Terms of Service

Welcome to Rizoron. These Terms of Service (“Terms”) set out the rules for using our website and the terms on which we provide commissioned illustration and online drawing lessons. Please read them carefully. By using rizoron.com, sending us a request through our Ask page, or accepting a quote from us, you agree to these Terms.

These Terms work together with our Privacy Policy, our Cookie & Local Storage Policy and our Refund, Cancellation & Revision Policy. If a written quote or agreement we send you for a specific project says something different from these Terms, the project-specific document takes priority for that project.

1. About us and these terms

rizoron.com is operated by Rizoron (“we”, “us”, “our”), an independent illustration studio working remotely with clients worldwide. You can contact us at [email protected]. We do not publish a physical address; email is the official way to reach us about these Terms.

“You” means the person using our website or, for commissions and lessons, the person or organisation who requests and pays for our services (the “client”). If you accept a quote on behalf of a business, you confirm you are authorised to bind that business to these Terms.

2. Using our website

You are welcome to browse our portfolio, read our blog and explore our archive of early fan art, convention prints and badge designs for your own personal, non-commercial enjoyment. You do not need an account to use the site.

We work to keep the website available and accurate, but we provide it “as is”. We may change, suspend or remove any part of it at any time. Prices, availability and turnaround times shown on our Services pages are a guide only; the price and timeline that apply to your project are the ones in the written quote we send you.

Blog articles and guides are general information to help illustrators and clients. They are not professional, legal or financial advice for your particular situation.

3. Acceptable use

When using our website, forms or email, you agree not to:

• copy, download in bulk, redistribute, sell or print artwork from the site, or use it in your own products, without our written permission;
• use our artwork to train, fine-tune or prompt artificial intelligence or machine learning models, or feed it into image generators;
• remove watermarks, signatures or copyright notices from any image;
• pass off our artwork as your own, or imply that we endorse you or your products;
• send spam, malicious code or automated submissions through our forms;
• attempt to gain unauthorised access to the site, its hosting or related systems, or interfere with how it works;
• use the site in a way that breaks any law or infringes anyone else’s rights; or
• send content that is abusive, harassing, hateful or threatening.

Sharing a link to a page — including through the share buttons on our artwork pages — is always welcome.

4. How commissions work

Our commissioned services include portraits, character design, book covers, badge design and concept art. The typical process is:

1. Enquiry. You send us your idea through the request form or by email.
2. Quote. We reply with questions and, if the project is a good fit, a written quote setting out the scope, price, licence, timeline and any special terms.
3. Deposit. You accept the quote and pay a 50% non-refundable deposit. Work begins once the deposit has been received.
4. Sketch stage. We send sketches for your feedback. Two rounds of revisions are included at this stage.
5. Colour and rendering stage. Once you approve the sketch, we move on to colour and final rendering. One round of revisions is included at this stage.
6. Balance and delivery. When the artwork is complete, we send a watermarked or low-resolution preview and an invoice for the remaining balance. Final high-resolution files are delivered once the balance is paid.

A contract for a commission is formed when you accept our written quote (for example, by replying to confirm) and we receive your deposit. We may decline any request without giving a reason — for example, if we are fully booked or the subject matter is not something we work on. For a friendly walkthrough of the process, see our guide on how to commission an illustration and our commissions FAQ.

5. Your responsibilities as a client

To help your project run smoothly, you agree to:

• give us a clear brief and the reference material we need, and tell us early about any fixed deadlines;
• respond to sketches and previews within a reasonable time — delays in feedback may move the delivery date;
• provide feedback in a consolidated form for each revision round, rather than a series of separate changes; and
• pay invoices on time.

Reference materials. By sending us photos, logos, text, character sheets or other materials, you confirm that you own them or have permission to use them, and that our use of them to create your artwork will not infringe anyone’s rights. You keep any rights you have in your own materials; you give us permission to use them only to create and deliver your project.

Fan art and existing characters. Commissions involving characters, logos or worlds owned by someone else raise copyright and trademark questions. We may accept these for personal use, but we generally cannot grant a commercial licence for artwork based on third-party intellectual property, and you are responsible for obtaining any permissions needed for your intended use. Our article on fan art vs original art explains the basics.

6. Pricing and payment

Prices are quoted in US dollars (USD) unless we agree otherwise in writing. Your quote states the total price, what it includes and the payment schedule. As standard:

• a 50% non-refundable deposit is due before work begins and covers the sketch stage;
• the remaining 50% is due before we deliver final high-resolution files; and
• extra revisions beyond those included, and changes outside the agreed scope, are billed at our hourly rate, which we will confirm before doing the work.

We send invoices by email and accept payment by methods such as PayPal or bank transfer, as shown on the invoice. We do not take or store card details. You are responsible for any fees your bank or payment provider charges you, including currency conversion fees, unless we agree otherwise. If taxes apply to your purchase, they will be shown on the invoice.

If a payment is overdue, we may pause work on your project until it is received, and the delivery date may move accordingly. Full details of deposits, cancellations and refunds are in our Refund, Cancellation & Revision Policy.

7. Revisions and approval

Each commission includes two rounds of revisions at the sketch stage and one round at the colour stage. A “round” is one set of consolidated feedback that we address together.

The sketch stage is the right time for changes to composition, pose, layout and major design choices. Once you approve the sketch, the main structure of the image is fixed. Changes at the colour stage should be limited to adjustments such as colours, small details and finishing touches. Requests that substantially change an approved sketch count as additional work and are billed hourly, or may require a new sketch stage.

Approval may be given by email. When you approve the final colour preview and pay the balance, the artwork is treated as accepted.

8. Delivery and timelines

All commissions are delivered as digital files by email or a download link. We do not ship physical goods by default. If a project involves physical items — for example, producing button badges from our designs — manufacturing, printing and shipping are not included unless your quote expressly says so.

Timelines in our quotes and on our Services pages are good-faith estimates. We will tell you promptly if we expect a delay. If your deadline is fixed (for example, a publication date), please say so before we start; a deadline is only guaranteed if we confirm it in writing.

Please download and back up your files when we deliver them. We keep project files for a limited time and may be able to re-send them on request, but we cannot guarantee long-term storage.

9. Copyright and ownership

We keep the copyright in all artwork we create, including sketches, drafts, process files and final artwork, unless we expressly agree in writing to transfer it. Paying for a commission buys you a licence to use the artwork, as described in section 10 — it does not transfer ownership of the copyright itself.

All content on rizoron.com — including artwork, the archive, photographs, text and design — is owned by us or used with permission, and is protected by copyright and other laws. Nothing in these Terms gives you any rights in that content except the limited rights set out here or in a licence we grant you.

If you need full ownership (a copyright assignment or “buyout”), for example for a brand mascot, please ask. We can quote for this, and it must be agreed in a signed written document.

10. Your licence to use commissioned artwork

Once you have paid in full, we grant you a non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to use the final artwork as follows.

10.1 Personal licence (default)

Unless your quote says otherwise, you may use the artwork for personal, non-commercial purposes, such as:

• displaying it at home or printing it for yourself;
• using it as a profile picture, avatar or desktop wallpaper;
• sharing it on personal social media, with credit to Rizoron where practical; and
• giving a print to someone as a personal gift.

A personal licence does not allow you to sell the artwork, use it on products for sale, use it in advertising or marketing, or use it as a logo or brand identity.

10.2 Commercial licence (by agreement)

If you want to use the artwork for business purposes — for example a book cover, merchandise, game assets, marketing or packaging — you need a commercial licence. We will agree its scope (such as the type of use, print run, territory and duration) in your quote, and the price reflects that scope. Uses outside the agreed scope require a new or extended licence.

10.3 General licence conditions

• The licence starts only once full payment has been received.
• You may not resell, sublicense or transfer the licence without our written consent.
• You may not use the artwork, or claim it as yours, to train or generate content with artificial intelligence systems.
• You may make minor adjustments needed for your licensed use (such as cropping or resizing), but please ask before making substantial changes to the artwork itself.

11. Portfolio use and confidentiality

We may display finished commissions, and selected sketches and process images, in our portfolio, on this website, on social media and in promotional material for the studio. We will not publish your personal contact details with it.

If your project is confidential — for example an unannounced book cover or game — tell us before we start. We are happy to agree a non-disclosure arrangement or an embargo date, and in that case we will not share the work until the agreed time. We treat the details of your project and our correspondence as confidential and do not share them with others except as described in our Privacy Policy.

12. Drawing lessons

Our online drawing lessons and mentoring are paid in advance and held online at a time we agree. You may reschedule a lesson up to 24 hours before it is due to start. Lessons cancelled or missed with less notice may be treated as taken; see our Refund, Cancellation & Revision Policy for details.

You are responsible for having a working internet connection, a suitable device and any drawing materials or software needed. Lessons are for the person who booked them and may not be recorded, shared or resold without our permission. Any handouts, demonstrations or example artwork we provide remain ours and are for your personal learning only. You keep full ownership of the artwork you create yourself during lessons.

Lessons for anyone under 16 must be arranged and paid for by a parent or guardian.

13. Cancellations and refunds

You may cancel a commission at any time by emailing us. The deposit is non-refundable because it covers our time reserving your slot and creating the sketch stage. How much is payable depends on how far the project has progressed. If we have to cancel a project, we will refund payments for work we have not delivered.

The full rules — including the payment schedule, cancellations at each stage, lesson rescheduling and how refunds are paid — are set out in our Refund, Cancellation & Revision Policy, which forms part of these Terms.

14. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

We will provide our services with reasonable care and skill. Art is subjective, however, and while we work hard to match your brief, we cannot guarantee that the result will meet every personal expectation; the revision rounds exist to help us get there together.

To the fullest extent permitted by law:

• the website and its content are provided without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied;
• we are not liable for indirect or consequential losses, such as loss of profit, revenue, business or opportunity, or for losses caused by events outside our reasonable control;
• we are not liable for problems arising from materials you provide, or from your use of artwork outside the licence granted; and
• our total liability to you for any project is limited to the amount you have paid us for that project.

Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes liability that cannot legally be limited or excluded, such as liability for fraud, or for death or personal injury caused by negligence. If you are a consumer, nothing in these Terms affects your statutory rights under the laws of the country where you live.

You agree to compensate us for reasonable losses and costs we incur as a result of a claim that materials you supplied infringe someone else’s rights.

15. Events beyond our control

We are not responsible for delays or failures caused by events outside our reasonable control, such as serious illness, internet or power outages, failures of third-party services, or natural disasters. If this happens, we will let you know as soon as we can and agree a new timeline with you. If the delay is long, either of us may cancel the project, and we will refund any payment for work we have not delivered.

16. Governing law and disputes

If something goes wrong, please email us first at [email protected]. Most problems can be solved quickly with a conversation, and we will always try to find a fair solution.

These Terms are governed by the laws that apply at the studio’s place of business, and disputes will be handled by the courts that have jurisdiction there. However, if you are a consumer, you also keep any protections given to you by the mandatory laws of the country where you live, and you may be able to bring a claim in your local courts.

17. Changes to these terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. The version shown on this page, with its “last updated” date, applies to your use of the website. For commissions and lessons, the Terms in force when you accepted your quote apply to that project, unless we both agree in writing to use a newer version.

18. General

• Entire agreement. These Terms, the policies they refer to, and your written quote together form the whole agreement between us for a project.
• Severability. If any part of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the rest remains in effect.
• No waiver. If we do not enforce a right straight away, we can still enforce it later.
• Assignment. You may not transfer your rights under these Terms without our consent.
• Communications. We may communicate with you by email, and agreements, approvals and notices sent by email count as “in writing”.

19. Contact and a note on these documents

Questions about these Terms, a quote or your licence? Email [email protected] or send a message through our Ask page.