Art. Many of us, when we think of art we think of those famous artists they talk about in your history class or those couple of art classes you took in elementary and middle school. Am I right? Well, have you ever heard of fanart? It’s a big thing now and many people have made a career out of doing fanart. They do commissions, which are when artists get paid to do a specific piece of art. Let’s say my family member has a friend who wants a drawing of Batman. I’d get more information on what they’d want and then give them a specific price for that piece. When the piece is finished I’d have them pay me. Many commissioners have you pay beforehand as a way to make sure they get paid.

Many people do their commissions online and through social media or through a website called deviantart.com. It’s a very famous art website where you can find all kinds of things. Yes, it is more known for art, but you can find all kinds of other things on this website. Other places you can find commissioners are Patreon and YouTube. Those who do speed paints on YouTube will more than likely do commissions. You need be nice when you ask as commissioners do like to have respect because they put a lot of work and time into your piece of art. You can find commissioners literally anywhere, all you have to do is look for them.

While we are on the topic of commissions: I, myself, am doing commissions. I’m only doing basic things at the moment and have only just started, but my steps to becoming a great commissioner are special, and I’ll share them with you here. First, is getting examples sketched, colored and scanned into my computer. Then, my next step is to use what is called Gimp, which is a free program that will turn those scanned-in sketches into a special poster to put on a Deviant Art account called PokemonTrainerAKat. Next, would be to set up how people can pay me online. I will most likely use PayPal as I already have an account, but I’m still working on how to do that one. Then the last and most important step: get people to commission me. I’m hoping it’ll all go well and I can do some great commissions and hopefully make a lot of people happy.

Commissions are a way that people show their creative skills for others. Yes, some artists are expensive, but you should look at everything surrounding it. How long have they been doing commissions, what do they use to make the art, are they charging you for their time and the art or just the artwork? It’s common to think they are overpriced but sometimes you need to look at it from their view. I haven’t been doing commissions that long so I don’t charge that much. I look at how long I’ve been doing it and the products I use. It takes a lot out of us who do commissions, but we believe it’s worth it to know we put a smile on someone’s face. I hope you guys will look and see what you can find and maybe, just maybe order a commission from someone. I promise you it will be worth it.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Angel O’Connor is an 18-year-old at Marquette Senior High School. She loves to write fanfiction, draw and swim. She also enjoys writing about living with autism so that her story might help others.