Beware: Azelyn

[thunder1.livejournal.com]

Before I begin, I would like to note that I did in fact receive a satisfactory final image from the artist, but that is not the reason I am writing this post. It is my opinion that the subject artist is highly unprofessional and should not be approached for a commission unless the commissioner has considerable and lasting patience and determination. An artist should not take on commissions unless he or she is fully capable and prepared to commit the time to produce a satisfactory product.

WHO: Azelyn @ FA

WHERE: https://www.furaffinity.net/user/azelyn

WHAT: "Full Commission Auction" ladder auction. I won the auction at the tier for a two-character full color digital art commission with a detailed background. The auction and its result can be found at the above link. If the page at the link provided is deleted, I have a copy of the page saved to my computer that I will upload a screenshot of upon request.

WHEN: Auction started on March 29th, 2012. Auction won on March 31st, 2012. Paid in full on March 31st, 2012. Final image received June 10th, 2013.

PROOF: Auction URL: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/7677939


(Artist's email address is displayed publicly on her user page.)

EXPLAIN: These are the notable events that occurred between the sale and the final image:

• Auction won on March 31st, 2012.


• Artist asked for more than the amount that I had bid to cover her Paypal fees.


• Fully paid on March 31st, 2012.


• Artist continues to take on new commissions, some of which are later completed before mine.


• Artist posts a journal on September 18, 2012, requesting all commissioners resend their commission information.


• First sketch received via email on December 4, 2012. Sent reply with updated ref sheet, citing the difference in hairstyle.


• Artist opens for subscription-based monthly images called "Aze's Subbies" on January 24th, 2013. She draws a new full-color image every month, proving that she has both the time and capability to complete my commission in a timely manner.


• Requested update on February 28, 2013. Artist says inking is almost finished.


• Requested update on May 1, 2013. Artist says inking was finished over a month ago and will post when at home.


• Inked copy posted to artist's gallery on May 2, 2013.


• Final image posted to artist's gallery on June 10th, 2013. Artist did not ask for corrections or approval of finished image before posting and sent me a link to the high resolution copy via note shortly after.

Supporting screenshots (NSFW below):

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Comments

[neolucky.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately from a professional standpoint, no, Azelyn doesn't always have the best record when it comes to keeping deadlines or finishing contracted work. Numerous times she's been MIA while being contracted to work for a paysite that I was a co-worker at, and oftentimes was a no-show when her deadlines would come up.

I am very glad you received the finished image, despite how long it took. And I agree, an artist should be taking on work if they do not have the dedication to finish it in a prompt manner...if she has over 30 people shes in contact with, then she's overloading herself. She has no real excuse to ignore your paid-for work while taking on other jobs and finishing them much sooner. I hope she will learn this is not very reasonable behavior with customers.

[norsepaw.livejournal.com]

Yeah, very strange that she never showed you the 2nd sketch. So if she dont get her things right she might get more bewares in the future. Sad so many talented artists goes that way.

[lovelesskiax.livejournal.com]

Isn't it against Paypal's TOS to have your client cover the fee?

[neolucky.livejournal.com]

It is, and very specifically to even ask them to. I recently had to inform an artist I was buying work from, that it's not cool to do so (as they asked me to). A lot of people still don't know it's against the TOS however.

[lovelesskiax.livejournal.com]

Ah, thanks for clarifying!

[wuvvumsoc.livejournal.com]

On the flipside I had to ask my commissioners not to send gift payments to me to avoid the fee. The fee's insubstantial and I don't want to risk my account over it.

[zareonianwolf.livejournal.com]

I always ask my clients to send payment for "Services", and let them know that the Paypal fee is mine to worry about.

[tealmoonxiv.livejournal.com]

Use invoices, then you have control over everything.

[been2hellnback.livejournal.com]

Isn't asking buyers to pay for Paypal fee's against Paypals TOS anyways? I seem to have heard of that before.
Also it's not very.... savory to as clients that.

EDIT: Just realized the "against Paypals TOS was already answered sorry!

[kasune.livejournal.com]

This. Whenever someone sends me payment as a gift, I send it back and tell them how to do it correctly.

If they want to cover the fees, they can just opt to do so themselves. I never, ever ask my customers to do this, but when they do I'm definitely flattered and consider it a tip.

[wuvvumsoc.livejournal.com]

I sometimes don't notice the payment was marked as a gift until after I've done all the work. I tend to have repeat customers so I may remind them in the future.

[wolfofwind.livejournal.com]

Huh, I wasn't aware of this. I have asked people to add 50 cents to their total purchase if their account is unverified, since mine is.

[kairi-koitra.livejournal.com]

I've had a lot of the same problems with this artist as well it took riding her to get my work completed from her. I also had her try to pull the fee thing on me as we'll but I knew if was against pay pals policy to do that and called her on it so she withdrew that requirement. I usually pay over to negate the fees but I hate it when they demand you to do it. Beware is well warranted and I are with you about her needing to commit more to her current commissioners then adding more. Glad you got your work at least

[qzurr.livejournal.com]

I can't understand artists sometimes = ) As an artist myself, I always do those works first which were paid FIRST and then accept new ones. I can't see the logic to get paid after a commission/auction, and leave the actual paid work and accept new ones after it.

[kaputotter.livejournal.com]

There is some merit to it. Every artist has a different attention span, and every piece can present a new challenge. There are plenty of instances I can think of where I've taken my time with a commission, over the span of a year or so maybe, because it was tricky in its own ways. And of course I'd take plenty more business in the meantime, and in fact I have sort of a rotating schedule of tasks. But what counts is being completely 100% willing to keep up with correspondence, honestly and politely, with progress scans and all -- and not displacing blame on any excuses other than wanting to do my best on it. :)

[lichdog.livejournal.com]

Big red flag for her making you pay fees. It's HER job to and in no way your responsibility. To any future buyers of Azelyn's work: DO NOT PAY HER FEES. It's against paypal's ToS

[shukivengeance.livejournal.com]

Considering another former customer of hers posted above and says she told Aze the fee was against paypal's tos, it IS a red flag since she already knew and continued to ask for it.

[lichdog.livejournal.com]

Meh, it screams unprofessional to me. And I can see why the OP felt this way. They had to pay was it...10+ dollars extra? That's just urgh because the OP had to pay more than what they bid for. That screams avoid to me.

[kayla-la.livejournal.com]

For me, asking for paypal fees after the fact and thus raising the price without any warning is a beware in and of itself. I even checked her profile page to see if she has a TOS or anything up that mentions she does this, but I couldn't find it anywhere. It is actually against paypal's rules to directly charge a fee to the customer this way, it's normally expected that you consider the fees when you make your prices in the first place.

Also pretty unimpressed with her most recent journal. People merely wanting their art after a long wait isn't the same as thinking of her as an 'art machine' and it comes off as lacking personal responsibility.

[leahtaur.livejournal.com]

Was just about to post that about her most recent journal: "If you dont want to work with me after receiving your image due to the wait, please just nod out and dont try and give me a guilt trip over it. Id appreciate not having my day ruined after working hard every night till 4 am for you :)"

That's professional.

[kayla-la.livejournal.com]

I really hate this kind of dramatization to try to make a reasonable thing seem unreasonable. This is definitely not the right way to react to customer complaints.

[leahtaur.livejournal.com]

Especially since OP seemed more than reasonable with his requests for updates - spaced quite far apart and phrased politely. I imagine some customers have been less civil though.

Azelyn seems to have the same common issue A_B sees a lot: artists trying to make ends meet dig themselves into a hole, but instead of seeking part time or full time work to supplement the art income, they keep digging beyond the point of ever being able to catch up. I know from previous journals of hers that she lives in NYC as well, I can't imagine that's one of the easier cities to live in and support oneself with the level of income that comes from furry commissions, even at her price point.

[thecreativepen.livejournal.com]

I don't know what I'm more shocked at. The journal, or the reactions to it. People are brushing all of this under the rug...there needs to be accountability for their actions.

[shukivengeance.livejournal.com]

I sincerely doubt she worked on it til 4am every night for 15 months.

[celestinaketzia.livejournal.com]

Wow, that is so beyond unprofessional. But it's totally okay to guilt trip her clients that have paid her for a service. Like Shuki said, I sincerely doubt she's been working on his image until 4 am for 15 months. I'm guessing she means art in general, tho. If she's been working until 4 am to do commissions that's not her clients' problem she has no idea how to manage her time.

eta: fixed up a sentence that kind of wandered off.

[sintocat.livejournal.com]

Did she delete that in her journal? As I'm not seeing.

About the post though, this is very disappointing. I really loved her art, it's sad to see her so unprofessional.

[deejthistle.livejournal.com]

It's the last sentence of the first paragraph in her (as of right now) latest journal.

[shukivengeance.livejournal.com]

Please don't namedrop other unrelated artists in bewares.
I will be screening your post.