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  • Beware: @Arts_Studio2210


    Plasma
    • Who: @Arts_Studio2210 (Twitter), OLIVIA ARTS STUDIO#4671 (Discord)
      Where: https://twitter.com/Arts_Studio2210
      https://www.artstation.com/artsstudio2210
      https://twitter.com/Web_tech10
      When: 12/14/2022
      What: Commission



    An artist who traced another artist's work, and when I asked for a redo, I was given low-effort art that does not match her portfolio.

    December 14th, 2022

    I commissioned Arts Studio after she contacted me in my Discord DMs asking for emergency medical aid. I paid her $90 ($120 CAD) for a full-body drawing. image.thumb.png.9f28ee04e0e7732649a449721b528b75.png

    I was already commissioning an artist to do my main fursona, but I still wanted to help. I didn't have another OC on hand, so I asked her to turn a spare Roblox shark avatar I had into a character. I knew sharks generally have the same body type, followed by simple tattoo patterns. So, the request was to draw a generic grey shark body that wore the accessories and clothing of the avatar, which included a black tank top, shorts, and a red bag.

    image.thumb.png.68dc5e39fea563f4097281cd169f39b2.png

    image.thumb.png.e3f5accab01c7dcc54797ea3a296d675.png

    image.thumb.png.a16b716f394d92b43f7176363a5d8bf7.png

    Because I thought she was in a tight situation, I wanted to be less of a burden and reframed from giving her too many specifics so she could focus on styles and poses she was familiar with. 

    I learned shortly after that she was unfamiliar with shark furries, but she was willing to do it. I explained to her that they generally have the same body type, and I showed her a few examples from other artists so she could get some inspiration and an idea of what they are. 

    image.thumb.png.ea1230485bf9d08c352137a793acca40.png

    image.thumb.png.648cac4472fb00298184e574ccad4f19.png

    January 16, 2023

    She sent me the rough sketch and awaited approval. The PNG she sent was intentionally small, blurry, and watermarked, so I couldn't recognize anything wrong with it. I approved it. She then guilt-tripped me into paying another $41.46 ($58 CAD) for a background, as I thought she needed the financial help.

    image.thumb.png.375ab378854b1d88ff1e3886e4c162fe.png

    image.thumb.png.ebbaf43b0e8669d7d23f2df2497c4a76.png

    image.thumb.png.e43f122bf12636584a4312d10b6cccd8.png

    January 20, 2023

    Arts Studio sent me a larger PNG, and I realized it was a traced copy of art by @notglacier (from Twitter). The art by @notglacier was one of the many examples I showed her, but I never told her to make a copy of it. It was to show her what shark bodies looked like in the fandom.

    image.png.9aa0fcade9baa14e004083586708f75b.png

    I had already told her before that I just wanted the body type. At that time, I was still new to commissioning artists, and I assumed they had a code of conduct against copying. So, I didn't think I needed to tell her anything explicitly. I thought she knew selling copied art was shameful, and the final copy would be completely different. For now, I only gave her subtle hints:

    image.thumb.png.6b1cbc88f812baffb03e662d89490c56.png

    But then she ghosts me from that day until Feb 23rd.

    image.thumb.png.274cc084dd5f3e4258e5e69e59986fb1.png

    February 22, 2023 - February 27, 2023

    I tracked down her email and contacted her on Feb 22nd. She responded on the 23rd and agreed to finish it.

    image.thumb.png.2cd064d82001c83c2de1a134c5f03037.pngimage.thumb.png.2cd064d82001c83c2de1a134c5f03037.png

    On Feb 27th, she sent me the "completed" version, but it was the same one from Jan 20th, just bigger and without the watermark. You can see the traced resemblance to @notglacier's but mirrored. It had been clear she had not been working on it since she sent me the approval sketch. 

    image.png.becc883df19a1ee73914951d6586410c.pngimage.png.0844df17fdc2431982ad259fa7175c88.png 

    tracedoverlay.png.8a7fdaa53f28f00404a7d3107aa7a02f.png

    overlay

    March 1, 2023

    I emailed her. I told her (very explicitly this time) that the point of those references told was to give her an idea of what shark body types look like and that I wanted her to implement it with my avatar. I asked if she could make a redo with a different pose and style so it isn't a copy. I didn't provide any further instructions after that because, again, I wanted her to have artistic freedom, and it had already been three months. The pose or style didn't matter as long as it wasn't copied. She agreed to make a redo.

    image.thumb.png.0ff16ca6dc4a9bd84755433a1ea1158e.png 

    image.thumb.png.f7adb87fdd47224119e7749a1c9b6047.png

    March 29, 2023

    Art Studio submits the redo. She created a random character with none of the attributes I explained from the start. I told her I thought she would draw the same Roblox character, just with a different pose and style. I had never asked for those clothes, glasses or four arms.  

    image.thumb.png.929b107efaf35a0c6a73bec1eb06e302.png

    image.png.f91c494bee65797503ff43c3fa7e8586.png

    The quality was also bad, so I showed her an image of her previous work and asked why this one was so low. She acted clueless and ignored my questions. I expressed my frustration, telling her that I gave her $130 (CAD $178) for something I did not want and was not worth the quality. 

    image.thumb.png.f0798cbbbc38266d04d24ea2092caafb.png

    I ask the same question again because she ignored it the first time. She ignored this one as well.

    image.thumb.png.659fbc925b8a1f1583b869e463c331c0.png

    This was the expected quality

    image.png.56d14e2a40c69a7d1d1eb05c91769e0a.png

    March 31, 2023 - April 3, 2023

    I start a new email thread. She abruptly sent me an unwatermarked version of the redo, but I told her I wanted to talk.

    image.thumb.png.f509f47e235395e21c0e24a7e787c075.png

    Here, I'm desperately trying to get an answer as to why the quality is so poor, but she keeps ignoring the question.

    image.thumb.png.488d64328cbee4ed080e02e50e8bb317.png

    Here, she is being oblivious and asks me to repeat what I asked in the previous email because she had apparently forgotten. I do just that, and she tells me she "forgot" (again) and never gave me an answer to my question. She thanks me and leaves. But I wasn't done.

    image.thumb.png.67db57e95306815b2cd7d27fa337698c.png

    I stopped holding back my feelings and lay out all the reasons why I was frustrated. She said she started a new job and won't do another redo unless I pay her.

    image.thumb.png.1f61799e0305c149c7193a4f683af16a.png

    Then, I asked for a refund because the redo took no effort and was in no way worth $130. I only asked for 50% to be generous, but she declines.

    image.thumb.png.40a5ef95ff2d6530591f3a8a6bd8dc73.png

    At this point, I knew I've been scammed, but I still wanted to know the questions I asked earlier, along with why she couldn't give me a refund. Again, she ignores.

    image.thumb.png.2f2966fd5267ac150d809fa490386cc8.png

    The takeaway is that she traced another artist's work and submitted art that didn't match her portfolio. It gives me reason to believe that the art she posts on Twitter doesn't belong to her.

     

    Edited by Plasma
    Reorganized report so that images of proof are below every claim. Also added a lot more email details




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    I could be wrong but that second piece really looks like an AI or a mashup. You absolutely got over charged, especially for such a simple background. I think you're still in the charge back window and I would definitely go down that route with a tracer.

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    That new image they sent you is bizarre and I can't believe they insisted on charging you to put a gradient in the back.

    The reason why they wouldn't answer on why the quality had changed is likely because the Kiohda picture is also traced. You can see that the style of it varies widely compared to the drawn samples on their Artstation.

    Speaking of, on their Artstation they used filtered Tokyo Ghoul covers as multiple examples of a commission of an "oc character" they sent a client 😧 

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    Not just that. (Which in itself is a massive red flag cause anyone would  be very familiar with the manga/anime.) but a few of their examples look traced and very uncanny especially the background one it's very inconsistent.

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    • Senior Staff
    6 hours ago, RTKobold said:

    Not just that. (Which in itself is a massive red flag cause anyone would  be very familiar with the manga/anime.) but a few of their examples look traced and very uncanny especially the background one it's very inconsistent.

    This will be the last comment we approve that references the artwork presented by the subject of this beware.
    Repeated references to the exact same issue are getting close to dogpiling, which falls under item 3 of our commenting rules.

    If you see many comments sharing the same sentiment as you, please use the like feature instead.

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    Most of the time when an artist adds you and gives you that paragraph, its a scammer. It's a common tactic used on Twitter and Discord (referred to as GFX bots). After adding they'll make up a situation about an emergency situation and how they really need the money. They'll use other people's work/traced images/AI as their examples in order to fool people into ordering from them. They drag it out for months/forever in order to evade giving you anything, giving you AI/traced end results, doing a bait and switch with quality like here, or just running with your money with promised results. This is definitely a lesson learning situation and a heads up for others in the community that haven't been hit with this type of scam.

    I would still try to call your payment processor (paypal, bank, card ect) and try to get a refund. 3 months has passed, but some allow 6~1 year and it wouldn't hurt to try! (Unless you sent as F&F on Paypal, then its usually out of luck).

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    • Administrator
    1 hour ago, RTKobold said:

    Might want to add this link to the beware she changed their name to Web_Tech10 and posting the link to her art station.

    https://twitter.com/Web_tech10/status/1614504597766242307

    Also would keep the old name since searching that one twitter leads to several others having art stolen being used in her scams.

    chrome_FVj4b82ARm.png

    Thanks for the heads up on the name change.

    Although I say this in the politest way possible, but we don't need to be told how to do our jobs or run the archive. Dropping a link helps immensely, and we will take over from there.

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    • Senior Staff

    A comment was not approved under item 2 of our rules of participation.

    No excessive personal information or bewares in the comments. 

    Please consider submitting your own post on this subject if you have had a similar experience, It helps bolster our tag weight and metrics.

    Please keep in mind that we do not accept anonymous submissions.

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