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How long you expect a commission to take?

Just a little open question here. I decided to close commission cause I felt like I was taking a bit too long to get them done. I usually try to have illustrations done within about a week or so. But, I was taking more like 2-3 weeks right now. Does it sound like too much of a delay or should I stay open even if I am producing stuff a bit more slowly atm?

I am just curious. How long do you expect to wait for a commission to be done? I am talking after the point when you paid for it and the artist told you he's starting to work on it. So not counting for when you may be in a waiting list cause then the process isn't really started yet.

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Added:	1 week, 6 days ago 06 Sep 2025 01:32 CEST

20 Comments on this Journal

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Balmung

1 week, 6 days ago

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I prefer a maximum of around a month. More than that it gets hard to plan, particularly for artists that are in demand and have limited slots.

But I may be a rare case, I mostly do series of pictures, and timing is of more importance there.

Bunnypaint

1 week, 6 days ago

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@ Balmung

I see. Only worked on a series of picture once. Was able to do them all after the other since I wasn't really busy at the time, but I can see more popular artist having to spread the work. Guess what's important for those is to determine the due date of each part at the beginning.

LemmyNiscuit

1 week, 6 days ago

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This is coming from the perspective of a software dev; time is an aspiration but not a constraint for me. I'm paying for quality of art, which means time is technically an unbounded variable. The biggest thing for me in regards to time is knowing when / that it's being worked on and staying in communication. If something takes a few weeks but there's good communication on updates, even if it's "I was not able to work on it, yet," or "I'm still working on another commission for a bit," that's fine; there's a sense of accountability, there. It's when the communication goes quiet for too long that I start getting concerned, especially if I reach out and it's still quiet after a few days.

Bunnypaint

1 week, 6 days ago

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@ LemmyNiscuit

-giggles- The way you explain things sounds like a software dev. alright =XD

I get what you mean. In term of communication, I actually feel like I tend to be annoying by communicating too much sometime. I try to get most details and questions out of the way in the thumbnail and sketch phase, but there is always a few things I haven't think about that pop up as I render. I know not everyone are on IB everyday, so sometime my message can start to pile up. I try to keep messaging just once per day with all the questions I noted. But I don't want to wait too long to ask or else I'll forget.

LemmyNiscuit

1 week, 6 days ago

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@ Bunnypaint

Proactive communication is a two-way street. I know artists that also get very frustrated when they give an update to a commissioner and then they don't hear anything for more than two weeks.

Bunnypaint

1 week, 6 days ago

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@ LemmyNiscuit

Yeah. Haven't happen so far to me. People I worked with were pretty fast. But, of course when I evaluate the time I take on a picture, I don't really count the time I am waiting for answer into that since it's out of my control. The big details I try to get them approve early at the sketch, so that way I don't have to wait to go forward once I start rendering. I usually go with what I think for those smaller detail and will just adjust them as I get the feedback.

UrbanSaint

1 week, 5 days ago

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@ LemmyNiscuit

pretty much my thoughts as well

RollerCoasterViper59

1 week, 6 days ago

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3 to 6 months is too long. But a year is rediculous. Most artists finish in about 1 to 2 months

Bunnypaint

1 week, 6 days ago

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@ RollerCoasterViper59

A year! That I can get if you are just on a waiting list. But when the process is started, a year seems way too long. At that point I'll probably be the one going crazy =XD

3 to 6 months sounds like a lot too. Only way I can see that happen would be if I feel the image isn't working at all and have to restart from scratch a few times. That or if I feel I am unable to complete it cause I lack the necessary skill. But, at that point I'll definitely check with you first if you want to cancel or are willing to wait.

EclypseSkunk

1 week, 6 days ago

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I'm with lemmy here. my patience is correlated to the amount of communication I have with the artist. for me, just stay in contact, let me know what's going on and the time a piece takes becomes background noise.

but the longer I sit in silence (exponentially so if said artist is making a bunch of posts of other comms taken after mine, plus personal work...) makes me get kind of impatient.

Bunnypaint

1 week, 6 days ago

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@ EclypseSkunk

I usually work on 2 or 3 pieces at the same time at most, so things like that shouldn't happen. I do that mostly cause it's good to take a step back from them sometime to get a fresh look. I avoid leaving an illustration hanging for too long. Maybe I could end up posting a couple of other stuff during the process if it's a very huge piece with many characters, but I would still have the same frequency regarding communication since I'll need your feedback for each characters.

CloudHusky

1 week, 6 days ago

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"	But, I was taking more like 2-3 weeks right now.

That's standard from my experiences commissioning. Maybe a month on the higher side. 📈🐈

Bunnypaint

1 week, 6 days ago

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@ CloudHusky

I see. The thing is I don't like making people wait. But, I also tend to be very critical and have self doubt that make me rework things. Especially right now as I do a lot of tutorial and training. A month do sound a bit long still, but I can see that happen if I have to rework it a few time since I work more like part time atm on commissions.

Rodgerblue

1 week, 6 days ago

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2 to 6 weeks unless it is made understood at the time of commission that it will take longer. Longer periods (greater than 4 weeks) might be best done as either half-up front or pay on delivery, but not if you're squeezing someone in as a favor even though your docket is full or while your commission window is closed. More important is communication if a commission is going to take longer than expected, letting them know asap and why goes a long way to assure them.

Bunnypaint

1 week, 6 days ago

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@ Rodgerblue

Good communication seem to be the recurring theme here. I do try to be upfront about delays as much as I can and update the commissioner if it will take longer. It shouldn't go over a month however except if it's a very big piece, but so far I think the biggest one I worked on was 3 characters. In the case of those, I would probably just focus more on just that one before starting another one.

I never really did those kind of priority commissions yet. Probably cause I never had a big list anyway, so there is no point. Don't think I would bump commissions I already started working on them however.

Lnarra214

1 week, 6 days ago

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I generally expect 1-2 months at most under normal conditions. if it's a big project or I know i'm far down in a big queue, i'll generally be a bit more patient. communication initiated by the artist when delays are happening are big for me. I don't like messaging artists cause I feel like i'm being annoying, but on the other hand, I wanna know what's going on.

I haven't really called anyone out except one artist that hasn't done anything on my comm in 3 years, but has been constantly putting out other work.

Long and short, try and keep communication open with your customers. Give an expected time frame when the initial convo is happening, and try to update every 1-2 weeks after that. Your speed of production will vary, and some comms are easier than others. People mainly want to know they've not been ignored or forgotten.

Bunnypaint

1 week, 6 days ago

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@ Lnarra214

That's mostly why I made a trello list. I keep communication pretty frequent as I work on a piece, so that's not a problem. But, for people that are waiting, they can see how my list is progressing. I do try to let people know roughly when I'll start if they ask, but I am being very careful cause I don't want to make false promises. It's hard to plan very long term. You never know what can happen. That's mostly why I wait to start to work on commission before asking for payment. I also ask if there are due date for the piece of course so I can make sure I get it done in time, or warn the person if I don't think I can.

I often heard people say they prefer not to message artist, but really, you shouldn't. Of course don't send the same question every day. But I think reassuring customers and answering questions or concerns is part of the artist job. Also, never feel bad to say if something is bothering you in a piece. Everyone taste is different, so artist do need honest feedback to make sure the piece is to your liking.

Lnarra214

1 week, 6 days ago

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@ Bunnypaint

Sounds like you have a good setup. keep it up ^^

VarraTheVap

1 week, 6 days ago

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Edited 1 week, 6 days ago by Owner

Under a month is still all fine with me and would call quick :) Numerous artists take longer

Bunnypaint

1 week, 6 days ago

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@ VarraTheVap

Alright =:3 That I can do. A month should be good enough unless that's a really big one. I usually try to evaluate depending on the number of characters.

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