How to get artists interested in your character!

Hey guys, I’ve spent the last few days perusing this subreddit as an artist looking for fun characters to draw. Personally, I pick characters from here to use as warmups (and don’t tend to spend more than an hour on them) and I end up sifting through quite a lot of requests to find characters to draw. Here are some things that I think would make picking characters a better time for everybody. Obviously this all comes back to level of subjectivity but hopefully it can help one or two people out.

1. Don’t over or under describe the character.

Over describing the character is an easy way to alienate an artist. It may seem like it’s the helpful thing to do but it can actually be the opposite and weigh the artist down with trying to get those features right or just plain ol’ bore them. Also you never know what the artist could come up with for your character, there could be some things that you like more than what you currently have in mind, you just never know! Under describing is a similar issue, you may think you’re giving the artist expressive freedom and you certainly are, but you’re also not giving them any reason to choose to draw your character. Why would they need your prompt to draw a ‘white human with brown hair and leather armour’? If they’re on this subreddit they’re probably looking for characters of interest, and that character is sadly lacking.

2. DO weave a bit of a story

Tell us why this character is interesting! What makes them worth their own art and not just some stock image off of google images? Obviously it’s because you like them, but tell us why! What strange personality quirks do they have? Have they once bested a bear in an arm wrestling contest? No? Could they? Not only will this interest an artist browsing through multiple requests, it will help give character to whatever they draw. A warrior that would kill a man for a slice of barmaid Matha’s deep dish blueberry pie might be drawn joyfully downing a plate, or holding the pie triumphantly while wielding his axe outwards to any that would dare take his prize. You’ll get more original art this way, and it will be way more unique to you and your character.

3. Please don’t request X character but slightly more Y

If you want a specific pre-existing character but with a different hair colour, then you can easily just take a screenshot of them into photoshop and BOOM you have images of your character. Pre-existing characters can be useful when describing your character (He’s bulky in a Hulk-sort of way, but with he skips leg day) and immediately conjure up helpful imagery for the artist (and reference images on google, hell yeah!). Use it sparingly and also only to describe particular traits, otherwise what’s the point in your input? The artist might as well just be drawing fanart of that character.

4. Please please PLEASE remember what a gift the artists are giving to you

That’s not even hyperbole, you have requested something of them that only they can create and they have deigned to use their free time to complete your request. For free. The requests here are done for free. I haven’t seen anyone disrespect artists here so far (and thank god for that) but I’ve also seen people callously making huge (and specific) requests that you’d normally have to commission someone for. Art takes time, art takes energy. For someone to take your words and paint them into life is amazing, and it’s being done for free. Just remember that when making your requests: keep your wording from being too demanding, remember your Ps and Qs, and don’t weigh an artist down in specific demands and details for something you aren’t paying them for.

TL;DR- Tell the artists why your character is worth their time. Thank them for that time.

Have fun! Edit: IDK why my numbers are messed up but it's all cool, they're all number one in priorities