Students on campus are utilizing their artistic skills to do art commissions, a type of art sale where clients request an artist to create custom pieces. These artists have learned to balance their individual illustration businesses with school while building early business and communication skills.
Sophomore Zee Pham said they were around 4 or 5 when they were first exposed to art through a Disney show called ‘Little Einstein’s’ and was inspired by Van Gogh’s “Starry Night.” They became invested in art and wanted to help their parents with making money, Pham added.
“My dad said, ‘Hey, you should use your art for money purposes,’” Pham said. “I’ve seen a lot of people do that online, so I thought, ‘Maybe I should do this as well.’”
Senior Sophia Villo wanted a creative output, and was very interested in people selling their art on social media, Villo added.
“Art is not typically a good job to make an income, but the idea of having something drawn in an art style you really admire really fascinated me,” Villo said. “I hoped that other people would like my art enough to buy it.”
Senior Vicky Har said she began by drawing cats, after reading a book series called “Warrior Cats.” She noticed people around her were doing art commissions, so she wanted to try it out, she added.
“I feel like it was also an accomplishment as an artist,” Har said.
Pham said they began by reaching out to their friends to see if they were interested in commissioning them.
“I got the first commission, and it went really well,” they said. “Afterwards, I began advertising it on Instagram to see if anyone wants to buy more.”
To price their art, Pham looks at examples of other artists who have experience with online commissions, they said. They noticed it was often really pricey, they added.
“Considering I’m still new to commissions, I wanted to do a decent price where people can afford it,” Pham said. “So, I started from $5 to $20 at first, and then over time, I built up to the $50’s.”
Har prices her items based on however much money she wants at the moment, then opens her commissions, Har said. She doesn’t base an art’s price off her time spent on it, Har added.
“I just do it off of how much I think my art should be worth,” Har said. “A headshot would be around $25, and a full body would be around $50.”
Villo said clients usually commission her for pencil sketches because that’s her cheapest option. Pencil commissions are also the ones that take her the shortest amount of time to do, which is why it’s so cheap, she added.
“On average, it takes around 20 minutes for me,” Villo said. “Digital commissions are on the pricier side. The one that’s most expensive is my rendered digital (artwork) because on average, it’ll take three to five hours for me to complete. I think I scaled that to $40.”
Villo looks at her schedule first, then posts deadlines for her commissions, she said. She currently has her commissions open, but she’s closing them the day before finals, she added.
“I opened them right now because I have the least amount of work so far,” Villo said. “I also am free to negotiate. I think negotiation is important for when I take commissions because some people will have really complicated commissions that I can’t do in the span of two days.”
Villo wants to practice drawing because one of her dreams is to make her own comic, she said. She posts on her social media account so she can develop her scheduling skills and learn how she can balance art with other work, she said. “My dream is to be a full-time artist,” she said. “But for now, I’m going to aim to finish my education and try to get a business major. I want to play this game of patience where I just try to develop until I’m ready.”
