What to ask on a commission form
Most commission forms collect the same things:
- Contact details, and how the client prefers to be reached.
- The commission type and size, so the price follows from your list.
- The brief: who or what is in the piece, the mood, the style and the colors.
- Reference images, uploaded with the form instead of sent separately.
- The deadline, and whether it is a fixed date such as a gift.
- How the piece will be used: personal or commercial.
Treat the form as intake, not a contract. You accept the commission when you reply, and the price and terms are settled once you have agreed them.
Deposits and the final payment
A deposit protects the time you set aside. Artists commonly ask for somewhere between a fifth and a half of the price before starting, and hand over the finished file or piece after the final payment clears. Write the amounts and the refund rule where the client sees them before the work starts.
Set the number of revision rounds
Decide how many rounds of changes the price includes, commonly two or three, and what counts as one. A small color adjustment and a redrawn pose are not the same amount of work, so many artists count only the second as a round. Put it in the terms, not in a reply after the first complaint.
Keep sketch approval where you can find it
Approval given in a casual reply is easy to lose and easy to dispute. Send the sketch, ask for a clear yes or a list of changes, and keep the answer with the commission it belongs to. Start line work or color only after the sketch is approved, because changes cost more the further along the piece is.
Keep a queue, and show clients where they are in it
A commission moves through stages, for example inquiry, accepted, deposit paid, sketch, in progress, delivered and paid. Name yours and put every open commission in one of them. Regular updates head off the messages asking for news, and a client who can see the status does not need to ask.