a hindrance overall for my life. Having a weekly routine with priorities sounds nice now

>>7892197
> Actual intelligent people will constantly be arguing with their own brain to do anything
Couldn't be me.
It was costly (as in waiting for the right methods to click), but slowly developing an "objective" way to handle just about every single possible consideration when making a piece was the best decision I made over 5 years of drawing.
No more questioning how I would approach perspective, color/light in a finished piece, or coming up with a design. It's just a matter of if it will meet my current standards now.

File: 1701531687903866~2.jpg (138 KB, 1367x595)

138 KB JPG

>>7891541
the fuck is this thread image? fucking bitch looks like megamind. lmao

I just dont see myself drawing today, I know instantly when I wake up if its a good day to draw or not.

>>7892270
Those head models are so useless.

Its a bit worrying that artist can shit out stuff on the daily and I take like a week on a doodle that looks half as good.
Feels like I cannot even compete, also the trend chasing is something I do not like, but social media is like that.
I tell myself that artists with 700k followers dont really get 700k commission requests.

>>7892197
>Actual intelligent people will constantly be arguing with their own brain to do anything
Erm actually you might just be even more retarded. People can argue themselves into never leaving the house or doing anything unique, its also well known that procrastinators will think of a billion reasons as to reasonably justify their laziness.

...*Smart* people are more often go-getters who are impulsively collecting and utilizing information readily; in this situation it would be actually FUCKING DRAWING ROUTINELY OUT OF COMPULSIVE CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING YOU LAZY FUCKING PSEUD LIKE >>7892269 HAS FIGURED OUT

>draw fetish commission today?
>or draw something purely for fun?
can't pick both, have to pick one. And I pick commission every time.
Now I have money, but I hate drawing.
If I draw something for fun, thats like gaming right after work, in no time I have to go back.

Turns out artists really are dumb. They don't question anything and always think of being justified at all times. I wish I could be that dumb on demand.

>>7892396
Yeah I'm pretty stupid

>>7891818
Everyone has to suck ass before they git gud, and it takes way longer than anyone thinks it should, otherwise everyone'd be an artist

>>7892436
I never affirmed the opposite... some people learn faster tho.... some people also have depression and cant even teally concentrate...

My work pace has slowed down lately. I think it's partly because I get distracted easily now. I wanted to work with a couple of clients that I've kept waiting for months (or maybe more than a year) to get rid of them and then open up commissions to the public, but my main client keeps me so busy that I work practically every day, most of the day. Yesterday, he asked me again to continue a series that I dislike, and I was tempted to contact one of those pending clients to get rid of him, but I'm not sure if I can handle so much work at once (I'm sure he'll ask me for a comic of at least three pages).

>>7892481
nsfw stuff?
either way it's cool to hear about life with clients as a commission artist

>>7892481
I have no clients and no comissions. I'm poor as a church mouse but I can paint what I want. That's all that matters to me

>>7892525
>nsfw stuff?
Yes, it's that kind of stuff. Sorry if I sound too whiny. I don't have many people to talk to about these things.
>>7892561
That's a good choice. I would do the same, but my family needs the money.

>>7892723
I wasn't being sarcastic. I'm more like >>7892561 by choice but I still like to hear casual stuff about self-employed artists. That's why we're here.
Though yeah I'm sure your situation is other people's dreams on /ic/.

I want to draw but I know its going to be 3 hours of intense work AT LEAST and if I start right now then my entire afternoon will be eaten up so I doomscroll isntead and savor every minute of it so it feels longer

>go on Artstation for the first time
>everybody's works are inspired from history this or media that
I really need to expand on my visual catalogue. Between drawing and video games I don't have much to pull from that's not recursive reference.

commissions make me want to kill myself, I'm spending hours drawing demented shit that only one person is ever going to see. But that's not even what I hate about it, its the fact that I'm too tired to draw for myself after. So my socials rot and fall off the algorithm because I HAVE NOTHING TO POST

>>7893051
Can't you post the comission? That's what many artists do I think.

>>7893056
no because I'm trying to have a normal persona online

just farted really hard

lol all these commission haters. This is why you just get a day job, then 100% of your art time is yours.
Doing commissions is basically OnlyFans for artists.

>>7893071
>>7893058
Couldn't you try to make a commission model where you just loosely have to follow commissioner instructions?
Like for example: draw a girl in this pose, or draw a girl with a certain hairstyle, or draw a picture with 3 girls or more, or draw a picture with girl + guy, etc

Just vague descriptions, so that you still have a bit of freedom to draw how you want?

>>7893078
I'm not that anon, but personally, I prefer the opposite. I have very specific tastes, so I dislike trying to understand other people's fetishes and fantasies. This is especially annoying when it comes to comics because you have to take their word salad and turn it into a decent script.
On the other hand, working with picky people is also unpleasant. I remember a couple who made me redraw a stupid illustration more than ten times, even though the drawing was almost finished. I'm glad I told them that I don't plan to work with them again until I publicly open commissions.

I just had the biggest ‘oh shit’ epiphany in my studies that will propel me out of low /int/ hell. forever.

>>7893071
doing commissions is like being a full time porn star and when you come home you're too tired and sick of pussy to fuck your wife and start a family.

I need to stop using so much paint and more water in watercolors
not only is it a waste; I make the paintings look like gouache T○T

>>7893308
I definitely want to try some oil paints some day. Currently I use acrylics, and they are great, but oil is probably still the best

Is this board slower now compared to 5 months earlier or so?

>>7893353
Have you been finding yourself with more free time now that there's less opportunity to shitpost? Who gives a shit. Fast garbage, slow garbage, it's all garbage.

>>7891559
My art gets so little traction that I'm reaching a point where I don't think it is worth bothering to post my original ideas. Besides, I'll pour hours into making something of my own ideation that I know looks great, only for it to get like 100 likes on xitter, while some mediocre commission I drew and was almost too embarrassed to even post winds up getting a few thousand likes. It's not worth the personal anguish to spend uncompensated time drawing something you want to draw, posting it for the world to see, and it getting the reception of a wet fart, when you can get paid to draw something that, even if it flops, at least helped buy a videogame.

I feel like im on the verge of being good/appealing but that I'm too lazy/retarded to unlock the last part of making the drawing good. It's probably just delusional thinking tho

File: 1764680606898.jpg (16 KB, 260x282)

16 KB JPG

>like to watch Plex while I draw
>Stream content from my computer to my TV via wifi
>Like to browse Suwayomi while I draw
>It's good to have ref, inspo, art books etc.
>Can't browse Suwayomi without VPN due to gayass police state regulations blocking sources...
>No problem I can toggle the VPN on
>Plex server now doesn't work with the VPN on so my library is unavailable on the TV
>No problem I can toggle the VPN off
>Can't browse Suwayomi without VPN due to gayass police state regulations blocking sources...
I used to have such a cushy set up.
Everything just worked together.
I can view those sources via Tor in a browser window
Or play Plex directly on my PC from another screen without connecting via wifi
But it's just not the same..
One stupid little law that's so easy to ignore it's a joke, merely exists as a way to inconvenience the way I draw. It's totally ineffective at hindering my Internet access aside from this one extremely specific and incredibly granular detail

>>7893614
I know that feel. I think at that stage it depends a lot on really making sure to polish enough, especially in the sketching phase. You have to make sure that the sketch really looks acceptable and not rush things too much. If you already know what to do, then it's just a matter of patience and how much effort you put into it.

>>7893614
Good/appealing is a designation from others

File: 1476803523023.jpg (19 KB, 430x345)

19 KB JPG

Holy shit water colouring makes me wanna kill myself. Everything feel so 'fragile' compared to acrylics. I can barely blend colours at all.

I think I know more today than I did yesterday and to me, that is a victory

>>7894113
Yea, me too. I just always feel like I should have known it 20 years ago already, but better now then never.

>>7894128
Even if you do learn something later, you can take solace that you're unlikely to ever be behind, many people learn just enough to be a professional and then their development stops, not because they hit a mental limit but more because it's unlikely you will ever need to learn more then they just work for decades until they retire. It's not an excuse to slack off, however.

Drawing correct anatomy is so ass bro, I hate this shit.
And its not even a guarantee that people will like my work either, a fucking shitpost I made in 2 hours has more engagement and likes than something I spent a week on, on Pixiv, I dont even want to talk about Twitter. This sucks.

>>7893353
Pedogeneral fags stopped fighting for 1000's of post across several generals.

>>7893907
kek, switching mediums always pisses me off so fucking much until i get the hang of it. all your muscle memory is worthless at best and actively working against you at worst

You can't just draw anything if you're talentless. You have to grind sketches and ideas until you finally get one that has appeal. And then you have to polish it without ruining it. If I was good, I'd just draw whatever, but I'm not so I have to be fake /int/ by carefully choosing what I draw.

>>7894261
Even pro artists can produce turds, they just aren't as obviously turd-y as a low-int's turds, so they just share more of them anyway. There's nothing wrong with being selective about what you finish, and thumbnailing or even full-on roughing out ideas before picking one to complete is an accepted practice.

>get a new follower on Pixiv
>the follower has a profile image
>the follower only follows a few hundred (or fewer) people
Oh look I actually got a follower qho might not be entirely braindead, maybe even a future commis-
>their bookmarks are 90% AIslop
Welp

>>7891541
i have a lot of free time and not a lot of responsibilities, but i still don't have the willpower or energy to sit at my computer and do nothing but draw for 8 hours in a single day. it makes me feel bad psychologically to do nothing but draw, eat, and sleep. i end up missing the sunshine and use of my legs. i'm trying to avoid burnout so i set small daily goals for myself and i'm getting projects done at least.

i've been struggling to maintain a commission schedule (for other artists) because i keep blowing all of my money on one artist who writes back very infrequently. i only ever have enough money for one commission per month or two, but i've been meaning to buy some non-spaceship art, but i never get around to it. i have a little less than four weeks until i have disposable cash again. not sure what i'm gonna get, but i have an idea.

i currently have a mild stomach bug and i've been blasting black liquid out my butt. must have been the chinese food. yesterday was my sister's birthday but she's not even here right now. i've been a bit depressed lately.

>>7894328
>i currently have a mild stomach bug and i've been blasting black liquid
>black liquid shit
Unironically go to the ER. Black stool is a sign of serious internal bleeding.

Genuinely can't get myself to commit to drawing regularly. Part of it is in aversion to failure, part of it in reduced attention span, part in good old honest laziness. Yet I can't drop the idea of drawing either. But it's also tied to a bit of an all-or-nothing mentality - if I can't get a good session of at least a couple hours long, I might as well not start anything. As you can imagine, nothing gets done like that. It's not really something that should be asked here, I suppose, since the issue runs deeper than just with art, but I really don't know what to do about it.

>>7894452
This is how I feel about most of my hobbies.

so did you draw while 4chan was down?

I've been fucking possessed this past month or so and just drawing almost non-stop in any moment of free time. Today I finally went tools down. Cleaned the whole house, I'm halfway through vacuuming, gonna mow the lawn later. It's amazing how much crud can build up in a few weeks of single-minded focus, but the atmosphere is already feeling so much better.

>>7894716
Update, I really should have mowed the lawn BEFORE vacuuming.

>I'm gonna draw so much tonight!
>spent one solid hour just drawing a hat
how did the old masters not kill themselves doing this?

>>7894753
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ducG55pfCMQ

i'm done with the random doodling. everything from here on out is NOT going to be from imagination. i'm going to read drawing on the right side of the brain and then start drawing from reference. I'm going to start recreating manga panels daily. I'm going to do gesture drawing in the morning and a study before bed. I will find some anatomy books and start applying what I learn.

I WILL IMPROVE

>>7893907
watercolor is the most stressful medium

File: 1746044957050334.png (263 KB, 340x344)

263 KB PNG

>do one sketch as a practical application of my theory learning and studies
>turns up solid enough, decide to take a break 15-30 minute break before doing another
>break ends up being several hours and effectively ends my drawing for the day
this happens half the time. I really need to start a fun project.

>ready to reply to bait
>wait what am i doing this is retarded
>delete and go stare at titties

nobody on this board is happy. if you're here, its because you're frustrated with drawing. And if you draw, its beacuse your life is fucked up and you can't express yourself through normal channels like social interaction or family. So everyone here has a shitty life AND they are fed up with drawing.

>>7895340
there's no space in the water cooler room for a projector, anon.

I do nothing all day but I have no time to draw