This is an old Beware, but I was unaware of this website's existence at the time of this commission. To date, the commission has still not been completed as detailed, and the user continues to have me blocked, so I consider it still relevant. The commission took place on FlightRising, and thus all screenshots are from Private Messages and Crossroads (transaction history, basically) from that site.
On a side note: all icons and names from PMs show up as Panicat because that's how the website shows them. However, I have marked clearly which ones are my replies and which are theirs.
This is the original post I had made looking for art. Take note that it has not been edited since almost a week BEFORE any of our correspondence took place, so you're seeing the exact same message that they did when contacting me. The text links --
Tattoo Reference:
Pose Reference:
And a link to the original thread which still exists and has not been edited since, to verify that I'm not altering any of that information.
On Dec 09, I received a PM from Panicat offering to fill the commission.
The References link:
Not perfect, necessarily, but most of it seems solid enough.
So I replied:
Their reply:
For an idea of the cost, 1.5k gems is somewhere between $15 and $20. That was about 3x the going rate for that kind of commission on the site itself at that time, but since I was asking for a PSD to be edited by me later, and because I trusted in their ability to provide a quality commission given their sample images, I was willing to pay it.
My reply. I should probably have waited to send payment, but honestly, I've commissioned dozens of pieces of art (not including adoptables) and had never been burned before (or in the three years since.
Proof of payment. The diamond at the bottom is gems, the premium currency on the site. As you'll see, though, they did NOT keep me updated, though that's a minor complaint compared to anything else.
This is what I received almost a full week later.
Take note that this is NOT the pose I had asked for, nor do I believe this is "solid human anatomy," as the character looks like he's going to topple backwards. Also, should he put any weight on that left hand, with his fingers bent like that, he would BREAK HIS FINGERS. Regardless of knowing anything about the character or not, this not only does not match the reference pose, but I'd argue, isn't solid anatomy at all, nor is it representative of the samples they provided.
So I contacted them, mentioning the various problems with the art they'd provided:
I tried to provide positivity (what a cool breakdancing pose!) to soften the blow of the art being so wrong that it would probably need to be scrapped and done again. I also provided more specifics on WHY I liked the pose reference I had provided, hoping it would prevent a second mistake.
I do not feel that I am in the wrong to request that they ACTUALLY draw what I paid them for.
Their reply.
They messed up, and they want ME to pay THEM to fix it. Just... WHAT?
And 1kg? That would put it at 2.5kg for what is basically PARTIAL LINEART that is PROBABLY on top of a very, very rough sketch. That's absurd levels of payment, in my eyes, even given that I was asking for the license to animate the resulting image with a basic glow effect. For reference, that puts it very clearly above the $25 level. For again, what is essentially partial lineart.
On principle, I refused to pay someone to fix their own mistake. I asked several artists (both friends and strangers) whether they felt I had been clear enough in the original thread, and they all replied that yes, the misunderstanding was on Panicat's end, not my own. So I replied:
As mentioned there -- if they had questions, I would have happily answered them. If they'd "kept me updated," as they claimed they would do, I would have pointed out the error the moment I saw it. But they did none of those things, and instead blatantly ignored my requests.
Their reply:
They're insisting that I still pay, because "well how could I know better?"
So my reply:
I feel my solutions are pretty fair. They didn't deliver the commission as ordered. I would have PREFERRED a redraw, but it's entirely possible a YCH auction would've earned them money back for the (incorrect and inaccurate) work provided.
Their reply:
They delivered the WRONG work, and decided to blame me for not accepting blatantly inaccurate work that didn't reflect the original commission.
My reply:
I never received an answer to that PM, and soon after posted the entire exchange to the website-specific version of ArtistsBeware.
I have since learned that they've blocked me.
This is what I see when I try to view their profile:
And this is what anyone not blocked by them, or me via incognito window (logged out) can view:
So no resolution will ever be found, it seems. They scammed me out of my gems, refused to correct their mistakes, and blocked me when I tried to find a resolution.
@kurothepone to @kurovrchat to @kurolatex to @kurooof to @kurosuccubuss to @kurosuccubusVR
Accepted a commission from this dude. He commented on my art one day, decided to look at his FA profile since I'd never seen it before. whatever.
, I noticed that he was having thoughts of selling his character.
had commisioner in the past was having falling out w/he community while commission was in queue, I ended up refunding them b/c didn't want to deal with the drama, honestly thought it be best if that was how it ended.
This is commisino he wants for me
thats his character that he wants me to draw. the same one hes selling. didnt want to deal w/the possibility that by the time i reach his comm in queue (~200 from my pi day sale) i'd have to be dealing with a new owner who maynt like the commission or whatever
this is the response i got
after chnging his twittler handle multiple times
he threatens to dox me for posting my negative experience w/him on twitter
after which, he did dox me on my public post and then threatened me more in dms which i have legal grounds to have him arrested for. however, he deleted my twitter messages. idk if this is twitter or if it's b/c i blocked him but all messages i sent him and he sent me are gone. i do have the emails that twitter has sent to me of each dm he sent, though, so if he continues, i will contact law enforcement in germany regarding his blatant violation of the law.
please dont support bad behaviour like this.
after which, he did dox me on my public post and then threatened me more in dms which i have legal grounds to have him arrested for. however, he deleted my twitter messages. idk if this is twitter or if it's b/c i blocked him but all messages i sent him and he sent me are gone. i do have the emails that twitter has sent to me of each dm he sent, though, so if he continues, i will contact law enforcement in germany regarding his blatant violation of the law.
please dont support bad behaviour like this.
Hi there~ This is my first post on here, so sorry if I don't do everything right ;0; Just had a pretty intense interaction with a buyer, so I'd like to warn anyone who may come into contact with him.
I contacted EylonFerrousa on Telegram after he had made several posts in a few chats we shared looking for an artist to draw his dragon character. His budget was $40 and I was willing to work with that. I generally do commissions differently than most (this experience has made me change my methods, however); I usually try to complete the sketch before requiring payment, so after receiving a text description of the dragon he wanted drawn, I got to work and made a few sketches with minimal tweaking. Once I had gotten it to a point that I thought would be good enough to go forward with, I sent it to him but didn't receive any response for well over a week. I sent a quick "hey just checking in" message, and he informed me that some things had come up and he needed to cancel the commission. No biggie, life happens, and I totally understand ? I said as much, but mentioned that because I had spent quite a long time on that sketch, I would probably recycle the pose to fit one of my dragon characters that I had been meaning to draw (I would not be stealing his character, just using the pose and anatomy that I had spent around an hour perfecting on his dragon to make drawing mine go quicker) He was irked by this, saying that he'd rather I not reuse it, since he would be using the sketch. After I insisted that he did not own that sketch since he had not paid for it, he responded, saying that in his ToS (apparently commissioners have ToS's? I haven't heard of this) he claims that all art drawn for him belongs exclusively to him, whether he's paid for it or not. This alone is something you can't enforce, as artists own the art that they draw, especially art that hasn't been paid for, but prior to this, the idea of him having a ToS was never brought up, mentioned, or linked to. If he really did have such a ridiculous condition in his ToS, this should have been the first thing brought up. He then proceeded to go on a bit of a tirade, claiming that if I did anything to that piece, he would have full grounds to sue me, and he ensured me that I "didn't want a lawsuit on my hands." I responded, practically refuting everything he said, and I promptly blocked him. I have the entire chat screenshotted (good thing too, because he nuked the chat as soon as I replied to his lawsuit threats), but the only truly important parts are the end where things got heated, and I'll put my response in there as well just for a little closure. I'll include them below, but if any more info is requested, I'd be more than happy to provide it. I'll also put in the original message he had sent when looking for artists to draw his dragon, as well as the sketch of the dragon I completed as proof that I had done the work in the first place.
Unfortunately, I seem to have missed the text he sent me after his long tirade about suing me; he made sure to mention that he had business to attend to with the CEO of Hasbro (an obvious scare tactic, and a poor one at that).
Requested a commission of 2 female OCs spending time together. D.Orange presented me with 3 sketches to choose from and then pay the amount when ready. Paid $225.00:
Months go by with little interaction. D.Orange claims to have working issues irl, gave him the benefit of the doubt and gave him space. Months roll by and the responses gradually diminish to zero from him:
Being part of a discord group, even had a mod step in to get it rectified, but even he didn't get a response from D.Orange.
A bit old, but Orange is still active. Wanted to bring awareness.
On August 1st I saw an adverstiment posted in the Megaplex 2018 artist chat for Tiki Badges. I contacted Nya and asked to be added and paid $25 for one. They said that mine might not get done until later after the convention which I was fine with. After this is was harder and harder to get a hold of them. The last time I heard from them was October of 2018. After they dropped out of contact I searched for their twitter and found it hadn’t been touched since late 2018. I now am at a loss on how to find them but seeing as Telegram reports them as active within the last week, I’m assuming they’re ghosting me.
sailorpawz is a deviantart creator that frequently hosts contests where users can draw her characters for money, da points, or custom pieces. In Feburary 2018, I decided to enter one of these contests, after seeing her advertise it on Furry Amino. It was a contest to see who could design her a brand new character, after she gave a few examples of breeds, colors and aesthetics she'd like incorporated.
After a month after the due-date and origionally listed 'judging day', I contacted her via Furry Amino to discuss the situation, as she had deactivated her deviantart account for a few days at this point. She explained she was going to reactivate and announce the winners, which she did soon after. She then mentioned that she couldn't pay up, then redacted and instead said she would need to wait to pay the winners, which I said I would be willing to wait after she mentioned she wanted to choose my design as the top pick. It was a few back-and-forths between us before she was gone for good. I would check in on her from time to time, asking her about how things were going, talking about life, etc. so we could remain on good terms. However, one day she had suddenly deleted her furry amino account, and I have not heard from her since July of 2018. It has been over a year since the announcement of the design contest.
Do not participate in her contests unless you want to get nothing in return if you win.
Our Furry Amino chats have been posted below, I am redacting any personal information for the sake of the both of us. There were two separate chats--the first one in December, she suddenly left, but still had her account live. The second one, she left when she ultimately terminated her account for some reason. She has not attempted to reach out to me on any platforms, nor respond to my several invoices on paypal.
On the 9th of April, 2018. I ordered a commission from an Artist who was in need of money. The piece ordered was a $115 character reference sheet. The first payment was in the form of a donation taken and in return I was getting a paid commission from him, the second payment was when the commission was changed to a character reference sheet. In the first couple of weeks, he had finished the linework of the character’s body and first outfit. During that time he took on a number of other commissions from other people and worked on their linework too, but there was no progression of colour at all. He’d work on his own artwork every now and then, even colouring his own stuff but my commission still remained in linework stage. Months pass and I got the same “Yes, yes, I’m just going to finish some more linework from these other commissions and then colour them all together.” Well, it came to December where I was told I had to be bumped back in line because he had to deal with another commissioner’s art. So he began putting that commission in front of everyone else's. At the end of December, I had told him that I wished for a refund. Fast forward three months to this day and I just received my refund after badgering for him for so long about it. This man lacks the communication skills necessary to run a business as an artist, uses the “Send to friends/family” as a PayPal option and continuously makes excuses for refunds.
(My original advice post is located here.)
NOTE: Her real name and email haven't been omitted, as they are readily available on her websites.
Unfortunately, because the artist and I were on friendly terms, much of the communication for this commission was done verbally at Phoenix Comic Con (PHXCC). However, I'm providing screenshots of the correspondence we had online.
I originally discussed a pencil drawn commission with Goldenwolf at PHXCC back in 2017. She told me that She'd have it done by May 2018 (the next PHXCC), but would get it to me sooner if requested. I told her I'd be selling some things after the con, and if I had enough after obligations, I'd confirm the commission and send payment. (Email Discussion) As agreed, I sent payment for the piece with extra for shipping via Paypal on July 7th 2017. I didn't receive confirmation she had gotten the payment, so I nudged her on August 4th. She replied on the 7th with confirmation, making mention that she thought she had already replied to me.
When I saw her commission queue posted to FurAffinity (FA) on Feb 5th 2018, I asked why my name appeared to be missing from it (the screenshot was taken recently, after my name had been added). After I pointed this out, she assured me that mine would be finished "this month", which I took to mean February.
During February, she also attended Texas Furry Fiesta, where she advertised accepting more commissions on FA and Twitter.
On April 16th 2018, I sent an email over with my updated reference (no big design changes, just more examples of his different forms were added on it). On the 17th, she said I was on the "short list" and she'd be getting to mine after a couple of other things.
May passed, and on June 10th 2018, I asked for a progress update. On June 26th she emailed over a rough sketch for my approval. She mentioned in the same email that she was suffering from severe depression. I responded requesting a few edits, but because she was my friend and I wanted to be supportive, I tried not make her feel pressured.
After I didn't hear back from her on social media, I sent her another email on October 26th 2018. I offered her the option of just refunding me if she was unable to produce my commission in a timely manner, and her response to this is just better just read from her email directly.
I waited to post on Artists Beware for advice until after December, because she mentioned in the email that she was hoping to have the piece done by then.
Following advice from A_B, I sent an email on February 15th 2018 asking for a refund using the outline provided to me in my advice thread. As of the writing on this, I haven't heard anything back from her.
While collecting screenshots for this post, I found her current Terms of Service. (She has never directed me to it, so I'm unsure how it may have changed over time.) I do know, that if I seen this TOS before commissioning her, I wouldn't have, friend or not. (It features an "A**hole Clause", which in and of itself would be a huge nope.) Notable Sections: 1 2 3
I also found that she has a Patreon, which despite her huge backlog, offers sketches to certain tiers. I'm unsure, however, if she's actually provided them. 1 2
I'm not sure what else to add, really. It doesn't currently look like I'll be receiving my commission or a refund. ?
04.14.20 update:
UPDATE: 4.18.2020
On 4.14.2020, just hours after the update was added to the post, Goldenwolf sent the client this refund and statement:
She had not done work beyond the sketch provided back in June of 2018
The client responded with this invoice and statement
Goldenwolf then refunded the client on the 16th of April for the remainder of the commission payment.
This issue has now been marked as Resolved.
I met Finley at AnthroCon while they were running a booth in the Dealer's Den. There were suiters attending the con in suits that Finley had made, and the tails they had on display were of good quality. We talked for a while about pricing a fullsuit, how long delivery dates were, how deep the queue was. At that point, I decided to commission a Full Digitigrade suit from them for $1600. Communication was great until December, at which basically all communication ceased.
The only reason that Finley responded here was because I had 2 emails:
I am open to marking this Beware as "resolved" if and when the refund has been processed on PayPal.
New information as of 7/1/2019. I was promised a refund (partial in June, the rest in July). Finley has not been in contact since those promises were made. I've attached the email conversation below, and you can see comments for more info.
At this point I'm forced to raise this to Beware status from it's current Caution status.
