Beware: Rikku

[slicklion.livejournal.com]

First off, this person is not a bad person, nor insulting. I'm just sick and tired of having to wait almost a year now, without a single WIP ( Work In Progress ). I'm posting this because I see way too many people considering to commission her, now for the story.




WHO: Rikku

WHERE: Furaffinity

WHAT: 2 traditional pieces to be shipped, both contained 2 characters.

WHEN: Late February 2011 to now.

PROOF: Proof added below.

EXPLAIN: I came across Rikku's gallery around February, and looked at her price chart, they were fairly cheap. I loved the art, so I decided to note her, asking for something of me and my fiance, she was very eager to get to it, here are the notes in order how the conversation went.



So I waited, then I got this message in my inbox



so I replied


Aaaand she got the payment



So now I played the waiting game, the suddenly, on March 25th, I saw her post a journal, asking for small chibi commissions to fix her scanner. At first I was rather weary about it, but then I thought, why not? I could use more art, plus commissioning her, she can get the scanner fixed quicker, we took it up in notes.





So we discussed about it, she agreed to have it done the Monday after, I paid her immediately, since I for one is a commission who doesn't like paying an artist after they started work.





Again...playing the waiting game

The Saturday comes, after the Monday she promises to get the sketches done, I noted her.



I got no reply, she read the note.

So I waited some more... gave her time.
Decided to note her AGAIN around the end of June



And waited...Finally got a reply from her a month after, it was a lenghty conversation about not being able to give me a refund, and asking me for more patiance, I think I'm a little too kindhearted on this end, but these were her intial replies.



The last one.... is what got me the most. I've been waiting so long, and she forgot the commission completely, it wasn't even that hard, nor is it hard to go into your inbox and look for notes. This fired me up, but I kept my cool, and told her I got the patience, and I'll be waiting for when she sends the sketches.

Haha...what was I thinking?

August came and I was already on a trip further up in the Caribbean than where I was, I didn't know whether or not I would have internet there, it turned out I did, so I noted her about 3 days before I left to come back.



She noted me, all the way in the second week in November, replying that she's VERY EAGER to get to the commissions. Sorry I don't got a screencap of this one, I probably deleted it by mistake...but this was my reply to her, November 11th.



We spoke a bit, I told her I'm glad her other customers isn't throwing a fit, I know how impatient some people are. All of said conversation happened on that day.

I haven't heard from her to this day, and I know I'm not the only person out there having difficulties with Rikku.

This is a warning not to go anywhere near this person for commission work, as I've seen a lot of people wanting work from her, stay far far away. Either she really has as much life troubles as she puts out to be, or she's a scammer, but all I can say I lost my $35 and I'm not pleased about it AT ALL.

Comments

[shukivengeance.livejournal.com]

I'm in agreement with Taasla. While there's no guarantee that this would happen, it's highly possible the artist may rush something just to get you out of their hair.

[ghrelin.livejournal.com]

Thought I'd share my two cents as they are relevant; I'd commissioned a lot of artists over the years, and indeed have had the very frustrating experience of waiting a full year/nearly a full year for artwork. Because I thought it was so absurd, ever since then I would tell artists from the get-go that I don't want to wait a ridiculous amount of time because of my past experiences. So then usually we agree on an amount of time in advance. Though I can see how someone might agree to that and then still never deliver.

Also, when I commission something I'm usually very specific about what I want in the image (I wouldn't go out of my way to request something if it already existed somewhere or if it wasn't something I really wanted to see). So I usually tell the artist way in advance all the details of the image I want and they send me multiple preview images with revisions, etc. While I realize this can be a pain for the artist, I think that if you're going to pay money for an image (and some artists are expensive), then it should be what you want and not having to settle for something else. I also make it clear from the get-go that what I want is very specific and detailed. In that case I'd never had someone just send me a headshot instead of an upper body, for example.

[slicklion.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't lie when I say Rikku is my first commission I ever got. I've learned to tell artists I don't wish to wait actual months for a piece.

As for being specific, I hate being specific. I love giving artists freedom with pieces for me. Most of the time I only give a theme and they produce it for me, that's the thrill of commissioning for me.

And you say that you should get your money's worth and demand fixes and previews, I say there's artists who actually charge for every fix they make. Such as Azelyn and Dipper, and they 'are' hell of a lot expensive.

Also just my two cents ^^

[ghrelin.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your response - and hey, you gotta start somewhere. Indeed I learned from my first (and second!) experiences.

I think the detail bit may be a matter of taste - guess some people like giving the artist freedom to make it how they choose, while others want something very specific. I brought up the subject of asking for specific details because I think the more details you ask for, the less likely they are to give you something grossly wrong (ex., headshot vs. trunk shot). But as I said, it's a matter of preference after all.

(I think I may come off a bit harsh here, but I honestly didn't mean to be! It just came out that way haha) I think if an artist intends to charge for revisions, they should state so in their rules ahead of time, and honestly I don't think it's right for them to charge extra for revisions. This is because I think that would potentially give them the freedom to do whatever they want (as opposed to what you asked, which was the very reason you even asked for the commission) and then say they'll charge you extra if it wasn't what you wanted. I don't think there's any reason to pay someone money to get something other than what you wanted. You're not getting it for free, so while of course you should always act grateful and polite, you shouldn't treat it as though they're doing you a favor.

[ocelotish]

honestly I don't think it's right for them to charge extra for revisions.

The problem is that you can get people changing their mind, asking for a million little nudges, etc. My experience is that most artists will change things that they did wrong (e.g. forgetting markings, jewelry, etc.) so long as they are brought up when the artist can still change them.

This is because I think that would potentially give them the freedom to do whatever they want (as opposed to what you asked, which was the very reason you even asked for the commission) and then say they'll charge you extra if it wasn't what you wanted.

I think you're looking at two different situations here, but I can understand why you're lumping them together. The first situation is the artist going against what is described in the commission, the second is when artistic freedom is given, but it's not what the commissioner wanted. In the first case the artist is at fault, and yes, they should be required to redo it free of charge because they did not fulfill their side of the agreement. In the second case, yes, they do deserve to be paid for their sketch, even if the client doesn't like it.

One thing I'd watch is how detailed you get. Sometimes you'll be charged more because you've included 80 million details, just because it's more things for the artist to keep straight.

[ghrelin.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your thought-out explanations, they do give a good perspective from the artist's side.

While I do usually ask for a lot of very specific details, I try as much as I can to be considerate of the artist and professional as a customer. As a rule I am very good about paying and have also commissioned some rather expensive artists because I wanted specifically them to do the work. I'm willing to pay more if it means a better outcome and in cases where I really believe the artist had worked harder.

I usually make it very clear from the get-go what it is that I want, the level of detail that I want and which details are most important. I also try to establish in advance approximately how long the commission will take, where the artist tells me how long s/he thinks s/he'll need, but that once that's established, we stick to that. At that point the artist can always back out if they don't want to do it, but I've never had an artist back out.

I only ever commission someone if there's something very specific I want to see that had not been done before, to the extent that I know, and this is why detail is important, and why I am willing to pay a lot sometimes. Therefore indeed there were times I'd asked the artist to revise something s/he'd done multiple times. I think if artists do intend to charge for revisions, they should make that clear in their original rules, because while it does make sense as you say that if there was room for artistic freedom and the artist did their best to depict something the way they thought the commissioner wanted it, they should of course be paid for their work.

Sometimes indeed it is inevitable that something comes out differently from what you had expected, even when you thought you'd described very specifically what it should look like, because you'd not taken into consideration that it could still come out some other way - in my experience I would usually catch that sort of thing in original drafts that were made specifically in order for me to see if there was anything about it I would want changed.

While I understand that asking for a lot of detail can be annoying, on the other hand some artists prefer that because they say it gives them much more direction as far as what they need to do. Likewise, expensive commissions are an investment and I don't feel there's a point in paying a lot of money to get something you might have just found for free browsing the web because it's so different from what you had wanted. All in all, I've had a generally positive experience and friendly relationship working with artists, except for my first two commissions where the artists took a ridiculous amount of time to deliver (a year and almost a year). Since then I always establish a deadline in advance and it had not been a problem after that.

[ocelotish]

I'm not sure how much of this relates to what I said earlier.

There's also a difference between "level of detail" and the amount of detail described. A piece of a similar detail level is always going to be more if the commissioner is specifying every detail. I think most people find it very helpful to have people point at a piece in their gallery and say "Like that" but specifying every little detail gives them that many details that they have to get right. Also there's a big difference between "Sitting down to a feast at a wooden table," and "Sitting in a golden throne with a bird design, with ruby inlays to a feast of..." I might put the same level of detail, but having all those specific details just means that I have to wrangle all those little bits and make them work together.

Artists should make things clear from their TOS, but if they don't you can take the initiative to set them. Ask them about revisions and get the policy direct from the horse's mouth before it becomes an issue.