Commissions

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This section includes policies specific to commissions; please read the regular policies page as well as this one for complete information.

Current Status: CLOSED

(Updated 8/27/23) I am not seeking commissions at this time. I'll update this page should that change! However, you're still welcome to email me at calyn@fruitbatphoenix.com to discuss your desired project.

General Info

I will typically announce any open commission slots first via my newsletter and then on social media, but you are also welcome to email me directly at calyn@fruitbatphoenix.com! Commissions will be awarded more or less on a first-come, first-serve basis. If I am not able to take your commission at the time you first ask me about it, but might be able to later, I can add you to my commissions interest list for the type of commission you are interested in. Persons on the list will get first dibs when the commissions are opened. Interest lists are not binding in any way - nothing is finalized until money changes hands.

See the above section for a price list of current semi-custom items.

Fully unique commissions are particularly stressful for me, and I will only accept them occasionally and if I really love the design. Completely custom posable creatures of my usual complexity will range from $850-$1500+. Prices for simpler creatures and other projects vary widely and may be significantly less!

Design & Pricing

Pricing: Pricing: The total price of a commission = (Base price of creature/item*)+ (Any modification costs**)+ (Shipping***) + (Any extra materials costs****).

*See previous sections for current prices.

**Minor changes to the design (like 1 extra tail) won’t change the price; more involved changes might cost extra.

***Scroll down to the end of this page for shipping info.

****If your project requires me to acquire some special material, I may ask you to pay for this. If it’s something that I can use for future projects too, (like a new color of fur), I might only bill you for part of the cost. Your bill for new materials costs will take into account all or part of what I pay to have that material shipped to me and/or cost of any samples I have to order (if applicable). I will ALWAYS discuss with you before any money changes hands if I need special materials and what the cost of those might be. Details specifically on new fur for posable creatures are addressed later in this section.

Reference: If you’ve got a specific image in your head, please do your best to communicate it to me. Images and text description are both good. If there are issues with your design that I anticipate having difficulties translating into my medium, I will of course discuss this with you. Please be proactive in describing what you want; I will fill in the gaps and make it work with my style.
- I will consider fanart on a case by case basis. If your desired design is fanart, please make that very clear and tell me what show/game/book/movie it’s from.

Size: You do not get to decide the size of the creature. My workflow is adaptive and intuitive, and it’s really hard to work towards an exact size on completely OOAK creatures. Please read the descriptions in my galleries to get an idea of how big they tend to be. Creatures made with resin parts/patterns will be similar in size to previous works made with those parts/patterns.

Coloring: No totally solid colored creatures. (Example of as close to solid colored bodies as I am willing to do.) Gradients and markings are great! Dark markings on light backgrounds are ideal. Light markings on dark backgrounds are difficult, but if they are not too tiny, it can be done. Metallic or glow in the dark paint on fur is not possible. (If you ever see a glow in the dark fur for sale, please point me in its direction!) (Painting the fur is like watercolor or markers: the colors are translucent, and they do not erase.) Resin/polymer clay sections of the creature are done with normal acrylic paint and can have all the details and metallic/iridescent colors you want.
- I will tell you when we are discussing your design if a new fur is needed. I do a LOT with adding color to the fur, but some looks can only be created by starting with the right base. If your commissioned creature requires that I buy new fur, you pay 50% of what it costs for me to acquire that fur. That includes buying swatches, shipping, and the actual price of the fur.
- The reason for this is that faux fur fabric is expensive. It can cost $30-$60 (USD) per yard/meter, and often can only be purchased online in whole yard/meter increments. Finding the right fur can require extensive searching, and I will need to get swatches of it to make sure it will work. (There is a LOT of bad quality or not dense enough fur out there. The only way I can tell if it is good is to touch it and test trim it.) You can expect to pay something like $20-$50 if I’m getting a new fur for you. I’ll keep you in the loop as I’m shopping for it.
- Please bear in mind that the process of getting new fur may add several weeks to the make time of your commission.
- I don’t mind getting new fur - I will eventually be able to use it on more than just your project. This is why I’m only asking that you pay for half.

Furred/flocked faces: Creatures with fully furred faces will cost more. It takes many many many extra hours to create this look, and it’s incredibly tedious. Yes, it looks really good, so I will do it! But it will cost more than if it was not a furred face. “Non-furred” faces will still have the face edges blended into the body! (A fully furred face) (A non-furred face)

Feet: A couple of claws on soft paws are the easiest feet to make. Fancier feet take longer and may cost more.

Wings: No wings of any kind that I have not previously made.

Feathers: No. Sorry. I have bad luck with them.

Remakes: It is not possible for me to recreate a design exactly. Understand that if I agree to remake a creature, it will be based on the original, NOT an exact copy. If the work is older, the remake will be better quality! The more resin parts and/or patterns used in a given design, the more similar it can be to a past work. Prices on remakes will be consistent with my current quality of work, not the price of the original.

Concept Sketches: I do not typically provide concept sketches as part of commissions. Very rarely are detailed sketches part of my workflow. I often do rough sketches to figure out the scale of the body or work out color ideas, but I am much happier (and much better at) sculpting than sketching. I find I think better in clay than in pencil.

Communication & Timing

Please contact me via email to calyn@fruitbatphoenix.com. Please keep emails to one thread - it’s really confusing if you send me a whole bunch of separate emails. Comments and DMs on social media are not an acceptable method of communication about anything purchase-related.

Commissions are SLOW. Creatures take a long time to make, and involve a lot of steps with bake time, dry time, etc. Please allow something like 1-2 months for commission completion from the time I actually start work on it. (Simple creatures, like Mmpoffs, tend to take significantly less time.) I really appreciate your patience as I work to make the best creature I can for you. I am far more interested in quality than speed, and I do not thrive on rushing. I am invariably happier with the results when I give a project the time to tell me what it wants. Some steps of making these creatures are not reversible (especially trimming and painting the fur) and rushing is a bad idea. Also, there are many periods of letting glue and paint dry, sometimes overnight.

I reserve the right to photograph your commission. I do photography outdoors in natural light. This means that I am at the mercy of nature to provide me with suitable weather, which may not be plentiful at all times of year. It may take several days or weeks before I can take pictures of your completed creature. If for whatever reason you do not wish to have your commission's pictures made public, or maybe you commissioned a gift and want the images withheld from the internet until the giftee has received the item, you need to let me know upfront.

If you need your creature done by a certain time (Christmas, birthday, etc), you need to tell me upfront. I will do my best to oblige, or if it’s not possible, I’ll let you know before any money changes hands.

Copyright

By purchasing my work, you gain ownership of the physical item itself. Copyright remains with me (Calyn McLeod, aka Fruit-Bat-Phoenix). The design remains my intellectual property. I may make similar works in future and sell them to other people.

If there is an exception to this rule, it will be explicitly noted in writing and needs to be discussed upfront. (For example, if I make a doll of your original character based on reference images you provide me, I will acknowledge that it is not my design, and I will not copy it to sell to others.)

All photographs that I take of your commission will remain my copyright. (You are more than welcome to share these images with a mention of Fruit-Bat-Phoenix, though!)

Payment

Payments will be made via Paypal, credit card, or check. I may make a listing for you to pay me via my shop, or send you a paypal invoice.

I will start work on the commission only after you have paid me a non-refundable down payment of 25% of the total price, not including shipping.

The remaining 75% of the price + shipping may be paid in up to 3 installments, with the last payment being not more than 3 months* from the time of completion of the commission. (You may pay me before or after the commission is complete; I have no preference).

I will ship your creature when it is paid for in full, including shipping.

If for whatever reason you decide to cancel the commission before it is complete, and you communicate to me that this is the case, I will refund 25% of the payments that you have made beyond the down payment. If you ghost me for more than 1 month, I will assume that you have abandoned the commission, and you forfeit the refund, even if you contact me again after that month has passed. (By “ghost” I mean that you are not responding to emails, not paying me, and/or generally being completely unresponsive).

*Things happen, I understand. If for some reason you wish to delay or change a payment plan, please communicate with me about it! In virtually all cases, I will be able to work with you! These rules are here so I can have something to point to if something goes really wrong; in reality I’m quite chill. As long as I get paid in full eventually, I’m happy.

Shipping

My default is to choose the least expensive USPS shipping option + insurance. See Policies for more information on my shipping practices.

To get the cheapest shipping, I may ask if you are ok waiting to make the final payment until the commission is complete and ready to go. I can then measure and weigh the parcel and charge you the right amount.