Studio Queues Team · Last updated September 29, 2026
Find out the essential questions to ask before commissioning an artist, including process, timeline, revisions, usage rights, and payment structure.
Commissioning art is one of the few purchases where you pay before the thing exists, cannot inspect it first, and are relying almost entirely on a stranger's judgment about what you meant. Most commissions go well anyway. The ones that go badly usually go badly for reasons that were visible at the start, if anyone had asked.
These are the questions to ask before commissioning an artist, why each one matters, and what a good answer sounds like. Most of them should already be answered on the artist's page, and an artist who has answered them without being asked is telling you something useful about how the rest of the process will go.
Establish price and what changes it, turnaround, exactly what files you receive, what you are allowed to do with the art, how revisions work, how payment is staged, and what happens if the artist cannot finish. On ownership specifically, paying for a commission does not by itself transfer copyright in the US, so if you need commercial use, agree that explicitly in writing and talk to an attorney. And check that the artist is a real, reachable person with a history you can see before you send money.
Most of what you need should be visible without a conversation. An artist with prices, turnaround, and availability published has already answered the awkward part, and reading it first makes the whole exchange shorter.
It also tells you something. An artist who has thought about what buyers need to know has usually thought about scope, deadlines, and payment too. One who has not may be perfectly good at drawing and less organized about everything around it.
Bring your references before your first message. The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that clients examine an artist's portfolio when deciding whether to hire them, and the reverse is also true: an artist is judging whether your brief is clear enough to price.
The base price is the easy half. The useful question is what moves it.
Ask what is included at the quoted price, what counts as an extra, and what the common additions cost. A second character, a detailed background, commercial use, a rush deadline, and additional file formats are the usual ones. Getting these named up front prevents the most common disagreement in commission work, which is two people who thought they had agreed and had not.
Be direct about your budget. Artists would rather hear a number and tell you what is possible within it than produce a quote you were never going to accept.
Ask for a realistic range rather than a date, and ask where you sit in the queue. Most artists work through a list, so the answer is often "three weeks of work starting in five weeks," which is a different thing from three weeks.
If you have a hard deadline, say so in the first message, not after agreeing. A gift for a specific date changes whether the artist should take the job at all, and a good one will decline rather than risk it.
Ask what happens if the timeline slips, because sometimes it does. An artist who tells you they will let you know early is giving a better answer than one who promises it never happens.
Surprisingly often unspecified, and it causes real disappointment.
Ask for the file formats, the resolution, and whether you get a version suitable for printing as well as one for posting. If you want it as a physical item, establish that separately, since most commissions are digital by default.
Ask whether you receive the layered working file. Usually not, and that is normal, but it is better to know than to assume.
If the piece has a specific use, a profile picture at a particular size, a print at particular dimensions, an emote that must read when small, say so at the start. It affects how the artist composes it, not just how they export it.
This is the question buyers most often get wrong, and the answer surprises people.
Paying for a commission does not by itself make you the copyright owner. The US Copyright Office states in Circular 1 that copyright in a work initially belongs to the author who created it, and that a transfer generally must be made in writing and signed by the owner of the rights conveyed. Separately, the statute provides that transfer of ownership of the material object does not of itself convey any rights in the copyrighted work.
So what you normally receive is the artwork and permission to use it in the ways you agreed, while the artist keeps the copyright. For most buyers that is completely fine, because posting it, using it as an avatar, and printing it for yourself are all ordinary personal uses an artist expects.
It matters when the use is commercial. Merchandise, a book cover, a business logo, anything you will sell. In that case you need the terms agreed explicitly and in writing.
The work-for-hire route is narrower than most people assume. The Copyright Office's Circular 30 sets out conditions that must all be met for a specially ordered or commissioned work to qualify, including a written agreement signed by both parties expressly agreeing that the work is a work made for hire, and the work falling into one of the enumerated statutory categories. A clause pasted into an agreement does not automatically achieve what either side intended.
This is a description of published US guidance rather than legal advice, and other countries handle it differently. If your commission has a commercial purpose, talk to a qualified attorney before you commission rather than after.
Ask how many revisions are included, what counts as a revision, and at what stages you will see the work.
The stage question matters more than the revision count. An artist who shows you a sketch before rendering gives you a cheap moment to redirect. One who delivers a finished piece as the first thing you see has made changes expensive for both of you.
Also ask what happens if you simply do not like the direction. Answers vary reasonably: some artists offer a partial refund at the sketch stage, some do not refund but will rework, some are firm once approved. Any of these is fine. Not knowing is not.
Ask whether payment is up front, on delivery, or staged, and what the refund position is at each point.
Staged payment protects both sides. You are not sending the full amount for something that does not exist, and the artist is not working for weeks on the promise of payment. If an artist splits payment across milestones, that is a sign of an established process rather than a red flag.
Be cautious about anyone insisting on payment methods with no recourse for either party, or asking for the full amount before any work is shown, particularly for a large first commission with a new client relationship.
Most artists are exactly who they appear to be. The checks are quick and worth doing anyway.
Look for a history you can see: work posted over time rather than a gallery that appeared last week, and consistent style across pieces. A reverse image search on a couple of portfolio pieces takes a minute and catches stolen portfolios, which are the most common commission scam.
Some buyers now also ask whether the work is hand-made. It is a reasonable question and most artists will happily answer it, often by offering process files or a timelapse. An artist who documents their process routinely can usually show you without any fuss.
Structured intake is its own signal. An artist who asks you a defined set of questions before starting is running a process, and a process is what protects you when something needs sorting out later.
How much should a commission cost? It varies enormously by complexity, medium, and the artist's experience, and anyone quoting a universal figure is guessing. Compare a few artists working in the style you want.
Is it rude to ask an artist's prices? No. If they are not published, asking is the intended next step and no artist is annoyed by it.
Can I use my commission as a business logo? Only if you have agreed commercial use in writing, and even then the specifics matter. Talk to a qualified attorney if the piece is doing commercial work.
Should I pay everything up front? Staged payment is generally better for both parties. Full payment up front is common for smaller pieces and is not itself a warning sign.
What if the artist stops replying? Give reasonable time, since artists get ill and have lives, then ask directly about the timeline. Keeping the agreement somewhere retrievable rather than in a chat thread makes this much easier to resolve.
Where do I find artists taking commissions? You can browse artists open for commissions on Studio Queues, where each profile shows current prices, turnaround, and whether slots are open.
The questions to ask before commissioning an artist are mostly the boring ones. What does it cost and what changes that, how long, what files, what am I allowed to do with it, how do revisions work, how is payment staged. Ask them at the start and almost nothing goes wrong later.
The one that catches people out is ownership, because paying for something feels like buying it. In the US, copyright starts with the creator and transferring the file does not transfer the rights, so if you need commercial use, agree it explicitly and get advice.
And notice how much the artist has already answered before you asked. Published prices, a clear turnaround, a structured intake, and staged payments all indicate someone who has done this enough to have a system. You can browse artists open for commissions and see those details on each profile before you send a single message.
