Progress

Here’s an easy resolution: This stuff is all free as long as you have access to a computer, and the skills you learn will be invaluable in your career, and/or life in general. 

1. Become awesome at Excel.

Chandoo is one of many gracious Excel experts who wants to share their knowledge with the world. Excel excellence is one of those skills that will improve your chances of getting a good job instantly, and it will continue to prove invaluable over the course of your career. What are you waiting for?

2. Learn how to code.

littleanimalgifs.tumblr.com

Perhaps no other skill you can learn for free online has as much potential to lead to a lucrative career. Want to build a site for your startup? Want to build the next big app? Want to get hired at a place like BuzzFeed? You should learn to code. There are a lot of places that offer free or cheap online coding tutorials, but I recommend Code Academy for their breadth and innovative program. If you want to try a more traditional route, Harvard offers its excellent Introduction to Computer Science course online for free.

3. Make a dynamic website.

You could use a pre-existing template or blogging service, or you could learn Ruby on Rails and probably change your life forever. Here’s an extremely helpful long list of free Ruby learning tools that includes everything from Rails for Zombies to Learn Ruby The Hard Way. Go! Ruby! Some basic programming experience, like one of the courses above, might be helpful (but not necessarily required if you’re patient with yourself).

4. Learn to make a mobile game.

If you’re not interested in coding anything other than fun game apps, you could trythis course from the University of Reading. It promises to teach you how to build a game in Java, even if you don’t have programming experience! If you want to make a truly great game, you might want to read/listen up on Game Theory first.

5. Start reading faster.

Spreeder is a free online program that will improve your reading skill and comprehension no matter how old you are. With enough practice, you could learn to double, triple, or even quadruple the speed at which you read passages currently, which is basically like adding years to your life.

6. Learn a language!

With Duolingo, you can learn Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, or English (from any of the above or more). There’s a mobile app and a website, and the extensive courses are completely free.

Full disclosure: BuzzFeed and other websites are in a partnership with DuoLingo, but they did not pay or ask for this placement.

7. Pickle your own vegetables.

Tired of your farmer’s market haul going bad before you use it all? Or do you just love tangy pickled veggies? You too can pickle like a pro thanks to SkillShare and Travis Grillo.

8. Improve your public speaking skills.

You can take the University of Washington’s Intro to Public Speaking for free online. Once you learn a few tricks of the trade, you’ll be able to go into situations like being asked to present at a company meeting or giving a presentation in class without nearly as much fear and loathing.

9. Get a basic handle of statistics.

UC Berkeley put a stats intro class on iTunes. Once you know how to understand the numbers yourself, you’ll never read a biased “news” article the same way again — 100% of authors of this post agree!

10. Understand basic psychology.

Knowing the basics of psych will bring context to your understanding of yourself, the dynamics of your family and friendships, what’s really going on with your coworkers, and the woes and wonders of society in general. Yale University has its Intro to Psychology lectures online for free.

11. Make your own music.

Step one: Learn how to play guitar: Justin Guitar is a fine and free place to start learning chords and the basic skills you’ll need to be able to play guitar — from there, it’s up to you, but once you know the basics, just looking up tabs for your favorite songs and learning them on your own is how many young guitar players get their start (plus it’s an excellent party trick).

Step two: A delightful free voice lesson from Berklee College Of Music.

Step three: Have you always thought you had an inner TSwift? Berklee College of Music offers an Introduction to Songwriting course completely for free online. The course is six weeks long, and by the end of the lesson you’ll have at least one completed song.

Step four: Lifehacker’s basics of music production will help you put it all together once you have the skills down! You’ll be recording your own music, ready to share with your valentine or the entire world, in no time!

12. Learn to negotiate.

Let Stanford’s Stan Christensen explain how to negotiate in business and your personal life, managing relationships for your personal gain and not letting yourself be steamrolled. There are a lot of football metaphors and it’s great.

13. Stop hating math.

If you struggled with math throughout school and now have trouble applying it in real-world situations when it crops up, try Saylor.org’s Real World Math course. It will reteach you basic math skills as they apply IRL. Very helpful!

14. Start drawing!

All kids draw — so why do we become so afraid of it as adults? Everyone should feel comfortable with a sketchbook and pencil, and sketching is a wonderful way to express your creativity. DrawSpace is a great place to start. (I also highly recommend the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain if you can drop a few dollars for a used copy.)

15. Make your own animated GIF.

BuzzFeed’s own Katie Notopoulos has a great, simple guide to making an animated GIF without Photoshop. This is all you need to be the king or queen of Tumblr or your favorite email chains.

16. Appreciate jazz.

reddit.com

Have you never really “gotten” jazz? If you want to be able to participate in conversations at fancy parties and/or just add some context to your appreciation of all music, try this free online course from UT Austin.

17. Write well.

Macalester College’s lecture series is excellent. If you’re more interested in journalism, try Wikiversity’s course selection.

18. Get better at using Photoshop.

Another invaluable skill that will get you places in your career, learning Photoshop can be as fun as watching the hilarious videos on You Suck At Photoshop or as serious as this extensive Udemy training course (focused on photo retouching).

19. Take decent pictures.

Lifehacker’s basics of photography might be a good place to start. Learn how your camera works, the basic of composition, and editing images in post-production. If you finish that and you’re not sure what to do next, here’s a short course on displaying and sharing your digital photographs.

20. Learn to knit.

Instructables has a great course by a woman who is herself an online-taught knitter. You’ll be making baby hats and cute scarves before this winter’s over!

21. Get started with investing in stocks.

If you are lucky enough to have a regular income, you should start learning about savings and investment now. Investopedia has a ton of online resources, including this free stocks basics course. Invest away!

22. Clean your house in a short amount of time.

Unf$#k Your Habitat has a great emergency cleaning guide for when your mother-in-law springs a surprise visit on you. While you’re over there, the entire blog is good for getting organized and clean in the long term, not just in “emergencies.” You’ll be happier for it.

23. Start practicing yoga.

Most cities have free community classes (try just searching Google or inquiring at your local yoga studio), or if you’re more comfortable trying yoga at home, YogaGlohas a great 15-day trial and Yome is a compendium of 100% free yoga videos. If you’re already familiar with basic yoga positions but you need an easy way to practice at home, I recommend YogaTailor’s free trial as well.

24. Tie your shoelaces more efficiently.

I’ve been collaborating with my good friend Benjamin Wynn, aka electronic musician @deru (and sound designer from Avatar & Korra), on a series of three music videos for his incredible upcoming album, Torn In Two. I came up with these statue scenes, initially doing 2D concepts. During this process, I took a ZBrush class from @xandersmith_design at @conceptdesignacad so I ended up digitally sculpting and posing the figures. Xander helped out too with a bunch of technical stuff that is beyond my meager skill set, and he also posed the last scene in this clip based on my 2D version. EFFIXX did an awesome job texturing, lighting, and rendering the figures and environments, doing the camera moves, and dealing with my many nit-picky notes.

Point created an obviously fake company with tons of alarm-raising inconsistencies, allocated it $25, and then used their budget to target Facebook users based on race and sexual orientation, a move that, depending on the ad’s content, can violate US civil rights law.

They scored more than 75% accurate in both targeting exercises, and point out that someone hoping to, say, influence an election with shady campaigning could scale up the same techniques to reach mass audiences.

Castle In The Sky (1986) Grave of the Fireflies (1988) My Neighbor Totoro (1988) Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989) Only Yesterday (1991) Porco Rosso (1992) Pom Poko (1994) Whisper of the Heart (1995) Princess Mononoke (1997) My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999) Spirited Away (2001) The Cat Returns (2002) Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) Tales from Earthsea (2006) Ponyo On A Cliff From The Sea (2008) The Secret World of Arrietty/The Borrower Arrietty (2010) From Up on Poppy Hill (2011)

If any of the links stop working, please let me know so I can fix it.

If you’re a visual or audiotory learner, YouTube has to be the place for you! Don’t be afraid to ditch your textbooks when necessary to learn something your own way!

Here are some of my favorite educational YoutTube channels!

TED-Ed

You’ve heard of TEDx Talks, now get ready for TED-Ed! These videos range from philosophy and history to science and riddles! They even have a few videos on writing! Most all videos are done in five minute animations with narration and also include links to full lessons in the descriptions of the videos. Watching this channel for hours on end will only scratch the surface of what is offered!

CrashCourse

This one you’ve probably already heard of, but it’s worth checking out! Since CrashCourse has been online for years now, they now have several very interesting videos to watch, ranging from psychology to sociology and physics to film history. They also have videos centered around literature and astronomy and so much more. My personal favorite has been the mythology videos! The videos are made weekly in a series format, so you could watch one lesson a week or binge watch the whole class once it’s done.

Overly Sarcastic Productions

If you’re not so into the lecturing-style the above channels have, then a great place to check out is Overly Sarcastic Productions. These videos are actually made by two college students hoping to teach their favorite subjects in a humorous way! They have videos ranging from literature to history to mythology, as well as some videos on religion and philosophy. And most all of these videos are done in adorable animation and are quite easy to follow, and they stand the test of watching multiple times!

NerdyAndQuirky

Philosophy Tube

A fantastic resource for balanced, clear, and accessible philosophy videos. The host, Olly Lennard, makes philosophy fun and interesting, as it should be. The topics range from ethics to politics & law to aesthetics. Plus, he’s charming and easy on the eyes, which always makes learning a bit easier. 

Contrapoints

This channel is challenging and enlightening. The host (name unknown) bridges incredibly complex and controversial topics with a combination of nuance and humor that is as refreshing as it is rare. Not for the faint of heart or the lazy of mind, Contrapoints may offend some but will never fail to offer a sophisticated take on an issue. The topics typically revolve around social issues, with lots of time spent exploring the tension between left and right political ideologies. I HIGHLY recommend the two-part series exploring free speech. It’s one of the best analyses of the issue I’ve come across. 

Vox

Bite-size journalistic editorials that explore up-to-date news stories and a wide range of novel topics, from Why cartoon characters wear gloves to the rise of ISIS, explained in 6 minutes. Their stated mission is to help you ‘cut through the noise and understand what’s driving events in the headlines and in our lives, on everything from Taxes to Terrorism to Taylor Swift’

The School of Life

This channel, created by author and public philosopher Alain de Botton, aims to explore ‘the questions we’re never taught enough about at regular school or college: How can relationships go well? What is meaningful work? How can love last? How can one find calm? What’s gone wrong (and right) with capitalism?’ It offers short introductions to various thinkers and schools of thought, including Stoicism, Epicureanism, Sartre, and Camus.

Will Schoder

While Schoder hasn’t released a whole lot of videos as of yet, each one he’s done is damn near a masterpiece. One of the most talented video essayists I’ve come across on YouTube, his videos dive into the philosophy and psychology of pop culture, including the existentialism of Rick and Morty, the cognitive underpinnings of persuasion via Mr. Rogers, and the dangers of postmodern irony through the lens of David Foster Wallace and sitcoms. 

Nerdwriter1

Another one of my favorite video essayists, Nerdwriter tackles a variety of topics with adept editing talents, impressive production value, and surprising insights. The stated mission of this channel is to ‘put ideas to work,’ which is skillfully and entertainingly accomplished here on a regular basis.

If those don’t satiate your hunger for knowledge, some of my other most beloved channels include: Physics Girl, PBS Idea Channel, Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell, WirelessPhilosophy, SciShow, feministfrequency, minutephysics, Mental Floss, AsapSCIENCE, Wisecrack, and It’s Okay To Be Smart

BUBBLE BUDDY: - POISONED OUR WATER SUPPLY - BURNED OUR CROPS - DELIVERED A PLAGUE ONTO OUR HOUSES

and then later when he SNEAKS INTO A CORNER TO FUCKING… facetime yoda… like “ok so we have these millions of identical human men who were apparently suspiciously ordered for us by someone???” and yodas fucking response is just “when countless sapient lemons life gives you…….. send those lemons into intergalactic battle you must”

like literally smoking from the engine

white and you smell pancakes? it’s the coolant. panic and pull over, but you’ll live

a slight blue tinge? it’s the oil. panic and pull over, but you’ll live

grey, looks like fire smoke? gasoline; the most combustable and dangerous. pull over and leave the vehicle, pray.

“Books are the training weights of the mind” –Seneca

The most useful definition of technology I’ve heard is simply, 

“the ability to do more with less.”

I think of books and reading as technologies.

We only live one life, but through books, we can gain the wisdom from thousands. When an author writes, re-writes, and edits, they are turning their words into a more perfect version of themselves. When you read, you get to spend time in a meditative state with a wise person’s more perfect self.

So I’m taking a couple of AP classes in high school, and I’ve collected a ton of aid docs to help me through the year.

I’ve compiled them all into this one post so you can click on a specific class’ aid doc to help you. I’m still updating some of the tips and tricks, and I will add more as I take more AP classes. [update, May 2017: I’m officially done with high school, so I won’t be adding any more high school AP aid documents, but if people want me to add stuff for other classes, I’ll try!]

IF YOU DON’T HAVE MICROSOFT WORD, tell me so I can put some of the docs on google doc instead.

The more updated version is on my own blog: eekal.tumblr.com/help

More info under the cut

General Tips: It’s extremely recommended that you take the AP exams from previous years. They never repeat questions, but they will 100% repeat concepts and test question styles that they did before. For instance, the WHAP exam will have the same-styled multiple choice questions that question the relationships of civilizations and effects of major events. Always answer every multiple choice question. They take the same amount of points off if you leave it blank and get it wrong. I think they don’t take off for guesses anymore, but it’s always better to guess than leave it blank.

—

AP World History [took in 2015-6]

My own notes that I hope to finish one day (lmao, I only have like 3 chapters done) :  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zG5qouoO0UQE9_eN0e96c9a73lvYcwPolvTr7UaCISA/edit?usp=sharing // It’s kind of too specific, and covers too much of one chapter. Would not recommend seriously.

I love these docs; this is like the only thing my teacher has ever done for my class:  Useful Websites Maps 2 Know Gigantic Study Material

Chapter outlines for every chapter [using Traditions & Encounters: 5th Edition]: Outlines

Tips: The most helpful thing I’ve learned over the year is that the AP exam at the end is mostly about relationships between cultures/civilizations and the effects of various events. For example, the test won’t ask you the specifics about Columbus’s expedition, but it will ask you what happened because of it [ie smallpox + columbian exchange]. Memorize the big events of each section/unit/period like wars and significant trade routes, so when the test essay asks you what the effects were, you can just pull them out. Be sure to memorize certain photos like what the Hagia Sophia looked like, Mansa Musa, Alexander the Great, architect types, trade routes, what empires looked like in their prime, etc.

They always ask about the biggest changes in each time period:

Mongols

Byzantine Empire

Rome/Han

Salt/Gold Trade Route

Silk Roads

Trans-Saharan Trade Routes

The Great Schism / the start of Protestantism

French / American / Haitian Revolutions

et cetera

Remember, this tip might not work for you as I took the exam in 2016, and I heard that the CollegeBoard is going to change it in the coming years. Moreover, your teacher might present information in a different way for their finals and tests.

AP Calculus AB [took in 2015-6]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-D5e4luKNSQkFXBIoOhytmeHraUxpBc2xPq3dJ3K9kE/edit?usp=sharing

This one explains past free response AND multiple choice AP tests from like 1997 to 2015: http://www.askmrcalculus.com/index.html

Tips: Possibly the easiest AP exam. If you know what you’re doing and practiced the past free responses, you should be good to go. It’s really handy to make a notebook with like steps to show how to do each type of problem. Study and fill this notebook out throughout the year, and you’ll be more than ready to take the exam in May.

AP Biology [took in 2015-6]

Honestly, these Enduring Understanding pdfs really helped me review at the end of the year, especially if I didn’t understand a certain topic. It even has book chapters to go back to if I REALLY didn’t know a single thing.

Big Idea 1.A: Change in the genetic makeup over time is evolution. (pdf)

Big idea 1.B: Organisms are linked by lines of descent from common ancestry. (doc)

Big Idea 1.C:  Life continues to evolve in a changing environment. (pdf)

Big Idea 1.D: The origin of living systems is explained by natural processes. (pdf) 

Big Idea 2.A: Growth, reproduction, and maintenance of the organization of living systems require free energy and matter. (pdf)

Big Idea 2.B: Growth, reproduction, and dynamic homeostasis require that cells create and maintain internal environments that are different from their external environments. (pdf)

Big Idea 2.C: Organisms use feedback mechanisms to regulate growth, reproduction, and to maintain dynamic homeostasis. (pdf)

Big Idea 2.D: Growth and dynamic homeostasis of a biological system are influenced by changes in the system’s environment. (pdf)

Big Idea 2.E: Many biological processes involved in growth, reproduction, and dynamic homeostasis include temporal regulation and coordination. (pdf)

Big Idea 3.A: Heritable information provides for continuity of life. (pdf)

Big Idea 3.B: Expression of genetic information involves cellular and molecular mechanisms. (pdf) 

Big Idea 3.C: The processing of genetic information is imperfect and is a source of genetic variation. (pdf)

Big Idea 3.D: Cells communicate by generating, transmitting, and receiving chemical signals. (pdf)

Big Idea 3.E: Transmission of information results in changes within and between biological systems. (pdf)

Big Idea 4.A: The subcomponents of biological molecules and their sequence determine the properties of the molecule. (pdf)

Big Idea 4.B: Competition and cooperation are important aspects of biological systems. (pdf) 

Detailed Lecture Notes!! I used these instead of reading that giant textbook [no diagrams or pictures though…]: Assorted by chapter

Tips: There are no tips to this course. Simply memorize the notes using flashcards and mindmaps. I printed and highlighted the lecture notes during class and went over them again in my own time + looked in the textbook and copied down the diagrams and pictures. Then I rewrote the most important topics with at least one example in each category on a mindmap/flashcard and memorized them before a quiz/test/AP exam. This course is extremely content heavy. The AP exam multiple choice was easy in a sense if you understand the concepts, but the essays were harder in that you had to state examples and explain why things were happening. REMEMBER that there’s a formula sheet on the front of your test booklet [I forgot that and got 2 questions wrong ㅠㅠ]

AP Statistics [took in 2015-6]

Inference Cheat Sheets !

I also have a notebook full of notes that I would scan in, but I would have to rip apart my notebook. However, I will rip it apart in a heartbeat if someone needed it.

Tips: This was a really easy AP exam and class, partially thanks to my wonderful teacher, but if you are having trouble with the concepts and math, look up youtube videos! My friends in different classes did that, and they were perfectly fine on the AP exam.

AP United States History [took in 2016-7]

Content: Bill of Rights / 27 Constitutional Amendments // lol. pretty helpful tbh if you forgot all of your amendments at the end of the year APUSH Review // Teacher recommended me this website; never really used it, though

http://wikibenn.pbworks.com/w/page/78594635/APUSH%20Review APUSH Topics separated by periods // Useful for the periodization topic and as a really good review like right before your test 2015 MC Practice exam

Hooray for huge books: Short outlines [not mine] // also works as chapter notes More short outlines [not mine. download the doc to view the full document] // also works as chapter notes Long outlines [not mine] // more useful for reviewing for tests/ap exam More long outlines [not mine] // more useful for reviewing for tests/ap exam

Essays: 2015  Sample Essays // I basically printed out some essays that I had problems with and analyzed them to see what I would need to include in my essay. For instance, for the periodization topic, I printed out the first essay and highlighted the examples/topics/organization in the essay to see what I would need.  General long essay help Periodization formatting X / example // I didn’t really use this, but it seemed helpful Writing in APUSH review // seems more intensive than the others

Cramming: Very intensive APUSH review  Kinda long APUSH review Brief review of APUSH  Important Supreme Court cases // I’d argue that you don’t even need half of these, but Important Treaties // I’d argue that you don’t even need half of these, but Important Legislation  The Magic years // Incredibly important years/dates Political parties over the years of America  Summaries of all of the POTUS’s

AP Spanish [took in 2016-7]

I, unfortunately, did not take the AP exam for this class, and also I suck booty at spanish ㅠㅠ

AP Physics C [took in 2016-7]

Um, I basically died during the exam, but…

It's extremely recommended that you study for this exam at least 1 month prior, but if you’re like me and chose to wait until the very last 24 hours to study, use these tools to mega cram.

Physics C Equation sheet // Check with this to see if the equation you’re studying is given on the exam or it’s written differently

USE YOUTUBE VIDEOS TO REVIEW! Very helpful in getting the content across and knowing what to do for some situations. Flipping Physics // I love this man? I watched all of his ~16 minute review videos to get the basics of the topics down, but he does forget some important equations/concepts. Don’t worry, I included them at the bottom of this section. I didn’t watch his simple harmonics review video because of the lack of time, so I don’t know what he missed on that video. Dan Fullerton // What a hero. My friend recommended him, so I don’t know the faults of his review videos.

Really simple review of the equations // A little bit too simple in my opinion. This is for if you’re 2 hours away from the exam. Physics review with practice questions // I don’t know if the person writing this website ever finished it, and I’ve only ever looked at the kinematics review, so I can’t really recommend this one over the others. Really simple equations review // Again, really lacking on the concepts. More reviews // I haven’t checked this one out, but it was in my bookmarks. More intensive review // This one looks really intensive, and I appreciate Mr. B for these powerpoints. I should’ve used this one, but I didn’t ㅠㅠ Really helpful review packet (especially the applications of forces) // I mainly used this for the applications of forces pages One month physics C study plan (which I did not have enough time for) // lol. 2D Motion Review  1D Motion Review

Practice exams: 2012 MC Test  1998 MC / FRQ Test  General practice questions

What Flipping Physics forgot: Kinematics/ Certain equations that you can derive for max height / time of flight Velocity and Acceleration relationships- +v, -a / -v, -a / v = 0, a =/= 0 Concept questions for kinematics Momentum/ Types of collisions and associated equations- Elastic equations / Inelastic equations 2D collisions Ice skater-related concept Various moments of inertia for different objects Centripetal motion/ Banked turns- With friction / Without friction , Going from rev/min to rad/s Gravitons / Roller coasters / FBD for speed bumps and top/bottom of a loop on a roller coaster Gravitational/ Binary stars with circular orbits- concepts Orbital velocity formula Single object in ovular orbit and associated equations Binary star physics Basic binary star with circular orbit concept // Unfortunately, I can’t find much on these besides my in-class notes, so message me if you need those. Here’s what I’m talking about for the first one, though. Perihelion vs. aphelion concepts- 1 /  Momentum in gravitational unit- 1 / 2 // There’s also more on this, but they’re in my notes

Tips: Lmaoooooo. That curve is your friend tho. As long as you get a 50%, you’ll get a 5.

Everyone, good luck on your AP exams! I’ll probably only update this on my actual blog page to add more review sheets for more subjects later on

Stuff like:

1. Having reality-based metrics for time and resource commitment - or, in plain English, making sure that what you’re charging for your commissions is actually based on how hard they are to do.

It’s downright shocking how rare this is. I’ve encountered digital artists who routinely charge less for a spec that takes them much longer to based on purely abstract notions of how “complex” the piece is, without reference to their actual, demonstrable time commitment. Heck, I’ve run into a traditional artist who ended up making nickles per hour for a major commission because she hadn’t correctly tallied up the cost of the art supplies expended in producing it!

The only way to arrive at appropriate metrics is based on evidence; your off-the-cuff estimates will always, always be wrong. Literally time yourself as you work on pieces of various types, and write down how long it took you. And never assume that it will be quicker next time; that’s called the planning fallacy, and it will eat you alive if you let it.

2. Having a lifecycle management plan for the tools you need to work.

Tablets don’t last forever. Neither do computers. Even software can become so outdated and incompatible as to lose utility over time. Basically, your tools have a finite lifespan, and you need to have a plan for replacing them as needed.

I understand that many independent artists don’t have the means to save up for new and replacement tools, and rely on second-hand hardware, gifts from friend and family, or donation drives on their blogs to fill the gap. That’s fine - artists relying on patronage has a long and distinguished history. The important thing is that these avenues be part of a plan, not a desperate scramble after some 100% foreseeable circumstance has rendered you unable to work.

Data on average time-to-failure for your hardware is readily accessible online; if, for example, that particular brand of tablet tends to last about three years, then you need to start organising your donation drive or dropping hints for your birthday at two years and six months, even if your equipment seems perfectly fine. The same goes for software; the vendor’s support window (i.e., the time after which they’ll stop publishing bugfixes and security updates) for your version of the software is a known factor.

3.  Having a formal requirements-gathering and signoff procedure.

I know that sounds like a lot of boring paperwork, and to be honest it kind of is, but it’s also critical for anything you’re not drawing for yourself. Language is an imprecise medium; based on a few minutes of casual conversation, you can easily end up in situations where you and your commissioner have totally different understandings of what the job entails, yet you’re both convinced you’ve understood the other perfectly.

You should have a detailed written description of what’s involved, and your client’s explicit, documented confirmation that they’ve read, understood and agreed to it, before you draw a single stroke. This includes timelines and deliverables as well as content; I’ve run into numerous cases of clients who’ve alleged non-delivery of services based on their understanding that they’d be receiving a traditional, ink-and-paper piece where the artist understood the commission to involve only digital work, and more than one case where a client started hollering about breach of contract less than 24 hours after signing off because they honestly thought it would be done already.