Looking to start commission work; help and feedback please?!

[Fruhauf]

Firstly, this may be in the wrong section but I was unable to post in the services section.

Secondly, I am considering starting commission work for models, but I have never done this before so I was hoping that some of the community could firstly rate my work and secondly state what they would consider a reasonable price for my services. My style is naturally quite cartoon-ish, I like bold and contrasting colours that really bring out the highlights to my work and as a result I use a lot of highlights in my work.

Should this go ahead then I intend to do a few varying standards as most commissioners do and below are examples of my work, excluding the highest standard I will offer as I do not currently have any models that I have not painted to the best of my ability (most of this stuff was to get armies 'quickly' painted and ready to go as I dislike painting with bare models);

Basic tabletop




High tabletop




Basic lord/display quality



Higher lord/display quality




I know the photos aren't great as it's only my phone camera but it's the fastest thing I have for uploading and using images with, it doesn't, as is so clichéd, do justice to the models.

I also know I've been pretty sloppy with mould-line removal here but please could this be ignored!

[Fruhauf]

In addition to the standard paint jobs on offer I can do basic-decent conversion work and basing work at an additional charge, here is an example of a model that I (slightly) converted, painted to a basic tabletop standard but with base work too.

[xxRavenxx]

Do not take this as me being abrasive, I am merely trying to be honest, and I suspect you won't like my answer.

I commission paint. I can put out your "display quality" models at £2 a model (maybe £3 depending on which model it is) and I would class them as good quality tabletop.

Moreso, look up commission painting on the warseer search engine, and see how many threads open up about this. Lots of people ask about it. Not many follow through, because the money is lousy per hour put in. You have to be able to good quality, at high speed, or you won't get anywhere. A lot of people find they cannot produce say... an average of 3.5 figures an hour to hit "minimum wage" and decide they'd do better to just take up a steady part time job.

You also run the risk of mishaps, for example: royal mail damaging the package you send, causing you to have to make a claim, and replace all the models and repaint them, leaving you to do the work twice to get your cash. (They don't reimburse you for time lost, just the models damaged).

[Fruhauf]

Do not take this as me being abrasive, I am merely trying to be honest, and I suspect you won't like my answer.

I commission paint. I can put out your "display quality" models at £2 a model (maybe £3 depending on which model it is) and I would class them as good quality tabletop.

Moreso, look up commission painting on the warseer search engine, and see how many threads open up about this. Lots of people ask about it. Not many follow through, because the money is lousy per hour put in. You have to be able to good quality, at high speed, or you won't get anywhere. A lot of people find they cannot produce say... an average of 3.5 figures an hour to hit "minimum wage" and decide they'd do better to just take up a steady part time job.

You also run the risk of mishaps, for example: royal mail damaging the package you send, causing you to have to make a claim, and replace all the models and repaint them, leaving you to do the work twice to get your cash. (They don't reimburse you for time lost, just the models damaged).

I appreciate the honesty, and I am looking for comments such as this as I do need to decide if commissioning would be worth it, perhaps it wouldn't be.

I would ask you personally, however, at what standard would you consider the models in your own log and what would you charge for those?

Perhaps me stating 'display quality' was an overstatement but I just needed some form of scale to show varying techniques used and an element of a scaling price structure to reflect time taken to execute better painting techniques.

As for speed, minimum wage at my age is only 4.85 or something close to that, so 2.5 models per hour exceeds minimum (which my gf works for at a store where my other employment options look similar to) I believe I could maintain above 3 models per hour at the standards shown in my pictures.

At any rate, thanks for your comments. It has given me more to think about.

[Battleworthy Arts]

I do commission work, and am lucky enough to be able to devote a full work day to it.

The money is lousy per hour, but for me it is worth it to enjoy what I do.

Your painting is indeed good enough to do commission work (i see plenty who do commission work who shouldn't be) , but do make sure you clean those mold lines. People will expect that, and they should. Your style is clean and solid. I like it.

EDIT:

I might add, do NOT start commission painting if you are not prepared to be completely professional about it. You must be forthcoming and communicative with clients, and follow through with projects. Clients put a lot of trust in you when they send you their models, and there are enough Bad Apples out there already giving painting services a bad name. If you can't follow through, and make your clients' projects a priority over anything else you might have going on in your life, then don't bother. I paint all day. I paint when I'm sick. I'll miss family functions and holidays if it means making a deadline. Be worthy of the trust your clients put in you, or don't do it.

[The Devourer]

I think you could commission paint if you really wanted to. There are a huge range of qualities out there and you only have to take a quick look to see that many are of a lower standard to the models you posted. it very much depends on your situation as to what you view as an acceptable level for commission painting- other commission painters are going to be harder to impress since they are going to be better painters and have higher expectations. Having said that I would say that if you go ahead you aren't going to be aiming for display quality miniatures as there are many other painters who will be able to a better job at a lower cost (no offence mean but I feel I should be honest since that would be most productive. Your models are nice but there is always someone better), instead you should try aiming for people who want armies done in tabletop quality where you can focus more on speed and quantity than quality. It is much easier to learn to paint basic level models faster than increasing painting standard. There are many people who want tabletop armies but who don't want to paint and from what you've shown us I think you could do that.

[xxRavenxx]

I would ask you personally, however, at what standard would you consider the models in your own log and what would you charge for those?

Vlad (red khador guy with blended shoulders, in case you're unsure), the banner on the chaos BSB, and Mephisto are more complex paintjobs. I would probably charge £15-20 for those due to the time needed.

The rest is probably in the £3-4 bracket, unless its larger. There is a large model tax, which normally drags the price up to £10-15. The cygnar models would be more too, they're higher than tabletop standard, as I set about them as a personal project.

[N1AK]

If the Dryad is representative of your basic quality then I think there'd be some demand for your work. You're going to need to get some better photos though otherwise people are going to be hesitant about using you. Commission painting involves a lot of trust, and proof by example. You're probably best either doing a few discount jobs initially to build a portfolio or painting and selling some units on ebay to show your work.

[Fruhauf]

If the Dryad is representative of your basic quality then I think there'd be some demand for your work. You're going to need to get some better photos though otherwise people are going to be hesitant about using you. Commission painting involves a lot of trust, and proof by example. You're probably best either doing a few discount jobs initially to build a portfolio or painting and selling some units on ebay to show your work.

I did an entire unit of 12 Dyrads in realistically 2 hours contact time, perhaps stretch it to 3 if you want to include waiting for paint to dry. They are representative of my work at speed, they look good and efficient but I'm sure on close inspection there are plenty of 'tweaks' that can be done. I understand that with a limited portfolio it would be hard, but right now I'm looking to see the opinions of other forumers to see if they think my work would create a demand. Thank you for your input though, your recommendations on discount jobs is probably how I would start if I convince myself to do so.

[Fruhauf]

I do commission work, and am lucky enough to be able to devote a full work day to it.

The money is lousy per hour, but for me it is worth it to enjoy what I do.

Your painting is indeed good enough to do commission work (i see plenty who do commission work who shouldn't be) , but do make sure you clean those mold lines. People will expect that, and they should. Your style is clean and solid. I like it.

EDIT:

I might add, do NOT start commission painting if you are not prepared to be completely professional about it. You must be forthcoming and communicative with clients, and follow through with projects. Clients put a lot of trust in you when they send you their models, and there are enough Bad Apples out there already giving painting services a bad name. If you can't follow through, and make your clients' projects a priority over anything else you might have going on in your life, then don't bother. I paint all day. I paint when I'm sick. I'll miss family functions and holidays if it means making a deadline. Be worthy of the trust your clients put in you, or don't do it.

I have no quarrels with painting a lot, come rain or shine or whatever as I very few commitments right now and I will be living in a house with 3 other guys in employment so I will have time alone to work in a relaxed but yet efficient environment.

With regards to mould line removal, I completely agree, these snaps are a little sloppy but for commission work I would buck up my efforts as I want to demonstrate what I can do to the best of my abilities, most of the models I have put up are of things I either did when I was new to the hobby (chaos models + Dryads) or did in a rush (glade guard).

Thank you for the input though, it's great to hear from others who do commission work.

I think you could commission paint if you really wanted to. There are a huge range of qualities out there and you only have to take a quick look to see that many are of a lower standard to the models you posted. it very much depends on your situation as to what you view as an acceptable level for commission painting- other commission painters are going to be harder to impress since they are going to be better painters and have higher expectations. Having said that I would say that if you go ahead you aren't going to be aiming for display quality miniatures as there are many other painters who will be able to a better job at a lower cost (no offence mean but I feel I should be honest since that would be most productive. Your models are nice but there is always someone better), instead you should try aiming for people who want armies done in tabletop quality where you can focus more on speed and quantity than quality. It is much easier to learn to paint basic level models faster than increasing painting standard. There are many people who want tabletop armies but who don't want to paint and from what you've shown us I think you could do that.

I think you're right, I probably am incapable of painting 'eavy metal standard (at least in a realistic time frame) but I believe I can produce models to at least the standards shown in my pictures at decent enough speeds. I guess it would be in my interest to take on only units or armies to start with and paint at high end table top standard, before branching into specifics and higher end painting. I am also relatively inexperienced when it comes to painting (I've currently painted around 50 or so models, but I am fast and I do enjoy it) so hopefully my work will only get better.

[Steam_Giant]

I would advise, painting the same models to show the difference between quality. The difference between your basic and high tabletop is difficult to determine given the models you have chosen.

Business-wise consider painting 40k, (it appeals more to younger gamers who cant paint/ have more pester power/ access to dads wallet).

[spikyjames]

Another option for port folio building is Ebay, do a few newer units and pop them on there, build up feedback and take it from there.

James

[Fruhauf]

Ok guys thanks all for your opinions, I think I will look to start a better portfolio of work before I commit, but I was looking for summer work so it is still a possibility if I can build up a portfolio by then.

Thanks all for comments, criticisms and opinions.

[Gonders]

I've had a couple of commissions in the past, and they've come from ebay.

I've found if you paint something well, put on for a buy it now and it goes, sometimes you'll get a message asking you to paint more the same.

For example, I put a small Dark Eldar force on there, 10 warriors, a raider and 4 jet bikes, in seperate lots, which all went to the same guy.

After this I ended up doing the rest of an army for him in the same scheme where I could name the price.

Just a couple of tips.

Gonders

[Fruhauf]

I've had a couple of commissions in the past, and they've come from ebay.

I've found if you paint something well, put on for a buy it now and it goes, sometimes you'll get a message asking you to paint more the same.

For example, I put a small Dark Eldar force on there, 10 warriors, a raider and 4 jet bikes, in seperate lots, which all went to the same guy.

After this I ended up doing the rest of an army for him in the same scheme where I could name the price.

Just a couple of tips.

Gonders

Useful information, how much did they go for?