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The Chic Beak
Avian Artwork Commissions
If you'd like for me to digitally draw your bird(s), this is how it is
done:
1) Contact me: Birdsnherbs@yahoo.com Please do not contact me at my verizon email address unless you are OK with waiting weeks for a response.
I do not check that account often. Furthermore, since Verizon are such cheapos, I download all that email to my computer.
Sometimes, my email program burps and I lose all my information. Yahoo, on the other hand stores all my email for me
and so far, they've never lost a thing. It's the safer bet.
Also be aware that I get hundreds of emails a day. Sometimes, emails
just get lost in the chaos of it all. If you don't hear back from me, it usually means I either didn't see your email
(got marked as read when in fact, I had not read it) or I have accidentally forgotten/got sidelined and didn't get back to
you. I don't normally intentionally ignore people - it's more a case of absent-mindedness on my part. Those who
know me well, know precisely how horribly absent-minded I am. So, if you've emailed me and for whatever reason I've
not gotten back to you - jar my memory. Please don't just assume that I am not interested or am intentionally ignoring
you. That would be the wrong assumption.
2) Send me photos of the bird(s) you'd
like for me to draw. Several photos would be better. The larger and clearer the photo, the better. The bird
should be in the pose you want in the finished version. Or perhaps a compilation of poses - it depends.
Please do not send me a photo, but then say you want the bird's head this way, the feet some other way
and some other thing yet another way and not provide photos with these poses. It doesn't work like that. While
my finished product digital artwork is NOT a photo - every pixel is placed there by me - I still need photos.
Basically, I need the outline of the bird to get the proportions correct. Yes, I can and do change many
things - but it is at my discretion whether or not I think I can do it or that it will look right. If I cannot do it,
I will tell you so.
One example of what I can do very easily are Color changes.
Normal Zebra to a Black Cheeked. A Red Headed Gouldian to an Orange Head. A foot missing. Immature feather
color to mature feather color. Orange beak to red beak. Red beak to yellow beak. etc etc etc. Chopping
one head off and putting another head on etc. can also be done so long as it's proportional and matches. Mirror images.
Blurry photos are not as critical. I get cues from the photos but I don't need all that much information. I can
usually work around a blurry photo. One example would be my Christmas card for 2005. The original photo was extremely
blurry - the final result was not. If you want the bird brightened up (dull colored) I can usually do that too.
Or vice versus - too much glare, the glare will be removed when the drawing is completed. All of these are easy changes.
Drawing completely new structures is very challenging and odds are that
I won't be happy with the results. Therefore, I will probably say no to these aside from adding feet or toes.
An example of what is very hard to do - the photo is cut off at the head, but you want to show the top of the wing.
If the bird is in the background, I can get away with it -- but if the bird is in the foreground, this is far more
challenging and may not turn out nearly as nice as you'd like. I cannot take a photo of a bird perched and then draw
him with his wings spread, crest down to crest up (unless you provide other similarly posed photos) or other gross morphological
change like that. So please don't ask. The closer the photo is to the end result, the better it is for me.
3) I do not draw other animals aside
from birds at this time, so please do not ask. It's not that I cannot draw them (I've done a koala and a bat so far),
it's that I usually prefer not to. I'd rather stick to that which I personally love, birds. Drawing can take hours
or days, so while I'm drawing, I'd rather look at something that pleases my eye, and I derive personal enjoyment from.
4) Prior to any designing or drawing, 50% of
the finished price must be sent. This is so that I know you are committed to the work. This also protects
me from working on a drawing, only to have the person lose contact or otherwise not pay for the finished product. At
least, I will not have done the entire thing for free.
5) If the work requires some organization/design, I will send you
a rough draft. I will not begin on the actual drawing until after I have approval back from
you. Once you approve the drawing, large changes that require hours of my time will cost you. I cannot keep making
changes. While I can change anything digitally, it's all a matter of time. At some point, the amount of time required
to make changes becomes unfair to me.
6) Lettering style must be decided at this
stage for logos and web page headers.
7) Once the final rough draft is approved,
I will digitally draw it and letter it.
8) The drawing will be sent to you for final
approval. Small changes can be made if there is a problem. A recent example is that I drew a budgie with
three forward toes. Silly me. To fix that took next to no time and of course, it needed to be done. Minor
color changes can be made as well. If, however, you suddenly decide you don't like something after having
approved the rough draft, then I will have to charge extra according to how much of my time it takes to fix whatever it is
that you've decided you don't like.
9) You will recieve a final
JPEG and GIF version (if applicable) which are currently the industry standards and can be used on web pages for all
web page builders. JPEGs will be in the background color of your choice. The JPEG will have more detail
in the birds, but it must have a background color. This is the limitation of JPEG - there is nothing I can do about
it. GIFs will have a transparent background which can look nicer on web pages, but the quality and detail of the drawing
is sacrificed. Again, this is a limitation of the GIF algorhythm and there is nothing I can do about it. There
is no one best file saving format that can also be used on web pages. You will receive the JPEG and GIF saved at the
highest possible resolution. From this version, you may create lower resolution copies.
9) Complete payment is expected when
the final JPEG and GIF is sent.
10) A reduced version of the commission (probably unlettered) might
be placed on my website as an example for others to view.
If before ordering, you desire to view the full-sized versions
of previous artworks (those on my web page are all highly reduced), I can send watermarked versions for your perusal.
I don't put up full-sized versions on my web page to save space and also to prevent people from using my intellectual property
without my consent.
Examples
Click here for Digital Avian Artwork!
Click here for Animated GIFs
Rates
Web page headers/banners are $150 USD.
This is for a unique custom 800 x 200 pixel maximum-sized header, which is pretty much the industry standard right now
and should work on most web pages. The header can have whatever it is that you'd like in it - your web page name, birds,
etc.
Animated GIFs are $200 USD. This is
for a unique one of a kind GIF (transparent background) that does not exceed 400 x 400 pixels and with a maxium of four
unique frames. Larger and more complicated GIFs will be priced accordingly.
GIF Embellishments are $50 USD. I can
also do sparkles, glitter etc to make your web graphics have more punch. Or I can make photos of your birds
blink or perform other minor movements - all of which make them appear alive and capture the eye of the viewer.
Photo Animations are $50 USD. You will
need to provide a series of photographs. I can assemble them into a moving picture sort of animation - see Gouldians
above. Photo series will need to be taken with camera mounted on tripod.
Logos will be priced according to their size
and how many birds you want in them...
Logos will not go out without lettering on the finished product.
This is to prevent the distribution of my artwork by those who'd like to profit from it, cutting me out of the loop.
It is my understanding that by your request for a web page header
and/or logo, your intention is to use these personalized graphics for your web pages and/or business cards as well as
on printed literature to distribute with your price lists or general information about your business to your customers.
In other words, the logo/header is to be associated with your normal day-to-day business practices.
I do not give my consent for any of my artwork to be sold for a profit
(some examples being art prints, t-shirts, coffee mugs, note pads, greeting cards, etc). Any logo or web page header
I make is to be used in the finished condition, WITH THE LETTERING. Removal of the lettering (if you know how to make
digital graphics, this can be quite simple) and distribution of the artwork without my express written consent will be viewed
as violating my copyright protection and the spirit of our agreement. I want to be perfectly clear on that - I draw
logos and headers at a nominal fee, and I will not have anyone profiting from my good will towards fellow aviculturists.
As for all other drawings, I consider them
to be works of art if they are unlettered. I am now charging $150 per bird. This is for a maximal length
of 800 pixels. Longer birds will be priced accordingly. If you want two birds drawn, the price is still $150 per
bird. If you want extras such as leaves, flowers etc, I will price them as a certain number of leaves per $150 unit
or fraction thereof. Believe it or not, the greenery takes as long or longer than the birds, and it's 1000x more boring
for me to do as an artist (green, green and more green).
If you'd like to commission a full artwork,
complete with background, please contact me for pricing.
Want a Web Page Header/Logo or Animated GIF But Don't Want to Pay
For It?
Perhaps we can barter. What are you offering?
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