Commissions

This is one of my first (but not the first) commissions that I have ever done. Though it remains one of my favorites. There is a bit of context needed to really appreciate this piece. There is a popular videogame/anime/cardgame with the youth called "Pokemon" that has been relevant to to the social landscape since the late 90's. One of the trends within this game series is that each installment would have it's own set of Pokemon - in particular Legendary Pokemon - which represent some primordial power. For a few generations of this game the theme has been that each would have a set of three of these primordial Pokemon.  

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At the time when I commissioned this I was still regularly visiting a website called Deviant Art where folks would upload their fan art of games, shows, ect. And I ran into this artist who had posted some art of the Sapphire/Ruby/Emerald series of games "Legendary Trio" - who represented earth, sea, and sky. 

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I had grown up with the following generation of games; Diamond/Pearl/Platinum - where the respective legendary represented time, space, and antimatter. Known as "The Creation Trio". I liked what this artist had done with the previous generation and reached out to them to see if they might make a piece representing the one I had grown up with. 

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I was still inexperienced in the ways of commissioning artists, and probably made things a little bit harder for this artist that I would have now that I have some more pieces under my belt. Then again I dont think it could have possibly turned out so well had I not left it totally in their hands. If I remember correctly I basically just wanted them to draw the three Pokemon one atop the other in one piece. Another note that I have learned with more experience... This artist did not charge me nearly enough for the effort that she put into this. BECAUSE! Not only did she make this gorgeous digital piece, but she also made a traditional acrylic painting of the same. In fact that had been the true commission, for a traditional art piece of this. What I have uploaded here is just the digital version she sent my way once it was finished. 

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I still have the original commissioned piece. Unfortunately it isnt here with me at the moment as I have just arrived in country, but having this physical ORIGINAL artwork is so freaking cool. The artist even included a note with it when it came in the mail thanking me for the commission. Turns out when she posted it to her Deviant Art page she was featured for the first time. I dont fully understand what that means, but I suspect that it boils down to exposure and "feels good" moments. 

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Cheese and crackers, I am digging through my old messages with them from 2015 when I started this... I am pretty sure that they charged me less than 200 USD. Unbelievable. That felt like a lot for me at the time as I was fresh in college... But nowadays - and especially after commissioning many other art pieces it feels like highway robbery.