Comission Question

[eViLe_eAgLe]

If you are doing a free comission for someone that wants incredible detail in something like this:


For all of these islands:


Im just wondering would you guys do it? Cuz as I know its time consuming and school will start soon I kind of want it done before then.

[Jaxilon]

Well, it depends. If I already told them I would do it then personally I would feel sort of obligated to. (That's just how I try to be).

Of course, if you are still hashing out the requirements you probably haven't committed yourself to the project because you don't know what it is yet. If it's more than you have time for then you may have to just tell them, 'Wow, this is more than I expected and I have school starting up in a bit. I don't think I will have time to complete this for you.'

On the other hand, if you make brushes for all that stuff you might be able to crank it out pretty quick.

edit: On a side note, someone once said you should always get something for your commissions. Even A dollar for example. This allows you to put them down as a paid commission which if you ever plan to do this type of work on the side could be of value. That said, I have done them for free in the past.

[eViLe_eAgLe]

No I said I could get it done and I feel obligated. I showed him a simpler style that I think looked good. But he refused and stated that looks better. The major thing is I was still practicing when I took it.. So, I don't know how to do tree's and other things. And I have about 5 other things in development currently. 1 a city map im working on. 2 a city style im working on. 3 A solar system map for a friend. 4. this. 5. A dungeon map style. I even told me it might take me a month or two because I can't dedicate my time to it. If it was a paid comission I would dedicate all my time to it.

[Coyotemax]

You've run into one of the major hurdles - time management You've got a lot going on, and it sounds like you're commited to each of them, so you may want to do up a list of priorities.. and cross reference them with time constraints. basically, decide which projects are most important, which are more time critical, and go from there to create a work schedule. Once you have a schedule done up, try and stick to it, even if you don't feel like working, draw anyway.

And then learn from the experience - if nothing else this will give you an excellent idea of how much work you are able to take on at one time without affecting other projects you have on the go.

[eViLe_eAgLe]

The reason I don't make brushes.. Is because I prefer good ole' hand drawnness.
As for the priorities if its not paid, the priorities for a free one are at par with my own world because of reputation and being nice. If it is paid its first on the list. But, i think i'll ask him if I can demote to a lower style.

[eViLe_eAgLe]

By world I mean the fantasy world that my story is taking place in.

[Jaxilon]

hehe, more coffee and some loud music it sounds like to me then I wish you the best in all this.

[Ascension]

I break these things down into bits, it helps when I feel like I'm just trudging along and don't feel like doing anything. I always try to do at least one thing per day - say like all the mountains on one island, or all the trees, or all the rivers, etc. That way I at least make some sort of progress and don't waste a lot of time either for when I want to spend that time on other things like sleeping. I'll spend an hour or at most 2 and I still have time for other things. Compartmentalizing helps me very much.

[eViLe_eAgLe]

Thats actually what I was thinking about when I started this. Mountains one day. Details another. Lines another. And then figuring out tree's another.

[Djekspek]

When facing a huge amount of detailled work I also get scared. It also gets tedious after a while. In that situation I also force myself to do a little piece every day not looking at the complete map too much... Then after a while I get the workflow right and things go faster. I also make sure I have multiple projects running so I can switch when I get bored with a piece. I almost never use brushes, but when I have some part I think looks really good, I sometimes clone (copy/paste) it and make some small adaptions. This is hardly noticed, keeps style/size consistent and more important, it speeds up the line-work...

anyway, good luck in getting this huge thing done, bit by bit! cheers, DJ