Artist Beware: Acorn/Squirrelworks RESOLVED

[eye0ffcenter.livejournal.com]

WHO: Acorn/Squirrelworks

WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/acorn/ and http://www.furaffinity.net/user/squirrelworks/

WHAT: A waist up sketch commission of five characters

WHEN: From April 14th 2011 - Feb 6th 2012 From first to most recent interaction.

PROOF: http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/eyeoffcenter/Acorn/Newcanvas.jpg and http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/eyeoffcenter/Acorn/proof.jpg

EXPLAIN: I took the commission through a journal that she posted.

Screencap: http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/eyeoffcenter/Acorn/Newcanvas.jpg

I also ordered another commission (which was a discount thing that she was doing at the time for female characters). She had me on her list of commissions and said that I didn't have to pay until I got an approval sketch. She never got around to it. I never paid, thank goodness, so it's not a big deal, but still relevant. I don't have any screenshots for this one and the journal I ordered it in is gone.

After four months of waiting for the sketch commission, I contacted her again and she replied telling me she forgot about it.

Screencap: http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/eyeoffcenter/Acorn/forgot.jpg

Even though the journal I ordered it through was then and STILL IS up (at the time of me posting this).

Journal: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/2255182/

After waiting a little under a month more, I contacted her again and she replied saying that she'd been suspended for a week and unable to access notes. 

Screencap: http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/eyeoffcenter/Acorn/suspension.jpg

Let's not forget that my commission was in a journal and not in notes and that a week suspension is not an excuse for a month MORE of waiting.

After this, I apologized to HER, because I really wanted the art from her. She asked me what kind of pose I wanted, so I thought I was getting somewhere.

Screencap: http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/eyeoffcenter/Acorn/details.jpg

Bolded text is a link. After this, she told me she would upgrade it to a full body sketch since I'd waited so long. She was very polite throughout the entire ordeal, so don't misunderstand. What I am reporting is definitely not her attitude.

I waited about a month longer and then messaged her asking for a WIP (after seeing that she'd uploaded a couple of WIPs, which. I figured that after THIS LONG, she would have worked on it a little. Keep in mind, she'd been posting multiple other commissions and personal work daily.

Screencap: http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/eyeoffcenter/Acorn/WIP.jpg

After this, I waited a week. Since she said before that she would work on it, I thought she might have SOMETHING to show for all of my waiting. To which she replied that she had no idea how to pose these characters. I already told her what I wanted five weeks ago.

So I replied giving her all of the information that I'd already given her again.

Screencap: http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/eyeoffcenter/Acorn/Description.jpg

I contacted her again after nine days asking her how long she thought it might be before I'd see any results from her. She replied saying that she'd been really busy (doing more commissions?) and that I'd have to wait until she got all of her Halloween commissions done. Really? Just... Really?

I waited ANOTHER MONTH before contacting her again.

Screencap: http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/eyeoffcenter/Acorn/Askingforarefund.jpg

This seemed to scare her into actually working on it (though I can't be positive of whether she'd worked on it at all before this point). Three days letter, I get a WIP.

Screencap: http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/eyeoffcenter/Acorn/Unfinishedsketch.jpg
Submission: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6988259

Here, in the comments, she asked me for more detail so that she could finish.
Screencap: http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/eyeoffcenter/Acorn/Commentsonsubmission.jpg

And her finger slipped here, but no one can fault her of that.

I waited two more months to ask for an update to which she replied that she still had all of my information. This is the last I've heard from her.

Screencap: http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/eyeoffcenter/Acorn/LastwordfromAcorn.jpg

I waited a month after that to ask her about it again. The note is still unread after half a month. It's been a year and it's still not done.

Screencap: http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/eyeoffcenter/Acorn/Unreadmessage-1.jpg

This is what I have: http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/eyeoffcenter/Acorn/1323223101acorn_eyeoffcenter.png

The only unfinished one is my character. This would literally take her like ten minutes to finish.

Mood: accomplished

Edit: I received the finished image.
Submission: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7728551/

She was very professional about it after the initial journal and the turnaround was quick. I am very happy with the finished product.

Comments

[taasla.livejournal.com]

It's a shame to see this. I thought I was the only one who had a "problem"* with her. I asked for a refund when the sketch commission I had ordered from her was going to be creeping on the Paypal deadline. She admitted to forgetting me as well, which was a real let down. To her credit, she did refund me and has been friendly and polite since then. I hope you get a quick resolution to this, OP. :(



*(I use the word problem very lightly. I don't think any less of her due to the exchange. I still watch her as well.)

[marus-puppy.livejournal.com]

I know she's been doing some... almost collaboration work with another artist recently, so maybe that has taken a toll on her personal workload. That's really unfortunate, I would've thought better of her.

[xisidereal.livejournal.com]

I remember this too, believe it's Dipper

[kothemonster.livejournal.com]

Actually, these collabs were a recent development if I'm not mistaken. That's no excuse for her to have taken this long for a mere sketch.

[kothemonster.livejournal.com]

Considering she's been doing numerous other commissions and only had to finish sketching your one character in your picture in order to complete it, I believe this beware was well warranted. It really would only take her five minutes to do it, and ignoring you there at the end was a big no-no.

I understand the complexity of a multi-person commission, but this... this really could have been handled better.

+1 to my blacklist. Sorry you had to go through this, Eye.

[peludrax.livejournal.com]

I hope things get ironed out, you've been more than patient.

Also, just an aside to other artists reading this, please for the love of all that is good keep records of who has sent you things, like money or their refs. Because as of to date, I've had at least three or four artists suddenly say " Oops! Didn't have/forgot you commissioned me/who are you?" It's really frustrating as a commissioner to give somebody money in good faith and then have them forget about you. Especially since people don't want to be bothered and yet, when people keep forgetting I've given them money when I don't bother them it's a no win situation, XD.

[sbneko.livejournal.com]

This! I keep all info in emails (more reliable, especially with FA having issues as of late), keep a public, online, to do list and a more detailed personal list that is in a document on my computer.

That's not to say we don't make mistakes though and it's really alright when you make sure to correct. I believe I have forgotten at least one person before because I forgot to write down the info straight away.

[neolucky.livejournal.com]

Ehhh...I'm not terribly surprised she's on here. Recently she's been on Lulz if I recall, offering to take payments for "shooping" (edits) of other artists work. Such as adding genitalia and so on.

So yeah, no, I would not be doing business with her after her stints here on AB.

[eenyuwolf.livejournal.com]

I saw this as well, getting paid to alter other people's work is a beware in itself if you ask me.

[leahtaur.livejournal.com]

"She was very polite throughout the entire ordeal, so don't misunderstand. What I am reporting is definitely not her attitude."

If I were you I would rethink this statement, because she is already posting a journal about this and throwing around the insults. http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3329455/ (I don't have caps but if anyone else would like to, go ahead.)

She says "It's just retarded when they didn't even ask for a refund in the first place" whennnnn... you have note proof that you did ask for a refund.

[neolucky.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I side-eyed a little at the "she was polite" part of the OP's post, as Acorn seems to have a slight attitude problem.

And the journal there makes that very clear, she'd rather pander to a hugbox then come and discuss the issue civilly.

lolguys

[eye0ffcenter.livejournal.com]

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/eyeoffcenter/Acorn/Newcanvas-2.jpg

Re: lolguys

[neolucky.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what this ...will do for her case? Why not finish it and then upload it? Confusing.

[shiftergoddess.livejournal.com]

This is such a shame.
I'm extremely put off by the altering other people's work thing though, and for money. Huge no-no.
I had thought about commissioning her at some point but after this i think i'll rethink that.

[tunavoice.livejournal.com]

Oh man. This is such a shame, because when I spoke to her she seemed friendly and approachable. I love her artwork too. But the whole altering images and making money off of it really rubs me the wrong way...

[poizenkat.livejournal.com]

Thats very disappointing.
Best of luck getting your art or a refund.
Not a big fan of how she draws faces, but I do love how she draws everything else. What a shame she has such an attitude.

[magusmanx.livejournal.com]

Oh goodness. Acorn. Man. Every time I watch her again, she does stuff like this. Hopefully she doesn't go on the run again.

[puritikoneko.livejournal.com]

Oh. My. God...

My head, it hurts from all the face-palming.

[neive.livejournal.com]

Eeeesh, to say so boldly that "they (you) never asked for a refund", and then when proven wrong go to the "Oh well I just have so many customers..." excuse is already ridiculous enough; let alone on top of everything else. D: Talk about putting your foot in your mouth.

I was under the assumption she wasn't supposed to be taking commissions to begin with though? Something about her agreeing not to was how she was allowed back after being banned from FA some time ago for scamming? (I suppose I could be wrong here since I don't visit any drama sites and I heard this a long time ago, but its something that's always stuck into my mind when I see her name popup since I could have swore I read that somewhere reliable.) If that is true, it makes this situation more disappointing but not too surprising. :/

[thaily.livejournal.com]

That's a shame; a lot of people often comment on A_B posts saying they'll not commission an artist when they never had the intent anyway, but I think Acorn's work is really cute and was considering it. But as someone who has waited years for art and not gotten anything before, this really rubs me the wrong way, so commissioning her is a definite no-go now.
And altering other people's work, for pay no less, that's exceptionally trashy.

[thatonejackal.livejournal.com]

All I can say is yikes, it's a pity since she has a nice style. Also you have a lot of patience to wait a year for a sketch, if I didn't hear anything from an artist for like a month or two, I would go ask them whenever I get the chance. Also seeing the whole "Acorn editing other artists pictures for money" made me cringe. I hope you get your refund or art finished. Beware well warned.

[cyiakanami.livejournal.com]

I think I unwatched acorn when my friend Esme had her melt down on FA and acorn felt the need to stick her nose into it and feel like she was "above" everyone. And after seeing the arguments she likes to start and her hypocritical views and the Lulz ordeal, I'm about a hairs throw away from just blocking her all together.

I do hope you get something out of all this. Her lack of work ethic and organization is nothing to be desired. And from the past year, I personally, just haven't seen any improvements of her attitude and work habits enough to even consider watching her again.

[ljmydayaway.livejournal.com]

I blocked Acorn during the false-tracing-claim debacle. There was no way I wanted any more of my adoptables going to her. :/

[timelapsedecay.livejournal.com]

This is a real letdown for me. I've commissioned Acorn before, quite some time ago. She got it done in a timely manner, and was always very polite and easy to speak with. I'm trying to see this with "She's just overwhelmed by her work, she's just dropped the ball, etc." but after seeing the lulz cap of genital shoops.. I'm just disappointed.
I was a really big fan of Acorn up until this. I'll continue to watch her but I don't think I can commission her again.

[wolf-goat.livejournal.com]

The image editing thing is really dreadful. I would be livid if one of my images turned up with a cock re-drawn onto it. :/

And one year is far, far too long to wait for a sketch. It's just disrespectful to your customer at that stage. She should have refunded within the first couple of months if she couldn't do it.

[tenshi-koneko34.livejournal.com]

I bought and adoptable for her a while ago, and she said that she was going to do a colored sketch for it in return... but I never got it... but she has always been nice towards me... but i havent really dealt with her that often... >.>

[pinstripedtiger.livejournal.com]

I've never had much of an interest in watching Acorn purely because I've seen bits and pieces of her awful attitude scattered across miscellaneous submissions and incidents over FA, so I'm very surprised she was "polite" during this transaction.

I guess that's not particularly relevant, save for the journal.

"It's just retarded when they didn't even ask for a refund in the first place. I would have GLADLY done so. I've done it in the past for other commissioners. "

We've already seen that OP DID ask for a refund, but why didn't Acorn even offer a refund? At any point in time if she didn't want to go through with it, she could have just said "I can't/don't want to do this anymore, can I just refund you?"

It is not wholly the commissioner's responsibility for communication and it is not wholly the artist's responsibility either.

Also, I don't know if this bothers anyone else, but I don't like statements like " I work to support our household so we don't end up homeless or without a car."

I'm not certain why, but little... details like that just sort of get to me. I guess it just seems like playing the passive-aggressive pity card. Something like "Art is my only job" would have sufficed. I think pretty much every artist who regularly takes commissions is also working to not be homeless and to have food, no need to state the obvious. :\

[marus-puppy.livejournal.com]

I completely agree with you! I especially don't like when people throw things like that out there because 95% of the time, my life situation is worse than theirs and I NEVER use that as an excuse for anything, it just feels like a total manipulation to me.

[mikaufoxy.livejournal.com]

I knew she'd come up sooner or later... Shame too, she's got some fairly good talent. I never commissioned her after she did a few for me that didn't look as good as I'd have hoped.

[shukivengeance.livejournal.com]

Post tagged as resolved.

[0acorn0.livejournal.com]

I never got a chance to make a comment here because I was incredibly busy at the time (and still am). So apologies.

I just wanted to clear a few things up.

Firstly, I don't know Ainoko beyond he's a regular commissioner of mine. He's awesome to work with, but I wouldn't consider us "butt-buddies". I don't make friends easily and distrust people because of an issue I had awhile back.

Secondly, I apologized two or three times for the A_B I wrote, at the request of other artists, and was still called insincere regardless of how I wrote it. I'm not sure what was expected of me to say? Not to mention that I explained why the overlays were off, and someone corrected my use of the transform/resize/rotate tools on Paint Tool Sai. It does not have Constrain Proportions like Photoshop, so I didn't know it was off or could be dragged the wrong way. For some reason people disbelieve that fact. I'm sorry I'm not a total expert on tools I never used.

Thirdly, I never accepted any money for any shoops, regardless of what a certain user here likes to throw around (I also don't appreciate you bashing me in private on other LJ's :/). I offered once because I was in an incredibly hard financial spot at the time. Not once did the person contact me nor was I paid for it. There are also several other artists who do it, and I haven't been shooping for quite a few months now because I'm so busy with my own art.

Some of the remarks that were left here have left me incredibly saddened, as I respected many of the people here and always do my damndest to be respectful, nice, and approachable to everyone. I CAN be opinionated and argumentative, but it isn't meant to be a personal attack towards anyone and I never once have seen myself as better than anyone else.


Just thought I should shed some light on a few things that are being misconstrued and blown out of proportion.