Art references are essential for any artist’s workflow. But with the many sources of inspiration and reference, it can be hard to stay organized as your collection grows. To add to that, as you start making money as an NSFW artist, you’ll probably have more than one commission at a time. It can quickly get overwhelming balancing art references and commission details. 

Though many artists save references in folders, I found it annoying to track art references and commission details separately, especially jumping between iPad and PC to draw. Fortunately, I found a solution that’s customizable and flexible, and I’ve used it ever since. 

Table of Contents

• Trello for Artists
• Tracking Commission Work
• Creating Your Commission Board

Trello for Artists

Trello is a list-making app that organizes cards of information. Though marketed to companies and teams, artists can improve their workflow and organization with it.

Using cards, you can collect information important for commissions, such as

• Client email
• Description of what client wants
• Payment status tracking
• Checklist of requirements
• Deadlines
• Reference images sent by client

Once you upload your references, you can access them cross-platform; so regardless if you’re on iPad, Android, or PC, you’ll have access to all your files and images.

One downside is that you can’t view multiple images at a time. If you dislike scrolling between references, you can copy and paste the image into your drawing app.

Tracking Commission Work

I have boards for school work, blogging, and comm work.

To track commissions, I create lists based on my workflow:

1. Refs – Image collections of artists I like
2. Color Stage – Works I’m currently coloring
3. Sketch Stage – Works in ideation stage
4. Todo – Works I haven’t started
5. Done – Finished works
6. Existing Characters – Ref for characters I draw a lot

Your workflow might be different, but it’s easy to adjust given Trello’s design.

Creating Your Commission Board

Let’s create your first board to track commissions with! After signing up at trello.com, you’ll see your (lack of) boards. Create one and name it whatever you like (you can always change it later).

I set my boards to private, and pick dark backgrounds.

Add some lists! If you don’t have a workflow yet, this is a great time to sit and think about it. What’s your process for finishing work? What do you need to keep track of? Do you prefer general to-do lists, or very specific tasks? 

After adding a card to your list, click it and add info you need. I like to include price breakdown and commission description, as well as any references the client sent. That way, I don’t need to waste time looking for it in the future. 

If you look at the sidebar, you can add more details like Due Dates and Labels. I use labels to keep track of payment status.

Here’s how it would all look paired with Procreate on iPad!

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And that’s how you can use Trello to improve your workflow! Regardless of what you need to organize, be it a project, a team, or commissions, Trello’s flexibility will be helpful.

Regardless of what you need to organize, be it art references, commission details, or projects, Trello can help your creative workflow! Click To Tweet

It’s pretty niche, but consider giving it a try! How do you keep track of all your projects and commissions?