commision pet peeves?

When  artists re-sell one slot YCHs.

"Oh this was a year ago! And the lines for this YCH are so lovely, I gonna open this YCH once again!" - wtf. Not cool.

I have nothing against multislot YCHs, but when an artist says that YCH is one slot only, and then after some time decides to sell it again - it's a big NO. It's a scam.

Please if you think that you might re-sell your one slot YCHs in the future, put a warning in the description. Some people are not fond of the idea of using the same lines for the multiple characters.

I have an issue where people just strip my characters? Like they either remove half the layers or they just straight up take off the shirt. A lot if someone ASKS I'll say sure depending on the character/outfit but... One of my ocs is ESPECIALLY cursed... Like... always getting stripped???

I don't know as someone who takes comms I try to dress charas like the refs given unless specified? It's getting out of hand.....

"Can you please put his clothes back on? Thank you!" IS A DM I'VE SENT... TOO OFTEN.....

As a seller:

- When people order me to draw characters that have pure blacks and pure whites, and then get annoyed when I alter them so that shading and lighting actually show up... I know it might seem rude since I'm paid to do it, but I only alter colors when it gives an overall clearer image and better image of the character. 

- When people don't know what they want. I get not being sure, but when I have given you 10+ suggestion/poses/design options and you still don't know, then I just don't know how to give you something you'd like xD come on, if you're that unsure, then why did you need to order anything? 

- This is a small one, but I find it a bit peeving when there is no expression in the messaging back and forth. I don't know how to feel when you just respond "okay" or "sure" with no emojis or anything to indicate how you feel. I personally get a bit worried that they might be unsatisfied or annoyed. It's hard to read you when it's that plain, I'm not asking for a storm of gifs, but I care to know how commissioners feel about the order. 

None of these have occurred more than once or twice, but geez I wish they were not peeving me so much when they happen... 

As an artist:
- Lack of communication, luckly I haven't had this happen recently... But when I ask them questions about Ocs and they either don't answer me or don't really answer my question. ; 3;
- Also glad this one hasn't happened recently either but when people aren't sure what they want, but insist you restart multiple times because they don't like the pose. I'm find doing poses or changing them maybe once or twice, but please when I ask don't say "it's up to you". Please tell me what kind of poses you're not interested in!

As a commissioner:
- When people vastly change my OCs hair styles. I don't mind a bit of change to fit with the drawing style, but I mean completely changing it to be absolutely different. I've had that happen with a few Ocs and I'm like uhhh.
- When an artist completely half asses art and it looks nothing like the example. I understand things won't always be 100% on point, and a little bit of quality slipping is fine... But when it looks like something completely different than you ordered it's kind of disappointing. :U Especially when it looks like two different artists drew it.

As an artist: 

People who say stuff like "oh just draw whatever you want"
No. I'm not going to play guessing games with your characters and risk having to make multiple edits because you're not happy with my ideas. You need to send me something to work with, be it a quick shitty sketch, pose references or whatever. Come to me already having an idea of what you want, it makes everything so much easier

As a buyer:

- Artists who need to be told to send WIPs. Like come on, you should know to at least send a sketch so I can suggest edits before it's too late. I'm not gonna feel bad if you suddenly spring a finish piece on me and I don't like it

- When the art is vastly different than what he artists usually draws. I understand that not everyone is consistent and that your commission piece may look a bit different, I'm totally fine with that as long as what I ordered is high quality. But if it looks like it was drawn by another person or is clearly half assed, then I'm going to have a huge problem

- Having to ask for every single update. I hired you and you can at least send a couple of messages on your own. Artists that never initiate any updates are kind of questionable to me to be honest

As a commissioner: When I give the artist my clearly details reference for a character that I've put hours upon hours into designing and explaining it [especially for my more complicated designs], only to get back what looks like a half-assed "yeah I glanced at the character once" image. The last time I actively commissioned someone they fucked up my character so badly I not only tore the image a part [as they sent me the original] but I have refused to commission people anymore and it's been at least 7 years since then. While I understand that not everyone thinks they way I do or is willing to put in the effort for ALL the details a lot of the times...this was just insulting beyond belief. It wasn't even the same character.

As a seller: being asked to change things AFTER the image is completed. If it's something super small - that's no big deal. But I've had people basically want an entirely new commission before - the worst one being "oh well I changed her designed before you finished" [who never even paid in the end so I stopped accepting payment after the image was completed after that]. But also the lack of communication is a big one for both sides - if I'm having issues or have questions please for the love of god respond so I can get your commission done correctly. If you're taking months to do something that was promised after a couple weeks, please let me know WHY. I don't care if it takes months because of reasons - just let me know!!!!! Also when people don't tell me what they want. Believe it or not I'm not great at coming up with poses so if you want something fun or dynamic you HAVE to tell me. Otherwise you get a boring standing profile pose looking straight back at you. On top of that; when they complain about the pose, despite the fact that I clearly state this default pose every time someone tells me "you decide" or similar. 

People not looking at your comissions and then calling you an 8 year old on MSpaint without any sort of constructive criticism where it’s like “thanks asshole, what am I supposed to do with that?”

But then again people don’t comission me for shit so what do I know

when I commission artists:

•overall lack of communication.  Ahh gosh I hate it 

•empty promises.  The worst.  Don't tell me it will be done by tomorrow when you know it won't.   Why do you give such a short time frame to begin with?  There is no need to rush,  if it takes a week thats fine.  I'm actually very patient.  What bothers me is the fact that they promise something they won't /can't do at all over and over . 

• excuses.  Family sick,  dog died,  I have to time,  computer broke.  This is a HUGE red flag for me. These things can happen,  of course. But bad thing is that scammers use these excuses all the time.  You don't know who to trust.  And I can say that I definitely have big trust issues with that 

•no WIPs.  When an artist doesn't show or offer wips its always a big no for me. Or I won't commission them again at least.  People mess up my characters a lot sometimes.  So I pay you to draw my character incorrectly and with no wips or changes?  No thank you. 

•people with no TOS and much information or other places to find them.  I always fear commissioning such artists.  Also because I have had bad experiences before.   

when people commission me:

•again,  lack of communication.  When I send them wips and ask them if something needs to be fixed they don't reply but saw the message.  Like what?!  Can you please answer me?  This is such a stressful process If you have clients that don't talk to you aaa 

•people who don't pay attention at all,  don't read anything and your TOS.  Ugh pls... 

•one billion changes and extra wishes.  Telling you this and that looks off.  Which is perfectly fine,  I offer wishes and changes but please don't escalate -_-.  I won't add and chance 30 things,  and all this for no extra charge. 

i’m sure i have other peeves, but this one peeve is really getting to me that i’m starting to forget the rest LOL

anyways, artists, please don’t say “oh i’ll finish this piece in x days”, “i’ll upload it tomorrow”, etc etc. don’t give a timeframe you won’t even accomplish.

the point of me asking is just to see if there’s any progress (especially if you lack a trello board or something similar), and if you can’t give me a definite date, that’s fine!! i can wait. just a simple “i haven’t started yet. i’ll work on yours after this commissioner’s piece!” and similar stuffs would be okay. you don’t need to give me an exact date that YOU KNOW you won’t even accomplish smh..

like heck ,,,,, dont tell me you’ll accomplish this in 2 days and bam, by a month, i haven’t received anything :”)

As a both a commissioner and an artist, honestly this thread is somethin’ haha...

Some of my own pet peeves

• I honestly kinda hate when I have no where to check progress? I understand not always being able to reach out to the commissioner, and so I set up a tracker for them to keep up with and get updates from! I’m a full-time art student, and maybe 10 hours a week I have available to work. so this is honestly especially annoying when I commission and the artist isn’t very communicative. I personally try to keep myself as communicative as possible, even if I can’t reach out personally. I usually aim to give wips, and even offer thumbnails before I start depending on how professional level i’m working from, so the composition is decided and the price can be discussed. regardless, communication is SUPER important, and I agree that for the most part, the artist should be the one to reach out since they are the one’s being paid. I’m someone who will let the commissioner know if something comes up and if I need to delay. I don’t offer special additions tho, because it is more work, and what they paid for is what they paid for. If I feel particularly generous, and I have time when i finish, I might give them an added colored sketch or doodle or something as a thank you for the wait.

• This ordeal about white-washing characters... honestly I don’t see examples of this, so I’m not sure what extent this leads to... so I’ll just mention under my assumption. Color picking only goes so far. As an art student, we learn heavily about lighting and how it affects everything, including skin tones. So just “color picking” doesn’t do it if it’s a character in a setting ya’ll... there’s roughly 6 varying tones to one skin tone at least depending on lighting. I personally will “lighten” up a skin tone, or saturate it to be brighter if it’s too dark for a super sunny piece! But I won’t lighten it by much, you should still see a connection to the original skin tone, and I always try to keep in mind how the tones will shift based off of lighting. Fact of the matter is, it isn’t white washing when you consider lighting, and a person will be affected with their tones depending on that. Just keep in mind lighting tho, because I know a lot of people actually don’t think about that as I’ve quite witnessed in some cases. Lighting will affect a tone, just look at any art book for game dev or visual development! look at references of people in varying light, you’ll definitely notice a difference! However, if you are all talking about ridiculously, and literally changing the tone, then yes, that is pretty shitty.

• I also hate disorganization!! The concept of needing to scrounge. Around and click multiple links to find TOS, Examples, and/or pricing is the absolute most annoying experience. The only times I have worked with this method is for very small things for holidays, with a quick form. I keep all of my information in one place, and so it’s only ONE link. In addition, when I do my bigger works, such as full illustration, character, background such as landscape or cityscape, cafe setting, etc. The commissioner is REQUIRED to fill out my commission form on google forms. It contains everything, from my TOS, options, and additions. It also makes sure the individual agrees to my TOS Specifically, and informs them when I am likely to reach out to them and discuss further. No payment is required until both parties agree, and sometimes payment in installments is put into affect. As a professional, you need to make sure you’re getting a paycheck consistently if you’re working on something for months consistently, because a single payment won’t do. So this is honestly just one of my pet peeves when artists are incredibly disorganized, and it will very much defer me from purchasing if they make it difficult to find the information. PLEASE!! IT ISN’T HARD TO KEEP ALL OF YOUR INFORMATION TOGETHER, EVEN IF YOU LINK TO SOMEWHERE ELSE!! IT’S PROFESSIONAL AND MAKES THINGS FLOW SO MUCH EASIER!!

• All of these details said, I honestly also hate when I can’t reach a commissioner. The way I set up any of my forms is what is the BEST place for me to reach them. Whether that’s Discord, DA Notes, E-mail, Twitter messages, ETC. I distinctly set up my process to be as communication friendly as possible, and I want to ensure the commissioner has the ability to give me notes on what they want! It’s important to me personally that I make sure my buyer is happy with the result, even if I may not personally always like the endIng. This has allowed me to get tagged and referenced often from my buyers in experience, because even now they look at my commission and are happy with their purchase. But it’s so important that a buyer is communicative too, even in reaching out to the artist sometimes even if they’re just curious. As I stated before, I do my VERY BEST to give my buyers a place they can check in, with progress updates and even comment threads where I’ll post updates on any delays + summarized reasons. But on occasions, my life can get really hectic and I can’t even find time other than to put up on my board that things are on hold. PLEASE, if you see anything like that, I don’t mind, and even appreciate people reaching out to me so I can inform them asap what’s going on. Both ends are responsible in this business, and it is not solely up to the artist to reach out. Both parties are required to make a commission work out. The buyer paid the artist money, and the artist is hired for their time, which means they themselves, and the buyer need to communicate. It’s ok for the buyer to reach out, because sometimes the artist genuinely needs it so they don’t forget to reach out, life gets busy. So I personally hate when I can’t do my best work because I can’t reach the buyer either.

• Confused, unsure, or disorganized buyers. This one honestly bothers me a lot. If you don’t have a photo reference, then don’t commission me. If you’re commissioning me for a custom to design your character, that’s very different from a regular commission, and therefore has a whole different process. Agreement forms, shared credit/profit If any made off of my design. I offer the ability to purchase the rights to a design, and rates cary depending the time i spent and the complexity of the design. But other than that, I personally hate when someone comes into my commission forms or threads with nothing but a description, and no photo references. When I do a commission, you need to come prepared. And if I’m doing a custom, a mood board, music, and even color codes are SUPER helpful. I don’t want to charge someone money they don’t need to spend because of how long it’s taking me to get their custom done, and I do charge extra for added time. So please, come prepared to any artist, whether it’s for a general commission, or a custom. And if you really know what your character looks like but just don’t have a reference, then FIND references. make a moodboard, find music, find photos of people’s hair styles, clothing styles, and piece me a reference to work with. I hate flying blind, it’s horrible, and really try my best to give my buyers the best results they can get. Otherwise it just won’t be up to the buyers expectations, or my own. 

• I personally hate when a buyer tells me, “take all the time you need!” or, “no need to rush! I want you to feel comfortable!” Thank you, I genuinely appreciate your care, but this is a professional transaction. What that does is it can enable an artist to ignore the work and prioritize other things, and sometimes people really take advantage of that and don‘t give something as simple as a chibi piece for a whole year, maybe 2. I’ll give a time frame I’m hoping to meet or expect to meet, and will update if I can’t meet that time frame. I always tell my buyers that I will have a commission done within at most a month and a half, but aim for 2 weeks the soonest, because it lets them know that if they don’t get their comm within earlier time frame, they expect that i could have fallen into other things taking my time, and it’s bleeding a little further. 

• Buyers requesting discounted price if I don’t meet my “2 week” goal For a commission.  Honey, that isn’t how it works. commissions are a help, you aren’t a company, and companies will actually fire an artist if they cannot meet deadlines. So honestly, I will admit, for me personally commissions are that background help, but I’m still doing the work the buyer paid for, and I do NOT cut myself short for said work. As I stated earlier, I will at most if I have time, draw a thank you for your patience doodle or sketch. But otherwise, the full pay is still required.

• Buyers who want a full refund when a commission is nearly finished. In my TOS, I only refund a remainder, and at MOST will only refund 70% if the situation is TRULY DIRE. But I did work, and honestly the buyer has to pay me for my time. If they really can’t go through with the transaction, I request they let me know as soon as possible and before I start the commission if possible. But there’s always the buyers who keep pestering you about it, and don’t understand. But all of my buyers are required to agree to my TOS when they purchase, and that is a detail in the list.

When someone says I should use my artistic freedom but then makes me re do the sketch 5 times because they don’t like it.

Also asking for extreme details not brought up at the start. I’m not spending 6 hours on a 5$ fullbody lol