Beware: Jessica Elwood (Resolved)

[darkduck64.livejournal.com]

Hello Everyone. I am making this post for those who have commissioned, or are thinking about commissioning Jessica Elwood. As of July 8, 2010, i will have waited 22 months for a commission i have purchased from her with no results to show. Yes, i originally ordered and paid the commission from her on September 8th, 2008.

EDIT: Sorry about that everyone, im a LJ noob, didnt know about the cut tag ._. its fixed now!

EDIT 2: Jessica Elwood has refunded me my money in full, and has even gotten me the sketch to my original commission done which can be seen here: http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/125/darkduckcommission1.jpg

Really, the sketch looks good i think. I think it would look good colored up. But at this point, i have my money back, and i am no longer going to pursue Jess to finish the image. If she does decide to color it in the end, then that's her decision.



Here is my original commission request, along with some prices that Jess had quoted



Here is Jessica quoting me the paypal address to use

Removed due to people harassing the receiver

And here is the receipt from paypal proving that i indeed paid her to the email address that was provided

Removed due to people harassing the receiver

Now I'm usually patient when it comes to art. I know these things can take time, and i understand that RL things can happen, so normally when i commission someone, i usually allow a few months leeway before i go asking an artist for an update on things.

In the case with Jess, i waited 3 months before i went asking for a status update on my commission. I sent her a note on Jan 8th of 2009 asking for a commission update. This note was read but ignored.



I then waited another 3 months before i went asking for an update on my commission... Because i can understand people get busy sometimes, so the first time around i shrugged the ignored note off, and hoped for a response this time. This note was sent on March 8th of 2009, Note that i actually ask her to respond this time.



This note was also read and ignored, so instead of waiting another 3 months, a week later i try again on the 14th of March.



This time though i finally get a response from Jess



"It'll be done this month." Okay, i was happy for the moment. She responded to me, and said it would be done by the end of the month. So i was happy, right up until she posts a journal saying her PC got fried



Again, an understandable RL issue that happens. Stuff happens, i realize, so i lay off her for a while, and let her get back into gear. It was at the 10 month mark now that i decided to try and note her again, so on July 8th of 2009, i sent her this note to try and ask for a status update.



Which, to my surprise, she had actually sent me a reply the same day. This was her reply to me:



... Okay, what??? Can anyone please tell me what artist finishes a commission... and then doesnt deliver it to the commissioner? <.< It was this reply that really started to make the warning bells go off in my head that something was wrong. But i was being optimistic at the time, and maybe perhaps she did in fact have it done, and it was sitting on her computer somewhere, so i simply just sent a reply copying and pasting our original notes from before with all the commission information in it.



Now heres the funny part... To this day, that note has not even been read on FA. The following is a screenshot of my FA outbox, screencapped on July 3rd 2010 showing that my note sent on July 9th of 2009 has not been read.



At this point also, it looks like Jess has made a vanishing act from both FA, and Deviantart. No submissions, no favorites, no journals, no nothing... Well i think im out of luck.

It just so happened that i was browsing the Katbox forum one day a couple months later that whos username should i just so happen to see having recently posted? Yes, Jess was there on the Katbox forum, and she had been quite active there apparently. So i decided to drop her a note there to see if i could get some answers from her.

(At the time of my first note, i did not know that in the PM system, you actually had to have an option checked to save notes to the outbox, so my first note was not saved)

I had sent Jess a note the first time, simply asking for a refund, because at that point, it was just about a year since i had paid for the commission, and hadnt heard about anything. She sent me a reply asking if i would still accept the art. I debated on whether or not i should still try and accept it, or take the money and run, but since i really liked Jessica's art a lot, i decided to give her another chance.



She even offered to give me a deadline, which i thought was really nice of her



Of course, come september 19th, i hadnt heard anything from her, so on September 20th (We are now over one year at this point) I send her a note again asking for a status update.



That first note was ignored, so about a week later, on the 25th of September, i send her another note asking her for an update, hoping maybe this time she will respond... with no luck.

So now we're getting into October, well past the Sept 19th deadline, with no replies or status updates, nothing at all. On the Katbox forum, you can check up on users to see whos active or not, and the whole time Jess had been active pretty much daily.

I sent her a couple more notes trying to get her attention, both of which, again, were ignored. So now im up to 4 notes unanswered.



At this point, i have no more patience, as now we've gotten into the 13 month mark, and Jess hasnt been able to show me a thing, so i send her another note on the Katbox forum, wondering whats up.

I may have been a little rough with this note, but at this point, can you blame me?



so finally, FINALLY, she sends me a reply.



So she was waiting until she had something to show me... I had given her 4 weeks to start off with to do the image, and was even giving her a little extra time to try and show me something, even just a sketch, but from Aug 22nd - Oct 8th 2009, she hadnt done anything?? At this point i was very frustrated, but i must be a glutton for punishment, because i actually did give her the chance at one more week...



Now admittedly, i did see an email a couple days later, but i was so tired and sleepy the morning that i was checking my emails, that this email had shown up in my spam folder, and i emptied it out before realizing that one of them had a subject of "Your commission."

So, thinking that Jess actually had sent me something, i sent her a quick note on the Katbox forum asking if she sent it, and if she did, could she please resend it.



Which... She must have ignored that note entirely, because 2 days later, she sends me this note



So of course, i send a reply saying that i hadnt received it, and pretty much requoted my original note from 2 days prior.



Now... You'll get to see a perfect example of Jessica Elwood's lack of communication skills here, because it shouldnt be that hard to resend an email right? I checked my spam folder every day, hoping i would see a similar email pop up. Every couple of days, i would poke Jess to see if she could resend her email.



October 16th, Still no email or note reply...



October 19th, Stillllll havent heard anything...



October 22nd, Nothing yet...



October 27th, and yet another note i send to her



so now FINALLY, she sends me this reply on the Katbox forum on the 27th of October



... really? Only 2 emails? Im pretty sure i had sent her a lot more notes than that telling her that i had not received any emails... and i had been keeping close tabs on my spam folder for any commission related emails, and saw none.

ok, so i send her another note, this time maybe trying to suggest new means of getting these sketches to me... I even suggest Imageshack or Photobucket for her to use. those are simple to use right?



So she informs me that it was some sketches she had done up for me. So okay, it shouldnt be that hard to find a way to get them to me? Once again, i try and drill it into her that she can use imageshack, or another photo hosting site to use to upload them instead of trying to use email which doesnt seem to work.

Keep in mind, the date is now November 3rd of 2009



annnnnnd then she decides that she's going to ignore me once again, so a few days later, i send her a note on November 7th, once again trying to hit the point to her that imageshack and photobucket are great alternatives to email...



Once again, this email is ignored, and i send her another note giving her a little piece of my mind, while trying to stay civil about things. This was sent about a week later on the 13th of November.



and then finally she sends me a reply on the same day, the 13th with this response.



... Okay, so she has some more RL issues to deal with apparently. Okay, so she says that she is going to have a computer screen again, and that she'll even offer me 2-3 extra pictures as compensation for the amount of time this has taken? well all righty, i guess its fair, so i send her a note with some descriptions of a few extra pictures that i wouldnt mind seeing



I even decided to give her a little extra time since i wasnt expecting her to get a monitor and be able to do sketches for all the commissions that fast, so i gave her a little bit of extra time. I sent a note checking up on her on the 26th of November



She did send me a response real quick, which was nice.



But i think I had heard that story before... But Jess had been posting a fair bit of artwork around DA, and a lot of her submissions were showing up on SexyFur, and i hadnt heard from her in a few weeks, so on the 15th of December 2009 i send her another note.



I never got a reply to that note, so shortly after Christmas, i sent her another note giving her another piece of my mind, again, trying to be civil, because really im a nice guy.



This time i do get a reply from her, saying that the holidays have been rough on her... okay... But she does offer me a deadline of January 6th to have something to show me. By this point, i feel like ive heard this song on repeat for quite a while now.



but wouldnt you know it? Jan 6 comes and goes, and on Jan 7th of 2010, i send her a note reminding her that the deadline is now past, and if nothing is done by this point, that i would like a refund.



She does send me a reply, but not one that made me very happy. She said things had been "hectic" and that she didnt have time to explain anything... Well, at this point, my patience is lost, and this time, i really give her a firm piece of mind.



That was the first time that i came close to coming here to Artists Beware about Jessica Elwood, BUT...

Theres a 'but...'

to my amazment, before the January 23rd deadline, she actually got in touch with me, and gave me a couple sketches...

but... (yes, there is another but...)

The sketches she gave me were neither of the original commission, nor any of the 3 compensation images i had asked for. Instead, the sketches she gave me seemed like half assed renditions of pictures she had previously posted elsewhere

NSFW link: http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/796/screen42m.jpg

Ok, so she gave me some sketches though... Maybe there was some hope after all? But really, at this point i was starting to get tired of chasing...

I had left a shout on her FA page on May 1st of 2010 asking if she had forgotten about my commission again, to which she sent me a note replay with this on the same day



All righty, so maybe she hadnt forgotten, but by this point, i hadnt really gotten my hopes up. Although she did get my hopes up a little bit, as a few days later she sent me another note asking a question about my original commission:



ok, so maybe it was being worked on after all? and hey, she even sent me a note a week later again asking about my commission, and that she would send the sketch the following week? Well all right!



But, that sketch never did come... and she had been posting more and more artwork both on DA and FA, and on one submission she said commissions were coming soon, and then she sent me a note on June the 10th:



However, we are now July 3rd, 2010... i have still not seen any sketches or anything... Jess managed to get in touch with me via MSN messenger while i was offline and left me this little message.

26/06/2010 1:15:22 PM Jess (DD64)(D) Hello?
26/06/2010 1:15:28 PM Jess (DD64)(D) ack you are away! :(
26/06/2010 1:17:07 PM Jess (DD64)(D) I just wanted to tell you this. I want to push myself to be a better artist for my clients. So I want to finish and deliver your commission by this coming friday or I will get you a refund. Also, I want to draw you a compensation picture of anything you want. Is that ok?
26/06/2010 1:17:18 PM Jess (DD64)(D) Note me back in FA ?

So she wants to draw another compensation picture... well okay, i send her a note on FA saying what i would like for a compensation picture:



Well it is now Saturday, Friday has passed, and there is no sign of Ms Jess Elwood anywhere... I am doing this Artists Beware post at the advice of some other artists that i had talked to down at Anthrocon.

So Jess, if you are reading this, i am sorry, but ive had enough :/ 22 months is far too long, and i have not seen either my original commission, or any of the 4 compensation images you have promised.

Comments

Mod Here

[oceandezignz.livejournal.com]

Please use the LJ-cut tag on your post, it is very informative, but also lengthy and does stretch out the pages of other users Friends Lists. If you need help, note me.

Do not comment that there needs to be an LJ-cut. I will screen your comments. I've already requested it, that's enough.

Re: Mod Here

[darkduck64.livejournal.com]

Im a LJ noob ._. If you tell me how ill cute it down!

[fiercereaper.livejournal.com]

You might want to tweak your image sizes a bit, it's kinda hard to read everything.

[sunhawk.livejournal.com]

Sweet merciful starcookies, you have the patience of a saint! INSANE to wait nearly two years!!! @_@

Beware, indeed!

[brokenxkneecap.livejournal.com]

"Sweet merciful starcookies" may be the cutest thing I've EVER heard B( <3

I agree with you, though! Gosh, and this girl DELIBERATELY ignores your notes. It's not like EVERY SINGLE ONE got lost or forgotten. I can't imagine what was going through her head as she kept receiving them. D:

I'm so sorry that this happened, but thank you for the beware!

[kurenaipaladin.livejournal.com]

A few notes:
- Why does it matter if she is Mexican? I see NO reason to put this in your post as a mention.
- The sketches she gave you may be similar poses but they do not look like the finished images you posted... Either way, I don't see you saying that you said they were not what you requested. Did you?
- I kinda think that you should be putting any links with nsfw text in them in link form with NSFW added as well.

But yes, this is far too long to go without any real progress with the artist. I would say don't bother trying to get anything out of her as far as work goes, just pust for that refund. Considering you originally asked for 1 two character commission and she seems to have promised 4 more... without even being able to get ONE done... well, Yeah, I wouldn't keep my hopes up.

[silverfalln.livejournal.com]

Possibly confused as maybe the OP wasn't sure on the artist's nationality? I think I'd balk and double check several times over if the PayPal name, or email on the PayPal didn't seem to match up with what I remembered of the artist.

[ocelotish]

Good god, you're a patient commissioner!

The only thing I'm going to add is that while the poses are similar to the images you linked. I don't think they're just copied from them or anything. If you look at the first one, you can see that the back half of the character is at a completely different angle than the picture you were comparing it to (same with the front half actually, but I don't think that's the part in question as much). The second picture has some different angles as well and a lot more foreshortening. Are the sketches the things you asked for?

[darkduck64.livejournal.com]

nope, neither of the 2 sketches were what i asked for x.x If you read the comments in the posts, i asked for something completely different. Those sketches didnt even come close to what i asked for

[phoenixsrequiem.livejournal.com]

eek! You must have some patience!

[millilicious.livejournal.com]

Gracious me D: I'm sorry you've been dragged around by this person as much as you have. You're extremely patient and very civil with her the entire time. Even after this entire wait, you're still very calm and professional.

It's really, really not good when the original picture isn't done and she's promising you more and more and more. It seems like by the time she feels she's gotten rid of you (with no art, mind), she'll owe you 20+ pictures or so. Speculation, of course, but that's just what it seems like.

[onfourwejump.livejournal.com]

Couldn't have said it better myself.

I never understood artists who pile MORE work onto themselves just because they made a commissioner wait. If it's taken you this long to finish one commission, why pile on MORE work? Give a partial refund, or just apologize!

[stormslegacy.livejournal.com]

It's a real shame she couldn't just do the art by the deadline =/ 2 years is a long wait! I'd be terribly embarrassed.

[foxhack.livejournal.com]

That was, frankly, too long... Not saying "TL;DR" or anything, but man, you have the patience of a SAINT.

That said, sending a large amount of money to another person's address seems a bit fishy to me - it raises red flags and makes me feel worried.

Hope this gets fixed up soon.

[ukthewhitewolf.livejournal.com]

Blimey. o.O

This is exactly why I always ask anyone who commissions me to pay me after I've drawn the images.
Usually it's;
Describe subject & get refs.
Send sketch.
Send revised sketch if anything needs fixing.
Finish art & ask for payment to be sent.
Once it arrives send the finished art.

That way, if I happen to screw up and disappear (which has happened, my internet connection was cut off and blahblahblah) and someone has to wait ages - I can work something out without them being out of pocket OR me having to worry about spending the commission money before it's finished incase a refund is ever needed.

You though, like others have said, have the patience of a saint. xD
I'd have gotten frustrated after so much "can I have a new deadline?" over and over again.

[louveg.livejournal.com]

So far what I've been doing is I ask for payment between the sketch approval and the completion.

That way, should the commissioner back out on me, I've only done the sketch. So not much loss on my part. And the commissioner is sure to at least see some progress on his image before throwing some cash in my general direction. It's been working great. :)

[chronidu.livejournal.com]

Jesus I wish half commissioners were NEARLY as patient and polite as you. I can't even believe someone would string a person on this bad. The amount of professionalism here is astounding.

I don't understand why some artists find it so hard to contact commissioner, do sketch, contact, do inks/flats, contact, finish piece. Or hell, even just contact, finish piece, contact.

I'm sorry you had to scramble all over sites and internet just to get snubbed for 2 years. There is no excuse for this :/

[lilenth.livejournal.com]

Blimey, she's given you quite the run around.

Unfortunately you're not the first person to experience difficulties with getting paid for work out of Jessica Elwood, the person who posted: http://community.livejournal.com/artists_beware/308198.html waited a year and a half with similar excuses, run arounds and general behaviour.

[werewolfofwater.livejournal.com]

Lots of money + lots of excuses = ungood. Jeeez you have a lot of patience lol.

[mbp-exist.livejournal.com]

My Experience with JE was a long one commission wise, but not 22 months like Darkduck. D;

It took like year just for me to receive my commissions, like DarkDuck, i am patient, and understanding, so i had no issue, as long as she got mine done, i am fine, but took awhile, but i have waited longer, and dealt with worse from a few other artist, a couple bigger name ones as well. ( 1 year feels tame compared to some artist i have dealt with, some of which took 2-3 years, now that was aggravating, and overkill :V. i won't name drop em though, whats done is done, past is past, things got worked out )

But i had to frequently notify her, Email, or IM her in time, it was not awesome to have to do, so i had to kinda get on her about it in honest, and blunt manner, while being respectful, and civil though, and i even unintentionally called her out on a stream, i felt bad after such, but she IM'ed me shortly after that happened, and told me she did not blame me, and can understand the concern, and frustration and all was fine.

So at least when i talked to her, she understood, and was considerate, and finally about to get my due commissions over with, which made me gain some respect for her again.

Overall she got mine done at least, and i was relieved, all is forgiven, and i am cool with JE after all the hassle, would i commission her again? well she did make up for it, and worked with me at least in a decent matter in the end, and made up for it, so maybe, i am one who can forgive depending on the circumstances.

Though i understand for some, they didn't have the same luck, and i am sorry to hear that. :( i hope you all can soon get your commissions done finally by her that are overdue, or refunded.

I have no issue with her, and me and her worked out any possible problems we had in business, but its not too good to see some others are still having problems getting her to get their commissions done, its discouraging, and not good to see, so i hope things get worked out finally soon, i know the feeling. :(

(frozen)

[shukivengeance.livejournal.com]

I commissioned Jess at the same time as you did, and I posted an A_B about her also, you can see the full story about it if you click the artist-jessicaelwood tag at the bottom of your post.

Comparing your experience to mine, they are extremely similar. I was messed around with them repeatedly saying they had completed the art or would have something to show me soon, but nothing. There was no response until I posted the entry and linked it to him via DA, so that is something you should do also. JE is not really active on FA, they are on DA a LOT more.

He finally refunded me, and drew 3 images as compensation, so keep trying and best of luck to you in getting this resolved.

[nurseniknak.livejournal.com]

I don't even know what to say except DUDE that really sucks. Seriously. Thanks for the warning and I hope you get some reconciliation in the end.

[zareonianwolf.livejournal.com]

Poor Ducky. :c You're an awesome client to work for, it sucks that you've been run through the ringer on this. I hope s/he refunds you, man, you don't deserve this massive headache.

[jakejynx.livejournal.com]

This is absolutely ridiculous. Seems like you were too patient with this artist. :\ What a horrible thing to do to someone.

Tinfoil Hat mode

[zackfig.livejournal.com]

She would prolly have the time complete the commissions if she wasn't "modelling" (if you can call it that).

I mean, her DA photos seemed more like a smokescreen to have her commissioners (and fans) go "Boobies!" and sidestep/buy time for the art she owes to others -- just saying.

[kayla-la.livejournal.com]

OP, could you please blur out the friend's email address from your screenshots and the like? They have apparently received some harassment and we don't want AB to be a portal for people to make racist attacks against others.

[darkduck64.livejournal.com]

done! I just deleted it, because i just got back from a concert, and im wayyyyy too tired to open photoshop right now... I think people got the point

[ninykinin.livejournal.com]

You have the patience of a saint! If only all commissioners had an 16th of your patients, the world would be a better place for us artists. xD (I mean that in a joking way)

Thanks for the heads up. I quite liked Jessica's art, and have been toying with the idea of saving up to commission her. Thanks to you, all thoughts of handing over any money to her are gone. :3
I really detest artists who do this kind of thing to commissioners. It gives other artists a bad name and is incredibly selfish and unprofessional of her. This isn't the first time I've read about her ignoring clients.
By continuing to give adoring comments and support towards her art would be against my morals and would do nothing but encourage her. I simply cannot stand to be associated with artists who do this kind of thing to a client, even if they send a refund after two years.
I will be removing her from my watch list immediately.

[mukichan.livejournal.com]

I'm glad that you were able to get it resolved. I had originally wanted to commission from her a while back but have heard horror stories. Thank you for the warning.

[aerospiritual.livejournal.com]

If Jess doesn't mind at all, I'll gladly color up that picture for you, free of charge.

[jimclassic.livejournal.com]

I watch Jessica Elwood on DA, and I have to admit, it always bugged me how ridiculous flirty she was in her posts and and journal entries and whatnot; almost unreal. And then her 'modeling' account was just really suspicious, considering she would never show her face, but everything else was okay.
I'm glad she's been outed. Always thought their was something strange about 'her'.

[kyletheartist.livejournal.com]

I will agree greatly about patience of a saint. I myself draw commissions once in a while and I feel horrible when I make people wait more then two weeks o_O two years?! I'd refund any one within two months if I didn't do anything...

I just read all kinds of blogs and other entries about all this. I am not actually too surprised. Oh the mighty internet!

I never strictly followed her myself, I only once in a while stumbled on her pictures, but then I saw the 'naked' picture gallery where she promoted her arts or something and it got fishy. As a fem artist, i don't see the need to show your tits, for more arts.

I don't want to sound like sherlock Holmes, saying, " On contrary, my dear DA people! it was obvious all along!" It wasn't. I don't like people who advertise their body to attract public and that did not make 'her' better in my eyes.
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