Wow XD it's really sad that you have to post this because most of it in my opinion is common sense.

You would think so

Very valid concerns. I take commissions and try to complete those first. And it's understandable to pay and expect it sooner than later. But as an artist I must also bring to light the other end of that. Basically, "You can't rush art". Yes, a person has paid for it, but as an artist there are certain mindsets and levels of preparedness to approach a piece and creating something. In any creative field, one must be 'in-the-zone' to work at peak performance and artistry. If something that's created is rushed, pressured, or feels like a burden, then the art suffers. Just like any job really, rushed means 'half-assed'.

For just one example. I get a female commission. I much prefer males obviously, so a female piece won't be personally appealing to me to do ever. So I'll get to some male projects first. Then when I'm drawing and suddenly get in the zone in doing more organic, slender, curved gestures (which the female form is more known for rather than angular male) I'll hop onto the female project since I feel in a much better mood and artistic mindset to do it.

Art isn't just a skill in creating, but also a psyche and mindset. The better that mindset and appropriate mood for particular projects, the better the end result. Forced art suffers.

It's been about 2 and a half months and the artist has been working on gift art and art for themself. They've done one commission in that time frame and about 4 personal pieces. If I had at least seen progress or some commitment, it'd be different. But all I ended up was, "it's almost done" for the last month.

Paid art come first, I know about the whole "in the zone" thing too, I draw a lot but I don't upload anymore since I dun has a computer, but I still feel like commissions and paid services should come first, if you're in the mood to draw then you should do commissions. Not to mention that the artist made a journal about giving all their other commissioners something extra for "being patient".