(no subject)

[trikkeh.livejournal.com]

StarFinder (Christina Penescu) again

So it seemed that sfinder was getting her commissioner status up to a decent level. I watched as she turned out poses for graphical chats (three of which were mine), icons, sketches (two of which were mine), etc. She was getting everything done within' a timely fashion. I thought "hey great, I commissioned her before and it was done within' one day. I think I will commission her for a set of icons too." So I got in touch with her and ordered a set,

This is where the problems started. When I ordered these it was a little over a week before Furcon and she told me that she would have them done in 2-3 days, so I sent her my payment and waited. A week went by and she said that she was too busy working on art for FC and that she would do the icon set when she got back. Well Furcon came and went, then a month, then two and still no icons. I got ahold of her a few days ago and told her that I wanted my icons by Saturday or my money back, her response was "I'll see what I can do. I've been stressed out with school, my brother, my family, etc." I brought up the fact that she said it was only going to be 2-3 days when I first commissioned her and this is where things got really pathetic...

Please note this is not word for word.

Her: Well you should have known better than to commission me right before FurCon, everyone knows I don't do commissions then because i'm working on art for FC.

Me: I didn't know you were going to FC, I don't keep tabs on that kind of stuff unless it's a con i'm going to,

Her: Everyone knows I go to FC. I posted it in my journal.

Me: I don't read your LJ

Her: Well that's not my fault. I post my updates there and thats where I will post your icons when i'm done with them,

Me: It's not my responsibility to read your LJ for updates. You told me 2-3 days and thats what I expected. Please have my icons done by this Saturday (the 4th) or give me my money back.

She then began whining about how stressed out she was and that she was going to go take some "time to relax." She made a post in her journal that said "Stress stress stress!' with a sick icon. -.-

I've noticed that she has been taking photos alot and doing very highly detailed pieces, but no icons. I've gotten all of my commissions except for them, but at this point i'm pretty sure that i'm not getting them or my money back. She has a reputation for doing this kind of stuff. :/

Comments

[growly.livejournal.com]

Same gal, old tricks.
Sorry to hear about your debacle. :/

If she knew she was going to be busy for FC, she really shouldn't have taken on commissions she couldn't/wouldn't finish in the deadline given. Or she could have just said "Look, I'm going to be busy before the con, your icons will take a bit longer." Even that would have been better.

*shakes head* What ever happened to good old customer satisfaction?

[thornwolf.livejournal.com]

Although I can understand con stress and postponing commissions due to that, I feel that is one's responsibility as an artist to not take commission offers if you don't have the time. Hell, I need money pretty bad right now, but I know I need to knock out a few commissions before I take on some more otherwise I'll get swamped again. It's not plainly obvious to the general public how artistic you're feeling and the "everybody knows" statement is bull. If everyone knows, why don't you know? It's not because you should be expected to do research on her habits, you should be made aware by the person you gave your money to. This should't be made to be your problem at all. Isn't her journal mostly friends only anyways? So its not like you can check up on her without being on her f-list =/

[trikkeh.livejournal.com]

Well, I am on her friends list (don't know for how long though) but I don't really read other LJ's nor' do I feel it's my "responsibility" to do so.

But yeah the whole "You should have known" thing is BS in my

[armaina.livejournal.com]

yeah I thought the "I posted it in my LJ" was a kinda lame responce... nor everyone can read her LJ.

[armaina.livejournal.com]

I've seen her working on a personal project, and a few quick sketches.
and taking photos isn't as time consuming as full art pieces.

I think you'll get your icons, don't write it off so quickly.
besides
which would you rather have
some half-hearted icons that were done for the sake of being done, or wait a little longer for something that was really nice? (I personally, always feel uncomforatable about forcing art if I lack inspiration, because I don't want to produce half-hearted works)
Just a thought.

[justblieve.livejournal.com]

Agreed. I can take a bunch of professional looking pictures in 20 minutes if you let me loose. I can't always whip out art in that time though. True it might not be fair that she's taken so long, but then again she said did say you didn't have to pay until after she was finished.

I signed up for a set of icons back before FC and I'm confident I'll still get them. I even talked about some of the details with her at FC.

She also did say "Well, my muse left me high and dry for quite a long while after FC, hence the lack of art updates of any sort (commissions, personal work, etc)." a couple days ago, but then in comments proceeded to say she was going to try and get icons done within the next week.

I'm sure it can be frustrating, but I don't know. I don't mind people taking their time if I'm getting good stuff in return. I waited almost a couple of years for someone to finished their half of a trade once. I'd check every now and then to make sure they hadn't forgotten, and as long as they said they were working on it/hadn't forgotten it was fine.

[westly-roanoke.livejournal.com]

Typical MO.

The current suggestion is do not comission her, ever.

[trikkeh.livejournal.com]

Agree'd. I had hoped that after she did such a good job with my past ones that she would with these. Wrong!

[armaina.livejournal.com]

everyone hits snags, but even so, she didn't handle the situation well.
Though, on the up side. She hasn't been taking more commissions, so it's not like she adding more to her workload and not producing.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

So you had trouble with getting commissions from her, then when she finally did them you commissioned her again?

With all due respect, are you a sucker for punishment? O_o

[trikkeh.livejournal.com]

No no, the first few commissions I got from her were done right on time, if not early. It's the newest one i'm having problems with.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

Aaah okay, understandable you'd want to commission her again then. Sorry to hear you're having trouble.

[black-atolm.livejournal.com]

The thing that bugs me about this, is just poor excuse for not having it ready.
If I was told that it would be ready within two to three days, I would expect it to be done within that time. Some comissions do have some deadlines (although I think of professional companies as I say this, so just pay little mind to this) and it would not really matterif it was half hearted or done really nice, it would need to be done (or no money!) and I just see this as a poor professional attitude really.
I dont watch her journal, (although as I took a look right now made no mention of FC) so all I an say is that maybe she is just busy, maybe she is just swamped with projects, heck I dont know, but I do know is that if you cannot complete a comission within a said amount of time, refund the money back if it was payed in advanced or just... do not take the comission at all or place the person on a list and see if they want to do it at a later time when it works out for the both of you.
That is how I just see things here really.

[lilenth.livejournal.com]

She sounds like a real lame brain when it comes to keeping promises.

Stress? Wow, can I use that excuse? I didn't submit my tax forms because I'm stressed, I didn't submit because I'm stressed. Stress doesn't cut it, even if it kills your muse, you should at least be able to show some doodles or something.

[lilenth.livejournal.com]

There should have been a (insert vitally important form) tag between submit and because but lj ate it.

[izzyferret.livejournal.com]

It doesn't matter if she wasn't taking commissions at the time, if she wasn't taking commissions she should have refunded you and said "no". XD WE SUE.

[kayla-la.livejournal.com]

I might've been more sympathetic with her being stressed and all if she hadn't went and tried to make it sound like it was your fault you haven't gotten your art. Pfft.

I hope you get your icons soon!

[wereguitar.livejournal.com]

I can understand being stressed and having a hectic, busy scheduale, but my biggest complaint about her is she does not go out of her way to email her clients. She expects you to watch her LJ and website instead of trying to stay in contact with you. It doesnt matter if she's taking on 50 commissioners, it's her responsibility as the artist to give you constant updates.

[kaputotter.livejournal.com]

Oh for god's sake. Can she not just have the grace to give you a freakin' refund?

When is she going to learn....

[martes.livejournal.com]

As I've said before (in the numerous Starfinder discussions in this group) people should not expect professional behavior from a child, and anyone who gives her money before she's 18 and can be held legally liable is just plain SOL if (when) she flakes out.

[anjel-kitty.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I mean it sucks she is doing it but then, you kind of knew her reputation when you went into this. She is very talented for someone so young, and so she still exhibits a lot of irresponsbility at times, which is unfortuate for one as talented as she is, but certainly not unexpected.

I would give her more time. Badgering her and stressing her out more is not going to get you your art. She should be quicker to give refunds true, but you won't get your art with that avenue.

[olvenslife.livejournal.com]

What to say... it's a shame. :/
Don't have much experiences with commissions yet but I understand an artist shouldn't take any more commissions when he's stressed. Maybe you just should have waited for the sketches from her before paying her...
By the way...
Her: Everyone knows I go to FC. I posted it in my journal.
This makes me think of where should an artist put an info on such things? On his homepage? There are so many ways today... someone uses LJ, someone DA journal... but not every commissioner has a LJ or DA account to be able to put the artist in a watch list.

I would give her a litle more time too. She probably just follows some kind of queue of commissions. I would understand that. If she does then she should have told you and give you some approximate date when she will start working on it.