Terms of Service
Please read the following before contacting me for a commission.
Feel free to message me after reading if you have questions or would like clarification.
Contact email: guttertongue@gmail.com
Please note that by sending payment for a commission, you declare you have read and understood these terms.
These Terms of Service are relevant to commissioning me (Guttertongue) for custom art pieces and are subject to revisions, edits, and additions without notice.
[BASICS]
- Prices on the Commission page are for the base level of work involved with each commission type. Actual quotes may change according to the complexity, difficulty, and size of each piece.
- Payments of $200 and under must be made up front in full before work begins. Payment plans are available for commissions above $200. Final work will NOT be delivered until payment is complete.
- Cryptocurrency is not a valid form of payment.
- Price quotes for upcoming commissions will not be given more than two weeks before the commission is to be accepted. Quotes older than 2 weeks old are not guaranteed prices for the work and may be subject to change according to workload/slot availability or base price changes. Quotes for work that is paid for via payment plan are NOT subject to change after the first payment is made.
- Once payment has been made, the client will NOT be permitted to change the basic prompt, idea, or characters involved in the commission. Feel free to talk to me if you have multiple ideas to choose from at the start, but otherwise please be sure what you want before commissioning.
- For larger commissions: Refunds will not be offered after the sketch stage of the commission has been APPROVED. If I provide a sketch and you feel that my work is not lining up with your vision, you may ask for a refund, but I will keep a $35 fee for the work put into the rough sketches.
- Clear visual references and a short description of a commission idea must be provided. I do not take commissions based on text description alone. For more information on what kind of references and information are appropriate, see this page.
- Commission slots may be cancelled, refunded, or otherwise negated if the client is overly indecisive about the kind of work, subject, pose, etc they want to commission. Please keep in mind that answering emails, providing quotes, and sifting through ideas all takes time. Clients with concrete ideas and references will be prioritized.
[ALTERATIONS/CORRECTIONS]
- No progress updates will be provided for smaller commissions like sketches, but I encourage you to ask for any necessary small changes after the finished image is provided to you.
- For larger pieces, you will be updated at each stage (for example: sketch, lines, finished colors) and changes will be allowed at each stage. Please ask for any large changes to composition/pose at the sketch stage.
- Any additional corrections that need to be made due to artist error will be made free-of-charge (such as incorrect character features or misinterpretations of the prompt/prior corrections on the artist's part)
- Large changes after the sketch stage, or a number of changes/additions that go beyond the one-round-per-update rule will be charged for as necessary. Please take your time looking over the provided WIP or finished work and decide what, if anything, you would like altered between each stage.
- There are times where I may reject critique or redline pertaining to artistic skill or style preference (i.e. anatomy, coloring style, etc.) if I feel that critique reduces the artistic quality or composition of the piece, or strays too far from the style I work for in my art.
- If changes are not requested within two weeks of a commission's completion, regardless of whether the allotted changes for that commission type have been used, those changes will be charged for.
[COMMUNICATION]
- I am available to contact via email Wednesday-Saturday between the hours of 9am and 5pm Eastern US time. Emails received outside of business hours will not be addressed until my next business day.
- Please keep all communications related to a single commission within a single email thread.
- I will not discuss commission details through DMs on social media, personal notes, or Instant Messenger contacts. All communications about your commission MUST be made through the email listed above. This helps me make sure all information related to your commission is in one place.
- I will do my best to provide email updates on commissions when necessary, but in case of an emergency I may not always be able to. I encourage you to check in when you feel it’s necessary for updates, assurance or reminders. Please allow 3 business days before sending a follow-up email.
- I reserve the right to cancel or refuse a commission at any time for any reason. I may issue a refund for unworked hours and cancel a commission due to poor communication, rude or inappropriate behavior, unforeseen violation of these terms, or inability to communicate in effective English. Clients will be notified ahead of time in case of cancellation.
- I will not handle depiction of illegal activities, hateful images, or explicit content. Pin-ups, violence, and gore will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Commissions may come with an added fee if I feel they are inappropriate for display in my personal galleries.
- Attempts to circumvent the above rules by requesting "borderline" prohibited commission subjects will result in the client being blocked from any future business with me. Asking for clarification is fine, but please do not push it if I say no.
- If the client does not communicate within two weeks of receiving a commission update, I will continue with the piece until completion whether or not the results are approved. This is important to keep my queue moving and respect the time of other clients and myself.
[IMAGE USE]
- The artist retains ALL the rights to the commissioned artwork. This includes the rights to use it as an example on my website and within my own advertising for my freelance services.
- I retain the right to display all commissioned work on any personal website, gallery, or blog. If the commissioned work is a time-sensitive gift, let me know and I may delay public showcase on request. I may also accept requests to keep completed commissions private IF discussed beforehand, but please understand private commissions may come with an added fee.
- The Client retains ALL rights to their respective characters. Please be sure to provide me with an appropriate name or @/username if you would like to be credited for ownership of your character(s).
- The Client may not profit from the commissioned artwork. This includes the sale of the digital files, or rights to the image. If the client plans to sell rights to the character(s) involved in their commission, or wishes to resell a purchased adoptable, the artwork CAN be sold at a maximum of its original price.
- The creation of NFTs using my work is strictly forbidden. Clients who disregard this will be blacklisted and barred from all future commission opportunities.
- The Client may create up to four prints for personal use (display in their home or as gifts). The client may also resize or crop the artwork as they like to create icons, wallpapers, or other graphics to be used in non-commercial digital format. The Client may also upload the artwork to their personal website or gallery, but credit to the artist is required.
- I do accept inquiries for Commercial Art Licensing. For more information please see the new page on Commercial Image Use.
LASTLY:
The Client must read, understand and agree to all the above terms before entering into an agreement with the Artist.
By sending payment, the Client agrees to the above terms.
Thank you!