caution Caution: Solantic.z

I should start this by making it very clear this is intended as a caution, not a true beware. Throughout my interactions with Solantic.z, they have been very polite with me, but after roughly five months I have yet to have recieved my completed commission from them.

On 02/08/2023, I reached out to the artist in question about a commission (two flat colored headshots).

The agreed upon amount to pay was $24 USD, I sent $30 USD, with the extra $6 USD being intended as a 25% tip seeing as I was feeling generous, and hoped it would provide incentive to finish my commission relatively quick.

Attached is a receipt of my PayPal statement from the transaction. I censored anything I believed to be personal.

I contacted the artist several times after this requesting updates on the commission, and was given a run-around and no progress updates.

After about two months, I was given an update with some of the coloring done on my snow leopard. They had base colors down, but had yet to begin with any of the spots or markings.

The artist informed me that they had a medical emergency that prevented them from working on my commission (which was understandable, and I wished them a speedy recovery). I have censored the nature of the medical emergency, seeing as medical history is often seen as a very personal thing, and I don't want to reveal anything personal to the public without the artist's permission.

Shortly after their medical emergency, I noticed that the artist had advertised opening a new commission slot in a public Discord server we both share (Canadian Furs), which led me to believe my commission was close to being finished.

When I asked about it the morning after, the artist let me know my commission was coming along nicely and should be finished within the next couple of days.

I'm not an artist myself, but I have a bunch of friends who are, so I know that finances can be quite a concern, and tried to communicate that I was concerned about my commission but that I understood that their mental health (and physical health) had to come first.

We had a quick chat about some personal things (which I won't disclose here). They said they'd give me a progress update in an hour or so if they were still awake. There were a couple of quick affirmations that I had not been forgotten and that my commission was being actively worked on, but no further progress reports or proof of progress.

It sounded like something may have happened in their personal life again, making them unable to work on my commission.

Today (07/11/2023 @ 1:24 PM Mountain Time), I reached out again saying it had been almost five months since the start of my commission. 

At this point I had begun to grow irritated, seeing as it had been almost five months for a commission they had said should take less than a week. After a discussion with a friend in the Canadian Furs Discord server, one of the moderators informed me that she had commissioned this artist as well, and had yet to receive their commission. 

A few minutes later the owner of the server put out a ping letting the members know the artist has been failing to deliver on their commissions.

Almost immediately after the server owner put out the ping, Solantic.z messaged me asking if I had reported them. While I had idly complained about my commission taking so long, I was not the one that brought it up to the owner, nor did I ask for any action on their part. While I was annoyed, I didn't want to cause trouble, and was mostly content to sit and wait.

As of 7/17/2023, I informed the artist I was imposing a hard deadline, and would like my commission finished within roughly two weeks or I would like my money returned. However, the artist does have a note in their username and bio saying their WiFi is currently down, so hopefully that will be resolved before the deadline. If it is not, I'll see what I can work out with them, but seeing as it's been almost six months my patience is beginning to wear thin.

In conclusion, while the artist has been polite, after being given the runaround for almost six months with little to no actual progress shown, I feel as though I've more or less wasted $30 USD on two pieces of art that will never be produced. I can't comment on whether or not the artist is genuine in their reasoning for being unable to complete the commission in a timely manner, but either way I find it similar to any other skilled trade. Clear communication about delays adds leeway, but when a couple weeks stretches into roughly six months, I am no longer a happy customer.

I think it would be best for anyone attempting to commission Solantic.z to give them a couple months for their life situation to hopefully settle down a little if you're hoping for a timely return for your money.