Looking for advice on an "Art Slave"

[augustamnesia.livejournal.com]

Hello! First time poster, so I will try to make this short and simple.
An artist I like (non-FA artist) was taking slots for set amounts of time where they would be your "art slave" the minimum amount of time you could purchase being a month, and I believe the maximum 6 months. I went for two months, paid, and after a while the artist announced theyd be putting them on hold but adding extra time to peoples slots to make up for it, I declined and offered for them to refund me or start on a new date (I hadnt recieved anything). Officially the art slaving started on Oct 8th, not wanting to overwhelm them Ive only maid two requests, one for a simple doodle and for a small colored 'pose' which we use on that site. I have not recieved anything, no updates and the artist has been taking on new individual commissions and completing them, and recently posted their laptop broke (which I was not informed of) which I messaged them about and was told they would still be able to do the art slaving. But still, nothing, and were about halfway through the first month.
I personally dont feel comfortable with paying for a set time and not having any outcome from it. Ive been giving them simple small requests as to not overload them while they've been taking on larger commissions. At this point, Im uncomfortable, should I be asking for a refund? Given that its a set time that Im paying for and nothing has come out of it, do I have to pay for them to do nothing?

Comments

[exo-formicidae.livejournal.com]

I'm a slightly bit confused, so help me clear it up a bit^^;
Artist offer art slaves slots. you buy 2 months (which 2 months?)
Then they said the would be putting them on hold for a little while. What exactly did you decline here? Was it the extra art from holding?
also if the artist starting on a later date was ok by you, why ask for a refund at this point in time? Sorry if I totally missed something ^^;


other than that;
If they haven't done any of the art, or shown you any WiP's, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with asking for a refund.
Do you still want art from them? I only ask because communication is a big thing for me personally, so I would personally loose interest in working with the artist if there was very little updates and such, even if the art is amazing.

If you are still willing to work with them, then maybe set a stricter deadline for some progress to be shown, and if still nothing then ask for a refund.

[kattotang.livejournal.com]

OP declined extra art slave time from the artist, i.e. adding a free month or something like that to the two months they bought. Artist announced they needed to put art slaves on hold so OP told the artist they could start OP's art slave time at a later date. So, the artist started their art slave time on the 8th of this month, but OP hasn't received any updates, despite the month almost being over and the artist finishing other commissions.

That's how I understand things, anyway.

[augustamnesia.livejournal.com]

yes this is correct!

[westly-roanoke.livejournal.com]

I think that you need to ask them exactly what a 'slave' means. I mean, what exactly are the terms of their indentured servitude to you? X amount of drawing a day? What were the actual terms of this?

[augustamnesia.livejournal.com]

They were set to start the day i paid-i think i asked them for a flat peice or something. They didnt do it and then informed me and other slot holders they had to put these on hold, and offered extra months for the wait aswell as the fact theyhadnt done any of the requested art in the time so far. I declined to have extra time added to my slot as. I felt it was too much, I offered for them to refund me if they felt they couldnt do it or to complete the time.
I was the one who set the new start day-Oct 8th so they could complete the two months. Since then the above has happened-when I learned the laptop broke I let her know Id really like updates, so I have, but she assured me she could get the work done. I have only asked for two small things-but nothng has been completed like the first time(it is a small forum community so were talkimg about tiny peices that fit in your signature)
There is also no set maximum for what I can request.

[augustamnesia.livejournal.com]

Meant to reply to Exo-sorry! ;v; I am trying to reply on my phone

[vauvakolibri.livejournal.com]

Like others mentioned, it's bit hard to give proper advice on this, since we don't know what their terms of it were.
Overall based on this and my assumptions it really does sound like a relatively inexperienced artist doing something that sounded good on paper but really had no idea how much work it would in reality take and now can't rise up to the work (it sometimes happens with sketchbook commissions).

In any case I do also agree with exo that if no work has been done and especially if the artist doesn't comply with their term of "slave" (not sure if them taking/doing commissions on your months was agreed in the TOS) you do have all the right to ask for a refund.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

Well if they don't produce anything, I'd definitely ask for a refund, yes. It's no different from any other commission that way, in this case with a deadline built in.

Were the terms of this deal defined in any way beyond "art slave for x month(s)"? Like "I will draw at least 2 hours for you every day" or "I will only work for you during this month"? That would be useful information to know beforehand if you ever want to hire someone for an "art slave" thing again.

(I also wish people would stop using the term "art slave" because I think it's unprofessional, derogatory and creates erroneous expectations, but that's a whole different can of worms.)

[augustamnesia.livejournal.com]

unfortunatley no, I have messaged them to ask about any progress and expressed Id like to have some set terms from now on, they offered me more time and to make a list of a 'months worth of requests' which I of course dont know how much work that is.
Hopefully I will get a reply on setting flat terms on what Im getting, I will definitley need to keep this in mind next time.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

That's all pretty vague, they sound inexperienced. Though the onus was on them to provide clear terms of service.

Yeah I could either produce a sketchbook worth of doodles in a month, 12-20 inked/flat colour digital commissions or one really nice and detailed piece with multiple characters and a complex background in a month. And the output of course differs from artist to artist, some artists barely produce a handful of sketches in a month. A "month's worth of work" is incredibly vague.

[kattotang.livejournal.com]

I also wish people would stop using the term "art slave" because I think it's unprofessional, derogatory and creates erroneous expectations, but that's a whole different can of worms.

Totally agree with this, I really hate the term "art slave".