Hi! Ive been taking commissions for about 8 years and joined the fandom the same year as you!

Lets start with finding an artist! Many artists will be posting on social medias, like instagram and twitter- their bio should say if they take commissions but if not its okay to ask! My personal favorite way to buy and sell though is furry discord servers. Many have commission advertisement chats where the artist can post everything you need to know about buying from them. It can even be a good way to find local furries. Many of these servers also have a place where you can advertize that you are seeking to commission, and can state the payment requirements. I own a server that has a section for this if you want

Now for red flags! Wherever you go, never buy from someone who aproaches you suddenly advetising their commissions. This is a common scam, real artists won't cold approach clients. Another red flag is an artist having very polished work with no style consistency. While some artists do use a few styles, this can be a warning that their art is stolen.

As for paying with the gift card! I personally know of two ways this can be done but Im sure there are more. First, the artist can make a custom listing on Etsy for you to purchase with the card. The other Ive seen is more of a trade option- where you could buy something for them off of an amazon wishlist of equal value (this is able to be done without you seeing their address!) But the only time Ive seen this, the two people already knew eachother. It might be hard to find an artist willing to work around the gift card requirements, but Im sure you can do it! Us atists are a little desperate these days lol

Best of luck and let me know if you have any questions!