Commission Terms of Service

This page outlines my terms of service, which you must agree to before commissioning me for any project. It is your responsibility to understand all of these terms before agreeing to them. You are always free to ask for any clarifications if you have questions about any of the terms on this page. These terms will suffice for the vast majority of all non-commercial commissions. However, if you would like to hire me to create something for commercial purposes, or if you would like any of these terms changed for your specific project, you may discuss it with me at lark@jaylarkstudios.com. If any changes are agreed upon, a separate agreement will be attached to your invoice for payment. By sending payment, you are indicating that you agree to be bound by the terms attached to the invoice, or to the terms on this page if there are none attached.

What I will and won't draw

  1. All commissions must be SFW. In general, I aim for about a "PG" rating, maybe the tame side of "PG-13".
  2. No sexually explicit or sexually suggestive content. That includes explicit nudity, provocative poses or outfits, or suggestive gestures or images. Characters who do not wear clothing are allowed, provided no explicit details are shown and the context isn't suggestive.
  3. Romance is allowed, up to and including passionate kissing. Groping, straddling, or other actions suggestive of sexual intent are not allowed.
  4. No profanity or rude gestures.
  5. No content that is hateful or hurtful towards another group or person.
  6. No content that is overtly political in nature.
  7. Violence should be at a minimum. No heavy gore, including "candy gore". Small amounts of blood might be okay, such as from scratches or scrapes, or from a small wound.
  8. No bodily waste or vomit. That includes colorful or otherwise "cartoony" vomit. Diapers are allowed as long as they are clean.
  9. ABDL, babyfur, littlefur, etc. are all allowed provided any image involving minor characters cannot be construed as being suggestive in any way, even if they are younger versions of adult characters. Extra care will be taken when considering any depictions of dressing, bathing, changing, nursing, discipline, etc.
  10. Muscular characters, including hyper-muscle are allowed provided they are not suggestive and do not include exaggerated proportions of genitals, breasts, etc.
  11. Transformation sequences are allowed, including age regression and muscle growth sequences, provided the context is not suggestive.
  12. I may choose not to draw certain scenes, objects, characters, etc. that are outside my current skill level, or that differ dramatically from my established artistic style.
  13. I may choose not to draw certain characters belonging to widely recognized properties if I believe that the resulting piece would not fall under fair use.

Process

  1. Do not send payment until asked! Doing so will result in the payment being refunded minus any payment processing fees.
  2. During the inquiry phase, we will finalize the details of the commission, the guaranteed completion date, and the final cost. You may also receive an estimated completion date. The estimate is for your convenience, and is when I expect it to be finished if everything goes smoothly. The guaranteed completion date is a longer timeline, and takes into consideration potential delays and emergencies, etc. Both dates account for the time it will take for your commission to move to the front of the queue, as well as the time it will take to finish it once it has reached the front.
    • If you need your commission completed sooner, it may be possible to pay an additional rush fee to move up the completion date. Whether it is possible and the amount of the fee depends on how much sooner you need it. (Note that choosing this option will not affect the completion dates of other commissions already in the queue.)
  3. Once I give you a final quote, I will ask you to send payment.
    • If your commission costs $25 or less:
      • The entire amount must be paid up front to added to the queue.
    • If it costs between $25 and $50:
      • At least $25 must be paid up front to be added to the queue.
      • The remaining amount must be paid before final, un-watermarked files will be delivered.
    • If it costs more than $50:
      • At least $25 must be paid up front to be added to the queue.
      • At least half the total must be paid before work begins. (Any amount paid to enter the queue counts towards this).
      • The remaining amount must be paid before final, un-watermarked files will be delivered.
  4. Once in the queue, you will move up the line as other commissions ahead of yours are completed. If you would be next in the queue, but you have not yet paid the amount required to begin work on your commission, the next in line behind you will be moved to the front instead, and your completion date will be moved back accordingly.
  5. Once I begin work on your commission, I will send you periodic updates to show progress. If you have not yet paid the full amount, they will be watermarked. Most commissions have multiple "stages" (e.g. rough draft, inking, coloring, shading, etc.). Unless the commission has been marked "artistic freedom" or "no revisions", you are allowed to request changes while a given stage is in progress.
    • Some changes may be considered minor enough to not impact the timeline of the commission. At my sole discretion however, a requested change may be considered a major revision. You are allowed up to three major revisions at each stage of the commission. If you request more revisions beyond that, an additional fee may be required, and your completion date may be moved back to account for the added time.
    • At the end of each stage, I will ask for approval to move on to the next stage (e.g. moving on from rough draft to inking, etc.). Once approval is given, requested changes that would require going back to a previous stage may require an additional fee and adjustment of the completion date.
    • Providing prompt feedback directly impacts how quickly I can finish your commission. Whenever I ask for approval to move on to the next stage, failing to respond within one business day will cause the completion date to be pushed back accordingly. If I do not hear from you for more than one week, your commission will be placed on hold until I hear back.
  6. Once your commission is completed, I will ask for final approval, as well as final payment, if it was not already paid in full. Once both have been received, I will deliver the final, unwatermarked files.
    • Unless otherwise specified, the final files provided will consist of a .png file at full resolution, and a .jpg file at smaller size for easier online sharing. If you need any other formats or resolutions, simply ask.
  7. At this point your commission is complete!

You affirm

  1. You have the right to include all the characters to be included in the piece. Specifically, that means that for each character, either
    • you are the owner of that character,
    • you have permission from the character's owner,
    • the piece is intended as a surprise gift for the character's owner, or
    • the piece is intended as fanart or other fair use depiction of a widely recognized character.
  2. You have seen recent examples of my work and understand that your commission will be of comparable quality and skill level.
  3. You have reviewed the list above of what I will or won't draw and agree to honor my final decision of whether to proceed with the your requested commission.
  4. You have reviewed my commission process above and agree to promptly provide references, feedback, and other requested info.
  5. You have had the opportunity to ask for clarifications about these terms of service and to have any of your questions answered.

Your rights

  1. The rights to all original characters remain with their respective owners.
  2. You may share the completed piece online as long as you include proper credit with it, either in the description, top comment, etc. My url (jlarkstories.com) or handle on the platform where it's being shared is sufficient for providing credit.
  3. You may NOT alter the piece in any way without permission, except to resize or crop it for use as an avatar or profile pic, but not for the sole purpose of removing the artist signature.
  4. You may make prints for personal use only.
  5. You may NOT use the piece commercially, including selling prints, using it as part of a commercial website or company logo, etc.
  6. You do NOT have the right to re-sell the image to someone else. If you decide to sell the rights to a character that appears in the image, you may not imply that you are selling the image or any rights thereto along with the character.

My rights

  1. I maintain all reproduction rights to the completed piece, including for commercial, marketing, and all other uses.
  2. I reserve the right to use the piece as part of collections, print runs, merchandise, videos, etc.
  3. Your name and a description of your commission will be included in my public commission queue. However, if you wish for it to be kept private, you may request the key details be omitted from the info card.
  4. I may choose to stream myself working on your commission and to share said streams or recordings publicly. However, if you wish for it to be kept private, you may request that it not be streamed.
  5. I may share the piece anywhere online. However, if it's meant as a gift or surprise you may request that I wait until after a certain date to post it.
  6. When sharing the resulting piece online, I will make an effort to credit the commissioner, as well as the respective owners of any characters appearing in the piece. However, if the profile of said user contains suggestive or NSFW content, I reserve the right to list the commissioners name without linking directly to their profile (e.g. by typing the name without the @ prefix, or some other method).

Last updated: 3/14/2023

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