Dear Talented Artist (and you must be talented because you're here!),

I commission a lot of people and over the years I've developed some thoughts on what I like or dislike. You'll find I'm a very easy commission in that I will generally accept whatever you give me. In fact, I've only ever sent back one image in all my time of commissioning. 99.9% of the time, if something isn't accurate to my characters, I will just accept it, or ask for permission to fix it myself so as not to cause you, the artist, any more effort on my account after you've gone through the trouble of creating an image for me.

In short: I will only ever send back an image if it is grossly inaccurate to character, and I'm happy to say that out of the hundreds of images I've gotten, that's only happened ONCE.

But there are certain things you can do that will make me VERY VERY HAPPY and cause me to love your piece all the more!

• Draw Something New
  Frankly, it kind of peeves me when I get an image which looks exactly like something already in the gallery -- same pose, just in your style. Please take the time to draw your own pose. I don't care if you think your version of the existing image is a great improvement because the original was just a sketch or a lineart, and yours is pretty and colored. I like to see my characters drawn from different angles and in different positions. Copying an existing image and just making it in your style and color is lazy and disappointing to me. I'll never call you on it. But don't be surprised if I never commission you again.
  
• Draw A New Outfit
  A lot of the time, I'll say "feel free to play with costume!" I'd really love it if you would! My characters don't just wear the same clothes day in and day out. (In fact, if I get one more pic of Reginald in the same original coat and scarf, I think I'm going to scream.) If I have eighteen pics of the character in one costume, PLEASE PICK A DIFFERENT OUTFIT or at the very least, change and embellish the outfit with new details. Create your own take on the character's style! The only note of advice I have is try to stick to the general color scheme. That'll keep it consistent with the rest of the character's wardrobe.
  
• Pay Attention To The Big Stuff
  A few things really define a character's appearance. When I pick the best reference images to be featured first, I pick them first based upon how well they match the character's basic physical traits and then by artistic skill. Things you should pay the most attention to:
  • Hair color, length, and style; though for characters who usually wear their hair up, I would totally be cool with images of them with their hair down. The really crucial thing here is hair color. Try to stick to the original shade.
  • Eye color
  • Face shape
  • Ear shape; this is a crucial one that gets overlooked a lot. If a character is elven or has pointed ears, PLEASE look first for any art done by me and try to follow the ear shape shown. I do my elven characters with a variety of ear angles and lengths and it is ENTIRELY INTENTIONAL on my part. I don't do all my elves with super-long Lodoss style ears, or short Lord of the Rings style ears, and I vary the angle of the ears a lot. If you are drawing a character with pointed ears, please consider the shape and angle of the ears to be as essential to the character design as hair and eye color.
    
• No White Backgrounds
  I don't care if you just flood-fill a color, I have SO MANY pictures with white backgrounds at this point that it's driving me nutty. Please save my brain from all the white and slap a color down!
  
• Pay Attention To The Small Stuff
  If you want to make me the happiest person ever, try to throw in small details from the profile, like if a character is supposed to have freckles and how old the character is. Sometimes these are things even I don't bother to draw myself, but you'll really make my day if you do. This one isn't a major thing, it's just something you can do to ensure I come back to commission you again!
  
• Feel Free To Ask Questions and Bother Me
  My email is emperial-at-gmail-dot-com, my AIM is admeapiett, you can note me on deviantART, and I am ALWAYS happy to help you with anything, even if it's a really minor question about a character! I am an encyclopedia of of my characters. I am a reference at your disposal. Use me.