how would one go about to start comissions painting

[eosgreen]

im capable of a very high level and i can do high scoring paint jobs quickly without airbrush but no idea how to start? any suggestions? i could use something to do in the spare time i have coming up

[ShadowcatX]

I'd say set up a website, say a blog with high res photos of work you have done and are doing, then buy advertising across multiple 40k websites. Also make announcements about your business venture across multiple sites (that permit such a thing).

Also, contact some of the well known names and see if they will give you an opportunity to do some work for them so they can review your work. A good recommendation on a couple big youtube channels or podcasts would certainly help get your name out there.

[-Tom-]

I'd say set up a website, say a blog with high res photos of work you have done and are doing, then buy advertising across multiple 40k websites. Also make announcements about your business venture across multiple sites (that permit such a thing).

Also, contact some of the well known names and see if they will give you an opportunity to do some work for them so they can review your work. A good recommendation on a couple big youtube channels or podcasts would certainly help get your name out there.

Like Shadowcat says, you need to show off your work. A website of your own is good, as you can put on higher resolution photos versus what you could put onto, say, Facebook. Basically, bear in mind that you need 2 things really - 1) a way for people to be aware of the service you offer, and 2) a portfolio to prove the quality that you can deliver.

The two will go hand in hand to some extent. If you have work that you can show off, then you can show it off on forums, via a Facebook page, and on places like coolminiornot.com and this will also form your advertising to get the word out to people.

Beyond that, know what you can handle as a workload. Don't take on more than you can deliver on, and make sure you can be organised to liaise with clientele to keep them updated how their commissions are coming along, if there will be any delays, etc. The thing about being a 1-man business is you have to be your own PR department as well as doing the technical/production side.

[Mad Cat]

I did "Friendly" commission painting for about six years. By that I mean I painted for people I knew at my local club or FLGS. This expanded a bit to friends of friends over time but I didn't set up a website or anything like that. I didn't want to expand it any further, I work full time and only used it to finance my hobby and make the odd overpayment on the mortgage. I was painting 250 figs a year at one point but now I now only undertake about 30 figs a year.

If you fancy starting commission painting then this level is a good place to start in your spare time. It will take a while to build up a reputation and a list of regular customers anyway and you can gauge your popularity, pricing levels and the volume that you can cope with.

A few tips.

1. Don't set your prices too low. Price is an indication of quality and an excellent way of damping down excessive demand. By all means offer an introductory rate for a new customer. I used to do the opposite of a bulk discount. If someone wanted a squad of Ultramarines the price may be £9 a figure. If they wanted a company doing then maybe £11 as you do get bored of painting the same thing and it becomes more of a chore. Obviously if you go full or semi professional then bulk discounts have to go the usual way and you can't be quite as picky.
Remember to include in the price any basing or initial gluing. A metal one piece Napoleonic soldier just needs a little flash cleared then you can start. A GW marine on the other hand has mould lines all round each individual part and then needs to be glued so do charge for that maybe £2 a figure. If the customer whinges then invite them to stick them all together to avoid that charge. I had so many people say "all right I will" then change their minds and just pay me to glue them when they realised 10 marines took a solid evening to clean and glue correctly. I had a regular customer who liked to do his own basing so I gave him a good discount for saving me 15% of the painting time.

2. As I knew my customers and was a casual commission painter I never took money up front. If you are doing this as a business then of course you need a full payment or substantial deposit up front but for me the ability to just give them back the models if I changed my mind or if they got arsy and impatient was useful on one occasion and then nobody needs to get into legal disputes etc.

3. Except for a handful of long term friends with a good track record never give completed figures back until full payment is received. I had three customers who I allowed to have "an account" as they were trusted regulars but I had control over whether I would paint anymore for them until they had paid down the bill for previous stuff. For everyone else don't be afraid of putting completed models in front of a customer then taking them straight back if they haven't got the cash with them. Be polite & cheerful so as not to embarrass and arrange a time to hand them over on payment.

4. Watch out for customers who you don't think will have the money at the end. We all know the type who spend whatever they have in their pockets and commissions you when relatively flush but then wants to go on a £5 per month payment plan for a £300 order. Chances are they will get bored and move onto other things in which case you are left with unwanted painted stuff. Here agree a substantial deposit or invite them to wait until they have saved up the money and commission you then.

5. Write some terms and conditions including
- A complete by date for you to achieve - Set this quite far in the future even if you think you can get them done in 1 month set this at three months just in case. The client will be even more chuffed when you hand over the models ahead of time. I also allowed a client to cancel at any time as long as I hadn't started work or to pay for what I had completed (well started actually) at the point I had been informed.
- A date to be paid by. As above payment on delivery but what to do if they can't pay? If the payment date is a good 3-6 months after the completion date then you can put in your conditions that you will sell the figures on eBay but you may not make back the bill. If the eBay auction actually gets you more than you are owed then the excess should go to the customer after postage costs etc. as they are their models. Send an overdue customer a registered letter or email informing them that a payment is due or you will enact this process shortly unless payment is received.
- Put a photo of the initial figures in your T&C document that they will sign. This avoids arguments about what was in the original deal and also stops you getting confused about what figures are due to which customer.

6. For new customers who place large orders, a test figure can avoid disappointments. A customer unhappy with your work is more of a potential problem as it is down to the subjectivity of if your completed commission is what they asked for or up to the expected quality etc. put a photo of the initial figures in your T&C document that they will sign. This avoids arguments about what was in the original deal and also stops you getting confused about what figures are due to which customer.

[Path Walker]

I'd caution againt charging a flat fee for a model, rather, giving a price for your work per hour, factroring in things like paint, glue, wear on brushed and electricity used to light your painting area.

When someone pays you, they're paying for you to work for a number of hours, so if a model is trickier to get right, or something changes, you can account for that.

It also helps you show your pricing to the customer, "This squad will cost me £70 to paint because it will take 7 hours to do" kind of thing.

[DarkLink]

You probably don't quite need to go so far as to charge for the tiny percentage of your electrical bill related to lighting you use while painting. Or, if you do so much business that it does become a major expense, you're probably successful enough to not worry about it.

[eosgreen]

hm ok so a "portfolio" of work. i havent done the hobby in 10 years and i have ONE model i painted to "prove my worth"

my camera is bad so i brought it into the local store so the owner could give me a hand and the people there are convinced it can win a GD lol but i dont have a mass amount of stuff to show...

ive come to enjoy painting other peoples things because...

1 - they just want basic good looking models on the table
2 - its fun to paint lots of DIF types of stuff
3 - i dont have to beat myself over my perfectionism lol

i will start small i imagine squads and such and accept payment AFTER (or keep the **** they give me!)

i also painted a single model that i considered to be a higher quality piece and ill prob do another for "table top quality" etc

[Path Walker]

You probably don't quite need to go so far as to charge for the tiny percentage of your electrical bill related to lighting you use while painting. Or, if you do so much business that it does become a major expense, you're probably successful enough to not worry about it.

Its important to take these expenses into consideration, especially as you will be able to claim the tax back in your self assesment if you're in the UK, having those costs taken into consideration helps.

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hm ok so a "portfolio" of work. i havent done the hobby in 10 years and i have ONE model i painted to "prove my worth"

my camera is bad so i brought it into the local store so the owner could give me a hand and the people there are convinced it can win a GD lol but i dont have a mass amount of stuff to show...

ive come to enjoy painting other peoples things because...

1 - they just want basic good looking models on the table
2 - its fun to paint lots of DIF types of stuff
3 - i dont have to beat myself over my perfectionism lol

i will start small i imagine squads and such and accept payment AFTER (or keep the **** they give me!)

i also painted a single model that i considered to be a higher quality piece and ill prob do another for "table top quality" etc

Post up some pictures and let us know how long it took you to achieve that, time is important, the longer it takes you to paint the less you'll get per hour if you're charging per model.

[Ben_S]

I'd caution againt charging a flat fee for a model, rather, giving a price for your work per hour, factroring in things like paint, glue, wear on brushed and electricity used to light your painting area.


I'd disagree with this. Customers will want to know up front what something's going to cost. It's your job to figure out how long it will take you and to price accordingly.

[Path Walker]

I'd disagree with this. Customers will want to know up front what something's going to cost. It's your job to figure out how long it will take you and to price accordingly.

Which is why you say this model should take 3 hours when painted to the standard you want, so thats £30.

[eosgreen]

yeh my camera is awful which has been my limiting factor. i had some friends take pics hes just at work. it took me like 60 hours for my best work but one of the things i noticed about commission work is that they dont paint models that well. its just "done" i can paint well quickly... compared to what ive seen

- also i dont want this to be a job. frankly no one is paying you much to paint. its for the love of painting.

[bergunder]

For myself, I have broken down 3 tiers of painting levels. They are pretty much natural progressions into each other but stop at a point that still looks complete. Quick and easy gets everything to the table fast. The next tier picks out details and gives the models some pizzazz. Final tier, I pull all the stops and the model looks that much more eye-catching. However, no where near as much time as 60 hours (unless it was a Tau Manta).

This way, the clients have options to what they want to spend their money on and I have distinct levels (not too many) of painting that don't end up blending together and confusing myself or my client. Pictures and blogs are your friend. If you have a HD video camera, video updates can be cool too. Just more ways to add to the community.