OC ICON REWARD: info + rules and guidelines

it's happening, people: i'm making some icons. the tier is $75, and i'll start with opening up 4 slots for april. this means you have to pledge before midnight march 31st (central european time!) to get an icon in april. sorry for the short notice, i tried to get the tier live earlier but Life Kept Happening. 

(towards the end of april, i'll make a new post about my icon-related plans for may and future months, since the number of available slots will fluctuate depending on the rest of my life. right now i expect doing 1-2 icons in may. this might be a temporary 'emergency' offer to help keep me financially secure during these stressful times, so i can't say how long i'll keep the tier around. we'll simply have to see!)

if you're interested, here's all the guidelines and rules--please read thoroughly before pledging! and if you have any questions, comment below or send me a DM.

VERY IMPORTANT

• i will only start working on your icon after your payment has been successfully processed. patreon processes payments on the first of each month. so if you pledge before march 31st, your payment will be processed on april 1st. i'll start working on your icon as soon as your pledge has been paid and (if everything goes smoothly) finish it before the end of april. please make sure you have enough money on your card/paypal/whatever, and that your payment information is correct/up to date, so that your payment can be successfully processed without issue.

GENERAL RULES / INFO

• i will only draw your original characters (aka no fan art). 
• you have to have at least one picture reference of your character. i will not work with only text descriptions/mood boards/scattered photos/etc.
• the icons will be done in the style shown above and the full size will be 1500 x 1500 pixels. 
• i retain the right to refuse to draw anything that makes me uncomfortable. if you're uncertain about whether i'd be willing to draw what you have in mind, feel free to send me a DM and ask before you pledge.  (most likely there will never be a problem with such a thing as icons, but i'm including this paragraph to be on the safe side lol.)

PROCESS GUIDELINES
i aim for the process to be as streamlined and smooth as possible. that way you'll get your finished icon faster and i'll have more fun drawing it.

• please do your best to respond to my messages and questions as quickly as you can. this ensures that no icon will 'lag behind.' 
• you'll get to review your icon a minimum of two times (as a refined sketch and when it's finished), which is when you can give me feedback and suggest edits. but please understand that this is not one of those commissions where you get sent 15 wip shots so you can micromanage every detail. i can't keep tweaking and redrawing stuff over and over, so you won't have endless opportunities to request changes. the maximum of times you get to review it is three. i have to be kind of strict about this, to avoid situations where people keep demanding edits to be made to an unreasonable degree. thanks for understanding. of course my ultimate goal is that you'll love your icon and as long as we communicate efficiently i'm sure everything's gonna be just dandy!

here's what the process will look like:

1. read ALL the rules & guidelines. only pledge if you feel comfortable with the stipulations outlined in this post! 
2. pledge to the $75 tier and then immediately send me a message here on patreon to initiate conversation. i will not reach out to you, you are responsible for contacting me about claiming this reward. 
3. i'll ask you for the information i need, and we'll start talking about what you want the icon to look like.
4. as mentioned above, i will only start sketching your icon after your payment has been successfully processed. once your pledge has been paid on the 1st of the new month and we have talked about what you have in mind for the icon, i'll send you a few very rough thumbnails to choose from.
5. before work progresses any further, we will need to 'lock in.' beyond this stage, once i start drawing in earnest, there will be no chance of a refund. i'll ask you to confirm that you understand this, and then i'll proceed.
6. next i'll send you a refined sketch (plus a preliminary colour palette). this is your first and best chance to suggest any changes, like tweaking the expression, editing the proportions, or fixing characteristic features. if you spot anything major, please tell me now, while it's still relatively easy to change stuff around. 
7. after applying any such changes, i'll go ahead and finish the icon. i'll send you the finished image and this is your second opportunity to review it. at this point i can't do any major changes, but will happily tweak smaller things that are quick and easy to fix.
8. once we're both happy with it, i'll send you the full-size file (one version with a watermark and one without). if necessary, i can also help you shrink it to whatever size(s) you need.
9. and we're done! pleasure doing business with you.

TERMS OF USE / POSTING GUIDELINES

• this icon is for personal use only. you can not use it for commercial purposes.
• you can use it as a userpic or character portrait anywhere you like.
• if you post the full-size image anywhere online, please use the watermarked version so other people can find the artist (me!) and to prevent others from stealing the art or the character. if possible, please give me art credit in the description too (with a link to my patreon page). you know, the usual courtesy stuff when posting art someone else drew for you. <3
• i may post your icon on patreon, twitter, FA, or other online art galleries. in other words i won't do 'private' icons that i can't show anyone else, but of course i'll credit you with ownership of the character.

by pledging to the $75 tier you confirm that you have read these rules and guidelines and that you'll follow and respect them.

((PLS NOTE: all my other patreon content will soon be available for $75 patrons. it's just that i have to manually go through ALL my previous posts and MANUALLY change the access to include the new tier lol. i'll be working on it over the next few days, thank you for your patience!))

... i think that's it...! it's been a while since i wrote up guidelines / terms of use like this lol. this post is long enough already so i'll end it here and just say THANK YOU in advance if you decide to pledge to the tier, i'm excited to draw your character! <3