artists_beware | Entries tagged with advice for commissioners

vespertilian-v.livejournal.com

About 8 months ago I commissioned an artist for a fullbody wing-it colored sketch and I still haven't received any kind of WIP, contact from the artist, or the finished piece and I'm not sure what the next step should be. At first I let a few months pass by without thinking much of it, then a while after that I began to get curious and made contact with the artist. They assured me that they'd simply fallen behind on their queue and that they planned to have their remaining pending commissions finished by the end of the week. A few more months passed after that and I tried to make contact with the artist again, but this time I didn't receive a response. The note was read but ignored. A few more weeks passed by and I sent another note, it too was ignored and now I'm not sure what I should do. Should I try to send them another note? Try to file a charge-back? I don't want to be a jerk, but I've been waiting for a long while now with no update and the lack of responses from the artist really has me worried. What bothers me most is that they're a fairly active poster. While I've been waiting they've posted multiple personal art pieces, held freebie streams, made gift art for friends and have created over half a dozen personal character designs. Normally I'd be totally fine with an artist working on personal projects between work. There's nothing wrong with drawing for yourself, but when your personal projects seem to be getting in the way of owed work it creates a bit of a problem in my opinion. Am I just being impatient? I don't want to be one of those commissioners who's constantly hounding an artist for the finished product.

ravensmoon666.livejournal.com

Current Mood: anxious

Hello AB, I just need advice on a situation, I don't think this is beware worthy as I really love this artist and their work and don't really want to add another beware to their list.

I commissioned an artist 12 days ago in stream. Everything was fine, they were fun to work with and they finished up the commission, took a few more and did them then ended the stream. Now I've watched this artist for a long time and usually they upload the commissions they do right after they finish the stream. Well, they didn't do that. I waited two days before deciding to note them on FA to ask about my files. Two days later, I notice the note is still unread despite them being active on their Twitter and such. I wait a bit longer and a few days later I wake up and see they've replied asking for my email so they could send the watermarked and un-watermarked files to me. I replied right away with my email.

It's now been exactly a week since I noted them and it's still unread. I just checked their Twitter and they had wrote a Tweet not even an hour ago.

So I guess I'm asking, what should I do about this? The piece is finished and is absolutely lovely. I don't want a refund or anything and wouldn't expect one with the piece being done and to satisfactory. I just really want the files.

Edit: I really don't like making things public on Twitter but I ended up sending a Tweet. Fingers crossed.

sugaryelixir.livejournal.com

Hello everyone! I'm having a little trouble here. I commissioned an artist for a custom back in January. I waited 2+ months, and contacted them. They didn't have anything to show me at the time but got back in contact with me a few days later and I was really happy with the result!
I waited almost 3 months and contacted them again, no updates but again I got a wip afterwards. They had promised me they'd try to be done with the custom at the end of that week. However, I had to contact them again two weeks later; Again no updates until after I contacted them. But after this update the lineart was completed.I love the outcome and I'm really excited for this custom!
I consider myself patient when it comes to art, but I'm wondering:Should I contact them again since I've waited another two weeks? I feel like I'm being just a little impatient here since art does take time.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

counter-serum.livejournal.com

Current Mood: drained

Hey there! I recently commissioned a plush artist and a significant detail of my commissioned character clearly did not make it through to the final product. In all references provided, my character had a collar / accessory. I checked the folder of reference images to make sure it was present, and it was, but when I was shown what I assumed to be two WIP images of the plush, the collar wasn't there. At the time I just figured it was a WIP and was super happy to see progress, only for the artist to post the plush as finished and to ask for the final shipping payment.

I'm not too sure what to do here, actually! I like the plush, but I'm not sure if in this case it's appropriate for me to ask to have the collar added, as I would like it done, or if I should let it slide altogether? If I ask to have the collar added, should I offer to pay an additional cost? Is there a polite way to go about this? I really do like the plush! I would just like my character's final detail added and would rather not create too much trouble.

Thanks for your help!

aeravaul.livejournal.com

Current Mood: confused

Hello there. I need some help!

Almost two months ago, I commissioned 2 different artists.

1st artist had a problem with their home situation and it sounded quite dire so I commissioned them for a colored sketch of a new character I had acquired.
( Read more... )

teekchan.livejournal.com

Hello!
I'd like some advice... End of November I ordered a commission with a due date of Xmas (last year), it was never completed, and multiple dates were set. I asked the artist for an update in June, and to provide a wip or a refund, they refused both and rushed my commission, admitting to doing so as well. They refused to do all the fixes, and eventually got a mutual friend involved who gave them money to give me a refund, which was confusing and not OK with me at all. (The mutual tried to refund me directly themselves and I said no)
But I got a partial and the rushed 'wip' theyre now saying it is. (saying the image was never completed and thats why it was 'rushed' when they told me it was finished and they rushed it on purpose)

I was going to post them to AB, but I got the image and the partial so I agreed not to. But they insisted I unfollow their twitter accounts, which I was going to do, but they keep venting and ranting about me there, and I capped stuff for an AB post on their attitude alone. They mention me by name on Twitter, and I got some caps of the callouts before I was blocked.

They are now doing it on FA, for the sole purpose that I can see it. And getting the mutual friend involved, to message me on their behalf.

I like their art, and even though their attitude and actions are something lacking, I still wish to see the art, and screencap the posts theyre making for proof for an AB post.

The journals Im screencapping are not callouts with my name directly, but worded to me, and dragging me through the dirt, so to speak. Theyve called me out by name on Twitter, and I know they are calling me out via IM/notes as people have come to me about the situation.

Should I continue to watch their FA and compile evidence? (Is there a point to this as I got a partial refund, but their attitude was atrocious) or should I unwatch and let them fizzle out on the callout posting?

EDIT I seem to have misworded. They do not want me watching their FA and thats what the journals are about. I like their art and wanted to continue to view it (I havent faved or commented on anything), and continue to cap the journals about me for evidence.

depthsofthedrex.livejournal.com

Current Mood: intimidated

So, I need some advice on this situation. I'm not sure if it warrants an Artists Beware yet, and I'm definitely worried about the artist in question retaliating against me even more severely should the artist find out.

I had commissioned an artist to do a private drawing of my partner and I's characters together. This was to be a fully shaded and rendered commission. From the very first notes I was clear with the artist that I did not want the artwork to be posted in any of their galleries, in any way, shape, or form. The artist agreed to these terms not in just the first reply, but also the second.

I ended up cancelling the commission at the lineart stage due to poor quality work and anatomy.

The exact same day that I cancel the commission, I find the lineart up in the artist's gallery as a YCH auction.

The artist changed the species and appearance of my partner's character but not mine. While the anatomy is so poor that it's probably hard to recognize mine, I was very upset by this and told the artist to remove the image. After confronting the artist I get my partial refund immediately. (The artist said they wouldn't give refunds for "work already done".)

The artist replied saying that the privacy only applied to the *finished* image and so they could "do whatever they want with it". However in no way, shape, or form did the artist ever inform me of that, it seems as though they decided "terms apply to final image only" AFTER I'd decided to cancel it.

I don't really think there's anything I can do at this point. I thought about demanding a full refund, but I feel like that will make the artist even more vengeful and they'll decide to post the other character as well, instead of the placeholder one.

So...was what that artist did out of line? What would you do in my place?

I even thought about paying the artist back, assuming I'd get the "rights" to the image back, but due to how it ended on such a sour note I don't think that's going to work either, and the quality is so awful that I don't want to give that artist a dime more.

fangwoof.livejournal.com

Hello, I'm kind of in a tight spot and I'm hoping you guys could give me some advice. I bought a pre-made, physical piece of art in the beginning of April. It was sent out but it was returned to the artist because they had packaged it wrong. I was told in the beginning of last month that a new box was bought and it would be shipped out the following week. So far there is no package and the last note I sent asking whether it was put in the mail or not was ignored.

The thing that makes this difficult is that the artist is currently going through financial troubles. Would it be a jerk move to try to get ahold of them on their other accounts? Should I give them a grace period since they're having money problems? At this point I don't want a refund, I just want my art to be mailed to me.

metallik-hasse.livejournal.com

If someone has "no refunds" in their TOS, how does that come into play if the artist is unprofessional?

Say a client pays an artist and the artist is nothing but rude to the client as the commission continues. If the client wants to cancel due to this behavior, does the artist still have the right to keep the money and refuse a refund? (In this situation we're assuming that the commissioner is /not/ at fault.)

Disclaimer: I'm not currently having this issue, but I am curious about what you think about the scenario.

uaz-469.livejournal.com

Ahoy!

As a friend of an artist I commissioned before approached me and mentioned that I came off as obnoxious, pushy and rude for giving out criticism after my last commission went a bit awry, I'm really confused and sad now, because I never intended to come off as that. I really find her to be a nice person and like her art, so I planned to stick to her as my "to-go"-artist.

To clarify:
I commissioned a cover for a story I wrote, paid 40 dollars and gave every detail in the notes. After waiting several months, I received it and while I really liked the quality, a few (important) details were forgotten and/or ignored, and I got the impression that she works chaotically. As I wasn't entirely satisfied with it, I asked her if she could do the changes and that I want to talk to her about a different topic later (the criticism) and she agreed to the changes.
Then I sent a note with all the criticism and friendly advice, which she thanked me for and explained herself professionally, which I found excellent, because I always fear that the person on the other end might rage at me. So considering that she is still young (No offense, but my experiences tell that it are mostly the younger ones who can't take it well), I found it very impressive! And now I have to hear that she actually took it very harshly.

This is my note for everyone who is interested:
http://fs5.directupload.net/images/170505/6e8r9i9g.png

To be frankly, the only sentence which I could find rude is the assumption that she works chaotically, that she did those things where she wasn't entirely sure on her own without asking me first and where I asked her to think about my points, as I would it find really sad to lose her (As if I would be her only customer).
And now I'm asking myself what I have done terribly wrong that the artist thinks of me as a jerk and that I would think I would be too good for her art. After trying to get out more information of the friend, he told me that Americans take it differently.

So my questions are:
Where did I appear as a jerk and is this sort of a mentality-thing, where it's considered rude in the US of A to give out unwanted criticism? Because at least here in Germany if you are presenting your work to the public, you are simultaneously free to be criticized and shouldn't complain about that, as long as its friendly and constructive.

Advice is really appreciated, as I would like to keep good business relations to artists I commission and not destroy them because they were actually offended by something.

THX 11-38 in advance!

EDIT 1: Edited for clarity.

EDIT 2: Cut isn't working, so I'll just point to my first post in the comments, which contains further explanation and replies to some comments.

EDIT 3: After receiving a confusing answer from the artist to my apology so I have finally no idea what to think and/or do, I'll just leave her alone. I consider the matter resolved - sort of. Thank you for all your answers, as they really helped me showing my wrongdoings and how to behave in future commissions!

EDIT 4: Now my commissions were deleted (also replaced with a simple placeholder-image) from her site with a text that I harrassed and treated her bad, she would fear for her safety and no refunds would be eministered. She also blocked me from commenting and messaging her, making me wonder how I am going to get those images back in case my HDD dies.
Now that's what I call an overreaction...

kayla-na.livejournal.com

Ok so...Last year in November, a friend of mine saw that I really wanted an adoptable that went up for auction but it was out of my reach. My friend ended up autobuying the auction, and gave me the adoptable as an early Xmas gift. The premise of the auction is that once the design is bought, it belongs to the buyer 100%. So since my friend bought the adoptable and gave it to me, he relinquished ownership to me.

Fast forward to today, I end up finding the adoptable recolored and raffled off. Confused, because the design was supposed to be relinquished upon purchase. So I asked the person about it, their gf won the raffle and gave it to the person that I found the recolored adoptable from. We talk back and forth, and upon doing some digging through what they presented me, said artist sold the original adoptable to my friend for a lot of money....but two weeks after that, they resold it to the person that my friend beat to get the adoptable in the first place.

Then, said person that lost raffled the recolored adoptable to the gf, and said gf gave it to the person that I spoke to.

At this point I'm pretty peeved because the design was unique, and there were NO recolors presented at the time of the auction. I'm wondering how my friend and I should proceed with this...

nashida226.livejournal.com

I don't want to make this a full blown beware yet especially if I can make this a resolved situation.

To make a very long detailed story short I commissioned a fursuit maker overseas to make my Dutch Angel Dragon character and sent them the downpayment in Nov. 2014, with the suit paid in full May 2015 for a total of $1800 USD (not sure what that is in Euros). I didn't receive any WIP shots until May/June 2016, even though the suit has been a promised Furpocalypse 2015 deadline, and even then the shots were of handpaws and a tail. I was told other stuff was being worked on for it, but never shown any photos. I checked in with them every month to see how they were and get status updates but it was always "I've been busy" or "You're DTD fell apart, send me another one". This has continued right up until February of this year when they announced a major health issue which meant no more work and absolutely no refunds.

After talking with them I negotiated a partial refund of $1200 and for them to ship all the fur and what work they had finished to me, so I could then send it to a close friend who was willing to finish it. It's now almost May and not only have they never given me a tracking number despite saying their parent shipped it and that they would poke them, but they also flat out told me they had no money to refund me. Any further inquiries about a tracking number have been ignored. Meanwhile they are very active on social media and in a Telegram chat we are both in. I've done my best to be polite and patient but it's beginning to wear thin.

I'm wondering what my next steps should be and what advice any of you seasoned vets have to give. I have tried calling both PayPal and my bank and they both say because the transactions are so old they can't help me. I have a couple other numbers to try calling next but I'm really not in the mood to write off nearly $2k as an "Oh, well", y'know?

If I need to write up a full on beware I have over 180 screenshots saved of our conversations, proof of my payment, and even screenshots from their Telegram group they made for customers with all the promises of work being done right up until February. I'm trying to avoid doing that if I can so I don't get stuck labeled for "picking on the patient".

Thanks for any help/insight you guys can give, I'm at my wit's end at this point.

overapologetic.livejournal.com

Current Mood: Curious

Hello There,

I am a commissioner and have been for quite a few years and just recently, in the last month, (March - April) I had an artist come out of the blue and say how fabulous my web site is and wanted to know if I could commission them. Now I don't usually commission anyone that comes to me out of the blue but the artist (who shall remain nameless) has rather good artwork and took the chance upon doing so to commission them. Now forgive me if this is rude or comes across as rude but if an ARTIST approaches you for a commission and such, would I be expectant in a quicker turn around? Or faster service then normal since they came to me? Would I still have the normal protection if I had gone to them and they accepted? I honestly think it's the first time I had someone come to me asking me to commission them and was on the back-foot. Is this also common practice or do the artists here rather have customers come to them?

Sorry for the rambling!

randomthings123.livejournal.com

An artist on FA had made a journal stating that they would be closing commissions soon, so I sent them a FA note asking if any slots were still open. They said yes and asked me what I wanted for the commission. Unfortunately, their response came in the wee hours of the morning and I had to go away for the weekend, so I did not see their reply until 3 days later. I apologized for the lack of communication on my part and sent a response with the commission details. A full week passed, and I saw that my message had been read but not replied to. The artist says on their page to send another note if they haven't replied in a couple days, so I shot them a quick message just asking if they'd gotten my note with the commission info. That note, too, was read and not replied. It's been another 7 days, and in between then and now, the artist has opened a new account on a different site and been actively posting there as well as FA. I considered sending a third message (possibly on the new site) as I enjoy their work and really want to commission them, but I don't want to be pushy, and I am wondering if this is the artist's way of indirectly declining my commission. What are your thoughts?

liveb1.livejournal.com

Hello! This is my first time posting here, and unfortunately it's because I'm in a little bit of a predicament.

I commissioned an artist recently for an onspot fullbody piece of my character in a stream. I have worked with them plenty of times before, as well as watched them stream their drawing process so I am relatively familiar with how they conduct their business and what kind of product to expect when I am commissioning them.

However, my recent experience with them has left a lot to be desired.

My piece being the last in the queue for onspots, it was pushed two days forward which, while not the service I paid for, I can understand because life and that gets in the way! I was noted with the artwork two days after the initial stream with the finished product.. which was not at all like their usual quality of work. There were several issues with anatomy , lack of detail, no background (they usually draw a little something to go along with the piece, even if its just a circle or shape to better frame it), as well as the fact that the facial structure looked nothing like my character, and instead like the person from the pose they decided they wanted to work from.

(Notably, I was not given free reign on the pose. They asked me if it was okay to use the one they chose, I noted them three minutes later asking her to hold on a minute while I picked a ref.. and was told it was too late because they'd already started. I had no proof of this, as they’d already stopped streaming, but I regret not saying something at the time, especially if I knew I would wait another two days to see the completed work).

Altogether, it looked incredibly rushed.

I was honest with them. I conveyed that I was disappointed with the finished product along with the above sentiments regarding the quality of the artwork. I asked if they could edit it with specific areas of improvement OR if it could be cropped and they would just fix the facial features, given that I would receive a half-refund for the piece.

I was told outright that any kind of refund would not be possible, and that they would try their best to fix the details. However.. for something that was supposed to be an on-spot, I am wondering how long I should wait for them to make the edits before saying something. :/ Already they have been streaming their work on other commissions, and I'm feeling a disheartened by the whole ordeal.

Updates --

On 4/9 I was given a WIP and was told my commission should be finished by "tomorrow". Over a week has passed and they are still taking on new commissions.

kerijiano.livejournal.com

Not QUITE a beware yet, but more me asking for advice.

On the 9th February I ordered a custom kigu, and got an email to say that payment had been accepted. The weeks went by, and despite the website having said somewhere they had a fast turnaround, I figured they'd have been busy with con prep, so I didn't say anything until after the cons were all done.

Over the last two weeks I've been contacting them on twitter and via email asking for updates, because someone else has a kigu in the works from them, and they got given a private link to their trello board, and have wip's started, but they paid much later than I did.

I'm not sure how much longer to keep trying to get them to talk to me before I give up and open a paypal dispute (obviously with giving them a warning) because I've spent a lot of money, and to have NO communication at all is a little... well, worrying.

Do I give them a final warning email / tweet, or do I keep waiting and hoping they'll work on my kigu? They've been making steady progress with their queue, but without knowing exactly how big the queue is, I don't know if mine will be started soon or not >.<

Thanks for your advice!

*EDIT*

They've responded now - they apparently sent me an email last week, but I never received it - regardless, I have progress photos of my kigu, and it's in the process of being sewn together!

laughsatthunder.livejournal.com

Hi all!

I don't commission artists as often as I once did but recently decided to pick up one from someone who I saw on the front page. Paid for it right away, gave them my reference sheet and gave them a brief description of what I wanted (styled after a movie character with a blushed expression).

Two days later they finish it. Never gave me a WIP.
The finished product is in a style completely different from the one I paid for (looks more simplified), is missing the expression/characterization I paid for and, my biggest issue, colored in my character's markings wrong when the colors are written out on the reference with arrows pointing to where they go. They're stripes so it's not anything difficult.

At this point I don't know what to do. I thanked them for it but I feel very cheated. It doesn't look anything like anything else in their gallery and they completely ignored my requests for the commission.
On that point, I don't know how to contact them after thanking them for their work. I feel like if I send them a note with my concerns they'll be upset with me (as I haven't experienced something like this before in the past I'm clueless on how to approach them).

Any input would be great. :(

scourge

So I need some advice here. An artist was doing $5 fullbody and shaded pieces because they were in need of money. Well they're art was nice and I decided to get a two character piece. Well actually five because the two character is part one of two. Anyway I said I wanted for the first part the two characters bending over in a presenting fashion. What I got was a front view of them standing. So what should I do? Ask for a redraw or get take it and leave?

Edit: I should probably update this. XD Sorry forgot. Well anyway I told the artist about the mistake and said this was okay, but she decided to redo it anyway after she gets a new tablet and finishes the last person left on her to do list. So the issues is resolved it seems.

shariea.livejournal.com

I know this isnt something you usually see on Artists beware but I recently stumbled upon this and I had some questions I thought the community could answer. Because this is a general question I will not be posting names, but I can for further clarification if needed. I dont want to beware anyone involved, just curious what the changes the new owner is doing verses the old one, if anything can actually be held up/enforced.

The artist had a race she made. Very cute, high sellers (imho) I have one and I got a friend of mine one as well. They also sold templates on their website allowing people to make their own for their own use and for sale. I almost got one of these myself.

The creator artist has since lost their passion for the creatures and sold off the species. I didnt even know who owned the new one until by chance someone linked me to a journal which was posted about a week ago. In it the new owner states that they are now a closed species, anyone who bought the template online to make and sell them will not be allowed to do so. Everyone must register their adoptable or it will be considered 'a fake' 'poser' 'look alike'

I have some issues with this as I bought mine as what it is because of what it is and that it is very cute. And while I didnt buy the template it strikes me as that would not be enforceable as it was purchased from the creator artist with the terms and conditions being that they can be made and sold. Unless the new owner is going to refund those people, I dont see how this can be enforced.

Adoptable have always been a bit of a slippery slope, and I am curious what other artists think. I hope this was clear enough to understand.

ravensmoon666.livejournal.com

Current Mood: irritated

Hello AB!
I just need advice on the topic of artist giving refunds marked as services.

A few months ago I finally got the guts to ask an artist who I had been waiting on a piece of artwork from for over a year if they could issue me a refund (110$). It took them a while as they stated that they didn't have any money due to bills and that they would have to take on more work to be able to refund me. (this is a common trend with said artist but I'm not looking to name them.) They sent me the first half after selling the base sketch for my commission as a ych and then the second half after another week. I was happy to have my refund but the thing that bothered me is that they sent both halves marked as 'goods and services' instead of issuing it through the transaction, or even sending it as 'friends and family.' This not only bothers me because I now have two transactions marked as services on my Paypal account when I use it purely for commissioning artist but I also had to eat the Paypal fees out of pocket which was roughly 10$ give or take.

I bit my tongue and chalked it up to being a one time occurrence and just let it slide but recently I had another case where an artist I had commissioned took over two months but continuously did personal artwork and bought commissions. I noted them and asked politely if I could be issued a refund (54$) and they told me they would after selling some characters of theirs. Once they sold they had tried to issue me a refund through the transaction but they had an issue with their account were instead of Paypal taking it out of their balance they took it out of their bank account which didn't have money in it so it sat pending for a week before failing. (I've had issues with Paypal doing this as well so I wasn't surprised) They messaged me back telling me that after having to eat a bank account bouncing fee that they would just send it to me manually so it could be done with which I was perfectly fine with but like the last artist I had issues with they sent it as 'Goods and Services' and it ate about 3 dollars.

So I guess what I am asking is how should I handle situations like this? Should I request that they only send it at 'friends and family.' or do it through the transaction? Maybe I'm wrong but I don't think it's fair to a commissioner that if they want a refund for overdue art (or just plainly the artist cancelling) they have to lose money out of pocket because of it.

Either way any advice would be very appreciated.

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"Artists Beware"

A Community to Warn of the Good, Bad, and Ugly of the Commission World

Entries tagged with advice for commissioners

Advice Needed - Artist Neglecting Commissions?

Advice Needed: Artist taking a while to send finished files?

Advice Needed: Time Between Contact

Advice: Missed detail on a commission

Advice Needed: Artists & Am I being impatient?

Odd Situation Advice?

Advice needed: Artist breaking terms of agreement

Need some advice

TOS Dismissing Unprofessional Behavior

Seeking Advice - Giving out criticism and unintentionally coming off as rude?

Seeking Advice - How to Handle This Situation?

Seeking Advice - How to Handle?

Commissioner Question

Advice: ignored commission request

Request for Advice: Low Quality Artwork

(no subject)

Advice: Confronting an artist

Advice: Pose is the exact opposite of what I wanted.

QUESTION: Adoptable species changing owners

Advice needed: Artist giving refunds marked as services?