[ SECRET POST #3621 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3621 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.



__________________________________________________



02.


__________________________________________________



03.


__________________________________________________



04.
[Daredevil]


__________________________________________________



05.
Grace and Frankie (TV Series 2015– )


__________________________________________________









06. [SPOILERS for Occultic;Nine]



__________________________________________________



07. [SPOILERS for "Oyasumi Punpun"]
[WARNING for discussion of suicide]















Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 00 secrets from Secret Submission Post #517.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Wow I completely understand this! I had a really bad experience where a highly esteemed fanartist to whom I paid $200 drew pretty much a piece of crap (so awful they have never posted it in any of their galleries of commissioned art). They hadn't given me any sketches or anything beforehand, just took my notes and reference material and then sent md the finished piece with no comment. (The subject matter wasn't that strange, and no, it wasn't porn either.) I was bitterly disappointed, but could never get up the nerve to ask them for a re-do or a partial refund.

[(Anonymous)]

Artists aren't machines, so even if you drop a decent amount of money it's still possible to get something you don't love back. I try my hardest with every commission I get, but sometimes things just don't always work out where both I and the commissioner are happy. But that's also why it's important that you tell an artist when you aren't happy, if they are a professional they will probably want to fix it.

There are a few things I recommend doing to prevent a bad commission-

- Definitely ask for a rough sketch preview and maybe even a color rough preview
- Ask for re-dos, most artists are more willing to do revisions then to refund money
- Ask about policies and fees that come with either of these first two points, many artists DO attach fees to these sort of things, but they may not cost much and could be worth the piece of mind of getting a piece you're happy with.
- In general don't be afraid to ask questions or request what you want, you don't need to ask a lot (and I certainly wouldn't bombard anyone) but generally you'll get a better result if you're clear about what you're looking for

I also wouldn't necessarily take them not posting it in their gallery as a sign that they think it's the worst, I don't post a lot of commission work but I'm kind of used to working professionally under NDAs and a lot of my commissions are gifts for other people so my automatic instinct is to keep it private. I'm not saying that's what happened but just keep an open mind.

I hope if you ever decide to commission an artist again you'll have a better experience!

[(Anonymous)]

All the things you suggest are very reasonable (and I have done them with other fanartists before and after this particular person), but like the OP I was too intimidated by this particular artist's rep to express any dissatisfaction. (When I got the first email with attachment after paying I was actually expecting it to be a rough sketch, not the finished piece.)

(fwiw she had posted a number of other commissioned pieces for that same fandom in her galleries.)

OP

[(Anonymous)]

I feel you fellow anon. That's part of my problem I think, the whole "artist with a rep" thing. When an artist is beloved by a huge part of fandom it can be really nerve wracking thinking that your shitty experience is likely to be dismissed solely because they don't want to believe their fave BNF could actually not be that awesome to commission for money. Even if an artist creates beautiful work it doesn't always mean they're going to be the most awesome person ever when dealing with clients and actually drawing for money. I've seen this issue crop up hundreds of times over the years in the Deviantart and FurAffinity communities.

[(Anonymous)]

No offense, but if you're asking for money, especially $200+, then you better make sure the customer is satisfied with your work.

If this were an actual job where you had a boss you'd be out on your ass so fast if you just say "Meh, I wasn't really feeling it so I just threw this crap together"

[(Anonymous)]

But this comment wasn't about throwing crap together? It was about trying your hardest but maybe something didn't all come together, art is unfortunately very subjective as well and it's possible that an artist will like something and a client won't and visa versa.

And it's already been discussed that if a client is not satisfied with an artist's work, then they need to SAY as such. Both OP and the comment anon have stated they were hesitant to ask for a fix, but artists aren't mind readers so if a client doesn't specify that they don't like the work and why they don't, there's nothing an artist can do about it.

[(Anonymous)]

(ayrt, not OP)

Yes, agreed. My comment was more about expressing solidarity with the OP, because I understand the anxiety over expressing dissatisfaction (even when you know logically that it would be reasonable to say something).