In my time on FA, I’ve been able to see both sides of the commission frustration, and have heard a fair amount of complaining from both sides. Strangely, I haven’t yet actually seen any form of “Rules of Etiquette” from either side. So I figured I should write a few up.

To Commissioners:

1. First and foremost, remember that the person making your commission is a human being. They have priorities that come before you, they have feelings, and are subject to stress.
2. Be ready to put your money at risk. Always always always make sure that the person you are buying art from is one that can be trusted. Asking other people who have commissioned this artist may help, and making sure the artist has a refund policy is also important.
3. Only give your artist the versions of the character that you want them to use, otherwise they may still draw that green paw that you got rid of. If you want the design to change, let them know in extreme detail.
4. If you have no existing references of a character, be descriptive. Sweet mercy, be descriptive. Describe the character physically. A backstory of the character can only be used to determine the character’s demeanor. As a bare minimum, give height, weight, build, every fur color and where it separates, mood, hair length and style, and exact clothes or at least an idea of what the character wears. Give the thousand words required to make a picture.
5. Study your artist’s art style before getting in touch with them. It will tell you what aspects the artist focuses on. If the artist has only drawn mammal anthros, it might not be a good idea to commission a feral dragon. Also, aspects an artist pays attention to, such as eyes, might be something you should address, otherwise your extremely evil character might end up with a pair of adorable headlights.
6. Don’t set high expectations. Getting a vision of how the completed piece will look in your head, and basing it off the artist’s absolute best work will likely lead to disappointment. The artist has had a lot of practice in drawing characters that aren’t yours, so the transition can sometimes be bumpy. Their rendition of you may also not remotely resemble another artist’s, which was the direction you were hoping for.
7. Unless you have a lot of faith in the artist, get one that will give you updates before the picture is finished. If the artist working for you can get your commission done extremely quickly, make sure they’re the type who are willing to redo the piece if it’s totally off.
8. If you're commissioning a picture that has someone else's character in it, make sure they're fine with it. IE Don't pay someone to put your character and someone else's in a porn piece without getting consent, not everyone sees this as a compliment.
9. Don’t be a horrible nitpick. Unless you paid an inordinate amount of money for the commission, don’t make them redraw entire parts of the body or outfit because of small detail errors. Also, be willing to accept that some artists will take liberties with your colors, and may be fuller or duller than you wanted. Unless that’s a huge issue, enjoy the piece for what it is.
10. Be quick about responding to your artist when they contact you. Disappearing on your artist makes both of you look bad, and can hold up other commissions.
11. Accept that the artist’s style will play a major role in how the piece looks. Most FA artists have two styles, tops, and won’t be able to make too extreme of changes to them to meet the tone you may be hoping for. If you pay an artist to draw something for you in another artist’s style, prepare for a certain amount of disappointment.
12. There’s a difference between reminding your artist about their obligation and harassing them, and the line isn’t all that fine. Don’t send them daily reminder emails/notes, don’t spam them via IM, and don’t become their ‘best buddy’ for the week until you get your finished product.
13. When you get your piece, show adequate thanks. Yes, they already have their money, but they’ve just been staring at your character for a very long time, and appreciate knowing how much it means to you.

To Artists:

1. First and foremost, remember that the people who commission you are human beings. They have feelings, and very often, a high opinion of you.
2. Don’t take on a single commission unless you’re completely and totally ready to deal with the pressure that they bring.
3. Don’t treat your commissioner like an inferior. Yes, you can probably draw a lot better than them, but they are holding up their end of the deal. You can’t just badmouth them because they aren’t as ‘cultured’ as you, especially if you’re making them wait longer than they should have.
4. When a person commissions you, they are giving you more than a handful of money, they are giving you a hope. A hope that you will create something that will mean a great deal to them, this is especially true in the furry community. The first quality rendition of my character meant more to me than I can say. Respect that hope.
5. Of all the people there are on FA, your commissioner chose you. It is very likely that there is someone out there on FA who can do better than you, faster than you, and cheaper than you. They liked you and your work enough to put their trust in you. Respect that trust.
6. Figure out how much leeway your commissioner will give you with the design. Most people are pretty lenient, but there are some details you can’t screw up and get away with.
7. Drawing things that are outside of your current obligations while commissioned makes you look like a huge jerk. If you’re OCing and Ustreaming while there’s a commission waiting for you that you haven’t even touched, you’re being incredibly inconsiderate. The only acceptable exception to this is if your side-work is directly related to the commission, such as figuring out how you want to go about drawing beaks.
8. If you’re writing journals to the effect of “Stop bothering me about when your commissions will be done,” realize a large portion of the blame may be sitting squarely in your lap. Snapping at the people who are paying you, namely when you’re taking longer than scheduled, is extremely mean, especially if you have a following.
9. Don’t threaten the people paying you. Meaning, don’t tell them to buzz off or you’ll refund their money or tear up their piece. This kind of behavior doesn’t remotely fly in any other occupation.
10. Treat every piece like it was being made for you. If you’re not willing to put in your best effort, don’t make people pay the kind of money that reflects it.
11. Be swift in getting the commission done, -especially- if the piece is meant to be a gift for someone else. If your piece is going to be someone’s one and only birthday present, treat it like it was your only birthday present. Taking more than a month on a piece, when it would only take between one and four hours if you buckled down, is unacceptable, and you should be ashamed of yourself. It doesn’t matter how good your art is, taking that long demonstrates horrible service, period.
12. Be responsive. Let your commissioner know how things are going when they ask, instead of avoiding a reply. Becoming unresponsive makes you look incredibly indignant and heartless, and leaves the commissioner feeling like they can’t even approach you.
13. Don’t get upset when all your commissioner discusses with you is their piece. Yes, you can tell them that you’re aware and that you’d prefer to not be reminded as often as you are, but if this person doesn’t have a previous relationship with you, expect that all conversation will be about the job you accepted.
14. Keep your workload small enough that you can get things done quickly enough. If you have two commissions that you’ve been letting sit for two weeks, you should probably tell others to hold off before commissioning you.
15. Be nice. Particularly to those who are buying their very first commission. Your behavior not only represents yourself, but every other artist on FA.

If I’ve forgotten anything, please let me know.