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The Official Commission Collecting Thread
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2,863 posts in this topic

Now it can be shown! Follow the link to see my youngest daughter’s Christmas present from her dad (me!). I'm really excited about this one and I'm not sure how I'll be able to top it. :(

 

It’s the previous Doctors + the War Doctor being chased from the Tardis by the current Doctor with autographs from four of them. We are not on the hunt for the remaining Doctors.

 

Click the preview to embiggen:

 

CEsLmYaV_0507141847371.jpg

 

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Now it can be shown! Follow the link to see my youngest daughter’s Christmas present from her dad (me!). I'm really excited about this one and I'm not sure how I'll be able to top it. :(

 

It’s the previous Doctors + the War Doctor being chased from the Tardis by the current Doctor with autographs from four of them. We are not on the hunt for the remaining Doctors.

 

Click the preview to embiggen:

 

CEsLmYaV_0507141847371.jpg

 

That is great. :applause:

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Hello!

 

New to commissioning, but I think I have an addiction now.

 

Great experience with Herb Trimpe via Jeff Jaworski. I've had a list of ideas I've been thinking about for a decade, things tailored to specific artists, and Mr. Trimpe was the first one I crossed off. I went to NYCC this year hoping to get some more, but an injury forced me to leave early and not return. I'm still depressed about it. doh!

 

I'm going to try and color this first piece myself and post it here and CAF when it's finished. My 2nd Commission should be done in February, and I've already been in touch with artists and reps for at least 3 more.

 

I think this thread had a lot to do with enabling me...

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Thanks guys!

 

I have some nice convention sketches and existing pieces I need to post as soon as the scanner is hooked up.

 

Some questions if you don't mind:

 

* I've contacted a few artists to see if they were taking Commissions or could put my name on a wait-list. A few of them replied pretty quickly and seemed game, but then when I tried to send payment...crickets.

 

Do people generally tell you if they don't like your request, or is it more of a passive-aggressive thing? I have a budget I need to stick to, so if someone doesn't respond at all, I can assume that maybe they will get back to me weeks or months from now if they have an opening. But if someone says "Yeah, sure!" and then weeks go by without hearing another peep, how long do you stay committed to them before moving on to someone else?

 

I suppose it's better to have radio silence before I send payment than afterwards, but I'm not sure how many follow-ups to make before throwing in the towel.

 

 

* What I like about this forum is that people seem cordial and genuinely willing to help one another. Which is great, because it feels like this is a hobby of Secrets.

 

Is it easier to network once you have some pieces in your collection to show, as proof you have fun concepts or are easy to work with, whereas people just starting out might have more trouble? Does it help having people to vouch for you?

 

 

* And just curious, do you all have "If ______ is there, ask for _____" lists you bring to conventions? I still kick myself over opportunities I lost either because I didn't know what to ask for, or because I didn't associate a person's name with their work.

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good luck on the commission game. I find it to be a great, but increasingly expensive hobby.

 

for artists, make sure you do your research on them before sending in cash. check out this forum as well as this one:

 

http://www.statueforum.com/showthread.php?t=100146

 

Also a simple google of the artist name along with commission will probably turn up either good or bad news. there's definitely some bad seeds out there amongst a bunch of good ones.

 

with the holidays, some may just have other things going on which is why they haven't responded. that said, trust your gut. if someone is taking forever to answer a "hey I have money for you" email, imagine how long they will take to respond to a "hey, where's the work I paid for you" email.

 

as for the question on collections, as long as you have green money, I don't think it matters how much art you already have to get an artist interested in a concept.

 

 

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Thanks guys!

 

I have some nice convention sketches and existing pieces I need to post as soon as the scanner is hooked up.

 

Some questions if you don't mind:

 

* I've contacted a few artists to see if they were taking Commissions or could put my name on a wait-list. A few of them replied pretty quickly and seemed game, but then when I tried to send payment...crickets.

 

Do people generally tell you if they don't like your request, or is it more of a passive-aggressive thing? I have a budget I need to stick to, so if someone doesn't respond at all, I can assume that maybe they will get back to me weeks or months from now if they have an opening. But if someone says "Yeah, sure!" and then weeks go by without hearing another peep, how long do you stay committed to them before moving on to someone else?

 

I suppose it's better to have radio silence before I send payment than afterwards, but I'm not sure how many follow-ups to make before throwing in the towel.

 

 

* What I like about this forum is that people seem cordial and genuinely willing to help one another. Which is great, because it feels like this is a hobby of Secrets.

 

Is it easier to network once you have some pieces in your collection to show, as proof you have fun concepts or are easy to work with, whereas people just starting out might have more trouble? Does it help having people to vouch for you?

 

 

* And just curious, do you all have "If ______ is there, ask for _____" lists you bring to conventions? I still kick myself over opportunities I lost either because I didn't know what to ask for, or because I didn't associate a person's name with their work.

 

I've never had a request turned down, but there are some artists who won't do certain things, such as personal likenesses. I'd imagine that if someone isn't interested in doing a piece, they'd just say so. If you're not hearing back, it's probably because they're busy or forgot to respond.

 

I definitely agree that you should do some research before contacting an artist. Most artists are good people, but there are a few bad actors out there.

 

I always go into cons with a plan. Actually, once I decide what artists I want to get pieces from, I contact them ahead of time. At a minimum, it pays to know what their rates are before the show. But if they're taking a pre-order lists, you can get some very nice, detailed commissions.

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Jae Lee really got into this One Minute Later because in the story, Nightmare is masquerading as Eternity as part of a plot to get Dr. Strange -- here you see Nightmare coming out of Eternity and Jae has drawn both Eternity and Nightmare's head/face as he emerges -- what a great take on this cover by one of the nicest guys in the business, Jae Lee. I cannot recommend Jae enough!!!!

152211.jpg.3f844b0998a7fe4a2e185dabd60191f7.jpg

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