how do you get commissions

[Knito]

I've opened up mine for like 2 months now and I've not gotten anything... I think I have a pretty decent following of people so its not like my stuff isnt reaching anyone. I used to get a few requests back when I was just starting out somehow, but now I DO want to design track cover arts and posters for other people. Should I advertise more aggressively or something? Also is Cara any good cause someone recommended it to me as a way to get comms

https://twitter.com/x/status/1799852160060162378

this is the post i made announcing comms

 

[Sonachine69]

We are pretty different in terms of art we produce and target audience, but one of the things that helped me get a lot more work was taking my social media game more seriously.

Like, I hate everything about social media, but I can admit that cleaning my accs from all the shitpost and maintaining a somewhat okay schedule(but I still can't do it properly) helped me tremendously.

Another thing that helped me is my omnipresence in so many places, I'm always posting my work everywhere I can, including Blender Forum and some 3DCG subreddits. If there is a place where you can share your work - do it, people are happy to see your bangers, and you are becoming more visible as a creative. You never know where you will be noticed!

I can be totally wrong, but personally, I think that Twitter is not the best place to push your creative work. Almost every profile is filled to the brim with random stuff, and usually, you need to dig through the Media tab to find actual art. It's not bad, but from the perspective of a person who's looking for a creative to commission, I would use Instagram or any other place without all the clutter.

 

[Mukky]

Blood sacrafice to the gods (/j)

Real answer: It's never going to be regular or consistent until you've reached a loooooot of followers on multiple platforms, or, get lucky. I got my first commisison before I even offically opened comms, and then not again for months. When I opened comms, I got maybe one or two and then dead for months.

It's about luck of the draw, but there are ways to push the luck in your favour. As @Sonachine69 said, Twitter can be bad if your personal twitter and art twitter are one in the same. Clients want a quick look through your body of work with as little effort as possible, if you're serious about getting commissions on twitter (and it is a viable platform, 90% of my commissions come from Twitter) you gotta have a clean media tab. I'd even go so far as to rarely ever use your art twitter for making posts about personal or fandom stuff. I like using my art Twitter to engage with my audience who like my art, and to engage with other artists. (another tip, be nice to people online, compliment their art if you like it! Don't be a kiss-ass, but what goes around comes around. If you support your fellow artists, big and small, they may support you back)

As for other social media platforms, it never hurts to spread yourself out there a bit. It can be a lot of work, but once you get a system going, it's a lot easier to post your work everywhere at once. Whenever I post a new piece of art, I have 8 different places I post. And that's a lot! But that's just the cost of business sometimes.

I have also noticed that whenever I post about commissions, I'm more likely to receieve them, so one post that you pin might not get the eyes you need! Quote-tweet it or make another one, someday someone will take the bait and you'll get that ball rolling.

I'm happy to answer any questions, queries, concerns you may have, and I wish you luck on your journey!

 

[bennydryl]

From my very very limited experience you just gotta put your stuff all over the place. You just gotta keep reminding people you exist lol.
I don't do very much promotion of commission taking so I've only been approached a few times but it's always by someone in a community I'm a part of, never like a random person on Twitter or anything.

The other day I got my first free commission request which was funny. Felt bad but you gotta shut that down lol

 

[DEEP.UNKNWN]

find a niche and there will be opportunities that come from that community!

I work closely with the rave scene and now all my work comes from that realm, and its been pretty steady. It helps to get involved in a local scene. Up and coming bands/artists need event flyers and covers and can be found in any city, in tons of genres of music! Find a group of people putting on local music events and chat them up IRL

 

[Knito]

Thank you guys for the replies, lots of helpful stuff in here!

Twitter can be bad if your personal twitter and art twitter are one in the same. Clients want a quick look through your body of work with as little effort as possible, if you're serious about getting commissions on twitter (and it is a viable platform, 90% of my commissions come from Twitter) you gotta have a clean media tab. I'd even go so far as to rarely ever use your art twitter for making posts about personal or fandom stuff.

Yeah, I learnt about keeping a clean media tab a few months ago, and it's just art in there ever since. Sometimes if I do post a funny gif or image, I'm sure to delete it after a while so that it doesn't clutter up my media page. I'm still guilty for using the same account for other non-art stuff though.

Another thing that helped me is my omnipresence in so many places, I'm always posting my work everywhere I can, including Blender Forum and some 3DCG subreddits. If there is a place where you can share your work - do it, people are happy to see your bangers, and you are becoming more visible as a creative. You never know where you will be noticed!

Oh I never really thought about it that way. The only place I post my art is my twitter and any art/music discord servers I'm in. Maybe I should start an Instagram account or a Cara page...

From my very very limited experience you just gotta put your stuff all over the place. You just gotta keep reminding people you exist lol.

I understand this but it feels so embarrasing just waving a flag every now and then to get people to look at your art haha. I will do it more often though, hopefully not to an annoying extent

find a niche and there will be opportunities that come from that community!

I work closely with the rave scene and now all my work comes from that realm, and its been pretty steady. It helps to get involved in a local scene. Up and coming bands/artists need event flyers and covers and can be found in any city, in tons of genres of music! Find a group of people putting on local music events and chat them up IRL

I didn't reallly think about my local scene, I'll look into that