Terms of Service

CONTACT

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• All business communication and negotiations will be conducted via email at vicekillx@gmail.com
   

PAYMENT

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• Invoices will be sent for all payments either manually or through a number of online payment processors. Work will not begin until the commission is paid in full, unless otherwise agreed upon.

• DO NOT send money on your own without express written permission; all standard payments are made through invoices. Any money sent outside of invoices will be refunded or considered a tip. Payment plans can be negotiated, but work will not continue past the value that has already been paid (ex: if you have paid enough to cover the sketch but the finished product will be colored, I will do the sketch but will not begin coloring until that portion has been paid).

• Tips are welcome but not expected and will not make your commission a higher priority.
   

FEES

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• Deadlines

  • The artist must be given a minimum of seven days to work on sketches and four weeks for fully rendered images before rush fees will be applied; completion time will vary based on commission tier, subject matter, medium, and more.

    • The artist may apply rush fees at their discretion. The amount will vary case-by-case.

  • Commissions with deadlines will be given priority over those without. Commissions with closer deadlines will be given priority over those with farther ones. Without deadlines, commissions will be worked on at the artist’s discretion.

• Revisions

  • Revisions that are made because of the artist’s error are free, provided the commissioner points it out immediately. Those made because of the commissioner’s error, a mutual misunderstanding, or lack of communication may be subject to additional fees at the artist’s discretion.

  • Please condense revision requests into as few emails as possible, and take the time to double and triple check the work before asking for revisions. Revisions after the second email may require a fee. (Ex: send one email asking to change the expression, tail, and paws, not one email for each).

  • Major revisions may require a fee, the amount of which will vary case-by-case. This includes revisions to the pose, character shapes, expressions, color palette, mood, etc .

    • In this case, the artist retains the right to recycle the unfinished version for another piece, or if that is not possible, to sell the original of it as-is.

    • Major revisions to any of these things after work-in-progress images have been sent and approved (i.e. changing the pose after approving the sketch, changing the color after midway through rendering, etc) will result in additional fees.

  • Character design commissions may have up to two marking changes before a revision fee will be added.

• Backgrounds & Complex Characters

  • Backgrounds and complex character designs warrant a fee that will vary based on complexity; the fee is set at the artist’s discretion.

  • Things that constitute complex characters include but are not limited to: wings, extra limbs, intricate markings or textures (tiger stripes, wood grain, etc), feathers, armor or complex clothing.

• Traditional media

  • Standard commission prices cover all materials used, provided they are already in my possession.

  • The price of canvases/paper, mediums I do not already own, and any other additional materials may be added to the total price at the artist’s discretion. This is not possible for commissions taken at conventions.

  • For all traditional color pieces, the artist will choose media best suited to the piece and limitations of the project (dimensions, deadlines, etc) by default. The client may request a particular medium, but the artist reserves the right to refuse or charge an additional fee.

  • Grayscale pieces may be done on either white, tan, or gray toned paper. The artist will choose one suited to the piece by default, but the client may request one at no additional cost. Paper colors that are not on-hand will warrant an additional fee, determined on a case-by-case basis.

    • Ballpoint pen pieces will be done in black ink by default, but the client may request red or blue ink at no additional cost. Red and blue ink can only be used on white paper and will not work on gray, tan, or other colors.

    • White ink, chalk, colored pencil, etc can only be used on colored paper. These media are included in toned paper pieces at no additional cost, at the artist’s discretion. On white paper, any visible white is the paper showing through.

  Original Sales, Shipping and Prints

  • The commission price DOES NOT include the price of the original on traditional pieces. By default the artist will keep the original and the client will receive a high resolution and web resolution digital file as they would with a digital piece. The client who commissioned the piece may purchase the original as well at a steep discount (determined case-by-case) of the commission price plus shipping.

  • Prints can be requested at any time in a range of sizes for an additional fee.

WORK PROCESS

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1. Inquiry: The artist and client discuss the style, content, and price of the commission. The artist will provide a quote for the piece once the details have been negotiated. Neither artist nor client is bound to anything at this point.

2. Form: The artist will provide the client with a commission form to fill out. This is to keep all the information organized in one place, and streamlines the process for both artist and client. The information entered is private and for personal records only.

3. Payment & Filled Slot: Once the form response has been received, the artist will send the client an invoice via Paypal (unless otherwise negotiated) and the slot will be marked "pending" on the queue.. Once the artist receives the payment, the client will be added to the queue and the commission slot filled. Work will not begin until paid in full, unless otherwise agreed.

4. Thumbnails/rough sketch: The artist will lay out the pose, composition, and other landmarks of the piece. The characters and setting will be rough and lacking in detail. This stage is often experimental and fluid. Thumbnails are generally not provided for sketch commissions.

5. Thumbnail/rough sketch approval: The client will choose which thumbnail to pursue. If a rough sketch is provided, the client may request changes to the work that has been done (in which case steps 4 and 5 will repeat until the client is satisfied or the artist is unable to continue). Once the client gives their approval, work will continue.

6. Final sketch: The artist will clean up and add detail to the rough sketch. For sketch commissions, digital tones and textures will be added. For rendered pieces, the final adjustments may be done digitally.

7. Final sketch approval: The artist will show the sketch to the client. The client may request changes to the work that has been done since the previous approval (in which case steps 6 and 7 will repeat until the client is satisfied or the artist is unable to continue). Once the client gives their approval, work will continue. This is where the process for sketch commissions ends. 
        7b. Transferring: For traditional pieces, the artist transfers the sketch from the sketch paper or digital file to the surface of the final piece (drawing paper, watercolor paper, canvas, etc). 

8. Color/Rendering: The artist begins applying shading and/or color to the piece. This stage makes up the bulk of the process. Multiple work-in-progress images will be provided for updating and approval throughout. 

   • Traditional pieces: Please understand that due to the nature of traditional media, some edits at this stage cannot be made easily or at all. These edits in some cases may be fixable on the digital file but not the original, or they may mean starting the piece over from the sketch.

   • There is no final approval stage for this. Any changes to the color or rendering that were not requested during the work-in-progress checks will warrant an extra fee.

9. Emailed files: The artist will email two versions of the finished product: one high resolution with no watermark, and one web resolution with a watermark. 

10. Purchase of originals or prints: In addition to the files, prints may be purchased at flat rates (depending on size) + shipping. For traditional pieces, the finished original(s), including preliminary sketches if applicable, may be purchased for an additional 25-50% of the commission price plus shipping. 

     

    The client has SEVEN DAYS to respond to a sketch or color approval unless otherwise agreed upon. After this period the commission will be put on hold until there is another open slot or a response is received. Telling the artist you will reply with corrections does not count as a response unless you provide a specific date (i.e. “I’ll get back to you on the 15th” vs “I’ll get back to you soon”) . If the client does not reply within 30 days, the artist will partially refund the client based on how much work has been completed, and reserves the right to modify, repurpose, and resell any work that is completed. If the client would like to resume the commission after 30 days, they may do so for the full price of the commission (the original quote may be void and subject to change). 

     

PERMISSIONS & USAGE

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• By the artist:

  • The artist may use the work for portfolios, advertisement, or any other promotional use. The client may NOT request that the finished piece not be posted online, with the exception of work done with the intent of being published; in this case, the artist will post the work once publication is complete.

  • For traditional pieces, the artist reserves the right to sell the original, including preliminary sketches, to people other than the buyer. The sale of the original will not transfer the ownership of any characters in the piece to the buyer. The client will always have the right of first refusal on original sales and will always be offered a steep discount from the retail price. Originals that do not sell for an extended period of time may be given as gifts or donated to charity auctions.

  • The artist may make and sell prints and merchandise of the completed piece, regardless of content. The client may choose to pay an extra fee to ensure that there will not be prints or merchandise made of their piece, which will be determined case-by-case.

    • This request must be made before the work is complete.

    • It is the responsibility of the client to alert the artist if they do not want prints to be made.

  • The artist reserves the right to make any changes, revisions, modifications, or additions to both canceled and completed commissions, or work on a piece beyond the client’s request for use as prints or other merchandise. Prints of the modified image may be made even if the client has requested there be no prints of the original version. Modified versions will not contain characters belonging to the commissioner nor anyone else besides the artist. .

  • The artist reserves the right to share works in progress, watermarked high-resolution files, and other additional material of the commission as rewards on SubscribeStar. The client will be credited.

• By the client:

  • The client may repost the WATERMARKED version of the work wherever they please. They may NOT post the UN-watermarked version anywhere; that is strictly for their personal use. An exception can be made for sending the high resolution files in private to an artist as reference material for future commissions. Credit via link back to the artist’s website or social media is required on all public posts.

  • The client may crop or otherwise alter the work for PERSONAL use as an icon, banner, wallpaper, etc. Written credit is greatly appreciated but is not strictly required.

  • The client may NOT use the work for personal profit via print sales, merchandise, etc. unless otherwise negotiated before payment. Exceptions may be made for cases where the client sells the design or rights to a character portrayed in the commission.

  • The above rights may be purchased from the artist for an additional fee, or royalties negotiated.

  • The client may have prints of their work made for their own personal use or as gifts. They may not sell prints of the work unless otherwise agreed. Prints are available through the artist.

  • The client may NOT under any circumstances claim the work as their own. Clients found to have done this will be blacklisted.

  • The client may NOT have another artist draw over, finish, rework, or otherwise alter the image (i.e. buying a sketch and having another artist ink and color it) or do so themselves without express written permission. Any edits to the commission must otherwise be done by the original artist. Clients found to have done this will be blacklisted. Exceptions will be made for animation.

    • Clients MAY ink and color sketch commissions themselves, provided credit for the sketch is still given to the original artist when posted. Clients may apply filters to rendered pieces for personal use, but may not make edits to the piece itself (i.e. paintovers).​

  • The client may NOT sell the image, or anything implied as representing the image in any way, such as by a non-fungible token (NFT). It may not be referenced by new contracts, including on distributed applications, without approval of the artist.

  • The client may NOT use an AI program (i.e. Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, DALL-E, etc.) to edit or finish an image. The client also may not use the image to train such an AI program.

CANCELLATIONS/REFUNDS

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• By the artist:

  • The artist retains the right to reject a commission before payment under any circumstances.

  • The artist retains the right to cancel a commission after being paid for any reason. If it is for personal reasons, life events, or due to the fault of the artist, the client will be partially or fully refunded, depending on how much work has been completed. If the artist cancels due to pressure, harassment, or inappropriate behavior on the client’s part, the client may be given a full or partial refund or no refund at the artist’s discretion.

  • The artist will automatically partially refund the client after 30 days of no response (assuming the client left no notice).

• By the client:

  • The client may cancel at any time before the work is completed, for any reason. If the client cancels before work on the commission has begun, the client will be refunded in full. If work has already begun, the percentage of the refund will vary based on how much work is completed.

  • Cancellations due to dissatisfaction with work that the client has already approved will not be refunded.

  • The client cannot be refunded after the work is completed.

  • The artist reserves the right to modify, rework, reuse, and resell cancelled commissions for any purpose. The client’s characters will not appear in the modified version.

PRICE/TERM CHANGES

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• The artist retains the right to change both the prices and terms of service at any time, for any reason.

• If these changes occur after a commission has been paid, the client is only held to the terms and price agreed to beforehand.

• Quotes will be honored for 30 days.

CHARACTER REFERENCES

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• NSFW references are allowed.

• Multiple references per character are allowed, within reason. Photographs are allowed for pose reference, models/faceclaims, or species references.

• Detailed descriptions are permitted in place of or in addition to images. Please keep this to physical description, and if a pose/scenario was not specified, personality and/or hobbies (a list of character traits is fine). Your character’s full backstory is not necessary.

ADOPTABLES/CHARACTER DESIGNS

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• Credit for original designs purchased from the artist is not explicitly required, but is greatly appreciated.

• The client may not use the designs for personal profit, or use it as a professional mascot/logo without significant changes unless agreed upon prior to payment.

• The client may not resell the design for more than they paid for it, unless it has other art attached to it. Clients found to have done this will be blacklisted.

liveSTREAM RULES

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• Offensive jokes and comments will not be tolerated. The artist reserves the right to boot or ban people from the stream for any reason.

• If someone asks to change the subject, the subject must be changed immediately. Arguing is not encouraged and may be stopped at the artists' discretion.

• Stream commissions: Paypal, Zelle, and Square are the only acceptable form of payment. Payment is required upfront before the artists begins working. Tips are welcome but not expected.

• Clients must fill out a stream sketch commission form. The artist will invoice via Paypal either the night before or the morning of the sketch stream, or as soon as possible during the stream. Stream commissions will be completed within the stream whenever possible. They will not be completed off-stream without permission. Stream commissions will be completed in the order they were paid.

• Stream sketch commissions are always artistic liberty. The client provides reference material, content rating, and a brief mood or personality description and the artist chooses the rest. There are no approval stages and no changes will be made. Please make sure your references are clear and accurate.

• Orders for standard commissions may not be placed in a stream and will be redirected to email.

• As of April 2022, all sketch commissions are only available during livestreams.