Beware: MushyOtter

I first contacted the artist MushyOtter on 30 September 2020 via twitter DMs. I was directed to contact them on Telegram the following day. 

Details and terms were agreed upon for a $100 colored sketch of two characters.   I sent my payment immediately.  I subsequently communicated with the artist numerous times to confirm my progress through their queue, and they were fairly prompt in their responses.  They sounded busy, and were actively posting art to their Twitter account, so I assumed that they were simply getting through their backlog.

At one point, the artist indicated that they were busy with offline business, so I gave them some space, and I would check in once every few months.  In both May and August, the artist indicated that they would be contacting me with some kind of progress "in the next couple of days," but this never materialized.

One year after paying for this commission, on 2 October 2021, I contacted the artist and offered an ultimatum: by the end of the month, either complete the piece, or issue a full refund.  On 31 October, the artist contacted me with a rough sketch.  While this was not what I had specified, it was more than I had seen in a year, and presumed that since it had already been roughly sketched, and considering that the commission in question is just a colored sketch beyond that, the piece would be completed shortly.

The artist has continued to post about commission openings on their Twitter account, and has been posting new art regularly nearly every month.

At the time of this writing, it is 16 December. The last communication I received from the artist was 3 December, promising that they would send me an update upon arriving home.

I must stress that the artist has been congenial and responsive, and as open as one could hope for.  However, their most recent post on Twitter was a completed colored sketch other than mine, dated 15 December.  Between the posting of that most recent image, and my exceedingly long wait time, my patience has simply run out.  I must severely disrecommend this artist to all potential clients.

This is the Paypal receipt from that transaction as it appears in my transaction history:

And this is the log from our Telegram conversations:

Three months in. I have checked periodically to this point, but the artist seems quite busy with offline business, so at this point I give them space.

After being promised numerous times that my commission was just around the corner, I decide to firmly request the completion of this piece.

The basic sketch finally arrives one year later.  This is not exactly the fully completed piece I had described in my deadline to the artist, but by now I am simply glad to have anything at all.