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cgeez - Sure, let's talk traditional!
When I think about art I like to buy, I find traditional art's got a bit of a unique advantage. I can get prints made of digital art I've commissioned and stick that on my wall, sure, but there's just something really cool about getting a thing made online, seeing the pictures, tracking the parcel, and then opening it up and seeing it- no photo or scan can quite compare to the real thing.
I've ordered dozens of traditional art pieces over the years, and all but one piece made it safely to me. (Rest in pieces, that one thing.) Traditional commissions do make beautiful presents for friends, so I would say to perhaps consider offering mailing options if you can (even if it's only within your country). Commissioner pays the postage, of course - get familiar with your country's postage estimating calculator, and always make sure the letter can be tracked.
Regarding your art, you obviously know what you're doing! I like how you can draw accurately, but not crowd the page with lines; there's a nice space in your work, and it lends well to the very basic colouring. There's a really cool realism to your dragon portraits in particular, which is often a bit tricky to pull off with Flight Rising dragons and all two of the views we get of them. I think overall, your art style could make for some very nice icons for bios and rp discords, with their strong lines and lots of space 'n' personality - perhaps you could work that angle into your shop, to tempt those not so interested in having something mailed to them.
Overall, I think the minimalism works well for simple dragons, though I do think a lot of people commissioning dragons these days want complex piles of clothing (you might want to add a rule or extra payment for large shuffling heaps, if you know what I mean). Speaking of restrictions, I think it might be an idea for you to emphasize the minimalistic colouring in your shop - make it clear how many colours people can order, and which genes, if any
(cough cough poitox cough cough) are disallowed because they would involve too many colours.
A good art shop is all about the examples - you want to show your commissioner that you can do the thing the commissioner is hoping to ask of you, if that makes much sense. Obviously you know you need to scan your pictures in, but here's a few more things you might consider adding to your examples list-
- You may like to take a fullbody or halfbody picture you have drawn, and crop it or add some boxes/lines in order to show people what they are getting in terms of fullbodies, halfbodies, busts, headshots, and whatever else you're offering. As a commissioner, sometimes I want a bust that has my dragon's wings, maybe because I gened the wings myself or something, and it can be confusing to see an artist show some busts that have the wings, and some busts that don't.
- I noticed
pencil lines on this image. While I don't think you should leave that on your examples in a shop, you might like to consider offering non-mailable pencil sketches or pencil doodles as a cheaper option. (If you don't know about menu psychology - people tend to avoid the cheapest thing, because we've been taught there's something wrong with it. By creating a cheaper option than your regular options, you can tempt people towards the things you really want them to buy.)
- Showing a pencil sketch example also gives people this idea that there's foundational work in those finished pieces that might not be able to see, but it's there. This adds work-time and therefore value to the finished art in their minds, which is good!
- When you show your gijinka examples, show off or link to the dragon you just drew! It's your interpretation, after all. I personally love to see the source material; it gives more context to the art, and gets people thinking about their own dragons, what they might look like in your artstyle.
- I really like the background with
Terrak - it gives him lots more contrast than the others. It would be good to see some more background examples - perhaps some that cover the whole page with no white space besides inside the dragon? Perhaps a more traditional watercolour wash? Up to you, but I think offering background examples could be a good idea.
- You may want to make a banner image for the forums, but also a title card for your shop! I have a bit of a slow connection, so often the first image that loads in a thread is... the first one, and it's all I can look at for a bit. You want that picture to be something cool that shows off your strengths, not the pencil sketch doodle example or something.
- You might like to offer an example of a dragon portrait without the name. Some people like having their dragon's name on a portrait, but the thing is, I have lots of beautiful dragons with... questionable names. Take this one, for instance.
Like, no, I don't want that name on a piece of artwork, tucked inside an envelope, that my nosy family just opened right in front of me.
As far as pricing opinions go, I think it'd be dependent on a few factors:
- Number of colours in the picture
- Whether or not blending/shading work was done, as
here
- Size of the paper - this is also important if you're mailing them, for obvious reasons
- How long you spend working on these
As a ballpark estimate, I would think somewhere around the $17 USD/1700g mark would be fair for an A5 bust with minimal colouring and no name or background - $17 specifically because it is a less scary number than $20, though I think you could easily run that too. You could charge a bit less for a headshot, but only a bit less - I wouldn't go lower than $12, unless you're drawing on a piece of paper the size of a playing card or something.
These are just my opinions, tho! You've got fab art that I think people would be interested in; just make sure you set up a good shop, to give yourself the best chance of success.
