I need some advice on how to...delicately, diplomatically approach an issue that is just bothering me. I have some character art that I love from this person, and one piece while I still love it, it does have one issue that has been really bugging me. When the artwork was being made, I had them alter it once in an attempt to address it and which did help, but didn't fully fix the problem. However I was very very hesitant to push back a second time.
Basically I have a female character who is very very broad in the shoulders and has thick arms, so much so that it makes her look too masculine, to the point some people say she looks like a cross dressing man. It just bugs the hell out of me, and I was wondering if there was a way to maybe try contacting the artist and offering to pay for a touch up? However I'm worried that it would be insulting and I would never want to insult them, I also don't know if I would even be able to contact them.
As an alternative, if I can't contact them...would it cause problems to have another artist do her again as long as I don't show them the original artwork...however since it is the same character and I would be using every other reference, it would still look very similar and I wouldn't want them to be accused of art theft, but the character and design is of my own creation, I just can't draw to save my soul.
Artists please, give me your informed opinions on how to handle this issue.
Basically I have a female character who is very very broad in the shoulders and has thick arms, so much so that it makes her look too masculine, to the point some people say she looks like a cross dressing man. It just bugs the hell out of me, and I was wondering if there was a way to maybe try contacting the artist and offering to pay for a touch up? However I'm worried that it would be insulting and I would never want to insult them, I also don't know if I would even be able to contact them.
As an alternative, if I can't contact them...would it cause problems to have another artist do her again as long as I don't show them the original artwork...however since it is the same character and I would be using every other reference, it would still look very similar and I wouldn't want them to be accused of art theft, but the character and design is of my own creation, I just can't draw to save my soul.
Artists please, give me your informed opinions on how to handle this issue.
So, provided the client approaches it politely and professionally and as long as the number of corrections doesn’t get out of hand (in which case I would just start charging a small fee to continue making them) I as a commission artist have never taken issue making minor changes like that.
It’s definitely preferable that these things be fixed while the work is still in progress, BUT- given you’re offering to pay for the touch up, that sounds totally reasonable and inoffensive. Worst thing that’s likely to happen is that the original artist would respectfully decline.
In that case, or in the case you can’t reach them, I think it’s okay to ask a different artist to draw for you. Most people who commission OC art tend to commission multiple pieces of the same character anyways! And of course, sometimes two commissioned pieces wind up looking similar, especially if the artists were given similar or same references and direction to work with. (Though most the time they don’t. I was once commissioned alongside like, 7 other artists to draw the same monster using the same detailed text description, and none of our works came out similar at all. It was a fun experience, tbh.)
TL;DR: just be polite and communicate as clearly as possible moving forward. A reasonably professional artist should have little to no issue working something out for this.
It’s definitely preferable that these things be fixed while the work is still in progress, BUT- given you’re offering to pay for the touch up, that sounds totally reasonable and inoffensive. Worst thing that’s likely to happen is that the original artist would respectfully decline.
In that case, or in the case you can’t reach them, I think it’s okay to ask a different artist to draw for you. Most people who commission OC art tend to commission multiple pieces of the same character anyways! And of course, sometimes two commissioned pieces wind up looking similar, especially if the artists were given similar or same references and direction to work with. (Though most the time they don’t. I was once commissioned alongside like, 7 other artists to draw the same monster using the same detailed text description, and none of our works came out similar at all. It was a fun experience, tbh.)
TL;DR: just be polite and communicate as clearly as possible moving forward. A reasonably professional artist should have little to no issue working something out for this.
Thank you very much Dazzling. 
You are on: Forums » Art & Creativity » Can some artists give me some advice?
Moderators: Mina, Keke, Cass, Auberon, Claine, Ilmarinen, Ben, Darth_Angelus