Always get half upfront; half when finished. Or do it by consultation - break it into periods and set a prepaid cost per period. say $5 for 4 periods. You receive $5 to start. After first hour, stop and share with customer. if they agree and like where it's going, another $5. Continue for third and fourth period.

Then he don't get the pic. Simple enough. Come back when you've the cash and well talk.

That's a dick move on his part, but really you should have discussed what it would cost before you worked on it. Imagine you spent hours and hours on it and you thought it should cost $500, he might not be able to afford that. Transactions don't work that way. Never have I decided to purchase something without knowing what it was going to cost me.

Lesson learned, I hope!

thats a steal ciggs r expensive

People love drawings, paintings and phototographs.However, they simply don't feel like they should pay quality, for it. I'd like to say that it's an inequity, but I'm not certain that's the right spelling or word for it...

You're supposed to discuss payment BEFORE you start doing a comission.

Folks think that because creating comes so "easily" to artists that they don't value it at all.

Always do a basic contract beforehand if it's worth a decent amount and only hand it over pnce you receive payment. I do freelance design and made the same mistake; after 6 months of excuses the person disappeared and I had to let it go.

I am an artist by trade in the game design and concept industry, and I wont get out of bed for less than $100 per concept depending on the level of detail for which they request.