Can art trades be paid as commissions are?

alexyorim said:
Can art trades be paid as commissions are?

That would be kind of weird, since art trades are when you produce some art for someone, and that someone also produces art for you in trade. It's equal consideration. Having them also pay you would then normally mean you would pay them.

There's technically no reason they can't be, and I'm sure someone can think of a scenario where it could happen, but it seems unusual to me.

Technically, I'd think that the "payment" for an art trade is the picture being made for the other artist. I suppose if there's enough of a disparity between the artists involved, the trade could be one high-quality picture traded for a lower-skilled picture plus money in a sort of a half-trade, half-commission.

clawstripe said:
I suppose if there's enough of a disparity between the artists involved, the trade could be one high-quality picture traded for a lower-skilled picture plus money in a sort of a half-trade, half-commission.

I could see that being taken as an insult, though. Since the idea of a trade is that you want art from someone, and they want art from you. That's like saying "I want art from you. But my art is worth more than your art, so I'm going to need some extra money with it to call it even."

watsit said:
I could see that being taken as an insult, though. Since the idea of a trade is that you want art from someone, and they want art from you. That's like saying "I want art from you. But my art is worth more than your art, so I'm going to need some extra money with it to call it even."

Most likely. I certainly wouldn't because that would definitely damage what reputation I have. In fact, were it me as the more-developed artist, I'd even insist it be either a full art trade (preferable) or a full commission (less preferable, but acceptable if they feel they can't make an acceptable trade).

Anyway, I was looking at it from the less-developed artist's viewpoint in that they may feel their own skills are nowhere adequate enough to match the other artist's, so their lack of confidence may lead them to make up their perceived lack of value in their art with money. Alternatively, the artists may make an unusual agreement on a commission, in which the commissioner is unable to pay the full price, so offers a picture of their own to make up the difference which the commissioned accepts for some reason. However, I also find both scenarios highly unlikely.

Art trades are something that are agreed upon before any art is even made, so it's assumed that both sides have looked at the other's art to see if it would be worth their time investment. I've never seen these other scenarios happen and people are just happy to get something that someone put their time and care into. I mean, just look at ArtFight.

watsit said:
I could see that being taken as an insult, though. Since the idea of a trade is that you want art from someone, and they want art from you. That's like saying "I want art from you. But my art is worth more than your art, so I'm going to need some extra money with it to call it even."

I can see it working in very niche scenarios, such as when one party does a colored sketch while the other does full colors and shading, or when the one paying wants a physical version, but I don't imagine that's very common.