*applause to everyone who's posted so far, especially Sigurd*

I'll take on requests for unpaid work, though the bulk of my work lately has been paid commissions. As Ascension points out, it gives me a chance to hone skills and experiment in manners I might not with a paid map - at that point my time is better used by working with techniques that I've become familiar with (while working on unpaid maps, no less). I may not get the paid commissions I do without that unpaid work as well - it's how I built up my portfolio, along with maps I created for no other reason to create them. And if I'm looking to work in a new style, why not experiment on something that has a focus to it? Personally I find myself a better artist when I have someone saying "Would it be possible to do this or this?". I find I do better work when there's direction. And if I don't have anything else going on at the moment, why not? I've already made one great friendship from an unpaid request, and it's lead into a multitude of other opportunities for which I am grateful - and this never would have happened if I had not said "Sure, I'll give that a try".

(Another thing I like about taking on unpaid maps - it gives you a bit more chance to practice relations with the client without the pressure of money attached There's a lot less worry about "will i say the wrong thing and lose the commission" along with learning what to ask and how to ask it when discussing needs.)

So that's my own thoughts on the matter.
(and a quick apology to people who've known me to be a lot more verbose on the forums previously, over the last month or two there's been a lot of personal issues and some commissions that take away my time from reading and responding, and there's been days where I could have spent the entire day doing nothing but going through the forum when I see 4 pages of new posts! I'm still here and I still skim, obviously )