Starfinder Commission?

[jurann.livejournal.com]

     So, it seems that Starfinder is back and offering a commission auction here: http://www.furbuy.com/auctions/1003634.html

     My question is, in light of all of the massive controversy of the past and the fact that it's been quite some time since all of that... Does anyone know if it's safe to commission her these days? Has anyone had any recent experience (within the last year) with commissioning her? I'm really, really tempted to bid on this auction, but because of all the prior complaints about her failure to deliver here, I'm thinking twice...

     Any feedback/advice would be appreciated. Thanks! =)

Comments

[silveryote.livejournal.com]

From what I observed recently on FA...she took LJ icon commissions a while back..about 20+ or so..and I saw only, about, 5..maybe get completed? This was MONTHS ago and she probably didn't finish or touch the others at all.

[zoom-gas.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I commissioned her back then for one. And then I found out about her track record.
Luckily I didn't pay for it...so, whatever.

[baddakutachi.livejournal.com]

Interesting. There was some controversy just recently about her tracing (she says referencing) a couple of her works.

http://community.livejournal.com/art_theft/925362.html
http://furry.wikia.com/wiki/Starfinder
http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/Starfinder NSFW, might have some more info about commissions than the Wikifur page.

[fiercereaper.livejournal.com]

Just an FYI, the art_theft post is protected, so a lot of people can't see it.

[dinogrrl.livejournal.com]

Honestly...you'd be better off commissioning someone with a better completion/delivery track record than her who doesn't trace heavily reference their pictures, from what I understand.

[murasadramon.livejournal.com]

And with other artists you're going to get something original. With Starfinder, you're just going to get a "re-imagined" copy of something else somebody already made. It's like a Chinese-knock off... except Starfinder REALLY has the skill to make her stuff look good.

Problem is she wastes that skill on photographic dupes.

[gas-mask-dragon.livejournal.com]

Hmm.. I think that the using the exact same details n such for her icons is a little lame if it's true...

But none the less. I'd love to commission something from her, that DOESN'T just require a look up in google images. I'd commission her for a more unique idea. Like a certain moment or scene or pose or something like that.

[anjel-kitty.livejournal.com]

I would never give money to this girl. She got into the furry art business way too young and immature to handle the sort of demand there would be for her work. I think she does have real talent and ability, she just takes a lot of short cuts sometimes with her art that she doesn't think other's will notice, and that is exactly what happens.

[bloodhoundomega.livejournal.com]

It's really sad to see people fall you once looked up to. Damn... even if she's skilled... that evidence here is oppressing... I could do that, too... >_<

You really shouldn't waste your on money on that person. I know it's not the same, because no money was involved, but back in 2003 and before she used to rip off people with trades as well. Someone I know as well as I never got our half of the trade back and it was the same "lost stuff got computer hacked" song and such she sings when commissioners contact her.

I never stumbled upon a person who was so consequent and darn good at plainly _ignoring_ emails and mesages of any kind. >_>'

[melloyellowduck.livejournal.com]

Yeah... My friend commissioned her for a ref sheet and it took her ten months to get it done, and she got his character completely wrong. I also have three friends who commissioned badges from her at FC '06 and just got them at FC '07 and she got one of their characters really wrong.

Shes got nice art, but I'd say its too big of a risk.

[dreamaria.livejournal.com]

Personally, I'd advise against it...

I don't have any problems with her personally at all. I've even hung out with her at FC a few times. She seems to do a lot of badges at cons, though I could be wrong. I've heard of lots of people paying and not receiving.

I'd personally not commission her. Her work looks very impressive at first, but once you start seeing the references (without credit) it starts losing its...prestige? I can't think of a better word right now.

Also kind of interesting how she constantly has time to draw things for her boyfriend/herself and hardly ever posts commissions, besides the badges. :/

[darkyo.livejournal.com]

Wow.. I never knew she had such a bad track record. I watch her on FA for the art, which I always thought was good, but I guess this sort of thing never surfaces there anyway.

Oh well, it's not like I buy art so I don't care. :P

On a silly note.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

What I WILL NOT Draw: -Anything that is offensive to any race, gender, or group of people

I can't think of anything that's not offensive to someone. :P

Re: On a silly note.

[jurann.livejournal.com]

lol - Maybe that's how she justifies not completing anyone's work? ;D

[tanidareal.livejournal.com]

I personally didn't have any experience with her. But a good friend of mine did. He commissioned her years ago, already payed years ago... and waited.

Finally, after x years, she managed to do a... picture for him. Same as have been told here before, the picture looked 100% like a photo, as she also posted the "reference" photo (and we are very sure that she just edited it with some Photoshop filters).

If I remember right (I just heard it - I do not claim this is really true), her argument was something like - her drawing skills have that much improved over the years since he commissioned her (what is of course true), so if he would commission her NOW for a pic like that, he'd pay xxxx more (in other words - be thankful that she did not ask for more money).

I was very disappointed about that for my friend...

Also her personal hate against those "furry bastards" (quote) would be a reason why I NEVER would give her any money for art, no matter how beautiful it is. I like artwork that is done with feelings and respect, and not from a person who sees Furries as weird idiots, but as long as they pay money, it's OK.

[jurann.livejournal.com]

Sadly I've seen a lot of quality artists with attitudes like this towards furries lately. I guess they confide their feelings about furries in me privately because I buy their work and occasionally chat with them, but man that leaves a sour taste in your mouth when someone drops the whole "I'm only doing furry art for the money" bomb... I'm not sure that a lot of these artists have any common sense when it comes to PR and image, but so many of them shoot themselves in the foot by saying stupid things and reacting poorly to "furry drama". =/

[nauta.livejournal.com]

I commissioned her back in May of 2007 and have yet to see anything, a sketch, a finished product, anything. Lately she's said my commission is finished and she'll "post it in a couple days" (to her art journal), but that was two weeks ago and still, nothing.

The sad thing is that I paid for the commission by buying her a new battery for her dead Wacom tablet pen (it was over $40), so all the digital art she's done since then has effectively been on my dime while I've gotten nothing out of it.

Just my experience on the matter.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

Uhm.

Wacom doesn't use batteries in their pens.

[wolf-goat.livejournal.com]

Would never commission her for anything. There's the risk of not getting it, getting it wrong or just getting a tracing.

[rileycostello.livejournal.com]

The girl has skills, but like preyfar mentioned, she's wasting them. You can tell she has some sort of grasp and skill mastery when you see her sketches of her boyfriend that she'll do- she can do expressions well, even quick sketching...

unless those are pictures, too.

With digital cameras being so prevalent nowadays it wouldn't surprise me if they were also pictures.

I could do that too, but even if I did I couldn't make them look that good. I'm still in awe of the skills she -does- have, even if she uses them for nefarious purposes. XD It's a shame that she hasn't worked harder at maintaining her reputation.

I still wouldn't commission her, just based on the experiences of others. PR is a very important tool these days and thankfully, the Internet (http://consumerist.com/364563/complaint-remover-gets-rid-of-negative-links-including-lolcats:) has these things available for reference.

oh thats a no noo..

[dazen-cobalt.livejournal.com]

I have been a fan of starfinders work since 2002(I think) and thinks she has tremendous skills but like prefar says she wastes it. She constantly draws things for her bf but no work on any of the commissions she owes. I shouldn't even have to point out the icon commissions she took some months ago. I think she only finished like two batches. Where are the others? I love her work but I wouldn't commission her to save my life and neither should you. Also.....didn't know about the tracing/exact referencing thing. wow just wow. You know.....she may be screwing us over now but once she really tries to get out there professionally, reality is gonna hit like a train and we can all sit back and laugh.

Re: oh thats a no noo..

[jurann.livejournal.com]

Professional artists everywhere use reference materials and even light-table stuff all the time. =P It's not considered to be very "naughty" in the workplace, I'm honestly surprised so many furries seem to think this is some sort of big deal. It's not blatant plagiarism unless you pretty much completely take someone else's work and say it's yours. After all, Andy Warhol built an art empire on taking other people's art, cutting it up and putting it back together with filters and color transforms, yet nobody seemed to make a big stink about it. At the point where you've re-fleshed a piece, even if you started with a tracing as your base silhouette, it's an original piece. Sure it would be even COOLER if you didn't start out with traced lines, but it doesn't constitute plagiarism unless it's such a simple drawing that tracing makes practically an exact copy (i.e. cartoons).

[lilenth.livejournal.com]

To be honest, I'd say commissioning her is a gamble at best, many people have paid and got bupkiss from her, others have received work that is heavily copied instead of the original work they thought they were getting. There's better and cheaper artists with better reputations out there. If you really want something in a hyper realistic style try goldenwolf or kyoht, they at least are original and always produce though I doubt they'll do porn.

[jurann.livejournal.com]

Well, Kyoht can sometimes be talked into doing porn, but not usually. Plus her workload doesn't really allow for commissions from what I've seen. As for GW... I have my own set of personal issues with her: see FC 2008.

[auradeva.livejournal.com]

At least if she's smart she'd know that if she did screw you over you'd have the power to immediately ban her from furbuy.

[dazen-cobalt.livejournal.com]

speaking of banning didn't they try and do that for her with any fur cons such as further confusion and anthrocon?

[martes.livejournal.com]

Does anyone know if it's safe to commission her these days?

Just think of some old advice:
"There's a sucker born every minute."
"Hope springs eternal."
"No one ever went broke underestimating the stupidity of the American public."

And really, if you ask for an adult pic, all you're going to get is a furrified picture of her boyfriend. So unless you find him really hot, take a pass.

[dazen-cobalt.livejournal.com]

LMFAO!!! yeah true she does draw a lot of that for her bf >.>;

[wereguitar.livejournal.com]

I still believe that purchasing art from her is a gamble. I bought finished artwork from her over FurBid about 4 years ago and paid her right away. I didnt get my artwork or refund back until almost a year or so later and that was because someone spoke to her for me at a Convention and asked for my refund.

That sort of thing sticks with you. Especially since I was also offered free artwork of my character to make up for the whole thing (which I also didnt receive).

Ive never gone back to giving her money. If she can't even tell you the truth as to why it's taking so long to send you art or a refund, then how can you even establish any sort of trust. I know she might be much more responsible now, but Im still burned and still without as much as an apology.

[alaitallon.livejournal.com]

Do not commission her whatsoever. You'd probably be better off just putting your money through a paper shredder, because at least then you get some mild entertainment value. I made an entry here over a year ago (http://community.livejournal.com/artists_beware/118103.html), and several people came forward then to say that they hadn't received their art either, some of them having waited for YEARS. She posted and claimed she would get it all finished and would make it her priority.

The vast majority of them still haven't received their art.

So, yeah, do not waste your money on her. There are plenty of great artists out there that will actually follow through with you and give you what you paid for (and probably for cheaper than she charges anyway).

[bigtig.livejournal.com]

Does anyone know if it's safe to commission her these days?

To quote Lewis Black:

Take all your money and steadily flush it down the toilet. Maybe you'll get lucky, the toilet will back up, and you'll get your money back!

Don't bother. There are many other talented people who are also responsible about how they do business. You'll do far better commissioning them.

[gatcat.livejournal.com]

>Does anyone know if it's safe to commission her these days?

I couldn't tell you. But with all of the issues that have been aired, it sure has been an entertaining read. Thanks!

Meanwhile, if you think she has potential and you're not worried about the chance of disappointment, you can feel good about nourishing her talent by sending it to college.

[jurann.livejournal.com]

Lance Rund is the one to send furry artists to college, not me, lol. =D But based on this girl's rep, I doubt even Lance would back her. As for the entertaining read, Jesus... I posted this like 5 days ago, took 4 days for a mod to get it approved, then by the time I got back here to see it BLAM, dramabomb. lol WTF?

[huskie666.livejournal.com]

L.O.L.
God forbid the part of her brain that can create something from nothing develop at all ever.
Where would i then get my lulz? :{
~~Huskie

[floethegreat.livejournal.com]

Wow. I definately feel bad for her.

[jurann.livejournal.com]

Dare I ask why?

[captainsaicin.livejournal.com]

Wow... I knew she had a bad track record, but just wow.

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