Commission Fraud MroczniaK

[penguinnao.livejournal.com]

WHO: MroczniaK

WHERE: http://mroczniak.deviantart.com/

WHAT: Two full pictures ($60 value) and free shipping ($16) for $47 worth of copic markers (about 5 or 6 copic markers). I told her that I have 29 (roughly $200) that I am willing to trade for. We settled on a poster commission with two characters, which was later reduced to one character and one animal.

WHEN:
In 2012, she made a journal about a special commission offer, she was accepting copic markers as payment. http://imageshack.com/a/img89/2388/9u02.png

May-June 2012, I commissioned her, and we were discussing what we were going to do. We settled on a poster commission with two characters
http://imageshack.com/a/img401/7755/tlfc.png
http://imageshack.com/a/img69/6410/7bi2.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img854/5844/c27q.png

September 2012, unfortunately I didn't give her references until then. However, I have already paid her back in May, and still today (March 2014) I have not received what I paid for.
http://imageshack.com/a/img21/2989/bkg6.png
The commission was now reduced to one character and one animal.

October 2012, I asked for an update and an estimated completion date. She said she only has half a sketch. http://imageshack.com/a/img23/9291/1462.png

December 2012, I asked for another update. http://imageshack.com/a/img23/4291/zdin.png

January 2013, I asked for another update, an estimated completion date, and a threat to expose her bad work ethics. She said she now has more free time to really finish it soon. She also provided a sketch. http://imageshack.com/a/img835/569/8hbw.png http://imageshack.com/a/img23/7823/tzzm.png http://imageshack.com/a/img27/7820/zi3l.png

June 2013, I asked for another update since she keeps on accepting and completing other commissions. She said she has exams. http://imageshack.com/a/img856/5158/26zq.png

November 2013, I told her this was ridiculous as she continues to accepts and completes other commissions, and she shows no courtesy to inform me of any delays or progress. I asked for a refund. http://imageshack.com/a/img843/5683/xsjx.png

December 2013, she keeps reposting her journal asking for commissions. I posted a comment, along with other people she scammed. http://imageshack.com/a/img513/4386/c73s.png http://imageshack.com/a/img812/8493/c14x.png http://imageshack.com/a/img824/293/3mn1.png

January 2014, because everyone she scammed was making so much noise, she finally finished my commission. But it was nothing like I asked for. http://imageshack.com/a/img42/2928/q1ow.png

EXPLAIN: From the time I gave her these references in September 2012 to January 2014 and for a payment of 29 copic markers (roughly $200), do I get rushed work. I never said I didn't like her style, but the fact that she couldn't be accurate, with no desires to fix anything is frustrating! Granted, I understand nobody wants to fix a commission if the references wasn't clear enough. But in this case, it wasn't.
I asked her to fix the lip color, the color of the dress, add the hem design, add the lace, change the ribbon color on her and the penguin, and the nail color. This was all shown and stated in the references I provided.

Seriously, for a commission that was reduced to one character and an animal, why is this so hard?

She said she was going to fix it, but she doesn’t tell me that. She told another commissioner about it so she doesn’t lose her business. http://imageshack.com/a/img594/9639/1gqn.png

But now it’s March 2014, and she decided to repost her commission info, but this time she's including posters. http://imageshack.com/a/img829/5760/im5v.png http://imageshack.com/a/img28/7259/21eb.png

She obviously has no intention of fixing my commission or let alone SHIP what I paid for. I have already given up hope of ever getting what I paid for, and it's really disappointing to see her fool other people into giving her money.

Comments

[adzuki.livejournal.com]

You certainly waited a long time for this commission, and you have quite a lot of patience.

A few things I did notice though in the post and was curious about.. where you said you asked for a refund, seemed more like a justifiable rant out of frustration than a refund request.

Also, did the artist go from giving you wips to suddenly finished? In the sketch wip I can see no lace in the preview. Could be my phone though.

I hope something positive comes out of this whole thing.

[penguinnao.livejournal.com]

I guess it's both, but she stopped responding so it wasn't worth pressing the matter further since I was talking to a wall. First time I ever got scammed, and I didn't know what to do. She was all the way in Poland and I am in the States, I didn't know how to communicate with her if she wasn't willing to talk.

She only gave me one WIP, and then suddenly a surprise finished piece. There is no lace in the WIP, and I didn't think much of it since it IS a work in progress. Even when I sketch, I don't add all of the details so I thought it was the same with her. But of course her lack of communication didn't give me any opportunities to prevent mistakes.

[celestinaketzia.livejournal.com]

Out of curiosity, why not bring up the lack of a second character when she sent the original sketch? I only ask because I agree that if she agreed to a two character image, a small animal doesn't really add up to a second character.

Her work is nice, so it's a shame that it appears she's caught in a death spiral of taking more work than she can handle. She would really do well to show sketches for approval, especially since I imagine that she'd have to completely redo a piece if the client wanted changes.

eta: and it may be my screen, but the dress looks white to me? White with blue shadows, which makes sense given the curtains in the back are blue.

[penguinnao.livejournal.com]

Because we later agreed to just one character and one animal when I provided the references. I feel like I made things easy for her by reducing the workload, so I still don't understand why she acted this way. It was only after threatening to report her did I finally get one sketch. Of course I didn't know it was just the one, and a surprised finished piece.

Nope, it's blue. White with blue shadows would have worked, but that whole part is blue, with white highlights.

[celestinaketzia.livejournal.com]

But if you later agreed to the second character becoming an animal, then I really wouldn't bring that up as something that she did wrong. The very long wait time and lack of communication is definitely way out of line, but the change? Not so much, imo.

And oh, okay! I have the saturation on my monitor up pretty high, so it all looks super white to me.

[penguinnao.livejournal.com]

I never said the characters are wrong. The only things wrong are: the lip color, the color of the dress, the lack of the hem design, the lack of lace, the ribbon color on girl and the penguin, and the nail color. If these changes are really inconsequential, then why can't she fix it? If she didn't understand, why couldn't she asked? And it didn't help that she started ignoring me since nov 2013.

Why do I have to settle for something that she could have easily fixed or added? It's not like I'm asking her to give me a dog instead of a penguin, I'm asking her to stay true to my references.

[celestinaketzia.livejournal.com]

Of course, I totally agree. If she was confused on these character details, she should have asked and should have shown you way more WIPs. Like a sketch for approval first of all before marker touched paper.

[purpule.livejournal.com]

Woah - wait, might want to block out the girl's address there in one of your screenshots

[penguinnao.livejournal.com]

I was in a screenshot frenzy, I didn't even see it. Thanks for letting me know, it's fixed now. I also changed the links in my personal journal.

[purpule.livejournal.com]

Wonderful :3! Thanks for that! Didn't want anyone to get into trouble for breaching privacy there

[penguinnao.livejournal.com]

No, thank YOU!

[purpule.livejournal.com]

Okay - she was DEFINITELY in the wrong for making you wait so long; it's nearly been 2 years, that is ridiculous. She sounds very flakey


However, in regards to the copics, you're not really out much - you said to her that you were looking to get rid of them/that you didn't use them, so you were trading something that was of little value to you. Not that I'm saying that makes it okay! or that she didn't have to deliver! I'm just saying you keep repeating about how much you paid, when... well, maybe I'm wrong in thinking this, but you had everything to gain in this trade.

You also keep saying how you agreed on 2 pieces, when you didn't, you agreed on a 2 character piece and then decided yourself that you wanted a one + animal. You can say that's because you were giving her a lighter work load to be "nice", but you can't just turn around and then say she didn't deliver 2 pieces of artwork when that's not what you asked for.


The picture she uploaded is absolutely dreadful quality. I think it would look a lot better if she could actually get it scanned in - because I believe she was trying to shade part of the dress with blue shadows, but it's hard to even see the details of it because of the blurriness.


The fixes that you've asked for probably won't happen, you're right, but they won't happen because with traditional art, you CAN'T just fix up things like that - it would have to be a brand new piece, it wouldn't just be a tweak here or there, the colours are already down. I don't know whether you discussed it in depth with her, but I wouldn't have assumed that her lipstick or nail colour was absolutely set in stone.



SUMMARY
I agree she's in the wrong for making you wait so long, that's a given. However, I think you're exaggerating the extent of the altercation. I'd hardly call this fraud myself

[penguinnao.livejournal.com]

How is that any different from saying I have left over money? It's like saying someone gained something when they said they have money to burn, and they're going to burn it on a sandwich. Only to see it has been dropped and then served. Just because I didn't value the copics enough to keep them, doesn't devalued them. I wouldn't ask for a commission if I was just giving them away, and I only bartered them when she made a journal asking for copics as payment. I only repeated the price because it was a barter, and a lot of people don't understand the value unless a price tag is attached.

I never said we agreed on two pieces, I was giving information on her commission prices. She was offering two full pictures and free shipping for about 5-6 markers. I told her I want a poster commission with two characters and I will give her 29 markers. Yes, I did reduce what I wanted to one character and one animal. And it is nice because her workload has been reduced, but I was still paying her 4-5 times what she was asking. But no where have I said I wanted two pieces of artwork. I am upset because she didn't follow my references for the one character and animal. Which is what I want, and still want. She also doesn't even ship the poster. I paid for shipping, but I don't have anything.

http://mroczniak.deviantart.com/art/Syren-425376114

Nope, that dress is blue with white/yellow highlights. I really doubt it's a shading technique because it is only that one part that is like that.

I gave her references, and in the dress layout it has written description. It was all provided to her. It's just like saying her blue eyes isn't set in stone so don't be mad if I give her green eyes. I think it's a responsibility with any artist that has opened commissions to really communicate, follow the references, and ask questions before setting things in stone. She kept me in the dark, and then surprise me with the finished piece, she gave me no opportunity to prevent any mistakes nor did she asked questions. She cannot blame the medium for being unable to right her wrongs, if she cannot salvage what she has done, why can't she start over? No one would be happy if a paid carpenter put in blue carpets instead of white. Sorry, but it's already been installed, and it was a lot of work, but goodbye.

How is this not fraud? She advertised one thing, and delivered another with no desires to communicate or fix what she has done.

[purpule.livejournal.com]

Hrmmm, you do raise some valid points

It's like how it annoys me when people say "uh, calm down, it's free art" if you've agreed on an art trade and haven't received anything from your trading partner. No, it isn't "free" art, it's an exchange, and they haven't delivered.

So, you're right, I'm sorry, I was taking your comment about the copics too flippantly

[exo-formicidae.livejournal.com]

Agreeing that the wait time is inexcusable, and that jumping from a fairly rough WiP to a finished piece was not the best from her side.

For the changes the only thing I think can be done is to change the lips to a the darker shade. For the lace.. Well maybe if she used a white type of pen, but I don't think it would look too good at this point imho. For the nails, you say the lips and nails are clear in the reference. I would have to disagree, in one image her lips looks like a dark purple, and in the one image where her nails shows, both her lips and nails are a light red. She does not have the lace in the image where the nails are visible either. I will say the reference can be confusing and not to be blamed entirely on her. On a last note, I don't think creating a call out journal is the best way to go about this either, she is already getting hateful messages, and I doubt this will make her want to fix things. (that is just a personal opinion though)

Edit because I forgot; The dress looks white to me :/ white with blue shadows and yellow highlights. I think it would look better if brightened up a bit, but some things can be hard to controll in traditional art.

[penguinnao.livejournal.com]

The one image with the nails is a sketch, so all of the fine details are not included. Even with her sketch, I didn't question the lack of lace or other things since I figured it would be added during the refining process.

Granted, it may not have been the best reference to give her, but I wanted to give her all of the references I had in my gallery. However, the first two image is completed, and the dress layout has written description stating the lips, nails, and ribbon are all the same reddish purple color. Why would anyone confuse the written description and two completed pictures with a sketch? If someone truly is confused, why not asked? It's not like I expected this completed in a week.

I don't think it's a 'call-out' journal, since it has the same information as this post. But honestly, I didn't want to do this. I gave her so many chances to fix this, tried to talk to her, but she just ignores me. What am I suppose to do? I honestly don't think she will fix anything, or even ship the poster. I only posted my frustration, and experiences so other people won't fall for it. I'm not asking anyone to attack her, only awareness. I don't see any hateful messages, but I do see people warning against her.

Maybe she did try to do blue shadows, but why do that for that one part of the dress? The entire dress is suppose to be the same shade of white. Why is that one part with blue and the rest with gray? That is what I don't like.

[ljmydayaway.livejournal.com]

If these small details, such as lip, nail, and ribbon color, are that important to you, then you need to make a note about it (outside of the references) when commissioning an artist.

Artists are humans. Humans don't always think the same. I wouldn't assume you needed those things to be that EXACT shade if you have multiple references where they are different shades, and would assume it's fine if I grabbed a similar shade.

To me, the penguin's ribbon looks like the same color in different light between this artist's image and the image of the tiny penguin you have in your reference. I wouldn't assume that color to be different.

So it's a good idea to make a note of this to the artists when you approach them, so there isn't this mixup.

[penguinnao.livejournal.com]

For future commissions I will do that.

However, there was only one reference where the color was slightly lighter than the others because it was a sketch. There was not multiple refs with different shades.

I would not want to commission an artist that just assumes without the courtesy to ask. Because no one thinks the same, communication is key. However, she did not want to communicate, and she kept me in the dark.

It doesn't have to be the exact shade, but it's like making something green when it's suppose to be blue. The lips, nails, and ribbons are suppose to be a reddish-purple, but she did a light pink. It's not that hard to darken the colors.

[thecreativepen.livejournal.com]

I commissioned her years ago. I was honestly disappointed with the quality I received. She did it on printer paper, and the lines and coloring was so shoddy in person, compared to the version she posted online. But alas, I was around 18 and spent less than $10 on it, so I never complained, and praised it.

To be honest, I would push for a partial refund if she is unwilling to make the alterations. I still have the original buried someplace at home, and I have a feeling the quality you may have gotten in person would not be as good as you think. If you would like me to PM you the original drawing, I can do so when I can get ahold of it again.

Regardless, I'm honestly not surprised. I was around when her meltdown happened (when the ABs went up, and people were commenting about her shoddy practices and her refusal to fix them), and it's a shame that she has allowed her reputation to sink to the level it has.

While I agree with some of the comments above, knowing personally the work she produces, and how many people have been strung along or scammed, what she did in the end wasn't right.

(Edited some wording, and added a few more sentences).

[penguinnao.livejournal.com]

As much as I would like a refund, she completed it. I only have the right to ask her to fix it. I really doubt she would, so now I'm just trying to bring awareness to what happened. But it would be great if she fixes it and ships it. :)

I would like to see that drawing if you ever get a hold of it. Is your drawing still in her gallery? Hmmm, I wonder if mine is the same. I did question it since the white sparkles look digital.

I didn't know about her meltdown and what happened to her previous commissioners until I was searching through her journals for the copic one. I wished I did some researched before I even started, and then this whole mess could have been avoided. What ever happened to everyone? Did she ever delivered what she owed to them?

[magicporpoise.livejournal.com]

When you commission someone, you need to be really clear about what you want, because there are some artists who CHARGE you to make changes to the art piece, and some who straight up WONT make changes(Usually states this stuff in their ToS's).

I take the beware for the delay, but the changes to the actual commission, not so much. You gotta make sure you're crystal clear, especially for a traditional piece, because there is no going back. Also, remember to request updates, if the artist is ok with that, they can show you step by step of what they're doing.

[penguinnao.livejournal.com]

I already gave her reference pictures and a written description. I also asked for updates multiple times. However, after numerous excuses did I get one sketch. She stopped communicating with me a long time ago, and then she provided a rushed final piece.

So honestly, if the reference pictures and description wasn't clear enough, how would I know if she doesn't ask clarifying questions or refuse to communicate? I am justified for asking for changes, because if she had communicate or shown updates, this would have been prevented. I didn't pay for a completion piece, I paid for a character commission. Regardless of this being traditional or digital, she still did not draw my characters correctly.

Put yourself in my shoes. What if you commissioned someone to draw your second avatar picture (the one of the dog with the nose ring)? You paid 4x times the price, but the artist only gave you a dog with blue eyes. Except your avatar has green eyes, piercings, a nose ring, and other details I cannot see because it's a small picture. Do you have any idea how irritating it is to hear people tell you to be more clear? Despite your picture clearly showing all of the details the artist missed. Or to tell you to be happy that your traditional commission is even completed, so you have no right to any changes. But the changes you're asking for isn't anything new, you're only asking for the picture to be accurate to your references.

[jiffy lee (from livejournal.com)]

Hello, you may remember me from DA as JiffyA. I did actually receive my piece. Doesn't look terrible, but I do see the lack of interest in the coloring. The fact it is on printer paper would bug me if I payed more for it, but I do know as an artist, copics don't work too well on that kind of paper (personal experience). I was sad I had to guilt her to send me her stuff, called her out in front of her current commissioners,cuz sadly I had been watching her since she posted that (apology) Journal, and felt that she needed to feel how others were feeling. I'm seeing every other person get their stuff, it is lost whom "has" gotten their commission. I'm glad I didn't pay a full price, cuz I would have stuck with just 10 bucks for a quick draw and color like that. Most of my work has multiple layers of color and multimedia on nice paper. I think she over did the lighting on the dress, but I personally think its nice cuz I like color lol I'm not sure how to help further than I did on DA. D: Wish you the best of luck. What cracks me up is that she is friends with Tagl, and she is a great artist and keeps to her word with customers, and I see her draw Tagl's OC a lot cuz she was commissioned from Tagl herself, and I see a huge difference in quantity and quality of the picture. I get that's her friend, but I think Tagl should say something to her for she is the artist that MroczniaK was trying to be. I'm insulted at artists that lie to their customers and never contact them, and steal their money. If it was too much for her to handle she should have not said a unlimited amount of slots were available. Ok I'm done ranting, it just saddens me so.

[thedevilcorp.wordpress.com (from livejournal.com)]

Good post. Food for thought.