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Whats up guys,

Bit of a 'show and tell' / 'story-time' moment here, but I would like to see how often this had happened for other people.

So, as a law school student, working 2 jobs and struggling in the current economic climate to make ends meet, I have in recent times had big money issues. Big, expensive car issues well above my means also impacted this situation and made life terribly difficult. To add to this, obviously Christmas is coming up, as well as my partner's birthday - all things everyone needs money for.

To be perfectly honest, I was stressed the feth out and struggling to think of ways to get out of this situation I was in.

Then, just recently, I received an email from a bloke asking for a quote of a huge beast men army that he wanted commissioned. It was the biggest project I had ever been asked to quote - let alone actually won. I quoted my prices, with an honest and accurate timeline, stating that as I am a single worker - I won't be as fast as others. Through Emperor only knows what, he was super keen and asked me to pick up the job. I, astounded and absolutely gobsmacked, avidly (and just barely screamed) "Yes".

Since then, the payment I had received basically 180-degreed my life. I had my car, living and uni expenses covered, gifts wrapped and ready, and money still left over for savings.

I don't feel like it would be terribly professional of me to blurt this all out to a client, so I feel that I wanted to address this to two groups of people. To those of you who do get work done by genuine, hardworking solo commission artists - your support of us can often mean so very much more than you might have otherwise imagined.
And to those commission painters, or anyone in general, have you ever had an experience where - out of the blue - your hobby has helped you in your life in a BIG way?

Thanks guys
I look forward to your responses!

~Ghost

Commissions are why I had anything resembling spending money in college. Now that I'm out I kind of want out since I can get a job, but I've had no luck so it's commissions for the foreseeable future.

When I was in High School through to Uni and even unemployed for a period, I did a lot of commission painting and developed several regular customers, as well as the odd one or two figures here and there for others. I was never especially fast, but boy an extra hundred bucks or so here and there really made a difference! I remember when I was 16 or 17, an overnight stint painting a friend's Reiksgard unit got me a ticket to see U2 (Rattle & Hum era)

Now that I have a professional career, I don't do commission painting at all anymore, except for one guy who eventually became a friend through the years. I don't charge him for his (non-miniatures) kits anymore, but every so often I'll get him to pick me up some more spray primer or some tamiya paint, etc.

But yeah, commission painting isn't worth my time anymore. So when I paint for other people, it's entirely for friends, and I don't consider money anymore. When I was younger, it was great to be able to earn some money doing it.

My gaming hobby nearly pays for itself via trading, buying and selling, which is nice because we have nearly no disposable income for it otherwise.

My LEGO hobby on the other hand paid off some rather large medical bills this year when I sold a UCS Millenium Falcon for roughly 5 times what I paid for it.