Advice on how to deal with commissioners...?

[suzaku-ou.livejournal.com]

WHO: http://korsetkoat.livejournal.com, http://iKissMantids.deviantart.com, http://MrsBishop.deviantart.com

WHERE: We contacted each other on teenycom and first did business through dA notes.

WHAT: She commissioned me for a lineart of a new character that her friend drew and included many references.

WHEN: Commissioned me on 10/24/10 and I was paid the day after.

EXPLAIN: This is a response to what she posted about me on 8/2/11.  All the proof on what wrongs I committed and whatever side people took are all there. No one even cared about my side, and since I realized that I started redrawing her commission again on the same day that she posted about this, I've been struggling to post my side because I went through a really bad time in my life.

On 12/29/10, I read her note but forgot to reply to it. It was a bad habit of mine since I had a lot of college coursework to complete and could only get on dA for several minutes when I'm free. 

A month later, I also read her note, but again, I felt really bad about forgetting to complete her commission. (And just because I ask for commissions, it doesn't mean that I receive any; I'm not a good artist.)

4/17/11 - The commission still wasn't completed by this time (I had a lot of early morning to late classes and should have managed my time more carefully) but I noticed that she wanted a refund. To me, it was not fair because I already completed 90% of her lineart. It was just a commission for a lineart, and I shouldn't have taken that long to finish it, but I didn't want to finish it. The artwork was horrible. And, like I told her honestly before, I had already spent the money to buy my cousin overseas an English-speaking dictionary. That was the reason why I started doing commissions in the fall of 2010. I told her that I wouldn't give her a refund and would be more than happy to draw her 1 or 2 more linearts to compensate since she "fell out of love" with her newest OC. Her statement, "Tired of arguing and tired of them, I conceded and agreed to let them finish my commission," was entirely biased and  was not what we agreed upon, especially when I did not try to act harshly or anything of the sort if you reread the screenshot.

During that time and June, I did not really have a break in-between. I even took summer classes (and my university gets out for break much later than other universities). I regret that I did not inform her this time either. However, I was planning on completing her commission the weekend before my classes started, but...

What I am about to say is in no means an excuse of any kind. One of my best friends suddenly committed suicide and I'm still slowly recovering from it. In early August, I messaged korsetkoat 2 times--ONCE on dA and another time on LJ since she did not reply.

This note.

She had 2 different responses to my messages. She replied to the LJ message first and then the dA note. This was her LJ pm and this was the 2nd reply on dA ("The pose is fine, thank you. I've replied to your LJ PM.").

This should be resolved.

PROOF

Not that anyone cared, but I wanted to write about my side of the story. I was really depressed back then and felt that I couldn't properly defend myself (whatever little there was to defend because it looked like everyone tore my reputation apart, even if I'm not even a popular artist). 

@latilombax: 2010 was my first year taking commissions. I was eager to take commissions because it was a good first experience for me. Unfortunately, I took more than I could handle and burned out while I was in school. Summer 2011 was supposed to be a time for me to complete all those Fall 2010 commissions but I opted to take summer courses to clear out the last of my gen-ed. I admit, it was wrong of me to not manage my time more wisely for commissions. (And, again, I didn't know how to deal with the real-life events that I encountered in June...)
But, compared to my worklist, there are some artists who have a speedless worklist of 10+ pending commissions and still ask for more. I kept my worklist to a minimum of 5 or less.

@asrasi/ogawaburukku: I almost completed her lineart and only needed to change minor things. No other commissioner, besides korsetkoat, has ever asked me for a refund. I've been commissioned ELEVEN times and ten of my commissioners have never complained; the people whose commissions I had still owed then have been very understanding about my situation.

If you were an artist and were almost done with someone's commission, how would you feel if they suddenly wanted a refund just because they "fell out of love" with their OC and even forgot about what type of commission they commissioned? She requested a lineart that was 90% finished, not a CG. If I did not work on it at all, it would have been more plausible.

I also did not like my old artwork. It honestly looked like crap to me. I did not want to finish it, and would rather happily start over on a new one, and even offered to do so. 

@undertow26: I did not ignore her note as of 8/4/11 (there is a link to one of my sent notes). She did not update this post. What type of person thinks, "I'll ignore it therefore the problem will go away"? This might be true for people who want to peacefully ignore a bully without violence, the top 1% on Wall Street who sit on trillions of dollars reserved for putting Americans back to work while protesters voice their opinions and last and basic of all, scammers who ignore people whose money they stole. I am not a scammer, as hard as it is to believe from korsetkoat's post.

My excuse for having previously "ignored" her notes is simply this: I had little time to reply because life got in the way. I was unorganized and did not mark the notes that were left un-replied. I'm doing a little better now because I star all the notes that I've read but have not been able to reply to.  

If you still don't believe me, I'll present the images that I've sent to korsetkoat:

Last WIP
Newly-drawn commission of her OC, Orrec
Redrawing of her newest OC
I even gave her a flat CG of the first commission.

Can you see the difference from the first picture and the redrawn one? She agreed to inking the version in the first WIP and I did, but I hated it a few months after. It wasn't something I was proud of and I'm glad I redrew it. It took 9 months to properly present, but it could have been finished in a week or so. That was due to my poor time management and depression-basically, LIFE.

I have learned from this experience, however, even if it came at a very bad time.

If anyone is still kind enough to offer me advice, despite my slandered reputation, I would very grateful.

1. How do would you deal with a commissioner like this if you did all the right things in the beginning but got off track due to school/life?
2. How personal is TOO PERSONAL when you screenshot proof of an artist's reply (in reference to this when presented to the public)?
3. I don't think I'll ever take commissions after I finish my current ones because of this bad experience, but if I do plan on doing some, should changes in my work schedule also be reflected in the commission info? Like a disclaimer: "Warning - I may not be available for periods at a time due to school/exams/projects/etc but rest assured that I will be working on your commission when I am free"?

I'll admit that I was wrong for keeping korsetkoat uninformed and should have communicated with her more if I managed my time better. But also, dealing with a close friend's death was not easy and still isn't. I don't think I should say this, but throughout the ordeal in August, I don't think she considered me a person with feelings. Maybe she only thought of her $15, I don't know, it's still kind of depressing thinking about it. 

She wasn't nice to me, but I'm kind of sure that she was a good commissioner to other artists. I don't want any more drama. I'm just glad that the other commissioners that I've dealt with during this time were kind enough to me, so I'll continue to work hard for them.

Comments

Mod Post

[kerstin-orion.livejournal.com]

Approved, but keep in mind we generally require beware-ee's to respond in the original post. Because you are admitting fault and asking advice to prevent this from happening in the future, I have approved this post.

Re: Mod Post

[suzaku-ou.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I was advised by another mod to reply to the post, but I think that there were too many details to report, and the atmosphere there wasn't very understanding :(

Re: Mod Post

[kerstin-orion.livejournal.com]

And that was my initial reaction, as well. However, I discussed it with another moderator and we agreed that because the content of your post was not just rebuttal but also asking for advice, we made an exception.

[gearpony.livejournal.com]

So from the date of payment, (10/24/10 to 4/17/11), when KorsetKoat asked for a refund, you never messaged her?

If that's the case and had I been in your shoes, I would've just apologized profusely and refunded her.

Leaving a commissioner hanging like that isn't okay. You say you read her notes, so I think you could've spared another minute or two to tell her you were dealing with important personal issues and her commission may take longer than expected.

[suzaku-ou.livejournal.com]

No, I did message her. As I said before, I almost completed her commission anyway. I should have redrawn it right away gave her her commission, but I admit that I was very, VERY unorganized with my older commission notes and forgot to reply to her. (It continued for that long also because I had school and no breaks from other important priorities.)

I know that I'm wrong not to have kept her updated, but do you think it's right to refund a commissioner after you've almost completed the work? On my end, I did put a lot of effort into it and only had to make MINOR changes. And I'm not going to lie about this--I already spent the money for my cousin's dictionary and had no money at the time in addition to finishing 90% of the commission.

This was the first time that I had ever had to deal with a commissioner like that. Another commissioner that commissioned me around the same time was much more patient. :(

I did apologize when I got on dA after 2 months of disappearing from the internet due to my real-life situation. I also apologized numerous times before that. I honestly didn't manage my time well enough and forgot to reply to her notes. It was a bad habit of mine.

I'm not making excuses for myself, but artists tend to get a pretty bad rap on here whether or not they've at least tried to correct themselves. This was only one bad case for me, but I'm still feeling kind of depressed about it, which was why I waited so long for my feelings to start out before posting it.

[spiffystuff.livejournal.com]

Er...
First off, I think you really need to work on your professionalism. Saying stuff like "Not that anyone cared, but..." "I understand if you never wanted to communicate with me ever again" "I don't think I'll ever take commissions after I finish my current ones because of this bad experience" is just not the tone you want to set.

I'm sorry life has been hard on you. This is meant to be genuine advice, not something to make you feel bad, just to point out what you are doing in case you don't realize it.

Anyway, in response to your questions
1)How do would you deal with a commissioner... I would refund them once I realized I had other things that needed more attention.
2) How personal is TOO PERSONAL... Don't mix personal with business. Don't put something online if you don't want it going public (something I struggle to adhere to as well)
3) should changes in my work schedule also be reflected in the commission info Don't take commissions unless you are able to complete them within a timeframe both you and the commissioner agree to, or be ready to refund if you go past the timeframe.

[suzaku-ou.livejournal.com]

I apologize for using those phrases. I'm new to this type of community and before, I haven't really read through other artists' entries to properly set the tone. I also have a low self-esteem, so I apologize for that, too, especially since the people who commented on the situation last time weren't very understanding and didn't try to see things from the artist's perspective.

1. I know that refunding them is the right thing to do. But as I told another commenter, I had already put much effort into completing the commission the first time. It only needed a few minor changes, and the commissioner even ended up forgetting what she commissioned me for. She only demanded a full refund because she forgot that she only commissioned me for a lineart (that was almost done), not a full body CG. I had also already spent the money on my cousin's dictionary, which is why I started taking commissions in the first place. I admit that I was overwhelmed by school/life and should have been more prompt with the updates instead.

2. The thing is, she screen-capped my pm to her and posted it for the public to see. I didn't grant her permission to reveal details of my life, nor did I know that she would resort to doing that. :( (Some of the links are from her own post and that was the last note she screen-capped before she left current comments unanswered)

3. That sounds reasonable, thank you :) Do you think 3 months is too long for a total limit before a refund can be given if the artist still hasn't even started on the initial sketch or should the timeline be shorter? I'm asking because I'm feeling somewhat better about my turn-around time on my current (older) commissions (3 days to 2 weeks for max completion if both the commissioner and I keep contact with one another). If I ever do commissions again, I want to do them right this time. I don't like that a few of my past actions have led many people to believe that I am dishonest when I have just been scatter-brained in this case and was unlucky enough for everything bad to happen at once. :(

[magusmanx.livejournal.com]

As an artist, you should never spend the money from a commission before you get the art done. Also, people post screenshots of notes all the time. They do not need your permission to post DA notes.

[spiffystuff.livejournal.com]

No need to apologize! There is nothing "wrong" with what you've said in the sense of "morally wrong", or perhaps a good word is "not reprehensible", it's just not the ideal way to start off.

And as far as the particular beware goes, it looks like you've resolved it by finishing the commission and doing extra work, adding colors and such! And trying to organize your notes better. So, I can't speak for everyone but that will probably put a lot of people at ease if they are looking here.

Low self-esteem is something to work on - I think all the art you did was quite nice! Self-esteem doesn't have to preclude you from doing commissions but be careful it doesn't get in the way; making the picture more negative than it really is.

1) As far as refunds go, if you have already done work it is somewhat up to you; some people would only partially refund, for the amount of work done (ie, if I sell sketches for $10 and inks for $30, and I only did a sketch on an ink commission, theoretically I'd not be totally wrong to keep the $10). To me, though, I feel like if someone paid for inks, that doesn't mean they would have paid for just a sketch if they'd known the inks weren't gonna happen. So I feel like if I'm the one dropping the ball then I better pay the price and give them everything back (I will admit I have not had to do this yet, but it's what I would do if something happened, and honestly I think it helps me work, knowing I have a deadline and an "out" so I don't get too stressed). On the other hand the partial refund is a good solution if a commissioner wants to cancel a commission early, but after you've started on it, since they are the one breaking the agreement.
As far as also having spent the money goes, I don't think $15 (or less) is impossible to scrape together given enough time? It's kind of irrelevant now if you are reserving money until commissions are done now, just understand with the responses on the previous post, that most people won't see "I can't refund you I spent it" as a great reason for not giving a refund.

2) I don't mean to be unsympathetic, because I do understand what you are saying, but customers are not friends, nor are they obligated to be, and it's not wise to share details of personal problems with them. They don't need to know and sometimes they don't want to know (as in this case). Just saying "I'm very sorry, I've had some serious difficulties, I can have your commission finished (give estimate) or we can (give refund options, if you choose)" would suffice. (that also gets into the "I understand if you never wanted to communicate with me ever again" comment... it's just not really necessary? "I'd like to resolve this as soon as possible" sounds much better!)

3) What timeframe you want is up to you, hopefully you know about how fast you can work! Just make sure you discuss it with the commissioner ahead of time. A lot of people will be very patient if communication is good. But for what it's worth, personally I do not accept commissions unless I can start work that week, and am confident I can finish it in a month. Personally, I would say having a waiting list of over a month to start commissions is getting too long (except for people doing huge projects like fursuit makers). But if you want to give yourself wiggle room then 3 months would be good.
Also, it looks like in the above case, you got a bit lost doing revisions - most people here have a policy that there's only 2 free edits, after which the commissioner has to pay. After a certain point, you just have to be confident in yourself / your art; every piece does not have to be your greatest work to date, and commissioners can expect you to include pertinent details, but not to read their minds. Just make sure it is up to the standard of your examples.

Good luck! Like I said, the fact that you did finish the piece and do some extra on it, and are working to fix where the breakdowns happened, I think will reassure a lot of people.

[suzaku-ou.livejournal.com]

And in response to "I understand if you never wanted to communicate with me ever again", I replied this way because she was very hostile towards me, which was understandable, and I didn't want to provoke her any further. If you even notice the way she tagged her screencaps and notes ("dontgiveahoot"), it's definite proof that she did not want to deal with me anymore if the "I just want this whole mess over with" wasn't any clearer :(

Given this information, was my reply unprofessional?

[cpro2001.livejournal.com]

In my opinion, your "I understand if you never wanted to communicate with me again" message you sent her was unprofessional. Instead of saying something like that, maybe instead say something like, "Would you like to discuss ways we can resolve this transaction?"

[astraldescent.livejournal.com]

I'd refund them. This has happened to me- but it only lasted a month. As soon as three weeks hit I refunded the commissioner entirely, less the cost for a sketch I had completed for them, because I knew I was about to hit a period of time where I couldnt really do much art.

Since then I have decided not to take commissions, as I became injured and am unable to produce quality work.

In my opinion, if you have such a simple piece, and the wait gets out of hand (which for me was one month, but for others may be six months or more) just refund them. Over a period of nine+ months you should be able to scrape up $15.

It's better to refund, and have it not weighing on your mind and not keep the commissioner waiting. For some people who are "worrier" types, like myself, when you know you have something you have to do, it stresses you and almost makes you want to do it less. If you're not cut out for commission work... you just aren't cut out for it. Take the loss, roll with it and move on. Sell something premade like adoptables which you can do at your leisure.

[suzaku-ou.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your advice. You were much more insightful than me. I wish I could do that, but I'm the type who commits myself to doing commissions unless it's absolutely out of range for my abilities to complete it; that was an extremely bad thing in this case, even if I got the commission done.

I'm really sorry that you can't do commissions anymore, though. :(

Ah, that makes more sense, thank you :)

That's how I feel when I have 2 exams and lots of papers to write while I have lots of commissions, actually... But I try to persevere...Is that a bad thing? I don't want to be like those artists who take on a lot of expensive, high-quality commissions and still open lots of slots for cheap, simple commissions even though they have a very long wait-list.

I just like keeping my word and pushing my drawing abilities when it comes to doing these things, but...I should be more prompt like you had been and realize my time limitations when there are other upcoming priorities. Does this also apply to an artist's mental state of being? I've stated to other commissioners that I have been depressed (well, still am) and continue every couple of days to send them WIPs and none of them have been harsh towards me, even if the wait is long.

I've actually been very thankful to each of these people because they also helped pick me up when I was down. It's probably awkward for other people reading this, but I like keeping my commitments and making commissioners happy with my artwork when they receive their finished pieces. I also like the personal connections I make when I'm talking with commissioners, so most of the time, I probably don't know what's professional and what isn't.

Ah, I apologize for going off on a tangent. I don't think I'm cut out for making adoptables. I like drawing what I draw now, and I know that there are very talented artists out there who make adoptables. I don't want to compete with those who are already very, very good :) They deserve every penny that their commissioners give them because they invest much time to hone their art.

[dinobutt.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't give a full refund for partially complete work, you're right to hesitate about that. If the piece is mostly done and they want a refund, I would give them the work in progress and refund a portion of it equivalent to the incomplete work. You still spent time on it and deserved to be compensated for that.

If it was only a $15 commission, you should have been able to come up with at least $5 to refund even if you already spent what you received(which, as you've already been informed, is not a good thing to do!). With larger amounts, it would be much more difficult, but this situation could have been resolved very fast with a partial refund.

For future reference, make sure that people know before they commission you that you're slow, because slow is okay if both parties agree to the pace. Check in every once in a while even if they aren't messaging you to let them know where you're at even if you haven't made progress. If they decide they aren't happy with how long you're taking, refund the appropriate amount and turn over any work you've done. As long as you can stick to that and not spend the money until you've earned it, you can probably stay out of trouble c:

[suzaku-ou.livejournal.com]

Thank you for offering your opinion and advice :)

It was a $15 commission and I finished 90% of it, with only minor changes needed. Would $1.50 have sufficed or 1/3 of the total if this situation had gone another direction? :( I'm actually kind of confused about that since it was in the final stage and I only needed to change a few things. I know that some artists do their commissions in stages but I was so scatter-brained that I forgot to add the missing details >__<

Thanks again! I will definitely add that to my ToS(?) if I ever decide to do commissions again :) This was only one bad experience, but I am happy to have learned from you and others as well.

[ocelotish]

What I'd say is that there is a point where you can say "Well you're cancelling for no reason, so I do get paid for what I've done," but it sounds like there were some communication issues. As a commissioner, I'd take that as being forced to cancel as you're apparently never going to complete it. I think that's the big difference. As an artist, I think it's your job to communicate as necessary, and if the customer is thinking that it's never going to be finished, then you're probably not doing your job. I think ultimately it's a case where deadlines are really important. If you set a deadline, you have a set date for when things need to be done which sets the customer at ease - they have a date where they'll have it in their hands or have their money back. It also helps the artist - if they can't do it, it's over after that deadline, and it'll give you that last push to finish it up in a timely manner.

I'm sorry if I'm neglecting a few elements, it's late and I'm tired. ;)

[epiceternity.livejournal.com]

I'd have to say that communication is the most important thing too!

On a couple of pieces I've had to wait a year and a year and a half but in both cases the communication was good and the artists were working steadily through their list. It meant that there was no anxiety for me and I could feel confident that the art would eventually be done. I think if there had only been a tiny amount of contact, I would have gotten worried and possibly asked for a refund. So the good communication made all the difference, just something every 1-2 months. And having an up to date status list where you can check the progress of your commission is extremely helpful ^^

Though how long a commissioner wants to wait does vary. I know some who want it asap and would think a months wait is too long where as I'm content to wait as long as I know the commission will get done.
However, I found the year and a half one was too long to wait... In my opinion, more than 6 month for some inked line work is getting a bit too long.

So yeah, that's my thoughts on communications and time frames XD

[suzaku-ou.livejournal.com]

Thank you for offering your opinion. It was wrong of me to keep her in the dark and I had apologized to her countless times, too (I've lost track since she commented in my post). I've noticed that an artist can get paid through the gift option but if the commissioner has any problems, s/he can't file a complaint with paypal to get the money back (at least, that's been my experience). Would it be better to ask commissioners to pay a small PP fee just in case anything like that happens and I won't be able to reply in time so that they can get their money back? I know that one commissioner I've had even offered to pay the PP fee because she knew I was a new artist and was cautious :)

I probably shouldn't be thinking of this, but since this incident, I tried to be better with communication and I also want to set fair rules for both the client and myself. It was never my intention to appear as a scammer, but because there were no set rules, it came off that way to korsetkoat.

[mrst4nkr.livejournal.com]

1. How do would you deal with a commissioner like this if you did all the right things in the beginning but got off track due to school/life?-
There's not a lot you can do with "would've, could've, should've". If I did work on the commission and suddenly stopped when the commissioner wanted to cancel, I would have subtracted the value of the already completed artwork, and refunded them the rest of the value. (I have a ToS that states this, and when I am commissioned, the commissioners are held to the ToS. It's not news to anyone that this will happen when it does actually happen- unless they didn't read it. ) If you want to give back a little more than the value of the color, to try and smooth things over with them, that's your prerogative.



2. How personal is TOO PERSONAL when you screenshot proof of an artist's reply (in reference to this when presented to the public)?-
I think of notes as something that can be posted in person. Don't write what you wouldn't want the world to see! (Yes! This includes addresses, phone numbers, nasty remarks, etc. ) You were super unprofessional in the way you handled blaming everything on your life, mental health, etc.
You don't have to give a detailed reason, and I felt that you were too emotionally invested in the niceties in this situation to be professional.

It is 100% okay to say " I have some things going on. " and leave it at that. You don't have to say "dealing with the death of a close personal friend" or "nursing a sick animal back to health" or what have you. I mean, sure, you can.. but it may make your commissioner feel awkward.

Most people have a common courtesy not to post your personal information (Name/Address/Phone Number/ETC), but common courtesy isn't always common.

I would recommend that you give less information.
Keep commission-related notes short, sweet and to-the-point.
Keep your turn-around times shorter.
Do not spend the money "earned" before you complete the artwork.
Refunds do not have to be a terrible experience.
Refunds tend to be easier than arguing about money.
Refunds will usually end most problems with your commissioner. If the ex-commissioner is "made whole", they usually will not give you any further trouble.
If you were dealing with all those things, it would have been far easier to refund $5 or so and call the transaction done.



3. I don't think I'll ever take commissions after I finish my current ones because of this bad experience, but if I do plan on doing some, should changes in my work schedule also be reflected in the commission info? Like a disclaimer: "Warning - I may not be available for periods at a time due to school/exams/projects/etc but rest assured that I will be working on your commission when I am free"?-

You know what's a really good exercise for this? 24 hour turnaround commissions! If you don't complete the art in 24 hours, you refund the entire sum back to the buyer's paypal.
It makes the project quick, fun, and painless. There are no catches, and neither of you have your time wasted.
I find myself less likely to want to work on something if I sit on the project for a month or two.

I don't think commissions are for people who lead busy lives. (I learned this the hard way, more than once. ) If you wanted to open yourself up to them on holidays or weekends where you didn't have studying to do, I would say go for it! :) Start small. Work your way up! You'll be just fine. :D

[suzaku-ou.livejournal.com]

1. When I became an amateur freelancer last year, I didn't have a ToS (or frankly, know what one was until later), but I would like to write a proper one. Could you please direct me to some examples? (If you have time that is, I wouldn't want to bother you)
My commission turn-around was also flawed because I greatly under-estimated how difficult and rigorous my classes were, so I will factor that in, too.

2. Before korsetkoat, I didn't have any problems with any other commissioner, so I thought being honest and informal was okay. Last year was also the year I started taking commissions so I didn't have any experience using an informal business-like tone or any of that. I will try to keep personal business/info out, though. And I admit that I was too emotionally invested in everything to do a proper job. Late 2010 and summer 2011 was a period of worse comes to worse for me...but for the next time, I will follow your advice. I'm just so used to seeing other artists post up RL details in their journals (well, I can't judge their honesty but I know that I was honest in telling commissioners about my situations) when life made them unable to work on commissions in a timely manner.

3. Thank you for that nice idea :D I don't have that many commissioners, but I would love to do something like that for fun :) Maybe for Black Friday ^ ^;;;

Thanks again for offering your advice and encouragement! It's greatly appreciated! :)

[tifaria.livejournal.com]

I apologize if this is getting too personal, but have you gotten any sort of counseling or therapy to deal with your friend's death? Many universities offer free counseling sessions to students. It seems like that, along with your self-esteem, are things that you may want to consider talking to someone about. I completely understand what you have been feeling. I've lost three friends in the last year, and it is very difficult to focus on anything else when that happens. There are still periods of time when I see or hear something that reminds me of one of them, and it throws me off for the rest of the day. I also understand what it is like having low self-esteem, and how that can translate to your interactions with other people. Talking to someone and working through those could help to give you a more positive attitude, and that will translate into better business practices.

Again, I apologize if this comes across the wrong way, but I am speaking from my own personal experience, and that was the thing that stuck out at me while reading your post.

I agree with what many others have said here about partial refunds. Consider working that in to your agreements in the future, so that if you have done the majority of the work, it's not a complete loss to you. In this particular situation, I think a refund may be the best solution. Chalk it up to a learning experience.

You do have to learn how much detail is too much detail for your client. Learn to simplify things and indicate that you have a lot going on, but leave it at that. There may come a time when your personal life is just too overwhelming for you to concentrate on or complete work, in which case you can say just that and refund the commissioner.

It sounds like you are a very busy person, so perhaps you should hold off on taking commissions for a while. Spend a while working on your time management, and then try opening up for maybe one or two commissions. I would agree that opening them up during holidays, or summers that you're not in school, is a good idea. I understand what it is like being a busy student! Even the most organized person can become overwhelmed very quickly by classes and homework and projects and if you have a job in addition to that, it can wear you out. It's okay, it happens. But learn what your own limitations are.

You sound like a good person who just bit off more than they could chew. You've made the effort to fix things, which comes across positively towards you. This is all a learning experience, so don't let it get you down permanently. Take all of this advice to heart, work on your time management, and I think you'll be okay.

[suzaku-ou.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your consideration, but you're not getting too personal at all. :)

I haven't gotten any therapy or counseling to deal with his death, the most I've been doing is talking to some of my college friends and close online friends about it, but I don't want to burden them too much or anything.

I'm really sorry about your friends and offer my condolences. I feel the same way when I am reminded of my own friend...
You're such a nice person from what I can tell, and I hope that you can recover someday, too.

And it's okay, a lot people have said that I was unprofessional by stating it, but I was just trying to be honest. On deviantART, friends, watchers and commissioners alike were very kind to me and offered me condolences. It's not that I expected it from this community, but I didn't realize that I should have just omitted details to refrain from being too personal and more business-like.

I will definitely work partial refunds into my ToS :) I don't want to treat any commissioner unfairly, but...this was just bad on my part.

Thank you so much for all your kind words, advice and more. I'll do my best to perform more positively for the future when I follow yours and everyone's advice :)

[korsetkoat.livejournal.com]

I wanted a refund because you were being so flaky, not just because I didn't like the OC anymore. And of course I forgot what I commissioned. This spanned over months. If I had expected you to keep putting it off, I would have written it down. But you said you would get it done soon. So I didn't.

If you would have communicated with me AHEAD OF TIME and told me, "This is going to be late", etc., that would have been different.

But you made excuses AFTER I contacted you after long silences. And actually, the more personal your excuses were, the worse of a light it painted you in, because frankly it sounded like you were trying to get sympathy.

I was kind and polite with you. I don't see how I wasn't- up until I posted to a_b, after which I tried to keep things short. Get things over with already, if you will.

And again, your commission status journal would have been very useful, if you actually updated it.

For the record, dontgiveahoot is my photobucket username, and hardly has anything to do with this situation.

[suzaku-ou.livejournal.com]

I didn't write this post to attack you in any way and I have already admitted my faults. But you did say on April 17th at 12:34:26 AM that:

"You're right that it was unfair to ask for a refund. If it was a colored piece things might be different. But i did only by a lineart. So i wont ask for a refund anymore. Again sorry for over reacting and not taking a moment to think things over."

Did you forget that?

I was reckless and as I've told others, I should have communicated better with you. I honestly had too much to do and should have planned things out better also.

I wasn't trying to get sympathy. Everything that happened from when I started your commission up until it ended was all true. Before, when I took commissions, I would complete them within 5 days or so in the summer. When fall came around and I opened commissions to save up for my cousin's dictionary, everything just started getting worse in terms of time management during classes and my equipment. I even told commissioners in my journal that most of my unfinished WIPs got deleted suddenly and my scanner couldn't work due to a USB problem. I thought that being this honest would at least give you a better understanding of what I was going through. I guess people don't need the specificities from what I now know.

I, as unprofessional as I was to reveal those details as a first-year amateur freelance artist, had no idea how to deal with my current real-life situation and didn't really talk to anyone. I apologize yet again for saying those personal details that might have made your uncomfortable.

I was also polite to you, despite your anger over the refund (which was how we got to the agreement above). I know I was wrong and I apologized numerous times. I did not post this to anger you, but I had not been given any chance to tell my side of the story. As a person, I should at least be allowed that much.

The commission status was a mistake on my part and I should have updated it, so I apologize again.

That's a really unusual photobucket name, so I'm sorry for confusing it for an album name.

[suzaku-ou.livejournal.com]

I think everyone overlooked this note that you sent on the same day at 1:10:57 AM:

"I really don't like conflict, so I'm glad we can keep it from getting dArama over this. Also the reason why I was so blunt to begin with.

I'm not sure where to go from here. You did do all the work already, and the wheelchair caused an artblock, it wouldn't be very fair of me to ask for you to start over.

And I gave you a hard time by overreacting.

I think it is your choice what to do. Whether you finish the wheelchair one or do a different one, I think I will be pleased. (If you decide to do a different one any character from my website korsetkoat.weebly.com is good.)

I like surprises, so I guess it works out."

I don't want to provoke any more anger in you. The reason why I wrote this post was to present my side of the story.

Not all artists posted here should be given a bad reputation, whether they're popular, unpopular, or unknown.