A balance of commissions and classes

Courtesy of Vivian Chen

Freshman Vivian Chen paints a koi fish for one of her commissions.

As she delicately paints over the blue porcelain clay with acrylic paint, freshman Vivian Chen completes the final steps of her artwork with a touch of varnish.

Chen manages an online commission site, where she sells keychains, magnets, mini models and art. These products vary from $20-30, and she hopes to learn essential life skills that will help her future career in a science field.  

“I was thinking if I learned how to manage my income through commissions, maybe it can also be easier for me to do that in the future. I also really wanted to put my skill into something that I could possibly pursue in the future,” Chen said. “I would learn skills in finance, marketing and communication because I would need to know what the customers want.”

However, Chen finds that making commissions is difficult to balance with a heavy workload in school. It is also hard to know precisely the specific details that she needs to construct, which can be difficult to understand.

“It’s hard to understand what they really want because sometimes it is unclear,” Chen said. “Making a product based on what exactly they want to see is difficult too.”

Chen acknowledges that commissions can take a lengthy amount of time. Combined with other responsibilities, creating a quality commission is not an easy task.

“There’s a sense of accomplishment because people want what you did,” Chen said. “People are willing to pay for it, and it definitely relieves stress.”

Chen has been interested in pursuing art ever since she was little. She takes weekly art classes to refine and improve her skills. One of her favorite parts of creating a commission is how there are no limits to the creativity of how she decides to design her art.

“Just the freedom [to do what I want] is great because art is subjective. It’s not like a set amount of rules. You get to just go with the flow,” Chen said. “Drawing gives me a spark of inspiration because sometimes other people have ideas that maybe I didn’t think of so I can try doing new things.”