How much do you expect when someone does something for you free of charge?

You simply must stand up for yourself and your art and your time and let people know – if they’re not artists, they don’t know.

I deconstruct that by knowing when I do something pro-bono it’s going to be as basic and quick as possible. Hey, you get what you pay for. No bells or whistles but it will be adequate. I have seen several times, when the people who get something for nothing are going to be the ones who find the most fault with it.

Yes, I think you have to decide when they are demanding too much for free and then say something to them. Something like first explaining to them that you like to work with other people’s ideas because it sometimes helps you to “work outside your own creative box” (hopefully you will come up with something less lame than that but it’s all I’ve got right now) and that it helps you grow as an artist but if they are going to demand that much control, if they essentially want a commissioned work, to their exact specifications, then that is something that you normally charge for because it is a lot work and takes away time and effort from your own work.

It may not be easy at first, if people have come to expect everything for free from you but you will just have to buck up and handle it if they get bent out of shape, I guess. It’s going to be uncomfortable no matter how you do it but you have to respect yourself as an artist and so do they.

It doesn’t mean you can’t keep doing free things if you want, but you don’t be taken advantage of, and friends sometimes do that better than anyone else. Most will understand, I think but some won’t. You just have to find a way to deal with the ones that don’t understand and if they get pissed off that you are no longer going to be their art slave, I don’t know what you can do about it.

Turn it around. Always “turn it around”.

If you’re going to give away something for free, then you probably want (maybe even “expect”) that it will be appreciated, at least, since it isn’t being paid for. That appreciation will be your reward – the only one you’re likely to get for the work. So the recipient has to be able to appreciate the work on its merits. Not because it took a certain amount of labor from you, or time, or muscle power, thought, or whatever. It has to stand on its own merits regardless of any input you had into it. So they have as much ‘right’ to complain, nitpick and specify ‘a little more this, a little less that’ as any paying customer would.

Maybe you don’t feel that your paying customers have that right, but I’d bet that you put up with more general crankiness and ‘persnickety’ from them. If you don’t, then more power to you. If your response to a paying customer’s complaints and specificity against your better judgment is to tell the customer, “I’m no longer interested in this piece. If you want to negotiate a purchase price on the work as it is – and exactly as it is – right now, then we can do that. Otherwise I’m going to destroy it and walk away from it, because I just don’t care any more.”

In that case, you have the same rights with your non-paying customers, and you should treat them exactly the same.

Personally, I wouldn’t be giving away art for free except rarely and in very special cases. But I’m no artist; what do I know?

That is one reason why I don’t like commission work and I’m getting paid for that!
As for freebies…they can either take it or leave it. or shove it
You are more patient than I am. ;)
I would tell these people that you don’t have the free time anymore and that you will need to charge an hourly rate.

If you expect something from someone who gives you something as a gift…then it wasn’t for free. A true gift is the unexpected and from the heart….that is something so very hard to pay back nor should one ever try. ;)

I think some of the issue lies in showing it to them in the middle of doing it to see what they think. In my opinion, if you are asking their opinion on the item you are making, you are opening up that dialog. If someone is making something for me and asks me what I think (and I know they want my honest input), I’m honest with them.

I’d say the best way to stop this from happening is to stop showing them what you are doing while still working on it. Just give it to them when it is done and let them go from there.

@Seaofclouds I thought of that, actually. The thing with digital art is that people realise you can go back and change things. I think, because I’ve had several instances where people have asked me to change a great deal of work after it was finished. Now, sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t, but that still doesn’t eliminate the issue that people seem to be expect to be able to have complete control over the finished product.
In a pay situation, by all means, I respect that. I just feel like if I am giving you a piece of art, that sort of nitpicking makes me feel very unappreciated.

@TheOnlyNeffie Could you show it to them without opening up the dialog of asking them what they think, or maybe start out by saying something like “this isn’t done yet, I just wanted to show you what I’ve done so far. Just wait until you see what I’ve come up with for you!”? Something like that allows them to see it, but doesn’t really give them the opportunity to go into a lot of nitpicking (in my opinion).

Beyond that, I think it’s just something that you would have to start being more firm with. Just tell people you really can’t change it and then stick to it.

Yes of course. I could, and I do. The majority of the time it isn’t a problem at all. People are usually pleased with what I’ve done, and those are the ones that make me enjoy what I do.

I know that I just need to learn to put my foot down with people that take advantage of what I’m doing, even though I’m sure they don’t even realise they’re doing it.

I really just wanted to know what people really do expect for free. I can’t imagine having someone create an artwork for me, free of charge, and expect to have that level of control over the product. If I were buying something, sure. But, again, I know what kind of effort goes into it. I think that people assume because you enjoy what you do that it isn’t “work” anymore.

Rude! If they want quality, pony up bitches!

Stop asking after a while. Just do it and present it as is. Act all excited and they will probably feel like a jerk if they don’t act completely pleased. If they want more or changes, tell they you haven’t the time.
The next time they ask tell them the price of paint has gone up so high that you can no longer afford to do it for free.
They will learn to live with it, I am sure. Especially if they price how much it would cost to have someone do it exactly the way they want it.

And just to clarify, it isn’t like my free works are half assed. I put my heart into my art. I just enjoy my creative freedom, too.

If the gift is offered, free and clear, I would not have any expectations, but I would also not expect the gifter to have any either.

I guess I’m kindof confused…are you doin favors for a few individuals that have gotten too comfortable? Are these pieces things from their minds eye that you are trying to create by what they say? or is it from your eye? If it’s something that you see in your mind then they have no right or reason to want it different than how you make it. I could ask for a dragon…..I’d be happy with whatever dragon you draw me….if i ask for a chinese dragon and you draw an english one…..me, I’d take it and say thank you. you don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. But if I ask you for something very specific and we need a “police sketch” session to say it needs a bigger mouth, wider wings, bigger teeth, etc. Well then they’re just totally taking advantage and I really hope you can put an end to it. I guess it also depends on how close you are with them too though. If you don’t mind the time you spend in “sketch sessions” then it shouldn’t be a big deal…..is it someone you used to like more than you do now? LOL

@notrecruiting yes and no. In some cases (like the one that is under my skin today) it is a matter of people getting too comfortable, sometimes not.
Now, what I am drawing is in my own mind’s eye. They have a concept or an idea, but the job of coming up with a visual manifestation of that idea is on me.
It really isn’t a matter of how much I like the person, although I can see why you would ask. I just feel like there is a difference between giving someone a piece of art and selling someone a piece of art.

For sure….if you recieve something as a gift it should be appreciated. and i had no idea we were talking live lol

@notrecruiting we weren’t, technically. I just so happened to be reading when you replied. :) Welcome to Fluther.

hehe that’s funny and thank you for welcoming me. this is my first whatever these are.

well I hope that you’re able to break free from the nitpicky leach. I hate when people get too comfortable taking advantage of friends.

@TheOnlyNeffie

I just feel like there is a difference between giving someone a piece of art and selling someone a piece of art.

I don’t. Most of my work is for a large company, it’s not highly ‘creative’ and I work for an annual salary, not even on commission. Even so, a lot of what I do does have ‘creativity’ in it. And in those cases where I’m doing ‘work to order’ where the form of the final product isn’t highly specified and I put my own touches into it, when the person who ordered / commissioned the work wants changes, then I make those changes without comment other than clarification and / or correction of mistakes or interpretation.

But apart from my ‘work’ at work, I also do things for others as toss-offs, to help someone out, to do a favor or to show creative examples of my own that they can incorporate in their own work. (By ‘toss-off’, I don’t mean to imply that I don’t care or that the thing is worthless, but it’s not ‘what I am paid to do’ – sort of like Fluther; I care, but it’s not going to affect my salary, bonus or performance appraisal.) And when I give it away (and everything I do in this vein is digital, whether words on a monitor or a spreadsheet or database or SQL query or whatever), I give it freely, expect nothing but a ‘thank you’, and only rarely make changes, and then only because they (or I) see something that could be improved – and I can make that improvement without cutting into my ‘for real’ work.

If the thing was not appreciated for whatever reason, then I simply walk away from it – or if I really want to for my own reasons – then I do it over again for myself more than anyone else, whether or not anyone else ever sees the second effort. (I’ve learned more about spreadsheets, databases, writing and coding in all of my ‘freebie work for others’ than I ever learned or could hope to learn in classes, seminars and other forms of instruction. When I try to answer someone else’s “How do I…?” question, for example, then I branch down avenues of self-instruction that I often hadn’t even considered before.)

What I like more than anything in this regard is when someone who has benefited from and does appreciate this kind of ‘above and beyond’ effort from me introduces me to someone new, with a strong recommendation (to the other person) that, “Here’s the guy you need to talk to about your project. He can get you going.” Because that might lead to my next job, number one, and also because… the appreciation was all I wanted in the first place.

Maybe some of this is age-based, because I wasn’t always so laid back about my work. But now I realize (without being too smug about it, when I can help it) that more often than not when people can’t see the value in my work it’s their failure of intelligence, perception and analysis more than mine in execution (which is still far from perfect!), and I feel sorry for them… as I walk away.

If someone was doing a piece of artwork for me free of charge I would expact two things:
1) For the piece to be done in their own steady time, not to any deadline of my choosing, and if it takes for ever then so be it.
2) If it comes back and there’s something I’m not happy with or would like changed – tough. Unless I pay for it I don’t have the right to complain at the result. I might say to the artist… “Actually I have another idea, if I paid you, could you do another one with [such-and-such]?”

Separate friends and business! A friend is a friend, but you got bills also. I would price the work upfront and let the chips fall where they fall. No freebies for friends is my position. Business is business…nothing personal. Just pay me.

The big difference in your question is “doing it for free or charging money for your talent”. you can give some people an inch and they want a mile. if you get my drift.

The bottomline is that the freebies are taking advantage of you. if i were you, i would never show my art in-progress. i would wait until the piece is finished. this way, this does not give the receiver a chance to critique your work to add or replace something in it.

Wait till your project is fully finished and then give it to them. they can either take it or leave it. make a change in your art procedures, wait till the project is finished.

I agree with @john65pennington. when you let someone start to control your progress or creativity, the job tends to go to hell in a hand basket real fast. Customize to some extent as long as it doesn’t turn into a rout. People like that will drive you crazy. Often people don’t really know what they want so they may try to keep changing things around till the project is a bust. Custom work is EXPENSIVE for a reason, if for no more than to be compensated for dealing with people who want to get their mits in a project you have under perfect control.

Thanks everyone. Good advice.