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Question for Artists/Rant about Commissions
12 years ago
General
I am not going to mention who this rant is about, as I still respect their art, but am starting to have doubts I will even see the commission I ordered.
Background:
Around October, I contacted an artist to do the ref sheet for Roxy, my caribou character. The artist let me know that they were doing a seasonal special, that was fairly popular, so they could churn out lots at a time and a ref sheet would take a few days to finish and I would be put at the bottom of the list for commissions. I was cool with it, sent the details, and paid up front, as was their policy, and patiently waited.
I kept waiting, and then on the 8th of January, they contacted me saying that they were sorry that they hadn't gotten to my stuff yet, and that they had just gotten through an art block that they had, as well as going through a bunch of personal stuff over the holidays. It was nice to get some sort of acknowledgement, especially since their art queue is buried in their journals and not linked anywhere on their user page (it is updated, trust me).
Now the next part. By the time the 21st rolled around, I contacted them again, just wanting an update on the status. I mean, it had been 13 days, and I was supposedly at the top of their queue, even though they had done other work during that time. They contacted me back, saying that they were behind schedule on a lot of stuff, as well as just getting back from a convention, which was part of the lateness of their reply (which actually came only a few hours after I sent the note). They said they were going to be working on it during the week, which is now coming to a close, and still no update on anything.
Dilemma:
I'm starting to get frustrated by the wait. I have wanted to get so much artwork done of Roxy, but I haven't been able to since I don't have a ref sheet. Sure, some artists do work off of descriptions, but then there's that slight possibility that they don't get it right, which is why many artists require ref sheets. I've seen lots of YCH's where I was thinking, "Roxy would be awesome for that," but can't do it because of the wait. Now I'm curious at what point does the wait become too much? I've thought about having a deadline set in my head, like, "they have until next Friday, then I ask for a progress sketch or my money back." What are your thoughts? Should I ask for my money back and try to commission someone else to do the ref sheet? Should I just wait patiently, with my thumb up my butt? The one thing I will not back down from is the money. I paid them $60, which is a nice chunk of change and a decent price for a ref sheet, but I am not willing to write that off as a loss.
Background:
Around October, I contacted an artist to do the ref sheet for Roxy, my caribou character. The artist let me know that they were doing a seasonal special, that was fairly popular, so they could churn out lots at a time and a ref sheet would take a few days to finish and I would be put at the bottom of the list for commissions. I was cool with it, sent the details, and paid up front, as was their policy, and patiently waited.
I kept waiting, and then on the 8th of January, they contacted me saying that they were sorry that they hadn't gotten to my stuff yet, and that they had just gotten through an art block that they had, as well as going through a bunch of personal stuff over the holidays. It was nice to get some sort of acknowledgement, especially since their art queue is buried in their journals and not linked anywhere on their user page (it is updated, trust me).
Now the next part. By the time the 21st rolled around, I contacted them again, just wanting an update on the status. I mean, it had been 13 days, and I was supposedly at the top of their queue, even though they had done other work during that time. They contacted me back, saying that they were behind schedule on a lot of stuff, as well as just getting back from a convention, which was part of the lateness of their reply (which actually came only a few hours after I sent the note). They said they were going to be working on it during the week, which is now coming to a close, and still no update on anything.
Dilemma:
I'm starting to get frustrated by the wait. I have wanted to get so much artwork done of Roxy, but I haven't been able to since I don't have a ref sheet. Sure, some artists do work off of descriptions, but then there's that slight possibility that they don't get it right, which is why many artists require ref sheets. I've seen lots of YCH's where I was thinking, "Roxy would be awesome for that," but can't do it because of the wait. Now I'm curious at what point does the wait become too much? I've thought about having a deadline set in my head, like, "they have until next Friday, then I ask for a progress sketch or my money back." What are your thoughts? Should I ask for my money back and try to commission someone else to do the ref sheet? Should I just wait patiently, with my thumb up my butt? The one thing I will not back down from is the money. I paid them $60, which is a nice chunk of change and a decent price for a ref sheet, but I am not willing to write that off as a loss.
