I swaped the human references for the end products because I reconsidered posting pics that weren't mine.

Just a quickie tutorial on how to be a good commissioner. Granted this is based purely on my opinion, experiences and feedback, but I think it will work for just about everyone.

Above is an example of one I have given in the past, I think it serves as a good model.

How to be a good commissioner
1) Picture references: Give them. Not 100% text ones, but good solid picture references. Many artists hate textwall descriptions, and some may refuse to do them. Browse the web, dA, photobucket, etc and find some. Or draw your own! Before I used PS, I had used MS paint to draw stickfigures. Even if your idea seems simple, the artist is not a mind reader, their visualization of 'wolf lying in grass' may be WAY different than yours.

2) Character & OC references: Use them. Same logic as the grass wolf above, their visualization of 'red fox with 3 white stripes and lighting bolt scar on butt' may be WAY different than yours. Give at least 1 OC picture reference, color if possible even if you're getting a lineart or b&w pic. As for non OC's, even if it's one you think is common knowledge, say arcanine or renamon, you may be surprised how many people don't have a solid mental picture of those characters. No matter how basic, always provide at least 1 character ref.

3) Organization: Use it. As stated above, don't do textwalls, text is ok, but keep it organized and tidy. Personally, I like to list it under catagorys such as; 'general description' 'clothing' 'expression' 'msc info'. Have things in order, like a 'cheat sheet' for the artist. I like to put my picture references up top and have my text below it. If you're getting multiple picture, make it clear where one stops and the other begins (hence the big black line)

3) Artistic freedom: Don't be afraid to give it. What I like to do, especially to artists I've bought from before, is give them a rough idea of what I'm looking for, and let them express it however they see fit. It's a nice surprise because I never truly know what I'll be getting ^^

4) Paypal: Every artist is different on this, be sure to ask them about their paypal policy (if any). I like to put my username and date as the payment title "geckoguy123456789 11/19/2012" and a very brief description of the picture/s. Keep in mind that paypal may read these, so write them so that only the artist will understand them. Arcanine mirror and arcanine foot poke.

5) dA # Do not under estimate this tool. I use it ALL THE TIME. I almost always use pictures in my references that I don't have permission to post, stash is a great way to privately store and share these commission references. Such as 3/4 of the pictures above =p

Let's see..... belly poke was a screenshot for a youtube video, arcanine is mine, mirror photo idk where I got it and for the blush the artist has left FA. *Please don't sue me*