No Communication?

[Sarahcat]

Hi all!

I've commissioned hundreds of artists and never had this issue before.

Over a month ago I paid an artist for a commission. We discussed details over Twitter DMs, I paid them and that was it. Fast forward to now. The other day I asked if any progress had been made and they replied with, "I'll get back to you tonight." 
It's been a few days, I've asked again and even tweeted at them ("Hey @_____, I send you a DM!") but no reply. They have the 'seen message' button ticked off so I don't know if they even saw my replies. What baffles me is that they are very clearly online at the same time as I am and are now drawing free artwork for followers. 

They have a business email listed on their profile but I am terrified to reach out them as shortly after I had commissioned them at their last opening they made a subtweet about their commissioners, saying they're asking for too much. I know that commenting on their art posts would be rude. 

I just want to know the status of my artwork is all. I've never had an artist hide like this before, even a fabricated excuse is better than no response at all. :s

[Ysera]

Give it a few more days before messaging them again. When you check in with them, try to make it come off like a check-in, low pressure. Based on the fact that they're subtweeting commissioners (even if it's just one), there may be an underlying issue with their queue. I'm not saying that you would be the issue, but they're likely to get defensive when messaged, regardless, so trying to stay lowkey will probably go a long way toward getting a response.

One thing to note, an artist doing things like free or personal artwork around commissions is generally a thing that's going to happen. Artists are not machines, and different kinds of artwork, especially personal interest artwork, serves as kind of a palette cleanser that helps keep creativity flowing. It's especially helpful when stuck on a piece that might be particularly hard to work with for whatever reason.

Edited January 18, 2019 by Ysera

[Mortymaxwell]

If it were me I would send something like:

Hi! I ordered a commission from you of [DESCRIPTION HERE].  I noticed you have a business e-mail address and I would like to take communication to email from now instead of Twitter if that's okay? E-mail would be better for me. Could I also get a peek at the sketch, too please?  I'm really excited about this commission.  Have a great day!

[Sarahcat]

5 hours ago, Ysera said:

Give it a few more days before messaging them again. When you check in with them, try to make it come off like a check-in, low pressure. Based on the fact that they're subtweeting commissioners (even if it's just one), there may be an underlying issue with their queue. I'm not saying that you would be the issue, but they're likely to get defensive when messaged, regardless, so trying to stay lowkey will probably go a long way toward getting a response.

One thing to note, an artist doing things like free or personal artwork around commissions is generally a thing that's going to happen. Artists are not machines, and different kinds of artwork, especially personal interest artwork, serves as kind of a palette cleanser that helps keep creativity flowing. It's especially helpful when stuck on a piece that might be particularly hard to work with for whatever reason.

I'm an artist. I know we're not machines, I've had clients who believe such. That said, hiding from paying clients and not answering to get work out for free is not an excusable business practice. I've only messaged them twice: the initial check in and a "Hello?" the next day after they said they would have an update for me the previous evening. As I said in my post, even a "I'm working on it" is better than receiving no response at all. 

The artist replied to me last night and said that commissions are "in progress" but gave no real answer about the status of mine (let alone anyone's). I haven't seen a commission posted from them since they posted being open and gave examples. It's just been personal artwork and free art. There's no public queue/Trello so it's anyone's guess how many people paid and what their lineup is. 

[Sarahcat]

2 hours ago, Mortymaxwell said:

If it were me I would send something like:

Hi! I ordered a commission from you of [DESCRIPTION HERE].  I noticed you have a business e-mail address and I would like to take communication to email from now instead of Twitter if that's okay? E-mail would be better for me. Could I also get a peek at the sketch, too please?  I'm really excited about this commission.  Have a great day!

They replied to me last night but it sounds like no work has been done, it was a generic "it's in progress" reply. I haven't seen a sketch or anything but they could be one of those artists who don't send a WIP (which i don't mind) as they had done for my first two commissions I got from them a while ago. Unless they reply again soon I'll poke them again in a month and copy your response- thanks!