Commission terms

Last updated: 17 October 2026

These terms apply to every commission I accept, whether it is a portrait or figure drawing, an illustration, a storyboard or a project you describe yourself. They form a contract between you and Oliver E. J. Arnold ("I", "me"). They sit alongside the terms of use and sale and the privacy notice. Nothing here limits the rights you have as a consumer.

1. Quote and booking

After I have reviewed your request and reference material, I will send a written quote. It will state what I will make (medium, size or deliverables), the price, any extras, the estimated start and completion dates, and the usage rights included.
A quote is valid for 14 days. Prices can change after that, and my schedule may too.
Your commission is booked, and a contract is formed, when you accept the quote in writing (an email is fine) and pay the deposit.
I may decline a commission for any reason, for example if I cannot work from the material, the schedule is full, or the subject is not one I make. If I decline, I will tell you promptly and you will have paid nothing.

2. Price, deposit and payment

A 50% deposit is due when you accept the quote. It reserves your place in my schedule and covers the early work: studying your references, planning the composition and preparing materials.
The balance is due before the finished work is dispatched, or before you collect it. I will send you a photograph of the finished piece before you pay the balance.
Payment is made by the methods listed in the quote, normally through Stripe. Any bank or payment fees are mine, except where a different currency is involved.
If you are a business, invoices are due within 14 days of the invoice date unless the quote says otherwise, and statutory interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 may be charged on overdue sums.
I keep the finished work, and the rights in it, until I have received payment in full.

3. What you need to provide

Clear, well-lit reference photographs, at a resolution I can work from. Natural light works best. I can't recreate detail that isn't in the images, so please tell me if the references are limited.
Any details that matter to you, including expressions, clothing, background, mood, deadlines and any special requirements.
Permission. You confirm that you own the photographs or have permission to use them, and that everyone recognisable in them, or their parent or guardian, is content for me to draw them. You are responsible for any claim that arises from material you give me.
If any reference material was produced with generative AI, you must tell me, so that I can decide whether I can work from it.

4. What I will and will not make

I will make your commission by hand, in the medium agreed. I do not use generative AI to create commissioned artwork. I may use digital tools for photographing, editing, colour-checking and preparing files and proofs.

I reserve the right to decline or stop work on anything I consider unlawful, hateful, harassing, or sexually explicit, any sexualised depiction of a minor, and any depiction of a real person that I believe could cause them harm or that they have not agreed to. I will refund any money paid for work I have not started in those cases.

5. Approvals and changes

For most commissions I will send a composition sketch for your approval before I start the final work.
One composition sketch and one round of reasonable adjustments at the sketch stage are included. Once you approve the composition, the design is fixed.
Major changes after approval (for example a new pose, a different background, or additional people) and any further rounds of revisions are quoted separately and may move the delivery date.
If I don't hear from you within 10 days of asking for approval or information, the delivery date may be pushed back, and I may move on to other bookings.
Hand-drawn work is a creative interpretation. I will aim for a faithful likeness and the mood you describe, but a drawing is not a photograph, and a difference in taste is not a fault.

6. Timing

Dates in my quote are estimates. I will keep you updated and will tell you promptly of any delay.
If you need the finished work by a particular date, tell me before booking. A rush fee (usually 35–50% of the price) applies where I agree to a shorter timeline, and I may not be able to accept it.
Time is not of the essence unless we have both agreed a firm date in writing. If I miss a firm date for reasons within my control, you may cancel for a full refund of what you paid.
I am not liable for delay caused by events outside my reasonable control, including illness, injury, family emergency, supply problems, courier delay, or severe weather. I will do my best to tell you and to complete your work as soon as possible.

7. Cancellation and refunds

Consumers. If you booked at a distance (online or by email), you normally have 14 days from accepting the quote to cancel. Because a commission is made to your specification, you agree that once I have started work at your request, the right to cancel no longer applies in the usual way, and you will pay for the work done up to the point you cancel. If you cancel within the 14 days before I have begun work, I will refund your deposit in full.
After work has started. If you cancel before I have started the final piece, the deposit covers my work to that point and is not refundable. If you cancel after the final piece is started, payment for the work completed may be due in addition to the deposit, up to the full price, and I will explain how I calculated it.
If I cancel. If I cannot complete the commission, for example because of illness, I will tell you promptly and refund any money you have paid for work not delivered, and where practical I will offer to find another route to completion.
If something is wrong with the work. If the finished piece is not what we agreed or is damaged when delivered, tell me within 7 days of receiving it, with photographs, and I will put it right with a repair, a redraw or a refund as appropriate. This does not affect your legal rights.
A completed commission that matches what was approved, and is in good condition on arrival, cannot be returned or refunded because you have changed your mind.
If you dispute a payment with your bank or card provider before talking to me, I may share the relevant records to show the work was delivered.

8. Delivery, packing and risk

Finished work is fixed or varnished as appropriate, packed flat between rigid boards or crated if framed, and sent insured and tracked. Delivery costs are in the quote or shown before you pay.
Please check the parcel on arrival and report any damage within 48 hours with photographs of the outside of the package and the work, and keep the packaging. I will arrange a claim with the carrier and a repair or replacement where I can.
Risk passes to you on delivery, except that I am responsible if the work is damaged in transit under the insurance I arranged. International buyers are responsible for any customs duties, VAT and taxes.
Framing is not included unless the quote says so. Charcoal and graphite are delicate even when fixed, so please follow the care advice on the shipping, returns and care page.

9. Copyright, ownership and your usage rights

You own the finished physical artwork once it is paid for in full.
I keep the copyright, and I am always identified as the artist. Copyright is not transferred by buying or commissioning work unless we agree so in writing.
Personal use licence. Your price includes a licence to display the work, photograph it, share it online with credit to me, and make personal, non-commercial copies for yourself and your family.
No commercial use (including products, merchandise, publications, packaging, advertising, websites for a business, book covers, or film and game use) without a separate written licence, even if you bought the original. Commercial and illustration projects are licensed according to the quote, and the usage granted (for example personal, commercial, exclusive, source files, territory and duration) is limited to what the quote states.
Portfolio and promotion. I may photograph the work and show it, with the subject's first name or no name, in my portfolio, website, social media, and printed material, unless you ask me in writing when booking that I don't. I will never publish a commissioned portrait of a private individual's child without explicit agreement.
No AI training. You agree not to use the artwork, or any images of it, to train or fine-tune generative AI systems or to feed it into AI image tools, and I do not give permission for anyone else to do so.
Reference photographs you supply stay your property. I use them only for your commission, and delete them as set out in the privacy notice.
Transfer of copyright, exclusivity or full ownership of rights, where I agree it, will be priced separately and agreed in writing.

10. Illustration, storyboards and business clients

Illustration and storyboard projects are quoted by deliverable, usage, complexity and timeline, not simply by size. The quote will list what is included (for example sketches, revisions, final art, files, and usage rights).
Where a quote includes source files or exclusive use, this is stated in the quote. Otherwise, source files and sketches remain mine.
Credit. Unless the quote says otherwise, I am credited where the work is published.
For a business, a kill fee applies if you cancel after approval of the sketches: the work completed, and not less than the deposit, is payable.
If you want to alter, crop, extend or build on the work, or to commission it for something other than the use in the quote, tell me first, and we will agree a licence.
Confidentiality. If you need an NDA, tell me before you send confidential material.

11. Responsibility

I will carry out the commission with reasonable skill and care. Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything that can't be excluded by law, including your statutory rights. Otherwise, and as far as the law allows, my liability for any commission is limited to the price you paid for it, and I am not liable for indirect or consequential loss. I am not responsible for loss or damage after delivery, for damage caused by display or handling, or for any claim arising from material you gave me.

12. General

These terms, your accepted quote and the terms of use and sale are the whole agreement between us about the commission, and replace anything said earlier. If they conflict, the accepted quote takes priority, then these terms, then the terms of use and sale.
I may update these terms. The version in force when you accept the quote applies to that commission.
If any part of these terms is found unenforceable, the rest still applies.
These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction, but if you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland you may also use your local courts, and as a consumer you keep the mandatory protections of the country where you live.
If you are unhappy with anything, please contact me first at oejarnold@protonmail.com and I will do everything I can to put it right.