I never had a commission and I keep seeing rando worse artists skipping their advance payment commission. Is there some commission site I'm unaware of?
SAME I don't ever understand how people do this to their commissioners, I stress out INSANELY if I am getting close to the deadline and don't feel like I'll be able to complete it. There was one commission I accidentally let go over the deadline by quite a bit because I started having a lot of stuff going on in my life at that time and the instant things calmed down and I remembered (They were so nice about it, they didn't mind.) I was ready to just give them what I had done and a full refund honestly. Like I feel SO bad doing that to anyone. I think I'd die of guilt if I did what some of these people are doing out here.
i made a gift comm for a friend for christmas last year, they told me that if i sent it before the 25th it would be good, but that i could send it anytime i wanted, even as a late gift (he requested me for adrawing gift for their friends, just tlyk) i ended up sending it on the 24th and i apologised for being too on the deadline. ofc they laughed it off and after a couple of days they told me that their friends loved it
Not to mention it ignores the fact that there's people outside the western sphere that still commission artists. Purchasing power and currency exchange are huge factors and what seems like a paltry amount of dollars could set back a lot of people months. I'd always advise not to buy stuff with money you can't afford to lose but it's not great to demean the amount of money that does get lost either.
@@tarotsushima3332Yep. Or people like me who can only scrounge together so much luxury money due to not being able to work for very long due to injury
It's so weird bc money doesn't grow on trees and today most people who comm artists aren't rich? It's their hard earned money and probably a single treat they allowed themselves in months of earning + saving. It's so disrespectful.
@@tarotsushima3332 The logic of not to spend money you can't afford to lose doesn't always work. One day you could afford to lose that money then the next week something unforeseeable happens and now your in big trouble.
Fr my parents would literally get in hand to hand combat over returns to the store that were maybe 5-20 bucks at most,, its just not a cool position to put anyone in cuz they might feel forced to just 'give it up' since people are claiming the amount is so little
I'm an artist that offers commissions and I am happy people are speaking up about this. We don't see ghosting or extremely delayed due dates as acceptable in other fields, so why is it okay with art? Things happen for sure, but when they do you need to communicate. So many artists have beautiful skills but should NOT be offering these services because they lack the professionalism and customer service to do so.
Soeaking as an artist as well, some artist want to do art for a living yet doesn't respect the job they do as a profession. They didn't bother to learn how to legally offer service or even what 'terms of use/service" even is Like dude, it's a job not playing o pretend, please take it seriously
Agreed. If I'm commissioning an artist and they get sick I obviously won't mind waiting, stuff happens. But if I commission an artist and they just don't feel like it or accept too much work and never gets done, then that's their own fault and not something the customer should have to just be fine with. This is why I hate the "they're only 15-16" argument, like obviously they're not going to be as professional as an adult, but if they don't state their age anywhere that's not something the customer should have expected, and they still agreed to do a job. If they can't do said job they shouldn't be taking money for it either. The amount of stories I've seen where the artist turns out to be 16 and swamped with school and have no idea how to manage a workload makes me want commission sites to have an 18+ rule
I am a very slow artist. My commissions take very long and I am super grateful for everytime that is patient with me. BUT. If someone would want a refund due to me being too slow, I would 100% refund them no matter my situation. My speed is not my client's problem.
If your client knows you work slowly and they chose to work with you then your speed IS their problem. Don't let people take advantage of you. They chose you. If your speed was going to be an issue they should have chosen a different artist to begin with.
@@thatfishbone Yep I like to put in my TOS that I am slow and give estimates on how long I take. I also use trello for updates so my clients can always check for updates + DM if there is a delay. Communication is key !
@@thatfishbone Exactly this. If they commission you it's their responsibility to get familiar with your T.O.S and learn your usual timeframe. If they commission a slow artist and start asking about progress after a few days or so expecting progress, they should have came to a diff artist with a faster skillset.
Aww you are all very nice thank you! I also usually communicate a lot when doing commissions. I reply to message super fast because of cases like in the vid. You all do make a point hahahaha. I never had to refund someone though so far due to my slowlyness.
I feel like commissions have always been kinda messy, I feel like a lot of people start commissions without fully understanding what that entails and how important the communication process is.
Agreed. As an artist, I've always been told by my friends and family that I should do commissions and that it'd be 'oh so easy' to make money off of it, but.. no. It's not easy, and it can be stressful and overwhelming, especially when first getting into it. You need to have an understanding of business, and both parties need to be clear and concise to ensure that the end result is up to par.
I think a handful of people don’t think their commissions count as a business so they don’t see it from a business perspective. They see it as easy money and don’t take it seriously
It's been a problem a lot of people have noticed about small businesses that are just people monitizing their hobbies without a lick of business, marketing or PR know-how. Obviously I wouldn't expect someone who's just selling art online on Twitter or Vgen to know all the ins and outs of running a business but there's a glaring lack of professionalism with a lot of these smaller ventures. Any other business, getting a refund with passed deadlines or lack of communication seems like a no brainer but if you're in direct informal communication with the actual seller, it leads to a lot of people choosing inaction so they're not the bad guy or the villain that made someone not pay their bills or sth.
@@Zcmb1eyeah.but if you start taking money in exchange for goods and/or a service that's still a business transaction and should be treated like one not a hobby
hi kat! thank you so much for sharing my story! and thank you for liking my design! i just want to clarify that the design i am using now is NOT the design that i'm waiting for the model art back from, it is a previous persona that i intended to use! either way, thank you for sharing my ko-fi and my tweet links, it means the world to me!
the big problem is that these artists treat their business like they're doing their buddy a favor... if you're taking someone's money treat it with the seriousness it deserves.
I remember when I got my first commission ever. I was so excited that I couldn’t sleep until I finished. I was sending updates on the hour. It was a sketch commission but that $15 and the kind messages that followed meant the world to me. I cant imagine messing with other people’s money like that
i hate when people respond to any complaint that customers have with "wElL ArT iS a LuXuRY >:(("....like that doesnt mean that you can treat your clients like crap??
fr like how does that make it any better?? Dont luxuries normally cost a lot or at least require some amount of hardship to get? Like going on a luxury cruise youd expect the best service possible, a luxury restaurant would have incredible service and food, etc etc. It just isnt at all the excuse they think it is
there’s about 20 of us right now who are waiting on very expensive plush commissions from an artist who ghosted everyone months ago. the crazy part is they’ve FINISHED some of the plushies but never shipped them (even long before their last update). I hope someone takes legal action against Plushgarden at this point. I can’t believe someone who’s supposed to have been trustworthy just ran off with thousands of dollars
I'm currently writing up a VGen review for a full model commission I had to ask the artist to conclude the project without rigging. They spent 5 months just on the art, and by the time they got to the rigging several months later, they vented to me that they didn't feel like they could rig the model. I'd been following their social media just to ensure they were still "active" while my comm was still being delayed, and guessed they couldn't do a partial refund based on what they posted about. They've since confirmed a refund wouldn't be possible, but I didn't push for it, as I was more worried about not getting the art file that did exist if they ended up panicking and ghosting. They've offered a small additional art as compensation, but I'm still out about $550 and they haven't delivered the extra art yet. Even after all the vetting I did, it goes to show that any artist can still screw a commissioner over.
Ohh man that sounds like a sucky situation, they waited several months just to say they weren't confident in it?? Thats wild that the compensation is just 'a small additional piece' instead of *your* money back :(
@SirIsaac1313 what's wild is that pretty quickly after they told me they were starting the rigging, they'd sent me a couple rough progress videos of the eye and mouth rigs and a very basic waist rigging within a week??? I wasn't their first rig client by any means, and I even commissioned them based on their rigging style and experience rigging models with anthro features my design would have. I don't understand what caused them to become doubtful, but after how nightmarish communicating had been over the year, I really just couldn't tolerate it anymore. The idea of having to go through this song-and-dance again when I wanted outfit and toggle updates just made my patience break.
bro i'm starting to think the artists who do this shit must have the prettiest art style or smth how do they even attract so many ppl to ghost to begin with? I barely get any comms and the blessed few I HAVE gotten I've never done them dirty like this damn
as an artist who just open my first commissions, this is just sad, i know there are some bad apples among us but the bad apples just kept growing. its kinda discouraging and makes me want to not open a commissions.
I've gotten to the point where I only commission friends, because I know they won't screw me. One time I commissioned someone for a sketch, for 10$, a year goes by, no updates, and suddenly they're not around anymore. I dm them, and nothing. I start commenting on their page, only to have their fans come at me because it was "only 10$". Doesn't matter! It's not THEIR money until work has been done, and considering they disappeared on a bunch of people, no work was done. It wasn't even a fully rendered piece, it was a SKETCH and they could not complete it. I did end up getting a refund, but only because I called them out publicly and they wanted to get get rid of me/shut me up. I don't know if everyone else got their art, or their money back.
Considering that you had to go up against them and call them out just to get $10 back, id guess that others havent gotten theirs refunded which is super unfortunate. It really seems like artists like that are everywhere now that people like katliente are calling them out on larger platforms !
As an artist, I think it's fine if an artist takes months on a commission. BUT, we live in a society that is a lot more fast paced that it used to be, and if your going to take months to do a commission; you're obligated to at LEAST update the client once a month, even if it's just a "hey, I didn't forget about your commission! I've just been very busy; here's what progress I HAVE made!" Your speed doesn't matter if your actually communicating with the client AND actually making at least some progress (be that on the one commission or on another commission that your working on at the same time, since I know artists tend to do multiple at a time).
I ran into a situation like this with someone I consider a friend. They're a great artist, but their time management skills are unfortunately not the best. I DID eventually get my commission... but it took over a year, and in the meantime they opened seasonal YCHs and seemed to prioritize those over their regular comm queue. It was kind of frustrating to watch.
I have comms open and I done a bit too and I would never imagine myself ghosting anyone ever regardless of time on my hand, it's so important to have updates whenever it's needed, for example, when it takes too long, whenever the commissioner asks for an update for one reason or another or when a sketch is finished. Communication is just needed and is one of the most important things when you do commissions, both for part and full time.
Something I do is that I don't consider money from a commission that is not finished fully mine. I won't transfer it from paypal to my bank if the commission is not completed It does create a stresse as I have to make money in one month for the next, a bit like if I had a 9 to 5, but it also motivate me to work on it I do think some people with more chaotic life can't do that, but idk, works well
I followed the old model of partial payment when I do commissions without a platform. It holds me accountable for finishing work, and it also roots out scammers, especially for expensive work like GUI.
I have had multiple incidents with artist who don't follow their own turn-around time within their TOS. Then they try to blame it on me. One artist even told me it's not absolute, and they can get the art done whenever. People please do research before commissioning an artist. I've also had times when artist just disappear, like right now. I commed the artist in April and haven't heard from them since August. It's so sad. I'll never com from them again. Artist like that are the reason why I have trust issues with other artist.
One of the reasons I don't commission anyone. Commissions can sometimes lead to this. I feel so bad! I hope they can get their money back and never experience this again..
Artist literally just forgot my 2 PAID YCHs for a year until I reminded them.. I got the finished a day later, but I didnt bother hitting them up about changes even tho I gave them my reference sheets.. This shit right here is the reason why I am so scared/hesitant to commission new artists that I have never commissioned in the past..
May come off harsh but we really need to stop babying artists and trying to make it the client's fault or whoever they slighted 100% percent of the time. There's nothing wrong with delays, as long as you communicate. But if you don't communicate and just run off or make excuses why you can't work out art OR a refund you shouldn't be taking coms. I also believe that we need to start normalizing actively criticizing artists who have poor communications because that's how you either end up with a artists beware or a massive drama where uninvolved parties get involved. Do long as the work isn't finished, or there was something majorly wrong, the client should be allowed to ask an artist for a refund if they're uncomfortable with how they were treated(and refund % according to the artist TOS since some do partial if the work was started)
its reasons like this that i don't ask for payment until the clients sketch has been approved. this might not work for everybody but i find that it relieves some of the stress off of the client as well as myself. they know that something is in the works, and i know that i've captured their prompt in a way that they're happy with. i've only had one person not pay me, but their situation never came off as malicious just like they had a lot of social anxiety. I was able to recycle the pose for another piece in the end, so no harm really.
As someone who does commissions whenever I can (not much business unfortunately!), I ALWAYS make sure the client is a part of the process. After every step (rough sketch, sketch, lineart, etc) I send them a WIP and check in to see if anything needs to be changed or altered. (It's a hell of a lot easier to change something when in sketch or lineart instead of fully rendered.) All the WIPs I send are lower-quality screenshots with watermarks so it would be difficult for the client to run off with it, and I only give them the official version after payment is received.
We NEED more people to complain on this. It's a job when you take the money, not a charity case 🗣🗣 I'm an artist and I have friends who are still waiting for art for more then a year from other artists, it's disgusting. That's turning off people who are willing to support human made art when that is so, so important rn. Artists gotta be better
it makes me so sad seeing artist do this. As an artist myself that is trying to get comissions with no result for the moment.. it feels like such disrespect and waste of time to the people that is paying. And its so sad that there are many artist that want to do comissions and arent given the chance seeing them waste their opportunities like that
the guild tripping "I dont have money for next months rent how dare you charge me back" just makes me so want to feel like saying I DIDNT GIVE THE MONEY TO DONATE TO YOU 😭
Artist of 7 years doing freelance, noticed when commissioning others theres a massive lack of communication now :/ Recently had an artist finish a comm without wips, and never sending me the work. Waited 2 months to find out its done and completely wrong. Was not a skeb comm, they just didn't communicate at all despite doing freelance over a decade. Artist have zero weekly progress or commutation with people now, i do these myself as i know from commissioners standpoint how it feels.
Its honetsly wild. Like even if artists need that much time, the artists need to include that they take a long time. (and communicate if things change. I include my general time frame and I haven't even opened comms. (Its there for art trades mostly rn). Its just sad to see because it makes it harder on everyone.
No because, as someone who commissions artist , It's been 6 months since I last heard from my artist on a half body comm and they recently posted art and my sketch is still untouched! like I'm not mad or anything because life happens but damn! From the looks of it they finna open comms again! Like pls I want my art but I don't want to bother them 😭😭
Nooo artists who reopen comms while still having unfinished ones on the table are the reasons why Katliente has drama to talk about ToT i hope you get your art !!
It's infuriating because it's so hard to get commissions in the first place. This just makes more people wary of commissioning anyone and makes it even harder so we all get punished because some people are irresponsible. Personally I do the sketch first so they'll at least have something but I'm always willing to show wips throughout if they're worried. Then again I never take a month to do something..
IDK, maybe it’s just me, but I’ve been doing commissions for five years-three of those full-time-and I put a lot of effort into calming clients’ nerves and anxieties. So many have been burned before, and it’s frustrating because their concerns aren’t about me or my process. But I still have to pick up the pieces left by other artists who were irresponsible with their clients’ money.
I think the time between updates should depend on how long the commission usually takes. When I rig VTuber models it's common to have weeks of no contact when I'm actively working on it because you know it's gonna take me a few months to finish. However if someone asks me for an update I usually get back to them within a few days at most with the current progress WIP even if it's not polished yet. Trust is a massively important thing with commission work, good communication often results in repeat customers and recommendations.
I spent $100 on a commission back in August of last year. I still haven't seen a sketch or anything. 8 weeks ago, I asked the artist if they are still doing my commission, they said yes and they will be sending me updates every now and then. I still haven't received a sketch or any evidence they are working on my commission. Soon, I feel like I'm going to cut my losses, tell them I'm giving up waiting, and just block the artist because it makes me upset to see them continuing to post non-commission related art they created. They have so much time to create several art pieces but no time to work on my commission? Am I the a hole in this situation? I haven't confronted them about me being upset yet. But it was supposed to be a gift to myself for going back to work in September. I told the artist it was a gift for going back to work. I guess I didn't say "Here's a deadline", but it was kinda implied and if they couldn't do it, they should have told me they couldn't, and I would have commissioned a different artist. I bought their most expensive option. I never had to wait this long for a commission before, all the commissions I bought from other artists has never taken this long.
I had a couple artists just... not respond to my commission request at all. like they'd post that their comms were open, I'd DM them, never hear back. better to get ghosted before the comm than after you've paid, I guess, but it's really frustrating to be open for commissions and not get any clients, meanwhile you try to commission other artists and just never hear back from them.
I commissioned a doll repaint in 2023! Like they will respond to me when I ask for updates but I don’t even think they have started on the doll, meanwhile they are randomly selling repaints they do in their spare time. I’m really just hoping they’ll get to it soon but I’m not ever going to commission them again. I’ll give it one more month before I ask for a refund. Over a year is not an acceptable wait time, but I’m very shy when it comes to standing my ground 🙂↕️
As an artist working on setting up commissions, this is why I’m making sure I’m taking them when I know I have the time. Right now I know I’m too busy, so my commission are closed period
I had someone ghost me for almost a week with zero progress and when I showed concern about it, someone I shared a server with basically told me (rather harshly) I'm dumb for worrying and that they've waited weeks for art progress before like uh- dude that's not normal to not have any communication for that long???
I also lost money to artist and never get anything out of it. I really don't mind waiting BUT the person must communicate with me, if a person is willing to do that I'm fine with waiting even a year for example. To be honest people always ghost me and like you mentioned they did write me when I did a chargeback with paypal. Same goes for "only" people offering me art for characters, I wish I was exaggerate, but out of 10 art offers 2 get finished. It's really frustrating especially since I really adore getting art of my characters, but for me it's so much stress to run after those people it's not worth it. My worst experience is a few people making art for the character, they will get like they own them and get upset at me for not giving the characters to them because, they never finish their owned artwork. ( One of them even "sold a redesign" - of course never doing the owned artwork - because, it looked different enough, no it didn't btw but, I deleted my design because, I was a pushover and felt bad about screwing over the person who bought the redesign).
I’ve been a silent watcher and I wanna say I love your content so much and is exactly what I’m interested in when wanting something to listen to in the background and to know drama I don’t know about! Keep up the good work thank you for the amazing videos :)
I ever done comission and everyday my mum remind me " hey have you finish their sketch/ drawing?" And it become my motivation to finish the piece 😂 my mum being nosy and remind me " it money and dont scam people" . Anyway one of my late submission was due to me taking a volunteer type of job. It was fine since it was a family members and I submit it 2 weeks after they order for the comission.
I’ve had this happen with SO many artists before, luckily it was only in game currencies that were easy to get, and usually artists on the website I used only made you pay half upfront and half after, but I got a sketch for a comm, paid half, and then the user ghosted me for OVER A YEAR, still haven’t heard back. And I’ve paid 2 other artists as well, still haven’t gotten art.
I think the best way to settle this is to laid out time frame where the work will be completed in the TOS. That why the commisioner knew what they get into before paying for the work. So if a slow paced artist laid out that the works would take months to finish, the comissioner already have a general idea of the time frame. That doesn't excuse the aritst to ghosted them though.
As someone who regularly does commissions, I have a policy in my ToS that I will refund my clients if I'm unable to fulfill the order within a two month timeframe. This is handy for me since I draw pretty quickly. However, I do understand people's speed in drawing is different, so it may or may not work for others. I feel like good communication is required when you do commissions. Even if you take a long time, giving regular updates is always the way to go since you're responsible for handling the client's money.
I bought pixel art all the way back in July/August of 2024, the artist put 2 pixels down and nothing more. I DMed her back in April asking her to continue it and she said she would, but she needed $5 to pay for her program subscription, I sent her the $5 to help her, thinking MAYBE she'd work on my piece. Did she? No. Not a single pixel added and I'm devastated because I really love her art and pixel art makes me inexplicably happy, its my go-to commission type. edit: I should not she isn't a bot scammer, I knew of her long before I commissioned her, I sought her out because I'd seen her art before and wanted it.
i do commissions for banners and overlays, etc. and i HATE making the buyer wait too long. and i keep in constant contact. i get such bad anxiety about not getting it done in time. even if there is no deadline date. i dont see how people could make the buyer wait multiple MONTHS!! plus, when making stuff like i do or stuff like art. i feel that it's important to keep in constant communication with the buyer. since it needs to be to their liking. and however much longer i spend on the piece is due to making changes/adjustments to their liking.
I am an artist. I accidentally ghosted my client because of personal happenings, and I was not in the right head space to talk to anyone or draw. They wanted to pay upfront, but I said no, pay when I'm fully done with your commissions, since I unfortunately have poor communication and time management. And I was gonna add a free art with it for the long wait. I'm glad my terms of service is to pay when I'm done because I didn't want to take their money like that. The guilt, bro. Just know I am doing better at commissions now. Still have tweaks to work on, too.
Sometimes i feel when im drawing that how worth are my drawings, im not too good on drawings, but i know some concepts and i do my best, mostly when i think on doing commission i do it for free
the only time I would ever be lenient is if a natural disaster happened that effected the entire area the artist lives in and I know them personally then I'll give them time to rebuild their life, otherwise if I give an artist a deadline and they don't meet it I'm 100% refunding even if they're hospitilzed, they should have at least tried communicating with me first.
My recent commissions are for a vr avatar and the first artist sent me a sketch. And only a sketch. I'm like "I'm just going to move my project forward cause im not waiting around." And i only commission artists I've worked with previously because I had a great time working with them and communication was good. Because I'm not liking when peolle forces me to pick them when I haven't said yes or no and when I tell people no, they keep insisting on it.
i've stopped looking for artists to commission on social media entirely, every single experience i've had with someone i didn't know prior has gone horribly. i only commission through vgen now, only purchase commissions with low turnaround times, and will never wait longer than 6 months for a piece. commissioners are allowed to have standards!!
I've had somewhat personal experience with it paid an artist for a character sheet paid them and everything was getting some updates for a while discussing changes they said some things were going on in their life including school I think and... well they've gone completely inactive since and its been far passed the deadline going back like 7 or more months at least.
I am a type of artist with a policy who only take my payments after I finished my art and submit the final piece with Invoice. I also bad at management and communication too. I only wished to be a good artist who have good integrity and intentions. If the commissioner don't pay me, then its on their conscience. 😂😅
I’ve commissioned about 4 artists over the past couple of years as a little luxury when I had the money. 3 out of the four were supper sweet and we’re understanding of me being a bit confused by the process. No time estimates were given but I think the lastest i received an art piece was a month later but still getting periodic updates of sketch and preferences. But last year in august I commissioned an artist who works I loved and tbh it wasn’t the best. It sucked because they started art school in September but i ended up getting my commission around may the year after. I reached out once a month and was frustrated since it seemed like they were still taking commission but were barely responding to my messages. I ended up asking for a refund when I saw I was in the section queue showing my art has not been started on yet. But they informed me they weren’t able to update their queue in a bit and actually had mine finished. I don’t blame them for anything because I get they were a bit over their head. But for me in the future I think I’ll just ask for time frame the next time get a com lol
I get the worst commissioners. Like they want their art done in a day. Like, I don't use AI dude, I usually take a week if I got more than 3 commissions... They were begging for a refund on day 3 cause I didn't deliver in day 2 when my description stated 7 days and I had a queue. I refunded just cause it was stressing me out.
Also to add, I am also an artist from the Philippines. Been doing freelancing for 6 years now. It's like... Its a sin for me not to update a paid client in a week. I make sure to deliver what they paid for in weeks. It works wonders btw. They will always com me
Any com-artist that doesn't post " I'm taking X-amount at this time", is a red flag. You should already know your work pace, account for your private life, etc.
and thats why i like to work through artistree AND i only ask for the money after the art is done (i heavely watermark when its not paid, still able to see how it looks and anti-Ai layer so i don't get scammed), the only thing i need to work on is getting better and idk... schedule things better lol edit: i even have a 7 days "deadline" (its like that so if i've been working in the art for more than 7 days the commissioner can annoy me and yes i make it clear)
I spent 200 dollars on a custom character , and I’m still waiting it’s been like 6 months , I asked for a refund and they told me they couldn’t give me one because they already came up with a concept , which is a little silly considering they never mentioned it to me that they had a concept, only telling me about it when I ask for a refund . But I hear a lot about people commissioners getting ghosted by artists a lot in the furry community. And I do sometimes understand that you can get heavy burn out from doing coms but, sometimes you gotta remember that commissioners do spend their hard earned money on you, and should be given updates and communication. I ranted a lil to hard but yea
im awful with timing, i do commissions through online game currency not real money, but I have not responded in ages before usually though if it goes past 2-3 months i'll offer to do the art for free, if they decide to pay me still after i consider it a tip, since i took so dam long. Though it doesnt help now i work full time and just...dont care to draw anymore, i hate it
Dreamsie actually won one of my twitter raffles for a free model art and it was a dream (ha pun) to work with her, currently the model I made for her (new design) is being rigged. she deserves the world. the other artist they are trying to get the art from was doing the old design of a ghost puppy. I watched the whole thing go down as I was making the new design model, it's insane.
If it was me I would only pay for the sketch phase first, give the artist 2 to 3 weeks for the sketch, then once I got the sketch phase go over any changes that need to happen, then ask to enter sketch phase two. Once satified with the the final sketch phase, I'll pay for flat lines and base color, this would be 3 weeks to a month window, once I recieve that then it's half of the payment for the final lines and rendering up-front and the remaining half upon completion. This way it's 4 seperate payments instead of all at once, if the artist at any point ghosts me at least I have some of the money and what money the artist has would cover the 30% non-refundable charge I think all artists should employ. At least if they've actually started the piece and aren't ghosting me right at the sketch phase. Honestly I would probably just want the linework stage and do the flat colors myself but for what I want it would have to be digital instead of traditional.
Again: just because you can draw and are able to receive money doesn't mean you're made to be an artist that sells their work. Not everyone is made for this, that's also the reason why the market is oversaturated and that there are so many people having a bad time. Hard to swallow pill i guess.
As an artist I only ever take the payment after the sketch is done. This takes pressure off me and gives my client more security. Sure, it happens every now and again that somebody takes the sketch and never ends up paying, but I'd rather have that than having my reputation ruined lol
I'd recommend giving them a heavily watermarked version. It'll show you're done the art, and then they can pay for the clean one. Itll kimda keep a bit from both worlds and stop some spcmmers
When you get a commission from me, I send steps to make the waiting process easier. Sketch, line art, base colors, and render. I update daily to make sure I’m getting what the client needs. I also let client know if I’m running behind due to busy with kids. The most I’ve had someone wait is a week.
People complaining that their artist took months to do anything, while I'm here looking at them like peasants, finishing artwork the week they're started. Little commissions tho :(
Relatable lol ! Commissions live rent free in my head until I've completed them. I would feel so guilty not working on something I was PAID TO DO. But similarly, I don't get a steady stream of them.
I just want to use this space to warn everybody that Kingbri, the comment that appears on 11:36 is a nightmare client. The fact this person is making emphasis on bilateral communication baffles me, they refused to link me samples of my portfolio of what they wanted, but still complained what I did for them looked bad (Vbriger mouth upgrade). After jumping through hoops, I came to the conclusion they most likely asked for the wrong service and probably wanted a 6x6/koziichu mouth instead. I couldn’t confirm my suspicion since they never showed me the sample that made them want to commission me, but it was the only explanation of why they were so unhappy and what I did looked nothing like the mouths they saw, well, probably because it was never a Vbridger mouth… but thanks for never showing me the sample to let you know if it was a Vbridger mouth or not...
I'm from a different sphere, but "Art is a privilege/luxury" is such a wild concept to me. Like, my full disclosure is that I am currently flat broke. I don't commission and can't pay for subscriptions. Sure people aren't entitled to commissions or to see stuff artists don't want to share, but art enriches people's lives, and the fact that we have easy access to art that would normally sit in obscurity is one of my favorite things. To just plainly say it's stuff certain people don't deserve or shouldn't have access to feels really wrong. Am I missing something?
im still in a situation where i paid for a commission + tip and never got the product so I asked for a refund and after two weeks its STILL pending in Paypal, not sure what to do with that for one. And for two am I an ass if I asked for my tip back too since I tipped for the service.. but I never received the service? the artist got snippy with me when I asked for all of it back- but I never even got a sketch after a few weeks- if I wanted to donate then I would've let them keep the money but I don't want to support someone who took on 20+ commissions a week before Christmas, blew all the money then said they weren't doing art anymore.. just to say they are a day later and offer a base fill in instead of what I paid for originally... its all messy. I rarely commission and then the one time I do its a mess and a half..
Only privileged people would ever say "it's only such and such amount of money". I don't care how much money some of these arrogant asshats are making, if that money lost can buy at least one meal then it was too much money to lose. Artist, please do better because this is how AI became so mainstream in the first place. If you can't do the job then you don't deserve the money!
Being an artist whose comms are open, but never gets any besides friends, it's hard to see people go through this. Like, how could you just not deliver on a piece?? I can't help but show every little update and spam the crap out of them when doing a piece. Constantly wanting to make sure they're happy with what I'm doing. So it's just really hard for me to fathom that there are people out there that...just don't. It's such a foreign concept for me. And it's, obviously, not ok. This doesn't happen in any other profession, as some other people have stated, so it's not ok to do in the art world.
I know this has been an issue for a long time. I remember this was a huge thing on deviantart back in like... 2008-2012 i remember a lot of drama back then. I think it's getting worse with AI. not to just blame it but it seems it can make it easier to scam people 😢
Sincerely, people seriously need to stop trying to live based on commissions alone when it’s clearly not working out. If you need to scam people or take an overwhelming amount of commissions at once, then it’s not working out, and accepting more commissions isn’t magically going to change that. It’s not easy, but if you reach that point, you need to get another job.
And even _if_ you can’t get another job, it isn’t an excuse. It’s still scamming and you clearly don’t deserve to have a platform at all if you get to that point.
Twitter is scary, like yeah I have an account on there but I have 0 posts but I do post on blue sky. I’m just saying if I every mess up/some one lies about me and a call out or something happens I wouldn’t even know if I didn’t get @ed and even then the anxiety would cause me to not wanna read it all. Four years younger or older than me as is far as I’m going with any friends, if I ever get a following and people try to be my friend I’m immediately asking “how old are you” and pining/saving the message
Lmao, if you give a date for the commission at most you can extend the deadline a couple of days if something horrible happened to you (and you tell this to the client). If you dont give him the exact time in which the commission will be finished, I always say that I will give them their money back if I fail or if they want to cancel the commission (even after doing the draft and advancing the final drawing). Hopefully, all my clients seem happy with the results and are ok with waiting 1 or 2 days more if I miss on the deadline. With that said, most of the people that commission me are nsfw people lmao, and I have hear more horror stories from people that draw sfw.
Yeah I'm currently going through this situation. First time ever actually. But paid, even paid for que jump cause my ADHD was going to lose interest in it fast if it wasn't. Anyway, last I heard from this person was during Xmas (as I send out Happy Holidays to all the artist I comm at the time and hoping they are taking a lil break), and was jumped with "I need money for (medical reason). Do you know anyone looking for comm's?". I didn't, but offered to post about it in a couple discords for them that has the type of liking to the artists style. Well... after holidays, I just asked for their que/trello that THEY THEMSELVES mentioned having. And... it's been radio silence. Never asked for updates, never asked for anything major. Just a link so I can keep an eye on it myself without having to bother them. But no response, even after another message a couple days later with a reminder - as I am NOTORIOUS for forgetting to reply or thinking I already replied. Nothing. Messaged on their other media.....nothing. This person is gone for sure. It was not a paypal comm either, so I had to contact my bank. Crossing fingers that they get me something bad cause I'm already over this artist.
This happened recently no I'm not going to over-exaggerate a lot of people in this video have lost a lot of money mine was a measly dollar commission.(I live off benefits and I don't have much afterwards) That was 2 months ago haven't heard anything back from them.. and I'm not used to PayPal just yet I'm definitely a cash app user.. And what's the point of charging back just a damn dollar? Mind you I am a lower class artist on toy house nobody knows me I have like five friends...this user is a higher quality artist..."pay me and all get to it this week" proceeds to hide blog? Then on top of it all I cannot remember their damn username (and I had one user blame me that that was my fault)and every time I try making a blog about it nobody cares because it's ok to screw with lower class artist. Pardon me I get it it's just a damn dollar 😂but I could have bought and a candle with that.. to make my house smell good where I live my Dollar general has a full on dollar section... that damn dollar it could have gone to something better.
People complaining about artists not responding for months meanwhile here I am feeling guilty and apologizing if I'm a couple days late.
Which is like the normal thing to do! I'm the same. I feel like artists with integrity would probably feel similarly.
Why do these artists who ignore clients for months get multiple commissions and I get none 😭
I never had a commission and I keep seeing rando worse artists skipping their advance payment commission. Is there some commission site I'm unaware of?
SAME I don't ever understand how people do this to their commissioners, I stress out INSANELY if I am getting close to the deadline and don't feel like I'll be able to complete it. There was one commission I accidentally let go over the deadline by quite a bit because I started having a lot of stuff going on in my life at that time and the instant things calmed down and I remembered (They were so nice about it, they didn't mind.) I was ready to just give them what I had done and a full refund honestly. Like I feel SO bad doing that to anyone.
I think I'd die of guilt if I did what some of these people are doing out here.
i made a gift comm for a friend for christmas last year, they told me that if i sent it before the 25th it would be good, but that i could send it anytime i wanted, even as a late gift (he requested me for adrawing gift for their friends, just tlyk) i ended up sending it on the 24th and i apologised for being too on the deadline.
ofc they laughed it off and after a couple of days they told me that their friends loved it
it pisses me off sm when people say “but it’s only [insert number] dollars!” like idgaf if it was two cents, I’m getting that shit back😭
Not to mention it ignores the fact that there's people outside the western sphere that still commission artists. Purchasing power and currency exchange are huge factors and what seems like a paltry amount of dollars could set back a lot of people months. I'd always advise not to buy stuff with money you can't afford to lose but it's not great to demean the amount of money that does get lost either.
@@tarotsushima3332Yep. Or people like me who can only scrounge together so much luxury money due to not being able to work for very long due to injury
It's so weird bc money doesn't grow on trees and today most people who comm artists aren't rich? It's their hard earned money and probably a single treat they allowed themselves in months of earning + saving. It's so disrespectful.
@@tarotsushima3332 The logic of not to spend money you can't afford to lose doesn't always work. One day you could afford to lose that money then the next week something unforeseeable happens and now your in big trouble.
Fr my parents would literally get in hand to hand combat over returns to the store that were maybe 5-20 bucks at most,, its just not a cool position to put anyone in cuz they might feel forced to just 'give it up' since people are claiming the amount is so little
I'm an artist that offers commissions and I am happy people are speaking up about this. We don't see ghosting or extremely delayed due dates as acceptable in other fields, so why is it okay with art? Things happen for sure, but when they do you need to communicate. So many artists have beautiful skills but should NOT be offering these services because they lack the professionalism and customer service to do so.
Because when we called that shit out, Twitter protected those asshats, and now they are dealing with their poor decisions.
@@EvaHoshizora Not the same people.
Soeaking as an artist as well, some artist want to do art for a living yet doesn't respect the job they do as a profession. They didn't bother to learn how to legally offer service or even what 'terms of use/service" even is
Like dude, it's a job not playing o
pretend, please take it seriously
Agreed. If I'm commissioning an artist and they get sick I obviously won't mind waiting, stuff happens. But if I commission an artist and they just don't feel like it or accept too much work and never gets done, then that's their own fault and not something the customer should have to just be fine with.
This is why I hate the "they're only 15-16" argument, like obviously they're not going to be as professional as an adult, but if they don't state their age anywhere that's not something the customer should have expected, and they still agreed to do a job. If they can't do said job they shouldn't be taking money for it either.
The amount of stories I've seen where the artist turns out to be 16 and swamped with school and have no idea how to manage a workload makes me want commission sites to have an 18+ rule
I am a very slow artist. My commissions take very long and I am super grateful for everytime that is patient with me. BUT. If someone would want a refund due to me being too slow, I would 100% refund them no matter my situation. My speed is not my client's problem.
If your client knows you work slowly and they chose to work with you then your speed IS their problem. Don't let people take advantage of you. They chose you. If your speed was going to be an issue they should have chosen a different artist to begin with.
@@thatfishbone Yep I like to put in my TOS that I am slow and give estimates on how long I take. I also use trello for updates so my clients can always check for updates + DM if there is a delay. Communication is key !
@@thatfishbone Exactly this. If they commission you it's their responsibility to get familiar with your T.O.S and learn your usual timeframe. If they commission a slow artist and start asking about progress after a few days or so expecting progress, they should have came to a diff artist with a faster skillset.
Aww you are all very nice thank you! I also usually communicate a lot when doing commissions. I reply to message super fast because of cases like in the vid. You all do make a point hahahaha. I never had to refund someone though so far due to my slowlyness.
I feel like commissions have always been kinda messy, I feel like a lot of people start commissions without fully understanding what that entails and how important the communication process is.
Agreed. As an artist, I've always been told by my friends and family that I should do commissions and that it'd be 'oh so easy' to make money off of it, but.. no. It's not easy, and it can be stressful and overwhelming, especially when first getting into it. You need to have an understanding of business, and both parties need to be clear and concise to ensure that the end result is up to par.
I think a handful of people don’t think their commissions count as a business so they don’t see it from a business perspective. They see it as easy money and don’t take it seriously
I personally would see it as practice and a addition to my hobby if I sometimes chose to sell stuff
It's been a problem a lot of people have noticed about small businesses that are just people monitizing their hobbies without a lick of business, marketing or PR know-how. Obviously I wouldn't expect someone who's just selling art online on Twitter or Vgen to know all the ins and outs of running a business but there's a glaring lack of professionalism with a lot of these smaller ventures. Any other business, getting a refund with passed deadlines or lack of communication seems like a no brainer but if you're in direct informal communication with the actual seller, it leads to a lot of people choosing inaction so they're not the bad guy or the villain that made someone not pay their bills or sth.
@@Zcmb1eyeah.but if you start taking money in exchange for goods and/or a service that's still a business transaction and should be treated like one not a hobby
hi kat! thank you so much for sharing my story! and thank you for liking my design! i just want to clarify that the design i am using now is NOT the design that i'm waiting for the model art back from, it is a previous persona that i intended to use! either way, thank you for sharing my ko-fi and my tweet links, it means the world to me!
the big problem is that these artists treat their business like they're doing their buddy a favor... if you're taking someone's money treat it with the seriousness it deserves.
I remember when I got my first commission ever. I was so excited that I couldn’t sleep until I finished. I was sending updates on the hour. It was a sketch commission but that $15 and the kind messages that followed meant the world to me.
I cant imagine messing with other people’s money like that
i hate when people respond to any complaint that customers have with "wElL ArT iS a LuXuRY >:(("....like that doesnt mean that you can treat your clients like crap??
yeah like going to a nice resturant is a luxury but that doesn't mean I cant get angry if it takes them 8 hours to make my food
fr like how does that make it any better?? Dont luxuries normally cost a lot or at least require some amount of hardship to get? Like going on a luxury cruise youd expect the best service possible, a luxury restaurant would have incredible service and food, etc etc. It just isnt at all the excuse they think it is
If you're months behind on commissions and need to open more for rent, then you're not meant to live off of commissions (most aren't).
there’s about 20 of us right now who are waiting on very expensive plush commissions from an artist who ghosted everyone months ago. the crazy part is they’ve FINISHED some of the plushies but never shipped them (even long before their last update).
I hope someone takes legal action against Plushgarden at this point. I can’t believe someone who’s supposed to have been trustworthy just ran off with thousands of dollars
That’s why I only have 4 slots for comms 😅😅 so I don’t overwhelm myself
I can barely do two at a time I’d say four is really good
@ two is really good too! It’s important to know your own limits and know how many you can really do.
I'm currently writing up a VGen review for a full model commission I had to ask the artist to conclude the project without rigging.
They spent 5 months just on the art, and by the time they got to the rigging several months later, they vented to me that they didn't feel like they could rig the model. I'd been following their social media just to ensure they were still "active" while my comm was still being delayed, and guessed they couldn't do a partial refund based on what they posted about. They've since confirmed a refund wouldn't be possible, but I didn't push for it, as I was more worried about not getting the art file that did exist if they ended up panicking and ghosting. They've offered a small additional art as compensation, but I'm still out about $550 and they haven't delivered the extra art yet.
Even after all the vetting I did, it goes to show that any artist can still screw a commissioner over.
Ohh man that sounds like a sucky situation, they waited several months just to say they weren't confident in it?? Thats wild that the compensation is just 'a small additional piece' instead of *your* money back :(
@SirIsaac1313 what's wild is that pretty quickly after they told me they were starting the rigging, they'd sent me a couple rough progress videos of the eye and mouth rigs and a very basic waist rigging within a week??? I wasn't their first rig client by any means, and I even commissioned them based on their rigging style and experience rigging models with anthro features my design would have.
I don't understand what caused them to become doubtful, but after how nightmarish communicating had been over the year, I really just couldn't tolerate it anymore. The idea of having to go through this song-and-dance again when I wanted outfit and toggle updates just made my patience break.
bro i'm starting to think the artists who do this shit must have the prettiest art style or smth how do they even attract so many ppl to ghost to begin with? I barely get any comms and the blessed few I HAVE gotten I've never done them dirty like this damn
as an artist who just open my first commissions, this is just sad, i know there are some bad apples among us but the bad apples just kept growing. its kinda discouraging and makes me want to not open a commissions.
Artist like these make other good artists look bad and they are the ones always getting coms
EXACTLY!! How are THEY aways getting business but the good ones are left with no requests?? so unfair
@@jewboo3118
Exactly I can't help but feel so bad that artist with horrible work ethics get all the commissions and give their customer subpar works.
@@iriscute7877 exactly I get nothing wtf
I've gotten to the point where I only commission friends, because I know they won't screw me. One time I commissioned someone for a sketch, for 10$, a year goes by, no updates, and suddenly they're not around anymore. I dm them, and nothing. I start commenting on their page, only to have their fans come at me because it was "only 10$". Doesn't matter! It's not THEIR money until work has been done, and considering they disappeared on a bunch of people, no work was done. It wasn't even a fully rendered piece, it was a SKETCH and they could not complete it. I did end up getting a refund, but only because I called them out publicly and they wanted to get get rid of me/shut me up. I don't know if everyone else got their art, or their money back.
Considering that you had to go up against them and call them out just to get $10 back, id guess that others havent gotten theirs refunded which is super unfortunate. It really seems like artists like that are everywhere now that people like katliente are calling them out on larger platforms !
I can't get a commission at all and I have fast turn around. But I don't fit the "style" category they're all looking for, I guess.
As an artist, I think it's fine if an artist takes months on a commission. BUT, we live in a society that is a lot more fast paced that it used to be, and if your going to take months to do a commission; you're obligated to at LEAST update the client once a month, even if it's just a "hey, I didn't forget about your commission! I've just been very busy; here's what progress I HAVE made!"
Your speed doesn't matter if your actually communicating with the client AND actually making at least some progress (be that on the one commission or on another commission that your working on at the same time, since I know artists tend to do multiple at a time).
This is reason why I first make commisioned art, and after it's ready and commissioner is happy, he pays me.
I ran into a situation like this with someone I consider a friend. They're a great artist, but their time management skills are unfortunately not the best. I DID eventually get my commission... but it took over a year, and in the meantime they opened seasonal YCHs and seemed to prioritize those over their regular comm queue. It was kind of frustrating to watch.
I have comms open and I done a bit too and I would never imagine myself ghosting anyone ever regardless of time on my hand, it's so important to have updates whenever it's needed, for example, when it takes too long, whenever the commissioner asks for an update for one reason or another or when a sketch is finished. Communication is just needed and is one of the most important things when you do commissions, both for part and full time.
Something I do is that I don't consider money from a commission that is not finished fully mine. I won't transfer it from paypal to my bank if the commission is not completed
It does create a stresse as I have to make money in one month for the next, a bit like if I had a 9 to 5, but it also motivate me to work on it
I do think some people with more chaotic life can't do that, but idk, works well
I followed the old model of partial payment when I do commissions without a platform. It holds me accountable for finishing work, and it also roots out scammers, especially for expensive work like GUI.
Spending all your clients money without giving them a finished product is a crazy to me, it’s not your money UNTILL you finish the commission
@ It does help indeed ! I do it for bigger commissions, and I do find it help clients with confident, and us too
@ Right ?? exactly my thought process !
Super relatable ! I just note down every comm that has to be done + the payment amounts and I won't touch that money until I've completed it
I have had multiple incidents with artist who don't follow their own turn-around time within their TOS. Then they try to blame it on me. One artist even told me it's not absolute, and they can get the art done whenever. People please do research before commissioning an artist.
I've also had times when artist just disappear, like right now. I commed the artist in April and haven't heard from them since August. It's so sad. I'll never com from them again. Artist like that are the reason why I have trust issues with other artist.
One of the reasons I don't commission anyone. Commissions can sometimes lead to this. I feel so bad! I hope they can get their money back and never experience this again..
Artist literally just forgot my 2 PAID YCHs for a year until I reminded them.. I got the finished a day later, but I didnt bother hitting them up about changes even tho I gave them my reference sheets.. This shit right here is the reason why I am so scared/hesitant to commission new artists that I have never commissioned in the past..
May come off harsh but we really need to stop babying artists and trying to make it the client's fault or whoever they slighted 100% percent of the time. There's nothing wrong with delays, as long as you communicate. But if you don't communicate and just run off or make excuses why you can't work out art OR a refund you shouldn't be taking coms. I also believe that we need to start normalizing actively criticizing artists who have poor communications because that's how you either end up with a artists beware or a massive drama where uninvolved parties get involved.
Do long as the work isn't finished, or there was something majorly wrong, the client should be allowed to ask an artist for a refund if they're uncomfortable with how they were treated(and refund % according to the artist TOS since some do partial if the work was started)
its reasons like this that i don't ask for payment until the clients sketch has been approved. this might not work for everybody but i find that it relieves some of the stress off of the client as well as myself. they know that something is in the works, and i know that i've captured their prompt in a way that they're happy with. i've only had one person not pay me, but their situation never came off as malicious just like they had a lot of social anxiety. I was able to recycle the pose for another piece in the end, so no harm really.
I work part time and make $100 every two weeks :' ) so when I get scammed I REALLY feel it. Saving up for a commission can take me literal months.
Just yesterday I found your channel AND I CAN NOT STOP WATCHING. Like I love listening to you whenever I’m drawing, cooking, etc. 💗💗
As someone who does commissions whenever I can (not much business unfortunately!), I ALWAYS make sure the client is a part of the process. After every step (rough sketch, sketch, lineart, etc) I send them a WIP and check in to see if anything needs to be changed or altered. (It's a hell of a lot easier to change something when in sketch or lineart instead of fully rendered.)
All the WIPs I send are lower-quality screenshots with watermarks so it would be difficult for the client to run off with it, and I only give them the official version after payment is received.
We NEED more people to complain on this. It's a job when you take the money, not a charity case 🗣🗣
I'm an artist and I have friends who are still waiting for art for more then a year from other artists, it's disgusting. That's turning off people who are willing to support human made art when that is so, so important rn. Artists gotta be better
it makes me so sad seeing artist do this. As an artist myself that is trying to get comissions with no result for the moment.. it feels like such disrespect and waste of time to the people that is paying. And its so sad that there are many artist that want to do comissions and arent given the chance seeing them waste their opportunities like that
I only take money for one commission at a time
the guild tripping "I dont have money for next months rent how dare you charge me back" just makes me so want to feel like saying I DIDNT GIVE THE MONEY TO DONATE TO YOU 😭
been literally scammed out of about 400$ waiting on commissions and i’m an artist myself doing commissions as well- so damn, friendly fire 😭
Meanwhile I'm in a Discord where people have been waiting 5 years for their art 🙃
Artist of 7 years doing freelance, noticed when commissioning others theres a massive lack of communication now :/
Recently had an artist finish a comm without wips, and never sending me the work. Waited 2 months to find out its done and completely wrong.
Was not a skeb comm, they just didn't communicate at all despite doing freelance over a decade.
Artist have zero weekly progress or commutation with people now, i do these myself as i know from commissioners standpoint how it feels.
Its honetsly wild. Like even if artists need that much time, the artists need to include that they take a long time. (and communicate if things change.
I include my general time frame and I haven't even opened comms. (Its there for art trades mostly rn). Its just sad to see because it makes it harder on everyone.
No because, as someone who commissions artist , It's been 6 months since I last heard from my artist on a half body comm and they recently posted art and my sketch is still untouched! like I'm not mad or anything because life happens but damn! From the looks of it they finna open comms again! Like pls I want my art but I don't want to bother them 😭😭
Nooo artists who reopen comms while still having unfinished ones on the table are the reasons why Katliente has drama to talk about ToT i hope you get your art !!
@ Brooo i hope i get it to! If not I guess bye bye to $50 that could of went to my new fave artist 😭😭
It's infuriating because it's so hard to get commissions in the first place. This just makes more people wary of commissioning anyone and makes it even harder so we all get punished because some people are irresponsible. Personally I do the sketch first so they'll at least have something but I'm always willing to show wips throughout if they're worried. Then again I never take a month to do something..
IDK, maybe it’s just me, but I’ve been doing commissions for five years-three of those full-time-and I put a lot of effort into calming clients’ nerves and anxieties. So many have been burned before, and it’s frustrating because their concerns aren’t about me or my process. But I still have to pick up the pieces left by other artists who were irresponsible with their clients’ money.
I think the time between updates should depend on how long the commission usually takes. When I rig VTuber models it's common to have weeks of no contact when I'm actively working on it because you know it's gonna take me a few months to finish. However if someone asks me for an update I usually get back to them within a few days at most with the current progress WIP even if it's not polished yet. Trust is a massively important thing with commission work, good communication often results in repeat customers and recommendations.
I spent $100 on a commission back in August of last year. I still haven't seen a sketch or anything. 8 weeks ago, I asked the artist if they are still doing my commission, they said yes and they will be sending me updates every now and then. I still haven't received a sketch or any evidence they are working on my commission. Soon, I feel like I'm going to cut my losses, tell them I'm giving up waiting, and just block the artist because it makes me upset to see them continuing to post non-commission related art they created. They have so much time to create several art pieces but no time to work on my commission?
Am I the a hole in this situation? I haven't confronted them about me being upset yet. But it was supposed to be a gift to myself for going back to work in September. I told the artist it was a gift for going back to work. I guess I didn't say "Here's a deadline", but it was kinda implied and if they couldn't do it, they should have told me they couldn't, and I would have commissioned a different artist. I bought their most expensive option. I never had to wait this long for a commission before, all the commissions I bought from other artists has never taken this long.
I had a couple artists just... not respond to my commission request at all. like they'd post that their comms were open, I'd DM them, never hear back. better to get ghosted before the comm than after you've paid, I guess, but it's really frustrating to be open for commissions and not get any clients, meanwhile you try to commission other artists and just never hear back from them.
I commissioned a doll repaint in 2023! Like they will respond to me when I ask for updates but I don’t even think they have started on the doll, meanwhile they are randomly selling repaints they do in their spare time. I’m really just hoping they’ll get to it soon but I’m not ever going to commission them again. I’ll give it one more month before I ask for a refund. Over a year is not an acceptable wait time, but I’m very shy when it comes to standing my ground 🙂↕️
As an artist working on setting up commissions, this is why I’m making sure I’m taking them when I know I have the time. Right now I know I’m too busy, so my commission are closed period
I had someone ghost me for almost a week with zero progress and when I showed concern about it, someone I shared a server with basically told me (rather harshly) I'm dumb for worrying and that they've waited weeks for art progress before like uh- dude that's not normal to not have any communication for that long???
I also lost money to artist and never get anything out of it. I really don't mind waiting BUT the person must communicate with me, if a person is willing to do that I'm fine with waiting even a year for example. To be honest people always ghost me and like you mentioned they did write me when I did a chargeback with paypal.
Same goes for "only" people offering me art for characters, I wish I was exaggerate, but out of 10 art offers 2 get finished. It's really frustrating especially since I really adore getting art of my characters, but for me it's so much stress to run after those people it's not worth it.
My worst experience is a few people making art for the character, they will get like they own them and get upset at me for not giving the characters to them because, they never finish their owned artwork. ( One of them even "sold a redesign" - of course never doing the owned artwork - because, it looked different enough, no it didn't btw but, I deleted my design because, I was a pushover and felt bad about screwing over the person who bought the redesign).
I’ve been a silent watcher and I wanna say I love your content so much and is exactly what I’m interested in when wanting something to listen to in the background and to know drama I don’t know about! Keep up the good work thank you for the amazing videos :)
I ever done comission and everyday my mum remind me " hey have you finish their sketch/ drawing?" And it become my motivation to finish the piece 😂 my mum being nosy and remind me " it money and dont scam people" . Anyway one of my late submission was due to me taking a volunteer type of job. It was fine since it was a family members and I submit it 2 weeks after they order for the comission.
I’ve had this happen with SO many artists before, luckily it was only in game currencies that were easy to get, and usually artists on the website I used only made you pay half upfront and half after, but I got a sketch for a comm, paid half, and then the user ghosted me for OVER A YEAR, still haven’t heard back. And I’ve paid 2 other artists as well, still haven’t gotten art.
I think the best way to settle this is to laid out time frame where the work will be completed in the TOS.
That why the commisioner knew what they get into before paying for the work. So if a slow paced artist laid out that the works would take months to finish, the comissioner already have a general idea of the time frame.
That doesn't excuse the aritst to ghosted them though.
Kat, just so u know, you inspired me to make an Etsy way bacj 2023 (and I made money from it and used it 🥺) and now, you're my fave art yapper! ❤❤
As someone who regularly does commissions, I have a policy in my ToS that I will refund my clients if I'm unable to fulfill the order within a two month timeframe. This is handy for me since I draw pretty quickly. However, I do understand people's speed in drawing is different, so it may or may not work for others. I feel like good communication is required when you do commissions. Even if you take a long time, giving regular updates is always the way to go since you're responsible for handling the client's money.
I bought pixel art all the way back in July/August of 2024, the artist put 2 pixels down and nothing more. I DMed her back in April asking her to continue it and she said she would, but she needed $5 to pay for her program subscription, I sent her the $5 to help her, thinking MAYBE she'd work on my piece. Did she? No. Not a single pixel added and I'm devastated because I really love her art and pixel art makes me inexplicably happy, its my go-to commission type.
edit: I should not she isn't a bot scammer, I knew of her long before I commissioned her, I sought her out because I'd seen her art before and wanted it.
i do commissions for banners and overlays, etc. and i HATE making the buyer wait too long. and i keep in constant contact. i get such bad anxiety about not getting it done in time. even if there is no deadline date. i dont see how people could make the buyer wait multiple MONTHS!! plus, when making stuff like i do or stuff like art. i feel that it's important to keep in constant communication with the buyer. since it needs to be to their liking. and however much longer i spend on the piece is due to making changes/adjustments to their liking.
I am an artist. I accidentally ghosted my client because of personal happenings, and I was not in the right head space to talk to anyone or draw. They wanted to pay upfront, but I said no, pay when I'm fully done with your commissions, since I unfortunately have poor communication and time management. And I was gonna add a free art with it for the long wait. I'm glad my terms of service is to pay when I'm done because I didn't want to take their money like that. The guilt, bro. Just know I am doing better at commissions now. Still have tweaks to work on, too.
Sometimes i feel when im drawing that how worth are my drawings, im not too good on drawings, but i know some concepts and i do my best, mostly when i think on doing commission i do it for free
Dreams is one of my moots and I had no idea this happened!!!!!
the only time I would ever be lenient is if a natural disaster happened that effected the entire area the artist lives in and I know them personally then I'll give them time to rebuild their life, otherwise if I give an artist a deadline and they don't meet it I'm 100% refunding even if they're hospitilzed, they should have at least tried communicating with me first.
My recent commissions are for a vr avatar and the first artist sent me a sketch. And only a sketch. I'm like "I'm just going to move my project forward cause im not waiting around." And i only commission artists I've worked with previously because I had a great time working with them and communication was good. Because I'm not liking when peolle forces me to pick them when I haven't said yes or no and when I tell people no, they keep insisting on it.
i've stopped looking for artists to commission on social media entirely, every single experience i've had with someone i didn't know prior has gone horribly. i only commission through vgen now, only purchase commissions with low turnaround times, and will never wait longer than 6 months for a piece. commissioners are allowed to have standards!!
I've had somewhat personal experience with it paid an artist for a character sheet paid them and everything was getting some updates for a while discussing changes they said some things were going on in their life including school I think and... well they've gone completely inactive since and its been far passed the deadline going back like 7 or more months at least.
I am a type of artist with a policy who only take my payments after I finished my art and submit the final piece with Invoice. I also bad at management and communication too. I only wished to be a good artist who have good integrity and intentions.
If the commissioner don't pay me, then its on their conscience. 😂😅
This is why I always give myself two months because I have a full time job but I tend to finish a commission with that week. lol
I’ve commissioned about 4 artists over the past couple of years as a little luxury when I had the money. 3 out of the four were supper sweet and we’re understanding of me being a bit confused by the process. No time estimates were given but I think the lastest i received an art piece was a month later but still getting periodic updates of sketch and preferences.
But last year in august I commissioned an artist who works I loved and tbh it wasn’t the best. It sucked because they started art school in September but i ended up getting my commission around may the year after. I reached out once a month and was frustrated since it seemed like they were still taking commission but were barely responding to my messages. I ended up asking for a refund when I saw I was in the section queue showing my art has not been started on yet. But they informed me they weren’t able to update their queue in a bit and actually had mine finished. I don’t blame them for anything because I get they were a bit over their head. But for me in the future I think I’ll just ask for time frame the next time get a com lol
i stay in contact till piece is done
Jan 2 it's January 13
Eeee-- giving us a bad name-- especially we cant be picky sense ai is here--
I get the worst commissioners. Like they want their art done in a day. Like, I don't use AI dude, I usually take a week if I got more than 3 commissions... They were begging for a refund on day 3 cause I didn't deliver in day 2 when my description stated 7 days and I had a queue. I refunded just cause it was stressing me out.
I would never scam anyone and I don't get any commissions :(
Also to add, I am also an artist from the Philippines. Been doing freelancing for 6 years now. It's like... Its a sin for me not to update a paid client in a week. I make sure to deliver what they paid for in weeks. It works wonders btw. They will always com me
Any com-artist that doesn't post " I'm taking X-amount at this time", is a red flag.
You should already know your work pace, account for your private life, etc.
I think this is the issue of hiring art hobbyists instead of professional artists.
and thats why i like to work through artistree AND i only ask for the money after the art is done (i heavely watermark when its not paid, still able to see how it looks and anti-Ai layer so i don't get scammed), the only thing i need to work on is getting better and idk... schedule things better lol
edit: i even have a 7 days "deadline" (its like that so if i've been working in the art for more than 7 days the commissioner can annoy me and yes i make it clear)
I spent 200 dollars on a custom character , and I’m still waiting it’s been like 6 months , I asked for a refund and they told me they couldn’t give me one because they already came up with a concept , which is a little silly considering they never mentioned it to me that they had a concept, only telling me about it when I ask for a refund . But I hear a lot about people commissioners getting ghosted by artists a lot in the furry community. And I do sometimes understand that you can get heavy burn out from doing coms but, sometimes you gotta remember that commissioners do spend their hard earned money on you, and should be given updates and communication. I ranted a lil to hard but yea
im awful with timing, i do commissions through online game currency not real money, but I have not responded in ages before
usually though if it goes past 2-3 months i'll offer to do the art for free, if they decide to pay me still after i consider it a tip, since i took so dam long. Though it doesnt help now i work full time and just...dont care to draw anymore, i hate it
Dreamsie actually won one of my twitter raffles for a free model art and it was a dream (ha pun) to work with her, currently the model I made for her (new design) is being rigged. she deserves the world. the other artist they are trying to get the art from was doing the old design of a ghost puppy. I watched the whole thing go down as I was making the new design model, it's insane.
If it was me I would only pay for the sketch phase first, give the artist 2 to 3 weeks for the sketch, then once I got the sketch phase go over any changes that need to happen, then ask to enter sketch phase two. Once satified with the the final sketch phase, I'll pay for flat lines and base color, this would be 3 weeks to a month window, once I recieve that then it's half of the payment for the final lines and rendering up-front and the remaining half upon completion. This way it's 4 seperate payments instead of all at once, if the artist at any point ghosts me at least I have some of the money and what money the artist has would cover the 30% non-refundable charge I think all artists should employ. At least if they've actually started the piece and aren't ghosting me right at the sketch phase.
Honestly I would probably just want the linework stage and do the flat colors myself but for what I want it would have to be digital instead of traditional.
Again: just because you can draw and are able to receive money doesn't mean you're made to be an artist that sells their work. Not everyone is made for this, that's also the reason why the market is oversaturated and that there are so many people having a bad time. Hard to swallow pill i guess.
As an artist I only ever take the payment after the sketch is done. This takes pressure off me and gives my client more security.
Sure, it happens every now and again that somebody takes the sketch and never ends up paying, but I'd rather have that than having my reputation ruined lol
I'd recommend giving them a heavily watermarked version. It'll show you're done the art, and then they can pay for the clean one. Itll kimda keep a bit from both worlds and stop some spcmmers
When you get a commission from me, I send steps to make the waiting process easier. Sketch, line art, base colors, and render. I update daily to make sure I’m getting what the client needs. I also let client know if I’m running behind due to busy with kids. The most I’ve had someone wait is a week.
People complaining that their artist took months to do anything, while I'm here looking at them like peasants, finishing artwork the week they're started.
Little commissions tho :(
Relatable lol ! Commissions live rent free in my head until I've completed them. I would feel so guilty not working on something I was PAID TO DO. But similarly, I don't get a steady stream of them.
omg ur makeup ate and left no crumbs
I just want to use this space to warn everybody that Kingbri, the comment that appears on 11:36 is a nightmare client. The fact this person is making emphasis on bilateral communication baffles me, they refused to link me samples of my portfolio of what they wanted, but still complained what I did for them looked bad (Vbriger mouth upgrade). After jumping through hoops, I came to the conclusion they most likely asked for the wrong service and probably wanted a 6x6/koziichu mouth instead. I couldn’t confirm my suspicion since they never showed me the sample that made them want to commission me, but it was the only explanation of why they were so unhappy and what I did looked nothing like the mouths they saw, well, probably because it was never a Vbridger mouth… but thanks for never showing me the sample to let you know if it was a Vbridger mouth or not...
I'm from a different sphere, but "Art is a privilege/luxury" is such a wild concept to me. Like, my full disclosure is that I am currently flat broke. I don't commission and can't pay for subscriptions. Sure people aren't entitled to commissions or to see stuff artists don't want to share, but art enriches people's lives, and the fact that we have easy access to art that would normally sit in obscurity is one of my favorite things. To just plainly say it's stuff certain people don't deserve or shouldn't have access to feels really wrong. Am I missing something?
im still in a situation where i paid for a commission + tip and never got the product so I asked for a refund and after two weeks its STILL pending in Paypal, not sure what to do with that for one. And for two am I an ass if I asked for my tip back too since I tipped for the service.. but I never received the service? the artist got snippy with me when I asked for all of it back- but I never even got a sketch after a few weeks- if I wanted to donate then I would've let them keep the money but I don't want to support someone who took on 20+ commissions a week before Christmas, blew all the money then said they weren't doing art anymore.. just to say they are a day later and offer a base fill in instead of what I paid for originally... its all messy. I rarely commission and then the one time I do its a mess and a half..
Only privileged people would ever say "it's only such and such amount of money". I don't care how much money some of these arrogant asshats are making, if that money lost can buy at least one meal then it was too much money to lose.
Artist, please do better because this is how AI became so mainstream in the first place. If you can't do the job then you don't deserve the money!
i feel it so much
Being an artist whose comms are open, but never gets any besides friends, it's hard to see people go through this. Like, how could you just not deliver on a piece?? I can't help but show every little update and spam the crap out of them when doing a piece. Constantly wanting to make sure they're happy with what I'm doing. So it's just really hard for me to fathom that there are people out there that...just don't. It's such a foreign concept for me.
And it's, obviously, not ok. This doesn't happen in any other profession, as some other people have stated, so it's not ok to do in the art world.
I know this has been an issue for a long time. I remember this was a huge thing on deviantart back in like... 2008-2012 i remember a lot of drama back then.
I think it's getting worse with AI. not to just blame it but it seems it can make it easier to scam people 😢
Sincerely, people seriously need to stop trying to live based on commissions alone when it’s clearly not working out. If you need to scam people or take an overwhelming amount of commissions at once, then it’s not working out, and accepting more commissions isn’t magically going to change that. It’s not easy, but if you reach that point, you need to get another job.
And even _if_ you can’t get another job, it isn’t an excuse. It’s still scamming and you clearly don’t deserve to have a platform at all if you get to that point.
Twitter is scary, like yeah I have an account on there but I have 0 posts but I do post on blue sky. I’m just saying if I every mess up/some one lies about me and a call out or something happens I wouldn’t even know if I didn’t get @ed and even then the anxiety would cause me to not wanna read it all. Four years younger or older than me as is far as I’m going with any friends, if I ever get a following and people try to be my friend I’m immediately asking “how old are you” and pining/saving the message
Lmao, if you give a date for the commission at most you can extend the deadline a couple of days if something horrible happened to you (and you tell this to the client). If you dont give him the exact time in which the commission will be finished, I always say that I will give them their money back if I fail or if they want to cancel the commission (even after doing the draft and advancing the final drawing). Hopefully, all my clients seem happy with the results and are ok with waiting 1 or 2 days more if I miss on the deadline.
With that said, most of the people that commission me are nsfw people lmao, and I have hear more horror stories from people that draw sfw.
AAA I'M LATE BUT UR MAKEUP IS SO PRETTYY (off topic sry !!)
Yeah I'm currently going through this situation. First time ever actually. But paid, even paid for que jump cause my ADHD was going to lose interest in it fast if it wasn't. Anyway, last I heard from this person was during Xmas (as I send out Happy Holidays to all the artist I comm at the time and hoping they are taking a lil break), and was jumped with "I need money for (medical reason). Do you know anyone looking for comm's?". I didn't, but offered to post about it in a couple discords for them that has the type of liking to the artists style.
Well... after holidays, I just asked for their que/trello that THEY THEMSELVES mentioned having. And... it's been radio silence. Never asked for updates, never asked for anything major. Just a link so I can keep an eye on it myself without having to bother them. But no response, even after another message a couple days later with a reminder - as I am NOTORIOUS for forgetting to reply or thinking I already replied. Nothing. Messaged on their other media.....nothing.
This person is gone for sure. It was not a paypal comm either, so I had to contact my bank. Crossing fingers that they get me something bad cause I'm already over this artist.
Before someone jumps the "BUT MEDICAL" pew pew...... it was a toothache. It's a dentist. It aint life or death as far as I'm concerned.
This happened recently no I'm not going to over-exaggerate a lot of people in this video have lost a lot of money mine was a measly dollar commission.(I live off benefits and I don't have much afterwards)
That was 2 months ago haven't heard anything back from them.. and I'm not used to PayPal just yet I'm definitely a cash app user..
And what's the point of charging back just a damn dollar?
Mind you I am a lower class artist on toy house nobody knows me I have like five friends...this user is a higher quality artist..."pay me and all get to it this week" proceeds to hide blog?
Then on top of it all I cannot remember their damn username (and I had one user blame me that that was my fault)and every time I try making a blog about it nobody cares because it's ok to screw with lower class artist.
Pardon me I get it it's just a damn dollar 😂but I could have bought and a candle with that.. to make my house smell good where I live my Dollar general has a full on dollar section... that damn dollar it could have gone to something better.
it feels weird being so early
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insane