last updated: September 20th, 2022


✦ By commissioning me, you are agreeing to these terms. Terms are subject to change.

Please note that some of these terms apply only to animation and illustration commissions. Live2D commissions, commercial work of any sort, physical artworks (such as costumes, artdolls, etc), and designs have alternate terms of service, which will take precedence over terms listed here and in the subcategories (i.e designs have different usage rights than illustrations). Please read through those, too, if you’re looking to commission one of the types listed!



GENERAL

You must be 18 years or older to commission me. I reserve the right to ask for proof of age at any point, and refund or void a commission at any time due to failure of this rule. I am not comfortable working through parents.

I retain the right to decline, refuse, or refund/cancel a commission at any time.

I communicate through Twitter (@timberfen), Telegram (@timberfen), email ([email protected]), and discord exclusively. Requests to communicate outside of these programs will be turned down.

I do not offer deadlines. I deal with disability that impacts my ability to work. Please be patient with me.
If I’m unable to complete your commission, you will be notified and refunded, or we can come up with a plan to complete the work owed.

I am not okay with working with NSFW character references, and I require a clear, digital reference sheet to work with. While I’m able to work with written descriptions, it’s a case-by-case basis on what’s provided and who I’m working with.

You may contact me at any time about the status of your commission and place in my queue.


✦ ARTISTIC FREEDOM

By commissioning me, you’re agreeing to a certain level of artistic liberty. I will not draw on-model characters.

Note that I will retain some level of artistic freedom. As artist and client, a commission creates a partnership and not an employment, and I am not to be used to execute arbitrarily difficult ideas or demands and have the right to decline a commission for any reason if I feel uncomfortable or inadequate at my current skill level.

While I will certainly do my best, if what you want is beyond my style or capability to execute, you may be better off seeking someone who better fits your vision.

If artistic liberty is requested, I will send a sketch for approval. Slight changes to the sketch are available, but major changes to the pose and style are unable to be made without incurring a fee.

If a client is found to support, engage in, or otherwise interact with zoophilic, pedophilic, transphobic, homophobic, nazi, racist, or other problematic media or groups, they will immediately be refunded and blacklisted.

Applying for a commission or a quote is always free! Additionally, you won’t be charged anything if I have to decline your commission.


PROCESS

✦ FORM SUBMISSION

Commission slots open up to Ko-fi patrons up to a week early. The link to the form is shared on Ko-fi and Discord to monthly patrons. If the slots fill during this period, they close. Twitch supporters are also able to access forms a few days early, if the Ko-Fi slots do not fill entirely. If they do not fill past the second round, slots will be made publicly available on Twitter, public Discord, and Telegram. Clients submit forms after reading and accepting the Terms & Conditions.

Feel free to inquire about commissions outside of these openings, via either Twitter DMs or direct email, but please note that I’m more unlikely to take on commissions outside of these set openings.


✦ FORM ACCEPTANCE / REJECTION

Slots are chosen and accepted entries are contacted to move forward with the process. (In the event an accepted commissioner does not reply within three days, the slot is given to someone else in order to keep this process rolling.) Once all slots are confirmed, turned down entries will be notified alongside a reason. 

I do not reserve slots for any reason. All slots require a fully filled-out form submitted during the appropriate time.

Please allow me up to 48 hours after the specified closing date to send out emails! I’ll publicly state both that the form has closed, as well as that the applicants chosen have been responded to / emails have been sent out.

If you are accepted, congratulations! I will soon contact you via preferred method as soon as preparations are finished and we can begin working together on your commission.

If you are rejected, you will receive an email notifying the reason why. Most of the time, it will simply be because slots have filled, and you’re more than welcome to try again next opening!

I also post publicly when the form is close to closing, when it’s closed, and when I’ve sent emails out. If you do not get an email when this step concludes, feel free to reach out to me. If you lose a spot due to non-response, you are more than welcome to try again later! I just want to be sure things stay on schedule as much as I can manage.

Once I have confirmed/accepted your application/request, please make sure to reply in a timely manner (within a couple of work days is preferred) during the commission process.

I may send a very, very rough sketch to the client before payment to make sure I’ve got their idea completely squared away. Once this has been accepted by the client, the invoice will be sent.

Rough sketches are not applicable to YCH or pre-determined commission openings (i.e. chibis), and only for larger commissions such as reference sheets, fullbodies, etc. Animations, Live2D models, and any physical commission type are also excluded from this.

✦ Payment policies, refunds, chargebacks


QUEUE

For both client privacy and personal reasons, my queue is completely private. Eventually I’ll create a public queue again, but at the minute I’m unable to manage two queues. Sorry for the inconvenience!


✦ TIMELINE

I try my best to complete work as timely as possible, but I’m unable to guarantee any deadlines or consistently keep turnaround times thanks to chronic illness. Client satisfaction and quality of product are my top priorities, but my quality suffers if I’m overwhelmed or burnt out.

I’d much rather take longer to finish something worth it’s price, or re-do something a few times to make sure it’s the best product I can provide.

I do my best to keep my clients as updated as possible on if there’s any delays, and I don’t want to seem like it’s a burden on anyone else. Please be patient with me as we work together, and if you’re ever wondering anything on what’s going on, please reach out, I’m more than happy to answer.


✦ PROGRESS UPDATES

Once paid for, the client will receive a timeframe in which to expect an initial (or refined) sketch. During this time, I won’t advance on a commission without an ok from the client. This phase is referred to as the sketch phase, where clients are able to make changes to the sketch. Similar phases are utilized for linework, shading, and every portion of my progress, and I will not advance until given approval.

I give WIPs as often as I can, but at the very least, you’ll receive progress pictures of sketching, linework, base colour layout, refined colour layout, rough shading, refined shading, and finishing touches (as applicable per commission). You’re also free to request wips of only certain stages, (i.e. sketch, lineart, and marking layout)!


✦ REQUESTING UPDATES

Clients are free to request an update whenever they’d like, but I request that it’s not a daily ask.

Communication is more than welcome, but please keep in mind I can be a very slow worker due to aforementioned issues! I love chatting with my clients and learning more about you and the character I’m working with.

You may also request to see the commission on-stream, where I’ll set up a stream specifically during a time that we can both make work! Unfortunately, I do not accept edits on-stream, and will make them on the backend after the stream has ended. Please tell me in advance if you’re not comfortable with me working on your commission in-stream, as I use streams to help my motivation and workflow.


✦ TIMEFRAME & DEADLINES

I can’t accept deadlines due to disability and life, but I can work within rough self-set estimates.

I like to set self-set deadlines, though. These are not solid, and are subject to change; and are instead a rough estimate on when something may be done by. I use these to give out estimates on when certain parts (such as linework) may be done.

Wait time may vary based on the position in my queue and complexity of the piece; as well as communication from the client. Please be patient when working with me!

I am not responsible for delays caused by communication on the client’s behalf.


If there is ever a four-day-long (or more) gap of communication without a reason given via heads-up, I’ll put your commission on hold; and if there’s no response for a two weeks, I will consider your slot abandoned and will pass it to someone else.

Slot abandonment will incur a refund appropriate to the level of completion the commission is at, as well as an immediate blacklisting. If you’re expecting to be away or unable to respond for whatever reason, please let me know so that I’m aware!


✦ REFERENCES

Prices are for characters with ready reference material. Added moodboards, inspiration boards, and written descriptions of both what you’re looking for and what the character’s vibe is truly help me work!

I’m happy to take any messy sketches (yes, even stick figures!), references of other people’s work where it’s annotated with things you like from it & has proper credit (also with knowledge that the piece will look very different), photography, Pinterest boards, Spotify playlists, and images/compilations of images.

Unfortunately, I will not ever open links that are not from a source I’m aware of. This includes links to shopping websites, external links with strange sources, etc. I can open links to instagram, twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Spotify, see attached images, as well as open Google Docs.

If there’s an image you’d like to include that isn’t on one of these sites or you’re unsure if I’m willing to open a link from somewhere, please either ask me on how to source it, or copy the image and paste it into a Google Doc (downloading/screenshotting with credit is okay, too!)

If changes and additions are desired later down the line due to insufficient description, it may be subject to a fee. I will not design or edit designs for a piece, and if you’re looking to get a design from me, please check out my design commissions instead.

If the client fails to provide details not shown or provided in the reference, and doesn’t inform me prior to their commission being started (or, after the stages in which they’d have to be added into), the changes will be declined / incur a fee.


✦ ADDITIONAL CHARACTERS

Additional characters are added as if you’re commissioning a piece of a separate character, too, and each additional character’s cost is separately calculated for props/complexity/etc. Shared elements will not need to be doubled, such as backgrounds, foregrounds, and effects.


✦ REVISIONS

The client will be shown works in progress throughout the commission’s process, in which they may request any (small) changes desired, without cost. Changes are limited to what I can change during the stage at hand (i.e. poses can’t be changed after the sketch is approved, and no linework changes once I start colouring.)

Please request changes to the commission as soon as you can. I am authorized to charge an extra fee for any major changes later in the process, if the part involving the edit has been present in the earlier WIPs and thus could have been made in the earlier stages, as well as major changes that require extra time, resketching parts or a whole, and changes to the character that were not clear on the reference sheet. Fees are relative to the time spent on changes as compensation.

Any errors on my part such as incorrect character details that are clearly depicted in the reference material will be fixed without any additional cost. Edits on the sketch stage are free but I can ask for a compensation fee for major edits that aren’t included in the briefing.

Edits that incur a fee will not be made until a fee is paid. Arbitrary requests will be sorted between the client and I, and may either incur a fee, or denied entirely. The edit fees are incurred for highly excessive edits, major changes, resketching full elements, resketching poses (see the next paragraph), changing elements of characters that were not present on the reference sheet (as explained before), etc.

I’m happy to resketch a pose once after the initial draft; and further sketches will incur a fee. Furthermore, changing the pose or elements once the sketch has been approved will also incur a fee. Unused sketches may be reused in the future for YCH, personal artworks, or other commissions if they fit.

If a sketch has been sent for approval, and the client refuses the sketch and requests an entirely new sketch, I reserve the right to strip the character(s) of their defining features and re-use the pose/sketch for completion with either another client or personal usage.


✦ COMPLETION

Once the commission is completed and final payment is received (if not previously taken care of), the final piece and other byproducts will be sent to the client in full.

I will never share working files (PSDs and the such) with clients or other people (Live2D commissions and commercial work, on a case by case basis, are the exceptions).

I provide unwatermarked high resolution images, as well as resized, watermarked versions suitable for online sharing. The client is responsible for storing the product on their devices, and once the piece is completed, edits past this point cannot be made.

Final deliverables will be sent via email, Google Drive, through Telegram, or Discord DMs if the compression doesn’t render the piece at a lower rate than I’d like.

Clients are free to request a Google Drive link at any time before the commission is completed, and the day of completion. I only keep Google Drive links up for two months, please make sure to save the piece off before then.


✦ SHARING

Once the client confirms that they received and are satisfied with the commission, the piece may be posted to social media and on this portfolio site unless otherwise requested. If given a social media handle, you’ll be tagged if requested!

​I may delay uploading the work online if the client wishes so (if the artwork is a gift to someone for a specific date, for example). By default, I have the right to eventually post my artwork online. If the client of a private commission doesn’t want the artwork to be posted online, a compensation fee of 20% is required.

✦ Usage rights