Commission Work

[Nyx]

Well, it's finally come to it... >_< I am unemployed and broke, and since I seem to have more artistic talent and free time than I do resumé padding or viable work experience, offering up my talents for art commissions seemed the most logical way to make an income while job hunting.

Yes! Nyx is open for commission work! However, there are some Rules.

The Rules:

Who can commission: Anyone can commission something. My stipulation is that they need to be readily available online for me to show them work in progress or to ask questions. I'm on AIM a lot, the forums are my home page, and I answer PMs, so those are probably the best ways to contact me. (AIM screen name is Khaos Daughter )

How Many at a Time: Each person gets ONE commission at a time. ONE. I will take up to TWO PEOPLE at a time, so that I can work on one while I'm waiting on the other, etc. If I can't contact you, your piece will be set aside and I'll probably start on something more pressing.

Content of the Work: I reserve the right to refuse a commission based on the content described. I do a lot of pin-up style art or costume/pose shots, and heavily favor fantasy and superhero genres. See my gallery. The upside of paid commission work is that you get more elbow room to describe exactly how you want your picture.

Materials: I work with pencil and ink pen on smooth Bristol board in one of two sizes (9x12 or 11x14). If you want work from me, computer coloring is NOT an option. I do not computer color. I do not have the means nor the skill. I color in one of three by-hand media: 1) Colored pencil, 2) Marker, 3) Colored inks. I often work with a combination of two or more to get the best effect. If you want a particular size of paper or sort of color media, please alert me to this BEFORE I start the project.

Payment: Yes, I know you don't want to hear this... until I get an actual job, I can't afford to do more free handout art as in the past. (Aside to past contest winners: You WILL get your art eventually... just remind me.) I accept payment via check, money order, or PayPal account (though I dislike the latter). All payment is due when the work is completed, prior to mailing.

Pricing: I'm flexible here. For works of varying sizes and complexities, I've been paid $20, $50, or even $70 -- none of which I asked for ahead of time, so don't take them as law. I haven't yet devised a pricing scale for things, so I'm open to negotiation depending on the commissioner's financial situation. Once I get pricing more figured out, I'll post it here.

Delivery: I mail all commissions in protective mailer sleeves to whatever address the commissioner gives me. Please understand that I am not responsible for what happens to it after it leaves my hands. Special overnighting costs will go into the final price.

[Nyx]

Also, Stan expressed an interest in this prior to my posting of this thread, so he gets first slot if he wants.

[Stan Walker]

and Stan sooo would!!!

[the_starcrosser]

Woo! Go nyx! *applauds* :D

[Stalking Shadow]

Hmm... I've got a paperclip and some oreos. Can I get a picture of all the Gurus in bas-relief on a 8x12' slab of marble? :P

[Impact]

Well....now that you've come out and talked about this we can chat on it some more. :chuckle:

[Nyx]

Hmm... I've got a paperclip and some oreos. Can I get a picture of all the Gurus in bas-relief on a 8x12' slab of marble? :P

*bludgeons SS to death with his slab of marble and uses Oreos skewered on an unraveled paperclip to mark his grave.*

[Stalking Shadow]

Mommy? :p

Just kidding, Nyx. If I had a checking account, I'd be commissioning something.

[Poison]

Best of luck with this, Nyx. I hardly had any commissions since I decided not to do free art anymore (considering I have to live from this stuff).

[Necra]

It is quite hard to get commissioned work through art... most of the world just believes that artwork should be done for free. This is one of the major reasons why I decided not to pursue art as a profession after I got my art degree and instead to try my hand at medicine. Best of luck to finding paid work through art Nyx, few artists have been so lucky and hoping you are one of them. ;)

[Kinetix]

One problem, we're broke too. :p

[Nyx]

Meh, I just figured I'd give it a shot. I have had people ask me to do commission work on several occassions, so I figured the market was there.

And besides, when you have less than $24 to your name, almost anything is worth a shot.

[Malibu Sally]

Meh, I just figured I'd give it a shot. I have had people ask me to do commission work on several occassions, so I figured the market was there.

And besides, when you have less than $24 to your name, almost anything is worth a shot.


Good thing you put that "almost" qualifier in there. :o :shinner:

In all seriousness, if you are still around in October or November, I might contact you about commisioning a work. Can't say why. Can't say for who either. :cool:

[Nyx]

Hey, been around since Pre-Beta, so I'm not going anywhere in a hurry.

And yes... I was about to hit 'submit reply', then paused, and stuck 'almost' in there. *does the 'go me I did something intelligent' dance*

[Nyx]

Ok, Stan and Melty, I'm gonna need your ideas when you're ready.

Stan, I already know part of yours, but you'll need to be more specific... ;)

[Redcat]

Nyx would you be interested in doing an SWG couple from a screenshot I have? Would be no rush Christmas would be nice but by June 18th of next year would be fine as well. Would like to discuss it futher later if you are interested.

[Nyx]

I highly doubt the commissions I'm working on will take me until Christmas to finish. ;) Keep in touch and I'll see about it.

[Redcat]

what I'm thinking of is a picture for the BF of our two characters in SWG would make a nice Christmas present I think.

[Poison]

If Nyx is successful with commissions... does that mean I should announce that I accept them, too? :|

[BvS]

If Nyx is successful with commissions... does that mean I should announce that I accept them, too? :|

When I ran the Comic Artists' Collective before release of the game, I was informed by Aura (the NCSoft community rep at the time) that no artist represented there could advertise for paid/commissioned work or we'd lose the sanctionning of NCSoft as an 'official' fan forum.

Just letting you know.

[Poison]

I remember the Collective. And you worry far more about the official fan site thing than we do. The only ones who have a saying in this are Inde and Kzap. If they say it's okay, it is. If not, it isn't. So far we have an okay for art commissions.

[BvS]

I just don't want anybody to get their hopes up and then have them dashed by a third party's self-serving rules (in this case, NCSoft's).

I wish Nyx, and anyone else that's trying to break into the freelance art field, all the success they can stand :)

[Maveric]

Nyx, give Monster.com a try. It changed my life.

Also try getting employed at a hospital. The hospitals have more than just nurse and doctor jobs, you would be surprised. I recommend going to the human resource center of your nearest hospital and browse their employment catalog.

I wouldn't worry so much about your resume as much as how well you interview and communicate with others.

I went from working in a convienence store & waiting tables to working at Texas Childrens Hospital. Been there 5 years now, started working at their offsite warehouse , then their central supply at the hospital, then an inventory coordinator over the heart center and renal dialysis, and recently got promoted into an operations management position in the Pedi intensive care unit. The Benefits working for a hospital are unbelievable- three words: Paid Time Off.

hope this helps!

-Mav

[AfterglowNoMore]

Nyx, give Monster.com a try. It changed my life.

Also try getting employed at a hospital. The hospitals have more than just nurse and doctor jobs, you would be surprised. I recommend going to the human resource center of your nearest hospital and browse their employment catalog.

I wouldn't worry so much about your resume as much as how well you interview and communicate with others.

I went from working in a convienence store & waiting tables to working at Texas Childrens Hospital. Been there 5 years now, started working at their offsite warehouse , then their central supply at the hospital, then an inventory coordinator over the heart center and renal dialysis, and recently got promoted into an operations management position in the Pedi intensive care unit. The Benefits working for a hospital are unbelievable- three words: Paid Time Off.

hope this helps!

-Mav
Mav's right Nyx, My mom and brother work at a hospital in Huntsville. When my mom started about 13 years ago they gave her paid training with paid classes/seminars/training programs a couple times a year to make sure that they're on their toes and up to date. She loves it there, and my brother tolerates it, but that's more his co-workers than his job. Good pay generally, and great benefits.

[Evion]

Aye, but I think she's aiming more for something in the art business than a hospital ;3 But then, Monster.com might have some good leads for illustrator work...

[Nyx]

And the only thing I could think of that might be artistic in a hospital would be maybe medical illustration which A) requires an incredible knowledge of all the body joints and bones and tendons, well beyond a comic book understanding and B) to get that knowledge, most likely would require examining cadavers... and I just can't do that. O_o *gross out attack*

[Morcalivan7]

three words: Paid Time Off.
Free Health Care.

Oh wait that's Canada.

So... why do poeple live elsehwere again? ;)

Some nice artwork btw Nyx, love the penciling style. Looks so curvy and fun looking. Also reminds me of some of the older Fanatsy art books like Dragonlance used. Which was good enough for them to put on thousands to millions of books. Chew on that. :chuckle:

[Maveric]

And the only thing I could think of that might be artistic in a hospital would be maybe medical illustration which A) requires an incredible knowledge of all the body joints and bones and tendons, well beyond a comic book understanding and B) to get that knowledge, most likely would require examining cadavers... and I just can't do that. O_o *gross out attack*


as i said, you would be suprised. the hospital i work at constantly hires artists to paint murials, statues, windows and such. and they constantly hire them to re-paint over old murials and such for theme purposes. color and art are a big deal at the hospital especially a children's hospital. bare white walls are scary for patients, a blue wall with colorful sea animals or a green wall with pink elephants = not so scary... Right now our hospital is going through a sea animal themes phase, previously it was bovines (cows). our by-weekly newsletter just did a report on that subject, and from what I understand, the hospital pays excellent comission money, although you would be hired as an outside contractor and not a hospital employee :( .

you might consider joining the hospital in a child life specialist position (or i could list two dozen other positions that don't require any or very little experience) and then use the benefits to get formal art education. even the janitors start out with 40 hours paid time off, health benefits, college loan help, steady increase of pay (usually 3%) not counting competition raises (they match pay rate increases of other hospitals), annual bonuses for the hospitals performance, ect etc... i have seen mexican immigrant who could barely speak english start out as a janitor, go to school, learn english and other basic college courses, become PCAs (Patient Care Assistants = one step below a registered nurse).

if you are bi- or multi lingual the hospital will pay you excellent money just for your communication skills alone. spanish, indian, asian languages are the most sought out.

[Impact]

*cuts into the thread*

I just wanted to say, both Nyxy & Evion have amazing galleries. :D :cool: Both of you keep up the great work

*cuts out*

[Nyx]

Now if I could just get Star to put up hers.... ;)

[Redcat]

screenshot 1 (http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a378/Redcat/screenShot1447.jpg)

screenshot 2 (http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a378/Redcat/screenShot1418.jpg)

screenshot 3 (http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a378/Redcat/screenShot0110.jpg)

Three screenshots of the two characters I am talking about Nyx. He's a Rifleman/Creature Handler and she is a Carbineer/Ranger at least that is what they were when these pictures were taken. The first two screen shots are more recent, still not the most recent pictures of them but I think these best ones of the lot specially since now he is running around with two cybernetic arms.