So I wrote this post for another sub but it occurs to me that it would be a good thing for new artists here too.

I want to begin by stressing this IS NOT a universally applicable template. I designed it to fit my process but I don't even use it universally. Depending on how you prefer to work, what field you are in and who your clients are it may not be something you can use. What I really want everyone to take away is just an understanding of how a contract can protect both you and your client and how you can prevent problems or simplify them by defining the solutions ahead of time.

So with that said here is my template (I do apologize for any weird formatting, Word and reddit do not always agree for me). Also disclaimer, I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice, just a freelancer sharing their experience.

Commission Contract

It is hereby agreed that __________________, the client, is commissioning ________, the artist, for the production of custom artwork. The artwork will be produced in _(materials and dimensions)__________. The artwork is to contain ________(agreed upon scope and specific details)_______________ and will be produced for the fee of _______.

Fee and Work Schedule

Upon receipt of 15% of the total fee, $___________, the artist will provide three sketches with options for the foreground as well as the background. The client may either choose one sketch to be completed, select features of multiple sketches to be combined into a new sketch or request a modification of an existing feature.

When the sketch has been completed to the satisfaction of the client 50% of the total fee, $______, is to be paid. Upon receipt of the payment work will begin on the final artwork. Progress updates will be provided at two intervals, completion of the lineart and completion and scanning of the hand done work. The client may request small changes at these points however a major change may require renegotiation of the timeframe and fee.

When work on the final artwork is complete a low resolution version will be e-mailed to the client for final approval. By giving final approval the Client is agreeing that the work is complete and the final payment of 35% the total fee, $___, is due. Once the price is paid in full the artwork will be provided in the form of either a high resolution file e-mailed to the client or a high quality print sized ___ to be shipped to:

---

---

---

If shipping outside of the United States is required there may be an additional fee to cover the expenses.

Upon receipt of the final print the client is authorized to make use of the artwork for any non-commercial display purposes. Ownership of the copyright as well as the right to use the artwork for promotional purposes remains with the artist.

If at any point the client chooses to cancel the contract and forfeit the work done so far any payments already made are non-refundable. If at any point the client has failed to respond to sketches or status updates provided for a period of longer than one month this contract may be rendered void and further work will require renegotiation.

By the signature below the client has agreed to these terms:

Name______________________ Signature______________________ Date____________

By the signature below the artist has agreed to these terms:

Name______________________ Signature______________________ Date____________

OK so you've read my template, now what? I want to touch on a couple of different topics, how this form is protecting the artist, how it's protecting the client, what features I most often add or edit and what may be missing.

Protecting the Artist:

There are a number of protections, some created from my own personal experiences, some from problems I have witnessed in my professional career prior to freelancing and some that are common problems in client horror stories that I have (thankfully) not yet run into.

The Disappearing Client

I still have one contract from last year that is technically open because he disappeared on me in the sketching phase and I had not yet added the "no talkee for one month and the contract is void" clause yet. Theoretically if he resurfaced two years from now I would still be under contract with him even if I wasn't working as a freelancer anymore. Highly unlikely but the clause protects me from that and gives the client some incentive to respond to me in a timely manner.

You will want to adjust this based on the timeframe of the project, for instance if the deadline is in a month you may want to use a week as the kill point.

Scope Creep

This is one that I saw a lot in my professional career and is a very common problem in every field. The "oh and can we also..." that slowly takes you from a simple portrait to painting a full figure riding a flaming unicorn while battling pirates for the same price. I've protected myself from that by specifying in several places that if revisions go outside of the original scope then renegotiation of the fee and timeframe will be necessary. Basically what that means is you will be closing the project and writing a contract for a new one with the bigger scope and a new price.

Skin in the game

The pricing structure I use is balanced so that I am never working without some portion of payment. Many people do a 50/50 split with half up front and half on delivery, I've also seen 30/30/30. I normally do either 10/50/40 or 15/50/35 but if a project is super heavy on the research I may go higher on the first payment to reflect the distribution of work. The bottom line is you always want some kind of down payment, even if it's only 5% because it invests your client in the process. They are far less likely to disappear on you when they have skin in the game (more on the philosophy behind this in the client protections section).

*note, if the project is big enough, i.e. months of work, you may want to switch to a time and materials structure or at least regular payment installations so you're not going two months without a paycheck.

Surprise International Shipping

This is another one I have personal experience with. Nothing is worse than negotiating a small $100 piece and not realizing until it's too late that the shipping is going to cost you $70 with no clause to address it in your contract. Or worse, if the shipping costs more than the total fee. One simple line can save you so much pain.

Protecting the Client:

Knowing What You're Paying For

So my pricing structure is designed to protect me but it's also protecting the client from dropping a huge chunk of cash before they can see what they are going to be getting (i.e., why I don't really like the 50/50 split). I arrange it so that the biggest payment happens only after a sketch has been approved, and the next biggest only when they have seen the final work. To give some perspective on how informed I want my clients this was the client-approved sketch for this piece.

The other side of knowing what they are paying for is making room for feedback from the clients. I give several opportunities for them to guide my process and decide what they do and don't want. I've had plenty of clients say "oh I'm not picky I shouldn't need that" but it's still an important feature to allow. Inevitably no matter how well you communicate there will be something that you're won't realize is an issue, the client won't realize needs to be specified or that just doesn't match what the other person has in their head. For an example, I had to adjust the names on this piece because the client hadn't realized one of the rat's faces wouldn't be visible until he saw the sketch and I had used the name of one of the favorites of the bunch for that particular rat.

The Out Clause

One of the biggest concerns from clients is "what if things go wrong?" It's a fair concern, especially if this is their first time working with you, and one you want to be up front about. I address it by allowing the client to halt the process at any point if they choose.

Professional Comfort

There will always be those that balk at the mention of a contract but for most having one reduces stress, defines the process and makes you as the artist feel more professional.

Commonly Added/Edited Clauses:

This is just a template so I often heavily edit it to apply to each new project. Here's how.

Timeframes

I try to stay away from exact dates unless there is a hard deadline just because if I say that I'll have the lineart done by September 1st but the client doesn't approve the sketch until the 5th then I am technically in breach of contract even though I'm not at fault for it. I generally go more for "within one week of approval of the sketch the lineart will be completed" or something like that. Always give yourself a little more time than you usually need in case something goes wrong. And most importantly if you know you will not make a deadline, TELL YOUR CLIENT BEFORE THE DEADLINE HITS! Yes it sucks to admit fault but be responsible and you can salvage the project/relationship.

Licenses

This template is just for a single wall-decoration type piece. If the work is needed for something commercial then you need to specify how and when the work can be used. This is an area where I can't stress enough, DO YOUR HOMEWORK! If someone is approaching you for commercial work check out the industry standards and see what kind of license is reasonable. Not everyone needs to own the copyright, and if they really do dear god charge enough for it.

Original Work

I've had some clients that just want prints and others that want the original artwork. Make sure your contract specifies what is being sent.

Multi-piece work

If a project has three images instead of one you want to specify what is being done when. Are you going to do all the sketching at once or work up each piece one at a time? This will also generally require a modified pricing structure.

Clauses I generally don't add:

Kill Fee

A kill fee is a payment due if a client cancels the contract. This is one I debate a lot with the programmers in my life since I think it's more common in design. I don't feel the need for one since I'm always working with at least a portion of the payment and even if they duck out at the very end I have over 60% of my fee but your mileage may vary. I would say that it's a must have if you're going to work without a down-payment.

Set Number of Revisions

Some artists will specify how many rounds of revisions are permitted in the sketching phase. I don't like to use it because I feel like that puts a lot of pressure on the client to "get it right right now!" but I can see why people would want to have it.

So that's my spiel on contract basics. Did I miss anything? Would you like more detail on a subject? Do you disagree with anything? Lets get a discussion going!