#charo asks

I went around and looked about the audience I was presenting myself to compare my prices, kind of getting an average of what my friends and peers were charging without comparing myself to them, the pros. 

Figure out what you might feel comfortable drawing. I was scared of drawing much more than faces/portraits and figured, I would be decent enough to knock out them quicker than a full body or clothes.

Set my prices to something you also feel comfortable with. I knew I wasn’t the best, but not the roughest! I was like, well this person is close to my level, so okay I will be a little lower without feeling I was ripping myself or a client off. I knew I could raise and lower prices as I got better or have sales, etc. 

“We teach people how to treat us.” Long story short, I used to do full pieces for 5 or 10 bucks for a friend and they quickly took advantage of it and got offended when I wanted to charge 20 bucks for a portrait. I refused to budge because she didn’t seem to respect my time nor cared about supporting my work. She quickly took off ending a very one-sided friendship as it seems. (she wanted 8pics for 10dollas total).

Limit the number of commissions I offer, 3 or 5 at a time as to not overwhelm myself and stress out! I knew if I was done early I could always open them again instead of panicking and starting a vicious cycle of anxiety.  Depending on things at Uni I can go up to 10 and as low as 3, not taking any some months. 

I set some terms from the beginning to save you and the client a hard time! If they know I give them 2 Free Edits, they tend to have a more clear idea of what they want in mind and it will save you from suddenly reworking a whole piece. 

Keep transparency is a big plus for me. At any time I allow a client to see the work, even if it's not a finished line art, or mid colouring, etc. I've also started a public page on my blog that lets people see what’s going on. If I haven't started, I tell them. I will be honest if I am having trouble.

Honestly Anony, my biggest suggestion from experience is to start small and be honest always with those that commission you. As you get comfortable in what you do you can adjust as you need. Nothing is set in stone and whatever you do, don't worry about not getting a lot of commissions right away! The less you have, the more care you can spend on them.

And please, know my DMs are always open if you want to talk more or if I missed anything you may have questions about.