Why I rarely accept commissions.

''Why don't you open for commissions?''

I was asked this question yesterday. It's a simple question but I kindof laughed because people who aren't artists don't really understand the sort of characters that one must wade through, when one publically opens commissions.

Most people like the idea of commissioning someone, not actually committing to it. In short, they're not serious.That's fine but if you're not serious about something, then you shouldn't be contacting actual serious people in the first place and wasting their time.

At one point, years and years ago, I actually did accept every commission that came my way. Over time I realized that I wasn't comfortable with doing that anymore and I stopped. Since then, each time that I open commissions, people contact me from different places, with different things in mind for me to paint. Rarely do I agree.

Regarding commissions; I have never been one to shy away from showing gratitude. I am very grateful to anyone who even remotely respects what I do or would like to own a work of art from me. I don't expect it but it's nice when it happens. 

Despite this gratitude, I do have a say in what I paint and for whom, so I don't always agree to accept a commission when people contact me. Infact, I actually temporarily stopped accepting commissions, since a rather unpleasant experience in '24. Afterwards, I was just sort of over the whole idea of the commission thing and very put off understandably because I thought that I was being careful and covering all of my bases through clear communication. Given this, I thought that the process would be smooth. I was wrong.

While in the process of completing a separate commission from a fantastic person in Manhattan, I received an email from a guy who was/is part of a band from the northeast. (I am being vague because I don't feel it necessary to name them or give hints as to who they are, where their band is from or any details that will give away their identity. There's no need for that.) Anyways, he contacted me to paint an album cover for them. They seemed alright and I was cool with them. Despite this, I still wanted to be sure that I was specific and direct in how I communicated with them. I asked them specifically what they wanted me to paint and through back and forth, they told me. I still needed to be sure that they were sure because I did not want to deal with anyone changing their mind after I had begun painting. Everything was good at first and they wanted me to ''run'' with this painting.

Alright, great. I made some fresh coffee, got the notepad out, started taking down ideas, viewing reference photos for a harmonic aesthetic, figuring out what works and what doesn't, emailing the band and waiting for their replies to ensure that I understood and could properly meet their deadline. I was feeling good and was glad to be a part of what I thought was going to be something simple and enjoyable. The scene was set and finally, I began painting.

Everyone who has ever painted, knows that once you begin painting and those paint layers dry, the only way to remove said layers is to scrape them away, which in the process essentially destroys the painting as a whole and ruins all of the work and all of the thought put in thus far. So in other words you'd have to completely start over.

I work with heavy body acrylic paint. Heavy body acrylic paint is not cheap and I am not a fan of wasting. Even if it was, what justifies what happened next? 

Days later, when I had completed a fair amount of the painting, the band then began changing their minds and sending me a photo of an artwork completed by someone else that was actually used by another musician, expecting me to use that as a reference - which was completely out of the question. It was at this point that I understood that I had made a mistake in agreeing to this commission. I was kicking myself because this is the exact situation that I try to avoid, when it concerns commissions. This is the exact thing that puts me off of commissions completely; people like this.

I was put off. I knew that if they changed their minds once, they would do it again and again and again because that is what people like this do - they waste your time. As long as you allow them to, they will waste your time and make you wish that you had never replied to their email. I decided that the best thing to do would be to go ahead and nip things in the bud, so that they knew exactly where I stood.

Rather than adapt the modern way of beating around the bush in communication, I opted for not holding back and I told them exactly what I thought. Afterwards, their response indicated to me that they did not like what I had to say. Thank goodness. In turn I was so, so grateful to cease contact and not have my name connected to them. Thank goodness for small blessings.

No amount of money is worth the hassle and frustration of dealing with people who do not communicate clearly, cannot make up their mind and do not know what they want. So when people say ''I have something that I want you to paint for me'' or ''are you open for commissions?'' it is experiences like the one that I shared above that linger in mind and make me very hesitant. This is why I rarely accept commissions. That isn't to say that I'm rude when declining a commission, just wary of folks who seem to delight in wasting the time of others.

The below screenshots back up everything that I mentioned in this post. I have censored the band's name, email address, email profile image (which is a photo of their band) along with my own and details inside of the email that give away who they are. We all know how the internet works, so I'm pretty sure that my reasons for doing this are self explanatory and mature.