lol I think I know almost every artist you mentioned here- one thing I should say on the business end of this is that if there's ever problems with an order - TELL THE ARTIST, I often get emails of people saying they were afraid to tell me that a package was never delivered, sometimes it's not a sinister evil artist but the post office screwing up, so just keep communication.
Good advice here! I always complain when I don't get things. Sometimes it's not the artist's fault that things go wrong. I know that you know one artist for certain. Not sure if you know exactly who it is though. LOL
So my story isn't necessarily art scamming, but the artist was really mean when I attempted to apologize. I had misunderstood if the person was taking requests (as in the free, sketchy, fun art requests that are comedic and cute) and I asked to see if I had to pay for it (this was on tumblr). The artist was so mad for some reason and I tried to apologize. Eventually, this whole drama went on where the artist was being chatted to by someone else and mistook me for some sort of harasser. She told me that I owed her $200 (no joke) to apologize for what I'd done. Now, I loved this artist and thought their art was fun and adorable and when she started blaming me I was terrified. I quickly unfollowed her to avoid drama and then after a year or so her account was deactivated. Then people started actively attacking me through my inbox on tumblr claiming I was Russian? And that I had caused her account to be deactivated? Anyways she had been really cruel to some fanfic authors as well that sort of twisted my stomach and eventually, the whole thing died out. I don't know where she's gone in life but I guess I wish her well.
I once commissioned someone on deviantart for a pixel icon. (I paid them with da points) I waited 2 months before asking the artist "Hey! i've been waiting for two months now, any progress on my commission?" at first i thought i had been scammed but not long after the artist apologized and had done two pixel icons (one extra) as an apology.
That's actually quite nice of them, I've never really been scammed but once on amino somebody (who was really trusted) opened commissions (i was on hiatus at this so I don't know if they had a paypal option) then after accepting the commissions they just left the amino completely, however im pretty sure some people had seen them on another amino with commissions open again, i have no clue what they are doing now i just hope they aren't scamming more people.
Sometimes if an artist goes through a page like trillo to keep track of comissions, other comissions can be lost if they forget to update thier trillo. It happens usually best to ask for progress updates weekly or check the commission order. I tend to update my clients weekly with a huge watermark SS, but I do 3D so theres different phases I udate the cliant before moving to the next.
I got scammed by a RUclips artist once. I ended up supporting their Patreon on a level where the monthly support gave you a sort of art bundle of prints/sketches/buttons etc. Well about two months went by and I never got anything. I contacted them several times within those two months and after it about it and I they never responded to me. They had made a post about 4 months after the fact that they didn't get around to sending out the rewards for a certain month and to contact them if you didn't receive anything. So I did, and guess what, I never heard back. It made me lose all respect for that artist. It's probably been 1-2 years since that and honestly that experience made me incredibly hesitant to ever support anyone on Patreon again.
Wow... I never even considered that about patreon. People accepting pledges but not giving what was signed up for. That's crazy! I wonder if it was Creation Draws. lol X_x I'm so sorry that happened to you...that's awful. :(
LemiaCrescent I also had this happen with a 'kickstarter' type thing for a popular youtuber. They were launching an art book / tutorial book that was promised within x amount of time. It kept getting delayed and since I've been 'scammed' before I saw some warning signs. Thankfully the person issued me a refund on request but I'm glad I did because it's now been like 1 1/2 to 2 years and it's still not complete.
I feel like people need to do the work THEN have the kickstarter for production. If it's the opposite, people don't really seem beholden to finish the darn thing. o.o;
LemiaCrescent I agree. It's a shame. While I myself have received a refund I cannot help but feel sorry the others that have funded this person and are still waiting :/
That actually never happened to me! But a friend of mine said it happened at a grocery store that wanted a mural painted for free near his home. XD;;; I wonder if "exposure" paid for the paint.
' i recommend you waiting until the other artist has completed the trade' both artists watch this and they wait for each other. in the end, none of them upload it, and they can't trust each other again. lol
and never do things for free! I once did like 10 drawings of a singer for a popular tumblr blog, and they never did what they wanted to do with it, which was making it into a cool collage with moving background. probably they didnt like my art after all, but they did give me shout outs, every time I finished an art piece, and I got some exposure from it. I guess I shouldnt be mad cause I did it willingly for free. but now I delete any "can you draw me for free!?" request. like bitch I'm expensive now!
I've been waiting over 2 years for Patreon rewards from several months from someone I sort of know in real life, they're a very popular artist and they even convinced me to pay for shipping 2 years later upon the promise they'd finally send the almost £300 worth of rewards, they sent nothing and I saw them posting about moving to another country so...yep, I'm never getting anything from them. I commented on their youtube video out of frustration and they deleted my comments and messaged me saying they didn't want people seeing that they were 'late' on rewards in case they lost money from it.
+JZsketch what the hell.... Seriously... What is wrong with people.... Where are the priorities? STOP TAKING PEOPLE'S MONEY AND NOT DOING WHAT YOU PROMISED IN RETURN. This makes me so upset! I'm so sorry for you. :(
JZsketch if we are thinking of this same person, I think they also started a go fund me to help with this move to another country but I do not think they are even moving anymore?
Yep. Ironically I think she saw this comment and is finally going to give me my stuff, got an email from her about it today after posting this comment...
I used to be friends with someone and he would show me his art projects...He told me about how he loved to take pictures and "transform" them (he'd trace then change bits and add stuff to make it "different") And then one day he did an art trade with someone, she gave him a beautiful work of art and you know what he did? He took one of her drawings that was only maybe a month old, traced it, "changed it" and gave it right back at her. (She didn't know about his past so she was completely blindsided by that...)
I was scammed in an art trade not too long ago. I had made the mistake of sending my completed piece to the person without seeing any progress on their end. What have they done? Nothing, except go around asking for requests using my picture as a reference. They comment every so often saying "I promise I'll get it to you today!" And then they never do. It's frustrating.
Oh boy Lemia, this is gonna be long so grab a snack. When I find the motivation to get back into youtube, i might actually make a video on this story I'm gonna tell you. ~ I have an experience with a very old character of mine (I've had him for three going on four years and hes my most personal, well thought out and dearest character). A girl on instagram started using his design, same name (different last name) without credit or permission, claiming him as her own. A close friend of mine came to me and told me about it, and when I asked who the account belonged to I noticed she was following me, and that's how she had seen the character in the first place. I calmly requested the artist take down the character and stop using him, explaining that it wasnt okay for her to use the design, similar aspects to the design or the name as all are pretty unique in my opinion, she agreed to change the name and design, then came back with something that looked almost identical to his currently canon one of split dyed hair and a darker clothing style, only she added like... goat ears and a goat tail and paws?? and switched the split color. But the glasses, clothing, name were all the same. i confronted her again, told her to stop using it and she hit me with an aggressive "OH BUT THE ___ IS FROM MY MOM AND THE ___ IS BECAUSE OF MY HERITAGE OF ____" even though it was all evident bullshit and she had given my boyfriend later in this story a very flip floppy changed us excuse. She blocked me on all my socials, and i was scared to use the design and stopped drawing all together for about 2 months, took everything down from my art page and was just gone for a while, before finally i forced myself out of the grey, my ideas started to come back, the depression that had been thrown at me from the few months was being treated and i had support from my followers and close friends. So i drew a new piece, its one of my proudest drawings to this day, of the new and improved updated character. His hair was a bit different, same style, same split dye only now it was blonde and black instead of white and black, he had better fashion, i was just more inspired to draw him. I posted in my story that i was getting over it with a "you know what guys, you know who the real vixen is, forget copycats" or something along those lines, and i warned people that no matter what you think, visual ideas and art are protected by law regardless of if youre a taxed seller or not, all ideas are under copyright claim. At this point i had already previously made the brash choice to create a fake profile to keep tabs on this girl, which resulted in less than 24 hours later being so upset that i had to spam call my boyfriend awake at almost 2 or 3 in the morning (Im a night owl, my best ideas come in the evening) and he had to calm me down as the girl had screenshotted my instagram story posts, harassed me on them, then told people i was harassing her, glorifying self harm (when i draw one or two scars on a character wrist because oops he has them yet she draws billions of little glowing "cutesy" scars all over her characters) and that i was glorifying eating disorders because a huge part of my story is that the entity possessing this character in question likes to ruin his life, and the story revolves around them trying to fix it and figure out what he wants and how to separate him as hes like stitched to his soul? one of the things he does to ruin his life and try to "kill off" the body keeping him from existing on his own (even though if the body died so would he) is forcing up food. Sounds bad, but its not glorifying it. I study psychology, and mental illness is one of the things i like to write and include in stories as its something i do extensive research on having chronic anxiety myself. Anyway, i got off topic. She told her followers to report me, which is what triggered the panic attack, and at this point is where my boyfriend comes into play. he messaged her, told her to cut the crap, leave me alone and that if she had just stopped using the character, there wouldnt have to be any aggression in the first place. She retaliated with a fake excuse and then took down the stories, then made a post that she was getting rid of a bunch of characters, him being one of them as he "caused too much drama" (no shit? he was mine and you fought everyone who tried to tell you to take it down the stalked me??) So basically i waited a bit, made sure she stopped using it, then shut down that account. A huge mistake on my part was the initial first time we chatted, i didnt screenshot anything in case something happened so i had no proof to use against her to get her to stop. So everyone was under the impression that she was right and i was wrong. She told people things like "i didnt even know her character existed" "i dont even know who she is" "this character is mine she stole him from me" even thought his original first design was posted way way back in 2014 when i first started to seriously post my art on instagram. I've learned now to screenshot conversations when i encounter thieves even if theyre nice about it and apologize. So tl;dr. Someone stole one of my characters, pussyed out when confronted, then harassed me. Don't be a dick guys. if an artist asks you to stop using their work, just STOP USING IT.
+IndigoMilk omg when she put goat ears on and talked about her family lineage I thought you were going to say she was half goat on her mother's side. LOL That story is pretty ridiculous. I understand why it's so hurtful seeing as how it's your character but as a stranger looking in... Like, she sounds like a 5 year old having tantrums and trying to get you in trouble for it. I think that you should continue drawing your character. It's probably a situation very similar to another person I used to know... Except the flip side of it. She drew her oc and claimed it was all original. Then she received backlash from another person and her fan base because she pretty much jacked the design and changed the color scheme. I honestly would like to think that most people can tell who the original creator is. Like it's pretty clear cut who has been drawing longer and is more comfortable drawing that character. Does this girl still harass you?
No she doesn't thankfully, she ended all the crap with a "She caused me too much stress im just done talking about her" (yes im so sorry you broke a nail over me while my mental illnesses came back because you use them as a weak point to make me look like the bad guy) and told me to keep her off my tongue, but i never specified a name so i technically am right? ;") ... boy do i wish i could warn people about her though. Also i totally just burst out laughing at the "half goat on her moms side" thing. Ill give some specifics, the character in question's name is Vixen, he has albinism and is sort of alternative, so he dyes his hair and stuff, its just his fashion style but its like... its hard to explain like... Minimalist grunge? or something, whatever unimportant. He has tattoos on both side of his face of tribal markings he got to commemorate his mother who was really super into collecting and researching stuff about past and present cultures like Native Americans, Geisha, etc. Stuff like that. (It was a shitty tattoo he had done by an Ex's friend who wasnt even a certified tattoo artist, he was a troublemaker kid) Her excuses were along the lines of: "The split dye hair is inspired by melanie martinez!!! wtf!!!" "Hes albino cause hes a goat" "My MOM suggested the name Vixen cause its [insert some false information about it being super meaningful and personal to her mother even though the word essentially means slut if you dont look at fox names, she certainly didnt mention foxes though]" (???) "The tattoos are super personal cause im [insert made up ethnicity that she clearly isnt or only has like a very tiny amount of in her] and so they are super meaningful to me you wouldnt understand *flips hair*" I definitely have continued drawing, recently started to heavily work on anatomy so i can start finally putting this 4-5 year story idea onto paper. I finally feel like its falling into place. Essentially ive just blocked the entire situation out, i still think about it but now it just doesnt feel like anything. It just feels more like "you know what, ill take this and use it to make my character BETTER" What i hated most about this situation is this person complained about my character's mental illnesses being "glorification" and "improperly portrayed" but then actively follows, takes inspiration from and worships popular artists who are known for glorifying even worse self explanatory things.
I don't know if this is a "scam" but it annoyed me so much!! Back when I started doing commissions, someone commissioned me a piece of her friend to give it her for her birthday present and her bday was soon, so of course I started the work right away. I was on a holiday, so I worked on it until 4am. Next morning I send her a picture of the work. She says that she loves it and I am extremely happy. But then she tells me that she NEEDS to buy shoes, so she can't pay it. Of course I get angry and tell her that I already did the work and when she orders someone to do the work for her, she has to be sure that she has the money. She ignored my messages for DAYS and I started to get even angrier. Couple days after she sends me a message, which says that if I make a print out of the picture, it would be cheaper for her. Of course it would not be cheaper at all, it would be a lot more expensive. When I told her that, she blocked me. This happened last summer, and I still have not received the money. // i know that i should have made her pay like half of the prize before starting, but i was trying to be kind :( i was a young poop at the time
it's good to be kind but always remember to be kind with caution. There's always going to be people who will leap at chance of getting art without paying, whether or not the artist is effected
A few months back a really popular artist and character designer on deviantart had decided they wanted to leave the site so they sold off a bunch of characters etc. at first, since they were held and valued very highly in the community no one thought anything of it until people started asking 'Hey you owed me [ insert commission]' the artist at first didnt reply or anything so people began supecting scamming, but it was confirmed when the artist dissed alot of their commissioners and friends, and said they arent getting their money nor art or just completely ignored them. some people were out of $400 and some fewer amounts. But to make it all worse the artist actually began scamming people out of character designs and reselling design they already sold, knowingly. they even sold off designs they didnt initially own. ALOT of people couldn't get their money back because alot of the owed work or bought characters were no longer covered by paypals buyer protection. so even super popular people can turn out to be huge scammers.
I've never been interested in buying art, so I've never been scammed of my money. I do art trades on Sony Sketch, which as always told, the other artist never completed their half of the trade, but I do have a more interesting story. after having an art contest, I chose the three winners and wrote their usernames down, so I would know who to draw for (I do this for my requests and art trades too). about a week passed, and I've posted all of the prizes, when a fourth anonymous user I've never seen tells me that I never drew for them like I said I would. after I read this comment, I tell them that I didn't ever say I would draw for them, and they don't reply. a couple days later the same user tells me this AGAIN. so of course I reply, saying that I never said I'd draw for them, and ask them as politely as I could to basically stop bothering me about this. I went out for a few hours after that, and come home to a notification saying I had lost about 5 - 7 followers, and no. I'm not offended by this, but I was wondering why I was unfollowed so much In that short period of time. I log into Sony Sketch seeing another notification saying I was tagged in a post by the same user as earlier, so I take a look at it. it turns out this user has mad a post saying that I'm a scam artist, and to unfollow me now. at this point, I've really lost it. I considered just making the art piece to get it all over with, but my friends told me not to. being just how great they are, they got together and reported this user. fortunately, I never heard from this person again. So, I guess this isn't a scam story, but I still wanted to share it
thats really shitty man :( i know another RUclipsr that had this same incident happen to them, though it involved money. She was almost fooled into thinking that someone(the scammer) had sent her $10 for an art piece and never got it. The person who was trying to scam her was really persistent in her claims, saying she had made a payment. But thankfully the youtuber managed to find proof that payment was never sent and that she had never talked to this person(the scammer) before, so it ended relatively well with the scammer disappearing off the face of the planet lol
I would have made a post about how they are lying and they don't even have proof on what they are saying so don't trust them they are trying to get free art by lying. I would also warn other artist to not trust this person
I don't mean to sound catty with this but if you know a youtuber who is scamming people or has scammed people in the past shouldn't you name and shame them? I mean it could actually have them held accountable, or it might save someone the grief of getting ripped off because they know to avoid them for being a scam artist. I feel like being coy about who it is just makes people more likely to point fingers at completely innocent youtubers instead of demanding this person be held accountable. like if you see this going on and know someone is getting away with it, wouldn't you want to warn people? I'm sorry if i'm being rude but i just don't get it.
BellatheSkeleton 3 i.... know that.... i was literally asking why Bother using fake names when talking about this stuff because scammers, especially ones that are youtubers with huge followings of probably trusting people who admire them should be held accountable and others should know about them scamming people so they can avoid being scammed too. Did you even read what i wrote lol??
+murd nurdsurd As far as I know they stopped doing commission work so there would be no point... well unless they're scamming people another way which I would have no idea about. I also would get a lot of backlash for doing something like that. :(
LemiaCrescent mmh.. yeah okay i can see where you're coming from. Still it's so crummy that people can screw people over and get away with it scott free and still have people admire and look up to them :^(
+murd nurdsurd Trust me, it bothers me too. I hate it when people aren't treated right. But there is actually very little I could do about it. :( People will like this artist until they're burned. Then they have to compare their feelings of dislike with how much they like that person's art to see if they stop supporting their content. It's rough.
Oh boy howdy do I have a story relating to this. In late January of 2016, a VERY popular RUclips artist created an artwork I simply needed to own in some form just because it was a subject matter very similar to something I wanted to draw and was executed beautifully. I had ordered a print from this RUclipsr in the past and had no problems whatsoever; despite them living outside of the country I live in, the print arrived very quickly and was a great price as well. I went ahead and ordered a print of the artwork I very much wanted along with a few other prints and an item that was supposedly noted as a pre-order. Roughly a month passed when it reoccurred to me that I'd made the order and I remembered that since one item was a pre-order, maybe the shipment would be delayed until that would be available to ship out. Seemed reasonable in my head. I waited another month and became more suspicious. I checked the RUclipsr's online store and everything previously listed had been taken down. Not only that, but I had also seen in the video of a different RUclipsr that the same item I had put a pre-order on was given to them at some point. I began to panic quite a bit and tried sending an email to the RUclipsr, as well as opening a case in the site in which I purchased the art from out of panic. Now, anyone who knows me would vouch that I have practically 0 abrasiveness built up inside of me. My email was very friendly and considerate as possible since I knew additionally that this person had been going through a few rough life problems at the moment. They responded seemingly concerned claiming that they would look into it and get back to me as soon as possible. I closed the case on the site I purchased from before a response was given from them since the RUclipsr had already emailed me the response. Another month or so passes. Nothing. No further responses, nothing in the mail, no refund. I tried all I could to reach out to the person from their social medias privately over the span of many months, as well as very briefly publicly once only requesting to respond to my private messages, as they were of importance. At one point in April, I had managed to find them active on Deviantart on the rare occasion and took the opportunity to note them and was fortunate enough to actually get a reply, which gave me a small glimmer of hope that they simply were just missing my messages prior and not upfront ignoring them. The reply was practically the same as the response I'd gotten by email previously and it played out just like that one, too. Months go by. More months go by. During these months, it's mostly me sending the very occasional plea for simply a refund at this point in my friendliest tone possible while being absolutely enraged with the awful service. I would've wanted to do more during these months, but I was extremely busy trying to handle my own life than to focus on refunding 20 bucks and tossing hours into it likely to no avail. Flash forward to sometime recently, likely about a month or 2 ago. I opened yet another case on the site I'd made the purchase on and got a response from a worker saying that they would contact the seller to try resolving the issue. Unsurprisingly, the worker got no response. They notified me that they shut down the Tuber's store and gave me information on how I could try getting a refund via Paypal along with an apology. Obviously, too much time had passed in order for me to receive a refund, so here I am now, less so at a loss for cash and more so at a loss for respect of the RUclipsr. This was someone I had supported for months on Patreon and that I very much adored and now I can't even click onto their videos without sort of revolting against my own decision. To this day, I still don't know if this person was exclusively ignoring my pleas or just having them lost in the likely thousands of messages they receive a day, but I do know that if I do decide to order from someone I KNOW will be a huge pain in the ass to try and get in contact with if I'm not some special social butterfly with a million RUclips subscribers, I gotta act FAST if I notice something going on.
+MaliciousManta Unfortunately there are others leaving comments in this video with strangely similar circumstances. I don't know if it's the same artist but I do know that you're not alone. I'm very sorry this happened to you. Like, I really do feel so bad for you right now. If I ever wronged someone who supports me or my art I wouldn't be able to move on until I made it right. I just really am surprised by people. :(
OMG I know right?! XDDD Someone in my previous video said I should make an entire video with tape peeling and stuff. But then I'd have to find all the videos I peeled tape. o.o;
when I was in Middle School I started a commission for a student who wanted a drawing of a frying pan of all things but to be honest wasn't very passionate about the artwork. i tried a few times but I really didn't feel like finishing it and I had this kids money (it wasn't very much money but I still had it and I felt bad) I gave the money back to the kid eventually told him I would work on it later I felt kind of bad afterward because I knew that I wasn't going to do it anyway so I had to go back and tell him that I actually had no plans of doing his commission even though I've already given back the money
That's okay! You gave it an earnest try and returned the money. Now that student can find someone who is super excited to draw that frying pan and pay them. :> You shouldn't feel bad, you did the right thing.
"if you're not paid in a commission and you don't complete it then you're not harmed in that transaction" At the risk of being contrarian I am going to disagree here. The artist is still harmed in this instance, because they have still invested time into the commission even if it wasn't completed. Especially if you're working in a style that takes a very long time to complete (e.g. realism) or if the client has spent a lot of time bandying about ideas and references at you, or demanding sketch mockups before suddenly backing out. You don't realise just how time-consuming something like that is until you actually make note of how much time it's taking up. I have had upwards of 15 hours of my time wasted by people like this before, time that I could have spent completing an entire drawing or working on some RUclips content instead. Time that's already very limited due to also having a day job. Long story short take a non-refundable deposit before investing ANY time into a commission. That way you are still compensated for your time even if ultimately the client backs out.
scam artists and art thieves have the same amount of dishonesty and are both equally as bad...they steal ur money for their own purpose without giving the other person something in return which is really rude and an ignorant thing to do
I take comissions in drawings and paintings. About a year ago, I got a comission where I would paint a big painting 100x57cm big, for a customer who would like me to paint a resembling painting she already had on the wall. I took on the challenge and started painting. Sent updates on the painting every progress to check if she thought something would change along the way. Everything was ok until it was ready and she completely regretted. To her defense, she did not want a similar she wanted a copy. But never said she wanted a copy. And when it was small details left untill it was dun she didnt say anything either. I did the hole framing and everything frome scratch and that painting costed me 119us in material. I was so mad. But the painting is haning over my bed untill this day. And luckely it have never happened again.
LOL I think it's because I'm a Mama Bear type... I also tend to have a lot of experience with commissions and things like that. I'm often helping my friends with art stuff and advice. :)
I had to do a heap of portraits of a popular band, and I asked if the person could scan the pictures I did because I wanted to keep a memory of them, and we didn't have a printer at the time. I got paid $30, if I did the same thing now I would have gotten $500 at least. Anyway, I was 12 at the time. The person went to the concert where the band was, and "apparently" she forgot to bring the portraits I had done back! She didn't even photocopy them! So, that is the most disappointing thing to happen to me as far as selling my art goes. Thanks for reading up to here.
I once auctioned a commission for a dog rescue. I emailed the person and received the picture they wanted me to draw. I then had a series of health issues, family deaths etc and hadn't updated the person for months to the point of losing their email! Thankfully they emailed me so I could then explain and actually do the art. It was almost a year after the original payment was sent but they received the art and absolutely adored it! Plus as far as I know the dog recovered well from the operation. I've recently started painting tops and bags and I do the paper design before any money is transferred because even if they don't like it or decide not to have an item done by me, I then have a new design I can potentially use in the future that I may have never created if not for that person
That flower painting was beautiful, the fruit painting made me hungry ( its a good thing ) , and that red panda painting was ADORABLE . I would totally put them in my room 👍👍👍👍👍👍😀😀😀
I unintentionally scammed a few artists on deviantart (I had honest intentions to complete the work). I had already received payment, but my boyfriend got upset when he realized that one buyer was trying to flirt with me. I told the buyer to stop, but he wouldn't. Since I received the payment though, I was still going to do the commission despite my boyfriend telling me not to, this ended up in a huge argument and him telling me it was deviantart or him.. I loved him too much to let him go, so I ended up deleting my account and wasn't able to contact the buyers I had after that to send them any art.... I didn't realize how bad it was until I started to think about it the night afterwards and I honestly still feel like a bad person for letting those people down. Things have gotten a lot better between me and my boyfriend, but I still haven't fully forgiven him for putting me in that spot
Yikes. I know this comment is 7 months old but I hope you dumped that guy. Any one who gives you an ultimatum like that, especially about something that isn't even your fault, is an insecure, unhinged creep that should go in the trash bin.
yeah uh I also know this comment is old but I agree with the first person. If he was willing to breakup and get emotional over business like that, you shouldnt be together in the first place
I'm sorry but he is going to have to go idc how good he seems you can't control the other persons action and you already told them to stop and he blamed you for another person's action
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the red panda. You give great advice on how to avoid being scammed. I'm guilty of not asking for money for commissions until the drawing is actually finished, and so far I've been really lucky. All of the commissioned work I've done has been for friends or friends of friends, but as you point out, friendship isn't necessarily enough -- there are still people who will take advantage of you. Going forward, I'm going to try to be more careful.
Hi! Probably I'm not part of that young artists you're addressing this message to; however the stories you told are quite interesting and actually gave me some clue on how to deal with people in regard art business issues. You hit a nail on the head about something which is exactly I'm so afraid of becoming... A scam! O.OU Specially when I've been planing (and hesitating) offering commissions for so long. So thanks so much for the tips! They're quite useful! :) Have an excellent week! Blessings!!
I really like your art work. I have been buying art for 15 years. I have a lot of good stories. Some bad stories. When you buy and sell art. Take the good with the bad.
I haven't been scammed before but I did have an annoying experience with an art request. I found this really great artist who was open for art requests so I jumped at the chance and asked them if they could draw one of my characters, and hey said that they would get it done over the weekend. A whole month passes without me getting the art so a message them asking if they're still going to do it and I tell them that it's okay if they're not since it's not like I'm paying them or anything. They said that they'd just been really busy, it had slipped their mind, and they would get it done. That was back in the summer and I still haven't received the art I requested, they haven't even said anything to me since I messaged them. I'm okay with an artist not completing a request, they aren't getting anything to return so they aren't obligated to do it, I've had art requests that I failed to do too, but I didn't lie to the people who requested art from me. If you're not going to do a request then don't tell the person asking that you will, it's rude, dishonest, and just plain annoying. I don't really hold it against them, but they still shouldn't have told me that they were going to do it when they aren't.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I COMPLETELY forgot I had an art trade with someone! I received my artwork of my cats but forgot to draw her dogs in return! If it wasn't for you, I probably would have forgotten about it entirely and I would be a scammer without even knowing it!! You have saved me from being a scammer!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I'm subscribing for that!!
I've never bought any commission online so I've never been scammed that way fortunately. The convention I go to every year does have some artists who do commissions and one who I became sort of acquaintances with because I saw her every year for 3-4 years and I always commissioned some stuff from her and talked a bit with her too. Last time I saw her and we talked a bit, we exchanged social media and she said she'd draw me something for free and send it through that social media. I never saw the drawing but I don't know if it's because she forgot or procrastinated until she felt it was too late to draw it and send it, or something like that. It was supposed to be a free drawing, it's not like I paid anything for it so I honestly I don't resent her for not drawing it. Also, since a gift is something willingly given, I just couldn't bring myself to ask her about it because it would've been like begging for free art from her and even though I wasn't drawing much at the time, I did realize it would have been pretty rude. I'm not sure it counts as a scam. It was just a promise and no money was involved, and since it's been a while, I can't even be 100% sure I'm remembering the details correctly. It's the only "bad" experience I've had with an artist.
This one time I was offering free requests and this girl gave me a character I didn't really like, but I had made the offer. I finished it and she never contacted me even though I tagged her. For some reason I assumed this meant she didn't like what she received and deleted the picture,, telling her I'd send her a new one later. Time went by and I eventually forgot about it. This doesn't count as a scam, seeing as I was not obligated to give her free artwork and I had even stated so in the journal, but I still felt bad about it. She probably doesn't care, since the character she gave me had a lot of fanart of it obviously made by many different artists, but I still felt really guilty.
Write a contract, get it signed, on camera if possible. Download it somewhere secure and be ready to produce copies or the original of it on request of an uninterested party. It makes things easier in small claims court.
Personally I remember one time I tried making a commission for someone. I realized that not only I was taking way too long to complete it, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to complete it either. So what did I do? I returned all her money and added a bonus of 10% as collateral.
You are too nice :D You should name the slime ball that even has the big channel and still scams. I can understand why people struggling a lot financially lose their ethics. But that? Even worse.
But I have to be a Becca. That's my name. D: But in all seriousness. This is great advice. Don't be that person who just takes money and doesn't give something in return. I had this happen to me a while ago on Facebook. The person just never got back to me after taking my money... then opened commissions again a week later. Luckily it wasn't that much so I don't particularly care too bad. But even an explanation would have been nice...
since you asked ... back in the 70's (yes, i am old, lol) i tried various ways to make a "living" from my art ... flea markets, craft fairs, street faires, commissions, etc .... one of my methods was to put my art in a store with the store owner taking 40% of the sale and myself getting the remaining 60% ... we made the deal and i brought about a dozen stained glass pieces to her ... i was so excited to see my art in a really nice commercial storefront ... once a month, i would stop by to see if anything sold ... and while there, i would "visit" my pieces ... one one occasion, she told me nothing had sold ... but when i "visited" my pieces, i could not find all of them ... so i asked her if they had sold or if they had been moved ... she repeated that there had been no sales since the previous one ... obviously i was perplexed ... after some discussion about what to do next, she accused ME of having someone come in to steal my work so that i could keep my work while insisting on being paid when it was no longer in the store ... oh, yes ... i did get paid ... live & learn
I've unfortunately scammed someone and am not proud of it. Watching this video has brought back those memories. When I was younger, I had a poor sense of time management and an inflated sense of my artistic capabilities. I joined an art swap through an online craft forum and was really excited to create something for my swap partner. However, I had trouble completing the items either because of poor time management, inability and lack of confidence in my skill. My swap partner sent their items to me but I was so bogged down with other things and so far behind that I couldn't complete my end of the swap in a timely fashion. I ended up writing both the swap organizer and my swap partner an apology letter admitting that I was unable to finish. Luckily the organizer got someone else to fill in for me. I should have sent back the items that I received but thinking back I was so flustered and ashamed that I didn't do anything. The whole debacle was humbling and has taught me to rein in my enthusiasm and be more honest with myself. I've since then hesitated in joining events like these because I don't have the time nor confidence. I think it is for the best, because I definitely do not want to be known as unreliable. I will only do so if I can prove it to myself that I can complete the task in hand in a timely manner. I still struggle with overcommitting in other aspects of my life, but watching this video served as a discomforting reminder to be more careful of promising things and actually following through. Thanks.
I was scammed by a commissioner before a few years back and I thought to myself that I was never again going to do any form of work without seeing the money first. This really taught me to be careful out there because the internet is untrustworthy.
Old video but I can't believe people would actually take someones money like that. I remember when I opened commissions it was because I had to leave an abusive household and was staying with a friend, on top of that I was having trouble finding a job and could no longer afford my phone bill. So many people dm'ed me asking for a commission spot (like 30+ people) and I told them I would write their names and info down and that they could send reference photos for what they wanted (I was mainly a portrait artist). I only accepted payment AFTER the artwork was already done, as because I was struggling I could not guarantee a timeframe of when the piece would be done (anywhere from days to weeks). In the end I was only able to accomplish half of the commission slots, and to this day I feel really bad for the people who requested a commission but never received one. I earned enough money and had to focus on other things :( but it's like I gave them false hope for a commission/was unreliable even though I didn't take any money. Super grateful for everyone who supported me though. So the story of beka asking for commissions bc she was struggling but then supposedly using the money for other reasons really irked me.
A friend of mine commissioned someone through "artists and clients" and that artist practically disappeared for 2 months before resurfacing again. I advised my friend to cancel her order but since there was no fear of losing the money, she didn't cancel it. She finally did get her work but it was an annoyingly long wait. That's why when I opened my account on the site, I told people I would inform them if there is any delay in their artworks. It's better than keeping the client in complete darkness.
I always look at art commissions as a actual job and ensure quality but get them done. It’s so unfair when people think it’s okay to just take money and never give what was promised. Great video.:)
oh my god i know this artist who has a tos that says if someone sends too much money, or uses the wrong account to send money, they dont get that money back. and a lot of people have commissioned them and tons of people say they're scamming, and blame everything on disabilities
This I why I'm not gonna do commissions until I get out of community college and have a job to back myself up with when I get stuck. I really want to learn how to plan out my commissions and art business because I don't want to be labeled a scammer or get scammed. And I really think that's important on both sides.
My grandmother spent 40$ on something from an artist for me over a year ago. The artist kept making excuses about why it wasn't sent out and then one of the people who also bought this item started harassing the artist and now the artist hasn't been responding to messages. I'm worried we won't get the item but fingers crossed.
I had the art trade problem. A very young follower that was just starting out on art asked me to do an art trade with them. I asked mutuals if they were reliable and was answered “yes”. So I accepted and started on my piece about 2weeks later as I was moving house (I told the other person it would take a bit to finish my part and they said they were busy with school so it would match up) . I finished my part of the trade in within a few days of starting it as we only agreed on a uncoloured sketch sort of art work. I asked the person if they finished theirs and they said they were almost done so I uploaded my part. After another 2 or so weeks of not hearing from the other person I dmed them on Instagram and they told me some tests came up but they would finish soon - I obviously understood that school comes first, so I waited more. Another MONTH went by and I did not hear from the person or saw them upload any art work onto their acc ( they uploaded pictures of the fandom they were into tho.) So I contacted them again asking about their part of the trade and they told me they did it and uploaded it... I didn’t see it on their account so I asked “where, do you have another acc?” They answered with yes and I asked them to give me the link to the other acc or tag me in their trade part (like I had done for them) but never received a link or a tag. I regretted not listening to my guts, however, my part came out really nicely and so I decided to keep it up and just forget the trade ever was a thing.. No I am much more careful with whom I do an art trade, especially when followers ask me to do one with them. (I basically made it a “mutuals” only.
I make pendants as a hobby using wire weaving techniques and I generally refuse to take money up front for custom pieces. I wait until I'm finished, then show the buyer the piece to make sure they are satisfied before they purchase it. That way I can remake it and sell the finished one and not be out anything. That's how I manage to do it anyway. That way, if I can't finish something, due to time constraints or personal issues; I can tell whoever commissioned me ahead of the "due date" that I won't be done in time, and then nobody misses out or is out money.
+Fawx that's an interesting perspective on selling jewelry! I wish other art stuff could work that way. Unfortunately once you show an online person a commission, there is no reason to pay you anymore. That and you can't deconstruct and reuse the materials. :(( But very interesting perspective! Thanks for sharing!
LemiaCrescent still not enough time. I ordered a small craft thing in july. Its now december. Last update by artist was October. Their list was long too. I wouldnt have ordered if i knew it was that long. It passes out of paypals hands on the 26th December.
I always watermark my stuff until i get the money I want them to see the design and tell me yay or nay but until the money is in my bank, or theyve shown proof of them sending the money that watermark is gonna stayy
Once I was commissioned but I couldn't finish the piece. I felt really bad and ended up giving the buyer a full refund along with the unfinished piece. I was too busy with school and my mental health to do the commission.
I'm a casual freelance artist I've passed the 2 month limit before due to me being in College, taking care of my Grandmother ( whose left side is paralyzed ) and working that being said I always offer a completely free art piece when a commission does go over the 2 month limit and people seem to find that as an acceptable trade for me taking longer than average I've taken over 40 commissions (most private ) and I've only missed the 2 month deadline twice that being said people have tried to scam me using my practice of this, I've had someone talk to me about commissions send me the info in a note ( on DA ) and paid on Paypal but then 3 days later I noticed the money was refunded; and stopped working on the commission fast forward to 3 months later and the person who got the refund is asking why I didn't do his commission and is demanding I draw his free artwork; and I told him "you got a refund 3 days after sending the money so I didn't finish it " he then proceed to pull the "it wasn't me " and kept demanding free artwork; and of course Paypal tells you who got the refund and since this was his only commission I knew he had to do it; so I repeatedly told him "re-pay for the commission and I'll do it" but then he went into cursing and calling me all sorts of things; and at that point I was like "not dealing with this" and blocked him on all accounts unfortunately the bastard gets to laugh cause now he goes around telling people I scammed him; I've had a few people ask me to refund his money since then and showed them he was already refunded ( of course they were really confused over that ) but I'm aware that not everyone he talks to has come to get the real story from me and I randomly get blocked by people over his lie oof
Oh gosh I remember that day when i did an art trade with somebody, and they did their part, but i was a bit lazy and started doing it way too late. Then, when i came to that person's profile, looking for the character i had to draw, i saw that they were using a lot of curse words and offensive content in their latest posts. They also seemed to have stealed art from other people. I was really confused, and i saw how rudely they replied to other people's criticism. And i started to feel like: "How dare they steal and be so offensive, i don't want to draw ANYTHING for them" And that's how i acted. I never did my part. But now i watched this video and started to feel a bit bad. Am i considered as a scammer? I just really strongly don't want to do my part. What do i do?
Update! see my previous comment for the backstory, but it's taken me and multiple other people calling her out on this video for me to finally get my stuff several years after I payed for it. So thank you LemiaCrescent for posting this video. The downside is I now can't enjoy it because of this experience.
(I know this vid is old but still I'm gonna share my story) even as an artist myself I'm cautious now with commissioning people because of the many problems that happened but a majority are just artists not paying attention to refs and being rude so I'll talk about this specific scam: I paid a specific artist for a digital fullbody, after a month or so they made a post saying their computer broke and they needed to do traditional art which was already sketchy to me because they shouldve already messaged me to say "sorry, I can't do the commission" and refund me instead of making a post and opening commissions again so I messaged them saying "hey, since you can't do my commission can I have a refund?" and their response was "oh I don't have the payment anymore, sorry!!" meaning they were either lying or spent what I paid them before even starting the commission (keep in mind, I messaged them way before their post asking about the commission and they said they "havent started on it but will soon" and I never received a WIP) so I told them something along the lines of how that was unprofessional, they shouldn't spend the payment before doing the commission, and that I needed something in return since they cant seem to refund me nor gave me anything for what I paid them They started arguing about how I "shouldn't ask for professionalism from a 14 year old" in which I told them that they shouldn't be doing commissions if they weren't going to be serious about it/ "if they're 14 and can't be professional" (I honestly didn't even know their age in the first place), I didn't care how old they were they were paid to do something and should've known better to do it instead of spend what I gave them because for me it's like buying something from a store but they refuse to give you the item, they then told me they'd do a traditional fullbody piece in place of it of a higher standard and do you know what they gave me?? they somehow gave me a digital piece despite saying their computer broke and they couldnt do digital so they had to open traditional commissions to pay for the repairs....they attached a message saying "I did this at school just for you" and blocked me, it still baffles me to this day because I don't think they really did that at school otherwise they would still have digital art open and wouldn't have put up such a fuss about it or blocked me If you are past puberty and open commissions, you should know better to fulfill what you were paid to do because it's a job....that's like paying you to work somewhere but you just don't show, it's common sense and if you're "too young to be professional" then don't offer to do a job for payment because with jobs you're supposed to be professional and fulfill the tasks given otherwise you shouldn't be doing it in the first place and art is a job since many do it to pay bills and whatnot!! don't come up with excuses on why you didn't do it if you're not refunding the person who paid you, either refund them or do the art otherwise you shouldn't open commissions in the first place if you're so unreliable and don't even do them to begin with...if you really don't want to and/or can't do the commission just say no in the first place or refund the money, it's as simple as that.
Interesting video, Lemi! I've been lucky enough to avoid scams so far. I always ask for a deposit, which certainly helps. I generally try to avoid putting myself in awkward situations where there's not a balance in trust/expectation between parties too.
Second story, depends on whether it’s legal or not. If the lease has a drop date, as in you can be late on a months payment as long as it’s made within a deadline, then yes, but it depends on the deadline, I believe it varies by state in the US, but the general rule is 2 months
Ive done so many art trades and I'm always super fast to finish them, and only one person I've ever traded with has actually finishe their side and it's super upsetting becausei put heaps of effort into my art
Do you paint this from your mind?or do you have some reference material at a side and just draw the pose you want and than apply the colors that are needed to make that art piece. If I have to do something from my mind it's messy, but when I have reference it look so much better. I play with my reference and I search a pose I find interesting. Search an image with the colors I like and sometimes I clay a figure of that subject and put a lamp on it to know where the shades are. That's how I get my work done what about you? When were you able to draw without reference?
I've only been scammed once in an art trade, and I've never done one again. I did an art trade with another relatively small (but good!) artist back when my art wasn't so good. She knew my art skill and I provided examples of my art so she knew what she was getting into. I finished mine in 3 days and it's been two years and I haven't heard back :( I contacted her about half a year ago and she said she was really sorry and she would start on it soon, but I still haven't heard anything. For now I just ignore it and give her the benefit of the doubt that maybe she really _did_ forget but I'm not sure anymore.
back when i was newer to instagram, i initiated an art trade with someone. long story short, after months of asking where their side was they stopped responding and i never got my art. i stopped doing art trades except for with close friends after that
I did an art trade before, worked on the picture for the person for around an hour (which isn't too bad compared to other arts I and other people have done) and the person didn't make their piece. I was sooooo mad and it's been years and I know my art and their art weren't the greatest yet it still bothers me that I did what I was supposed to but they just never did the same back. I don't know how to avoid this except demanding the other person uploads theirs first and then they just sort of have to believe me when I say that I already made my end of the deal. I haven't tried for more art trades since then but perhaps another way to avoid it is to welcome "fanart" and then do fanarts back? I don't know, it'd be nice if you could just trust people but sadly people have to steal like that.
(I commented that before completing the video and I'm glad this came up again! That was a nice positive spin of the expended time and effort too so yay :) )
I had a friend (who feels like a former friend now) who was making these amazing fairy lights meets hobo dream catchers that were amazing. I paid her to make me a custom wise since she had made and sold a few to her other band online friends, to make a living on the side for herself. However after weeks, a month, that then became two months...after I paid her $15-20 bucks USD on PayPal to her, I finally asked her about the commission. She said she'd refund me the money because she had previously "suddenly fell out of making the fairy light-dream catchers"...yet, she still made the pieces for other commissioners that paid for their commission ones because "they live in the UK near me so shipping to them will be cheaper" than it would be to still make mine and mail it to me in the states. Even though I received my money back on paypal, her whole attitude and feeling like she did rip me off commission wise just changed our friendship to where I rarely talk to her.
When I was in college aside from be the school superstar (I became famous early in the first year) I was know for my art (it was all over campus) and I use to work for free, and I started making copies. Because of that my friends started to whine about their being no originals, but when one of my friends who would not except a copy wanted something I charged for it, and they didn’t want it. I’m the artist here! I charge now no questions asked, but when asked to do some artwork nobody wants to pay.
okay but like,,,, i've been procrastinating on commissions for a while bc i havent had the proper motivation?? and i intend on completing the art but i still feel so bad about not doing them yet,,,, help
do you sell art yourself? also i just wanted to say i'm a young artist and i love your art it's such a inspiration to me. and just one more question how to you get the angle on the piece that you draw in almost every video and how do you add the audio?
I made a simple looping animation for one of my really good freinds in high school. We agreed to him paying me 20$ once it was done. When I told him I had finished it he said he didnt want it anymore. He never got the gif, but I had spent lots of time making it for nothing. Lesson learned.
I think I accidentally scammed someone when I was younger? Basically I was in an art trade group chat, I showed examples of my art and someone drew the character from the example, Which is not my character but my friend's, I didn't know what to do so I didn't give them the drawing I was suppoce to and I regret it so much and I can't find the user.
I usually sketch something out then ask for payment. That way even if they don’t pay, they only get a crappy sketch but if they do pay, they know I’ve at least started
Honestly ive been “scammed” by art trades a couple times but i dont really mind it tbh. Most of the time i just jump on ppls art trade offers because im bored and wanna draw something. In fact i think ive been in only one art trade where the other person did their part
This recently happened to me. The situation has thankfully been resolved. But last year at Ohayocon 2018, my friends went to the artist alley while I was watching all of our stuff. They purchased a 30 dollar commission for me. It was Sunday so unfortunately I had to contact the artist on instagram and wait for her to complete it and post it online. Weeks go by, and I message her "hey how is the commission?" and she would always tell me that she didn't get around to it. A few months would go by and then I'd ask again, being very understanding and friendly about the piece. Which by the way it was a 4 x 6 chibi commission. She always used the excuse that depression or family got in the way of doing it. Which I would totally understand if she didn't post daily pieces on her instagram, even other peoples commissions. After about 8 months of waiting I asked for my refund back. And of course I paid in cash so it was more difficult to beware that artist without proof that I paid. But I did and the artist knew it and I had proof in our messages that I paid with cash and that she knew about it. I continued to message her after asking for my refund back, and she never looked at any more messages after I asked for my refund. She ghosted me and even muted my messages. But I kept messaging her, and after a few weeks of trying, I started posting artist bewares on my facebook and instagram and tagged her in them so that people knew who she was. Thinking back now, tagging her was very vindictive for 30 dollars, but I was positive if she was doing it to me then she was doing it to other people as well. So I kept going and I got so drained of it and was about to quit. Two friends in particular commented on her stuff and one actually went as far as to discuss a commission then out her that they knew what she was doing to me. After that she finally reached out to me, apologized, and returned my money. This took nearly all of 2018 to receive my refund. So now when I go to conventions, I try to buy prints or talk to the artist before I commission pieces from them.
It's a canvas paper made by fredrix. :> It's literally just canvas attached to a pad. It's nice because I can practice now and then store the pictures more easily.
that sounds really pleasant actually; I feel as if I'm waisting so much when using a canvas.. same with moleskine, it just feels so expensive (I don't even like moleskines paper that much :/)
It really does feel like a waste when you're beginning especially. You get these HUGE canvases and make these really not great paintings and then what do you do with them. >_> Nobody wants them on their wall. lol I'd tape the canvas paper to a board of some sort to keep it flat. I taped it to my table and then the lights made glare and it was horrible, you can see it in the video too. T_T So tape it to a board and then an easel if you wanna get rid of the glare. Hope this helps! The canvas paper is much cheaper. :D
LemiaCrescent thank you so much for the tip! I'll definitely be on the lookout for that now, it was honestly the biggest obstacle for me to actually paint. I did just paint in my regular sketchbooks from time to time, but I didn't want to completely fill them since that would ruin the binding ect.
I remember almost scamming someone on accident, she's still one of my best friends and I did eventually get it done but I took way too long and I still apologize about it to her.
lol I think I know almost every artist you mentioned here- one thing I should say on the business end of this is that if there's ever problems with an order - TELL THE ARTIST, I often get emails of people saying they were afraid to tell me that a package was never delivered, sometimes it's not a sinister evil artist but the post office screwing up, so just keep communication.
Good advice here! I always complain when I don't get things. Sometimes it's not the artist's fault that things go wrong.
I know that you know one artist for certain. Not sure if you know exactly who it is though. LOL
H.C.Brown I came here after your video lol
H.C.Brown ok
fancy seeing you here
H.C.Brown give me the teaaaaa
That red panda is the cutest little thing ever!!!
Agreed
So my story isn't necessarily art scamming, but the artist was really mean when I attempted to apologize. I had misunderstood if the person was taking requests (as in the free, sketchy, fun art requests that are comedic and cute) and I asked to see if I had to pay for it (this was on tumblr). The artist was so mad for some reason and I tried to apologize. Eventually, this whole drama went on where the artist was being chatted to by someone else and mistook me for some sort of harasser. She told me that I owed her $200 (no joke) to apologize for what I'd done. Now, I loved this artist and thought their art was fun and adorable and when she started blaming me I was terrified. I quickly unfollowed her to avoid drama and then after a year or so her account was deactivated. Then people started actively attacking me through my inbox on tumblr claiming I was Russian? And that I had caused her account to be deactivated? Anyways she had been really cruel to some fanfic authors as well that sort of twisted my stomach and eventually, the whole thing died out. I don't know where she's gone in life but I guess I wish her well.
That's just horrible
All over a small *misunderstanding!*
I once commissioned someone on deviantart for a pixel icon. (I paid them with da points) I waited 2 months before asking the artist "Hey! i've been waiting for two months now, any progress on my commission?" at first i thought i had been scammed but not long after the artist apologized and had done two pixel icons (one extra) as an apology.
That's actually quite nice of them, I've never really been scammed but once on amino somebody (who was really trusted) opened commissions (i was on hiatus at this so I don't know if they had a paypal option) then after accepting the commissions they just left the amino completely, however im pretty sure some people had seen them on another amino with commissions open again, i have no clue what they are doing now i just hope they aren't scamming more people.
Sometimes if an artist goes through a page like trillo to keep track of comissions, other comissions can be lost if they forget to update thier trillo. It happens usually best to ask for progress updates weekly or check the commission order. I tend to update my clients weekly with a huge watermark SS, but I do 3D so theres different phases I udate the cliant before moving to the next.
I got scammed by a RUclips artist once. I ended up supporting their Patreon on a level where the monthly support gave you a sort of art bundle of prints/sketches/buttons etc. Well about two months went by and I never got anything. I contacted them several times within those two months and after it about it and I they never responded to me. They had made a post about 4 months after the fact that they didn't get around to sending out the rewards for a certain month and to contact them if you didn't receive anything. So I did, and guess what, I never heard back. It made me lose all respect for that artist. It's probably been 1-2 years since that and honestly that experience made me incredibly hesitant to ever support anyone on Patreon again.
Wow... I never even considered that about patreon. People accepting pledges but not giving what was signed up for. That's crazy! I wonder if it was Creation Draws. lol X_x I'm so sorry that happened to you...that's awful. :(
Was this person Jellibee by any chance? Because I've been waiting over 2 years for Patreon rewards from her
LemiaCrescent I also had this happen with a 'kickstarter' type thing for a popular youtuber. They were launching an art book / tutorial book that was promised within x amount of time. It kept getting delayed and since I've been 'scammed' before I saw some warning signs. Thankfully the person issued me a refund on request but I'm glad I did because it's now been like 1 1/2 to 2 years and it's still not complete.
I feel like people need to do the work THEN have the kickstarter for production. If it's the opposite, people don't really seem beholden to finish the darn thing. o.o;
LemiaCrescent I agree. It's a shame. While I myself have received a refund I cannot help but feel sorry the others that have funded this person and are still waiting :/
Lemi: "Story number two is about a girl we'll call Beka." Me: "No! don't use my name!" haha XD (my name is Rebekah, but I often go by Beka haha)
Learn2DrawManga You're hereeeee x3
my name jeff
Learn2DrawManga a million ppl go by becky and becka...
Jay VonnGee so? :/
Same here
(Except I spell it Rebecca ^.^')
Yeah but I'm paying with "exposure"
That actually never happened to me! But a friend of mine said it happened at a grocery store that wanted a mural painted for free near his home. XD;;; I wonder if "exposure" paid for the paint.
I SEE YOU EVERYWHERE!!!
wait you again
you are EVERYWHERE
You again! Stop following meeee.....
' i recommend you waiting until the other artist has completed the trade' both artists watch this and they wait for each other. in the end, none of them upload it, and they can't trust each other again. lol
and never do things for free!
I once did like 10 drawings of a singer for a popular tumblr blog, and they never did what they wanted to do with it, which was making it into a cool collage with moving background. probably they didnt like my art after all, but they did give me shout outs, every time I finished an art piece, and I got some exposure from it. I guess I shouldnt be mad cause I did it willingly for free. but now I delete any "can you draw me for free!?" request. like bitch I'm expensive now!
hellolala can you draw me for free ??
Meh Life bitch she’s expensive now
I've been waiting over 2 years for Patreon rewards from several months from someone I sort of know in real life, they're a very popular artist and they even convinced me to pay for shipping 2 years later upon the promise they'd finally send the almost £300 worth of rewards, they sent nothing and I saw them posting about moving to another country so...yep, I'm never getting anything from them. I commented on their youtube video out of frustration and they deleted my comments and messaged me saying they didn't want people seeing that they were 'late' on rewards in case they lost money from it.
JZsketch same! Only with kickstarter. I don't think I'll back another kickstarter again ;-;
Is it jellie bee?
+JZsketch what the hell.... Seriously... What is wrong with people.... Where are the priorities?
STOP TAKING PEOPLE'S MONEY AND NOT DOING WHAT YOU PROMISED IN RETURN.
This makes me so upset! I'm so sorry for you. :(
JZsketch if we are thinking of this same person, I think they also started a go fund me to help with this move to another country but I do not think they are even moving anymore?
Yep. Ironically I think she saw this comment and is finally going to give me my stuff, got an email from her about it today after posting this comment...
I used to be friends with someone and he would show me his art projects...He told me about how he loved to take pictures and "transform" them (he'd trace then change bits and add stuff to make it "different")
And then one day he did an art trade with someone, she gave him a beautiful work of art and you know what he did?
He took one of her drawings that was only maybe a month old, traced it, "changed it" and gave it right back at her. (She didn't know about his past so she was completely blindsided by that...)
I was scammed in an art trade not too long ago. I had made the mistake of sending my completed piece to the person without seeing any progress on their end. What have they done? Nothing, except go around asking for requests using my picture as a reference. They comment every so often saying "I promise I'll get it to you today!" And then they never do. It's frustrating.
We all make those mistakes 😕
Oh boy, that's extremely frustrating.
That sounds very annoying-
Oh boy Lemia, this is gonna be long so grab a snack. When I find the motivation to get back into youtube, i might actually make a video on this story I'm gonna tell you.
~
I have an experience with a very old character of mine (I've had him for three going on four years and hes my most personal, well thought out and dearest character). A girl on instagram started using his design, same name (different last name) without credit or permission, claiming him as her own. A close friend of mine came to me and told me about it, and when I asked who the account belonged to I noticed she was following me, and that's how she had seen the character in the first place.
I calmly requested the artist take down the character and stop using him, explaining that it wasnt okay for her to use the design, similar aspects to the design or the name as all are pretty unique in my opinion, she agreed to change the name and design, then came back with something that looked almost identical to his currently canon one of split dyed hair and a darker clothing style, only she added like... goat ears and a goat tail and paws?? and switched the split color. But the glasses, clothing, name were all the same.
i confronted her again, told her to stop using it and she hit me with an aggressive "OH BUT THE ___ IS FROM MY MOM AND THE ___ IS BECAUSE OF MY HERITAGE OF ____" even though it was all evident bullshit and she had given my boyfriend later in this story a very flip floppy changed us excuse.
She blocked me on all my socials, and i was scared to use the design and stopped drawing all together for about 2 months, took everything down from my art page and was just gone for a while, before finally i forced myself out of the grey, my ideas started to come back, the depression that had been thrown at me from the few months was being treated and i had support from my followers and close friends.
So i drew a new piece, its one of my proudest drawings to this day, of the new and improved updated character. His hair was a bit different, same style, same split dye only now it was blonde and black instead of white and black, he had better fashion, i was just more inspired to draw him. I posted in my story that i was getting over it with a "you know what guys, you know who the real vixen is, forget copycats" or something along those lines, and i warned people that no matter what you think, visual ideas and art are protected by law regardless of if youre a taxed seller or not, all ideas are under copyright claim.
At this point i had already previously made the brash choice to create a fake profile to keep tabs on this girl, which resulted in less than 24 hours later being so upset that i had to spam call my boyfriend awake at almost 2 or 3 in the morning (Im a night owl, my best ideas come in the evening) and he had to calm me down as the girl had screenshotted my instagram story posts, harassed me on them, then told people i was harassing her, glorifying self harm (when i draw one or two scars on a character wrist because oops he has them yet she draws billions of little glowing "cutesy" scars all over her characters) and that i was glorifying eating disorders because a huge part of my story is that the entity possessing this character in question likes to ruin his life, and the story revolves around them trying to fix it and figure out what he wants and how to separate him as hes like stitched to his soul? one of the things he does to ruin his life and try to "kill off" the body keeping him from existing on his own (even though if the body died so would he) is forcing up food.
Sounds bad, but its not glorifying it. I study psychology, and mental illness is one of the things i like to write and include in stories as its something i do extensive research on having chronic anxiety myself.
Anyway, i got off topic. She told her followers to report me, which is what triggered the panic attack, and at this point is where my boyfriend comes into play. he messaged her, told her to cut the crap, leave me alone and that if she had just stopped using the character, there wouldnt have to be any aggression in the first place. She retaliated with a fake excuse and then took down the stories, then made a post that she was getting rid of a bunch of characters, him being one of them as he "caused too much drama" (no shit? he was mine and you fought everyone who tried to tell you to take it down the stalked me??)
So basically i waited a bit, made sure she stopped using it, then shut down that account.
A huge mistake on my part was the initial first time we chatted, i didnt screenshot anything in case something happened so i had no proof to use against her to get her to stop. So everyone was under the impression that she was right and i was wrong. She told people things like "i didnt even know her character existed" "i dont even know who she is" "this character is mine she stole him from me" even thought his original first design was posted way way back in 2014 when i first started to seriously post my art on instagram. I've learned now to screenshot conversations when i encounter thieves even if theyre nice about it and apologize.
So tl;dr. Someone stole one of my characters, pussyed out when confronted, then harassed me. Don't be a dick guys. if an artist asks you to stop using their work, just STOP USING IT.
+IndigoMilk omg when she put goat ears on and talked about her family lineage I thought you were going to say she was half goat on her mother's side. LOL
That story is pretty ridiculous. I understand why it's so hurtful seeing as how it's your character but as a stranger looking in... Like, she sounds like a 5 year old having tantrums and trying to get you in trouble for it.
I think that you should continue drawing your character. It's probably a situation very similar to another person I used to know... Except the flip side of it.
She drew her oc and claimed it was all original. Then she received backlash from another person and her fan base because she pretty much jacked the design and changed the color scheme.
I honestly would like to think that most people can tell who the original creator is. Like it's pretty clear cut who has been drawing longer and is more comfortable drawing that character.
Does this girl still harass you?
No she doesn't thankfully, she ended all the crap with a "She caused me too much stress im just done talking about her" (yes im so sorry you broke a nail over me while my mental illnesses came back because you use them as a weak point to make me look like the bad guy) and told me to keep her off my tongue, but i never specified a name so i technically am right? ;") ... boy do i wish i could warn people about her though.
Also i totally just burst out laughing at the "half goat on her moms side" thing.
Ill give some specifics, the character in question's name is Vixen, he has albinism and is sort of alternative, so he dyes his hair and stuff, its just his fashion style but its like... its hard to explain like... Minimalist grunge? or something, whatever unimportant. He has tattoos on both side of his face of tribal markings he got to commemorate his mother who was really super into collecting and researching stuff about past and present cultures like Native Americans, Geisha, etc. Stuff like that. (It was a shitty tattoo he had done by an Ex's friend who wasnt even a certified tattoo artist, he was a troublemaker kid)
Her excuses were along the lines of:
"The split dye hair is inspired by melanie martinez!!! wtf!!!"
"Hes albino cause hes a goat"
"My MOM suggested the name Vixen cause its [insert some false information about it being super meaningful and personal to her mother even though the word essentially means slut if you dont look at fox names, she certainly didnt mention foxes though]" (???)
"The tattoos are super personal cause im [insert made up ethnicity that she clearly isnt or only has like a very tiny amount of in her] and so they are super meaningful to me you wouldnt understand *flips hair*"
I definitely have continued drawing, recently started to heavily work on anatomy so i can start finally putting this 4-5 year story idea onto paper. I finally feel like its falling into place. Essentially ive just blocked the entire situation out, i still think about it but now it just doesnt feel like anything. It just feels more like "you know what, ill take this and use it to make my character BETTER"
What i hated most about this situation is this person complained about my character's mental illnesses being "glorification" and "improperly portrayed" but then actively follows, takes inspiration from and worships popular artists who are known for glorifying even worse self explanatory things.
Im really glad you posted about this. Just had a look at your channel and I love your art style!
I really love your art style!
I don't know if this is a "scam" but it annoyed me so much!!
Back when I started doing commissions, someone commissioned me a piece of her friend to give it her for her birthday present and her bday was soon, so of course I started the work right away. I was on a holiday, so I worked on it until 4am.
Next morning I send her a picture of the work. She says that she loves it and I am extremely happy. But then she tells me that she NEEDS to buy shoes, so she can't pay it. Of course I get angry and tell her that I already did the work and when she orders someone to do the work for her, she has to be sure that she has the money. She ignored my messages for DAYS and I started to get even angrier. Couple days after she sends me a message, which says that if I make a print out of the picture, it would be cheaper for her. Of course it would not be cheaper at all, it would be a lot more expensive. When I told her that, she blocked me.
This happened last summer, and I still have not received the money.
// i know that i should have made her pay like half of the prize before starting, but i was trying to be kind :( i was a young poop at the time
it's good to be kind but always remember to be kind with caution. There's always going to be people who will leap at chance of getting art without paying, whether or not the artist is effected
Ravensie that’s true! i’ve learned my lesson
A few months back a really popular artist and character designer on deviantart had decided they wanted to leave the site so they sold off a bunch of characters etc. at first, since they were held and valued very highly in the community no one thought anything of it until people started asking 'Hey you owed me [ insert commission]' the artist at first didnt reply or anything so people began supecting scamming, but it was confirmed when the artist dissed alot of their commissioners and friends, and said they arent getting their money nor art or just completely ignored them. some people were out of $400 and some fewer amounts. But to make it all worse the artist actually began scamming people out of character designs and reselling design they already sold, knowingly. they even sold off designs they didnt initially own. ALOT of people couldn't get their money back because alot of the owed work or bought characters were no longer covered by paypals buyer protection. so even super popular people can turn out to be huge scammers.
I've never been interested in buying art, so I've never been scammed of my money. I do art trades on Sony Sketch, which as always told, the other artist never completed their half of the trade, but I do have a more interesting story. after having an art contest, I chose the three winners and wrote their usernames down, so I would know who to draw for (I do this for my requests and art trades too). about a week passed, and I've posted all of the prizes, when a fourth anonymous user I've never seen tells me that I never drew for them like I said I would. after I read this comment, I tell them that I didn't ever say I would draw for them, and they don't reply. a couple days later the same user tells me this AGAIN. so of course I reply, saying that I never said I'd draw for them, and ask them as politely as I could to basically stop bothering me about this. I went out for a few hours after that, and come home to a notification saying I had lost about 5 - 7 followers, and no. I'm not offended by this, but I was wondering why I was unfollowed so much In that short period of time. I log into Sony Sketch seeing another notification saying I was tagged in a post by the same user as earlier, so I take a look at it. it turns out this user has mad a post saying that I'm a scam artist, and to unfollow me now. at this point, I've really lost it. I considered just making the art piece to get it all over with, but my friends told me not to. being just how great they are, they got together and reported this user. fortunately, I never heard from this person again. So, I guess this isn't a scam story, but I still wanted to share it
thats really shitty man :(
i know another RUclipsr that had this same incident happen to them, though it involved money. She was almost fooled into thinking that someone(the scammer) had sent her $10 for an art piece and never got it.
The person who was trying to scam her was really persistent in her claims, saying she had made a payment. But thankfully the youtuber managed to find proof that payment was never sent and that she had never talked to this person(the scammer) before, so it ended relatively well with the scammer disappearing off the face of the planet lol
I would have made a post about how they are lying and they don't even have proof on what they are saying so don't trust them they are trying to get free art by lying. I would also warn other artist to not trust this person
I don't mean to sound catty with this but if you know a youtuber who is scamming people or has scammed people in the past shouldn't you name and shame them? I mean it could actually have them held accountable, or it might save someone the grief of getting ripped off because they know to avoid them for being a scam artist. I feel like being coy about who it is just makes people more likely to point fingers at completely innocent youtubers instead of demanding this person be held accountable. like if you see this going on and know someone is getting away with it, wouldn't you want to warn people? I'm sorry if i'm being rude but i just don't get it.
These are fake names hon, she isn't saying their actual names for the sake of the stories
BellatheSkeleton 3 i.... know that.... i was literally asking why Bother using fake names when talking about this stuff because scammers, especially ones that are youtubers with huge followings of probably trusting people who admire them should be held accountable and others should know about them scamming people so they can avoid being scammed too. Did you even read what i wrote lol??
+murd nurdsurd As far as I know they stopped doing commission work so there would be no point... well unless they're scamming people another way which I would have no idea about.
I also would get a lot of backlash for doing something like that. :(
LemiaCrescent mmh.. yeah okay i can see where you're coming from. Still it's so crummy that people can screw people over and get away with it scott free and still have people admire and look up to them :^(
+murd nurdsurd Trust me, it bothers me too. I hate it when people aren't treated right. But there is actually very little I could do about it. :( People will like this artist until they're burned. Then they have to compare their feelings of dislike with how much they like that person's art to see if they stop supporting their content. It's rough.
Oh boy howdy do I have a story relating to this. In late January of 2016, a VERY popular RUclips artist created an artwork I simply needed to own in some form just because it was a subject matter very similar to something I wanted to draw and was executed beautifully. I had ordered a print from this RUclipsr in the past and had no problems whatsoever; despite them living outside of the country I live in, the print arrived very quickly and was a great price as well. I went ahead and ordered a print of the artwork I very much wanted along with a few other prints and an item that was supposedly noted as a pre-order. Roughly a month passed when it reoccurred to me that I'd made the order and I remembered that since one item was a pre-order, maybe the shipment would be delayed until that would be available to ship out. Seemed reasonable in my head. I waited another month and became more suspicious. I checked the RUclipsr's online store and everything previously listed had been taken down. Not only that, but I had also seen in the video of a different RUclipsr that the same item I had put a pre-order on was given to them at some point. I began to panic quite a bit and tried sending an email to the RUclipsr, as well as opening a case in the site in which I purchased the art from out of panic. Now, anyone who knows me would vouch that I have practically 0 abrasiveness built up inside of me. My email was very friendly and considerate as possible since I knew additionally that this person had been going through a few rough life problems at the moment. They responded seemingly concerned claiming that they would look into it and get back to me as soon as possible. I closed the case on the site I purchased from before a response was given from them since the RUclipsr had already emailed me the response. Another month or so passes. Nothing. No further responses, nothing in the mail, no refund. I tried all I could to reach out to the person from their social medias privately over the span of many months, as well as very briefly publicly once only requesting to respond to my private messages, as they were of importance. At one point in April, I had managed to find them active on Deviantart on the rare occasion and took the opportunity to note them and was fortunate enough to actually get a reply, which gave me a small glimmer of hope that they simply were just missing my messages prior and not upfront ignoring them. The reply was practically the same as the response I'd gotten by email previously and it played out just like that one, too. Months go by. More months go by. During these months, it's mostly me sending the very occasional plea for simply a refund at this point in my friendliest tone possible while being absolutely enraged with the awful service. I would've wanted to do more during these months, but I was extremely busy trying to handle my own life than to focus on refunding 20 bucks and tossing hours into it likely to no avail. Flash forward to sometime recently, likely about a month or 2 ago. I opened yet another case on the site I'd made the purchase on and got a response from a worker saying that they would contact the seller to try resolving the issue. Unsurprisingly, the worker got no response. They notified me that they shut down the Tuber's store and gave me information on how I could try getting a refund via Paypal along with an apology. Obviously, too much time had passed in order for me to receive a refund, so here I am now, less so at a loss for cash and more so at a loss for respect of the RUclipsr. This was someone I had supported for months on Patreon and that I very much adored and now I can't even click onto their videos without sort of revolting against my own decision.
To this day, I still don't know if this person was exclusively ignoring my pleas or just having them lost in the likely thousands of messages they receive a day, but I do know that if I do decide to order from someone I KNOW will be a huge pain in the ass to try and get in contact with if I'm not some special social butterfly with a million RUclips subscribers, I gotta act FAST if I notice something going on.
+MaliciousManta Unfortunately there are others leaving comments in this video with strangely similar circumstances. I don't know if it's the same artist but I do know that you're not alone.
I'm very sorry this happened to you. Like, I really do feel so bad for you right now. If I ever wronged someone who supports me or my art I wouldn't be able to move on until I made it right. I just really am surprised by people. :(
towards the end it turned into asmr :D ahh taking off the tape is easily one of the funnest parts of a drawing/painting
OMG I know right?! XDDD Someone in my previous video said I should make an entire video with tape peeling and stuff. But then I'd have to find all the videos I peeled tape. o.o;
would totally watch :D
LemiaCrescent a tape peeling compliation... I second that!
when I was in Middle School I started a commission for a student who wanted a drawing of a frying pan of all things but to be honest wasn't very passionate about the artwork. i tried a few times but I really didn't feel like finishing it and I had this kids money (it wasn't very much money but I still had it and I felt bad) I gave the money back to the kid eventually told him I would work on it later I felt kind of bad afterward because I knew that I wasn't going to do it anyway so I had to go back and tell him that I actually had no plans of doing his commission even though I've already given back the money
That's okay! You gave it an earnest try and returned the money. Now that student can find someone who is super excited to draw that frying pan and pay them. :> You shouldn't feel bad, you did the right thing.
"if you're not paid in a commission and you don't complete it then you're not harmed in that transaction"
At the risk of being contrarian I am going to disagree here. The artist is still harmed in this instance, because they have still invested time into the commission even if it wasn't completed. Especially if you're working in a style that takes a very long time to complete (e.g. realism) or if the client has spent a lot of time bandying about ideas and references at you, or demanding sketch mockups before suddenly backing out. You don't realise just how time-consuming something like that is until you actually make note of how much time it's taking up. I have had upwards of 15 hours of my time wasted by people like this before, time that I could have spent completing an entire drawing or working on some RUclips content instead. Time that's already very limited due to also having a day job. Long story short take a non-refundable deposit before investing ANY time into a commission. That way you are still compensated for your time even if ultimately the client backs out.
+Wild Portrait Artist I meant if you don't do it. I misspoke. I'm sorry!
scam artists and art thieves have the same amount of dishonesty and are both equally as bad...they steal ur money for their own purpose without giving the other person something in return which is really rude and an ignorant thing to do
that red panda tho ... so adorable !! :3
I take comissions in drawings and paintings. About a year ago, I got a comission where I would paint a big painting 100x57cm big, for a customer who would like me to paint a resembling painting she already had on the wall. I took on the challenge and started painting. Sent updates on the painting every progress to check if she thought something would change along the way. Everything was ok until it was ready and she completely regretted. To her defense, she did not want a similar she wanted a copy. But never said she wanted a copy. And when it was small details left untill it was dun she didnt say anything either. I did the hole framing and everything frome scratch and that painting costed me 119us in material. I was so mad. But the painting is haning over my bed untill this day. And luckely it have never happened again.
What did you paint?
"But some can be the people you trust the most-- your friends."
I trust no one.
i have friends but still dont trust them really i trust no one
@@Uhhhhhh_Idkman same here bud
Its kinda funny that your friends always come to you xD
LOL I think it's because I'm a Mama Bear type... I also tend to have a lot of experience with commissions and things like that. I'm often helping my friends with art stuff and advice. :)
I had to do a heap of portraits of a popular band, and I asked if the person could scan the pictures I did because I wanted to keep a memory of them, and we didn't have a printer at the time. I got paid $30, if I did the same thing now I would have gotten $500 at least. Anyway, I was 12 at the time. The person went to the concert where the band was, and "apparently" she forgot to bring the portraits I had done back! She didn't even photocopy them! So, that is the most disappointing thing to happen to me as far as selling my art goes. Thanks for reading up to here.
Me: I love that fox!!
LemiaCrescent: I really like the red panda though.
Me: . . .
I once auctioned a commission for a dog rescue. I emailed the person and received the picture they wanted me to draw. I then had a series of health issues, family deaths etc and hadn't updated the person for months to the point of losing their email! Thankfully they emailed me so I could then explain and actually do the art. It was almost a year after the original payment was sent but they received the art and absolutely adored it! Plus as far as I know the dog recovered well from the operation.
I've recently started painting tops and bags and I do the paper design before any money is transferred because even if they don't like it or decide not to have an item done by me, I then have a new design I can potentially use in the future that I may have never created if not for that person
That flower painting was beautiful, the fruit painting made me hungry ( its a good thing ) , and that red panda painting was ADORABLE . I would totally put them in my room 👍👍👍👍👍👍😀😀😀
I unintentionally scammed a few artists on deviantart (I had honest intentions to complete the work). I had already received payment, but my boyfriend got upset when he realized that one buyer was trying to flirt with me. I told the buyer to stop, but he wouldn't. Since I received the payment though, I was still going to do the commission despite my boyfriend telling me not to, this ended up in a huge argument and him telling me it was deviantart or him.. I loved him too much to let him go, so I ended up deleting my account and wasn't able to contact the buyers I had after that to send them any art.... I didn't realize how bad it was until I started to think about it the night afterwards and I honestly still feel like a bad person for letting those people down. Things have gotten a lot better between me and my boyfriend, but I still haven't fully forgiven him for putting me in that spot
Yikes. I know this comment is 7 months old but I hope you dumped that guy. Any one who gives you an ultimatum like that, especially about something that isn't even your fault, is an insecure, unhinged creep that should go in the trash bin.
yeah uh I also know this comment is old but I agree with the first person. If he was willing to breakup and get emotional over business like that, you shouldnt be together in the first place
I'm sorry but he is going to have to go idc how good he seems you can't control the other persons action and you already told them to stop and he blamed you for another person's action
HOW CAN PEELING TAPE OF BE SO SATISFYING?!?!?!?!?!
ruclips.net/video/gXCXPileGBg/видео.html
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the red panda.
You give great advice on how to avoid being scammed. I'm guilty of not asking for money for commissions until the drawing is actually finished, and so far I've been really lucky. All of the commissioned work I've done has been for friends or friends of friends, but as you point out, friendship isn't necessarily enough -- there are still people who will take advantage of you.
Going forward, I'm going to try to be more careful.
Hi!
Probably I'm not part of that young artists you're addressing this message to; however the stories you told are quite interesting and actually gave me some clue on how to deal with people in regard art business issues. You hit a nail on the head about something which is exactly I'm so afraid of becoming... A scam! O.OU Specially when I've been planing (and hesitating) offering commissions for so long. So thanks so much for the tips! They're quite useful! :)
Have an excellent week!
Blessings!!
I really like your art work. I have been buying art for 15 years. I have a lot of good stories. Some bad stories. When you buy and sell art. Take the good with the bad.
I haven't been scammed before but I did have an annoying experience with an art request. I found this really great artist who was open for art requests so I jumped at the chance and asked them if they could draw one of my characters, and hey said that they would get it done over the weekend. A whole month passes without me getting the art so a message them asking if they're still going to do it and I tell them that it's okay if they're not since it's not like I'm paying them or anything. They said that they'd just been really busy, it had slipped their mind, and they would get it done. That was back in the summer and I still haven't received the art I requested, they haven't even said anything to me since I messaged them. I'm okay with an artist not completing a request, they aren't getting anything to return so they aren't obligated to do it, I've had art requests that I failed to do too, but I didn't lie to the people who requested art from me. If you're not going to do a request then don't tell the person asking that you will, it's rude, dishonest, and just plain annoying.
I don't really hold it against them, but they still shouldn't have told me that they were going to do it when they aren't.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I COMPLETELY forgot I had an art trade with someone! I received my artwork of my cats but forgot to draw her dogs in return! If it wasn't for you, I probably would have forgotten about it entirely and I would be a scammer without even knowing it!! You have saved me from being a scammer!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I'm subscribing for that!!
I've never bought any commission online so I've never been scammed that way fortunately.
The convention I go to every year does have some artists who do commissions and one who I became sort of acquaintances with because I saw her every year for 3-4 years and I always commissioned some stuff from her and talked a bit with her too. Last time I saw her and we talked a bit, we exchanged social media and she said she'd draw me something for free and send it through that social media. I never saw the drawing but I don't know if it's because she forgot or procrastinated until she felt it was too late to draw it and send it, or something like that.
It was supposed to be a free drawing, it's not like I paid anything for it so I honestly I don't resent her for not drawing it. Also, since a gift is something willingly given, I just couldn't bring myself to ask her about it because it would've been like begging for free art from her and even though I wasn't drawing much at the time, I did realize it would have been pretty rude.
I'm not sure it counts as a scam. It was just a promise and no money was involved, and since it's been a while, I can't even be 100% sure I'm remembering the details correctly. It's the only "bad" experience I've had with an artist.
Thanks for the explanation! Some scammers I've heard of have made excuses along these lines, so nice to know!
This one time I was offering free requests and this girl gave me a character I didn't really like, but I had made the offer. I finished it and she never contacted me even though I tagged her. For some reason I assumed this meant she didn't like what she received and deleted the picture,, telling her I'd send her a new one later. Time went by and I eventually forgot about it. This doesn't count as a scam, seeing as I was not obligated to give her free artwork and I had even stated so in the journal, but I still felt bad about it. She probably doesn't care, since the character she gave me had a lot of fanart of it obviously made by many different artists, but I still felt really guilty.
Write a contract, get it signed, on camera if possible. Download it somewhere secure and be ready to produce copies or the original of it on request of an uninterested party. It makes things easier in small claims court.
do you cry if you pull the tape and accidently rip off half of the work you just did?
+Kougyon nah, I just shrug. I make so much junk that if I destroy something I don't mind. Lol
truly admirable
Thank you for making my night lemmie!! Watching this right before I go to bed
Sleep well Lion! :D Thank you for watching!
Personally I remember one time I tried making a commission for someone. I realized that not only I was taking way too long to complete it, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to complete it either.
So what did I do? I returned all her money and added a bonus of 10% as collateral.
You are too nice :D You should name the slime ball that even has the big channel and still scams. I can understand why people struggling a lot financially lose their ethics. But that? Even worse.
But I have to be a Becca. That's my name. D:
But in all seriousness. This is great advice. Don't be that person who just takes money and doesn't give something in return. I had this happen to me a while ago on Facebook. The person just never got back to me after taking my money... then opened commissions again a week later. Luckily it wasn't that much so I don't particularly care too bad. But even an explanation would have been nice...
since you asked ... back in the 70's (yes, i am old, lol) i tried various ways to make a "living" from my art ... flea markets, craft fairs, street faires, commissions, etc .... one of my methods was to put my art in a store with the store owner taking 40% of the sale and myself getting the remaining 60% ... we made the deal and i brought about a dozen stained glass pieces to her ... i was so excited to see my art in a really nice commercial storefront ... once a month, i would stop by to see if anything sold ... and while there, i would "visit" my pieces ... one one occasion, she told me nothing had sold ... but when i "visited" my pieces, i could not find all of them ... so i asked her if they had sold or if they had been moved ... she repeated that there had been no sales since the previous one ... obviously i was perplexed ... after some discussion about what to do next, she accused ME of having someone come in to steal my work so that i could keep my work while insisting on being paid when it was no longer in the store ... oh, yes ... i did get paid ... live & learn
I've unfortunately scammed someone and am not proud of it. Watching this video has brought back those memories. When I was younger, I had a poor sense of time management and an inflated sense of my artistic capabilities. I joined an art swap through an online craft forum and was really excited to create something for my swap partner. However, I had trouble completing the items either because of poor time management, inability and lack of confidence in my skill. My swap partner sent their items to me but I was so bogged down with other things and so far behind that I couldn't complete my end of the swap in a timely fashion. I ended up writing both the swap organizer and my swap partner an apology letter admitting that I was unable to finish. Luckily the organizer got someone else to fill in for me. I should have sent back the items that I received but thinking back I was so flustered and ashamed that I didn't do anything.
The whole debacle was humbling and has taught me to rein in my enthusiasm and be more honest with myself. I've since then hesitated in joining events like these because I don't have the time nor confidence. I think it is for the best, because I definitely do not want to be known as unreliable. I will only do so if I can prove it to myself that I can complete the task in hand in a timely manner. I still struggle with overcommitting in other aspects of my life, but watching this video served as a discomforting reminder to be more careful of promising things and actually following through. Thanks.
I was scammed by a commissioner before a few years back and I thought to myself that I was never again going to do any form of work without seeing the money first. This really taught me to be careful out there because the internet is untrustworthy.
Old video but I can't believe people would actually take someones money like that. I remember when I opened commissions it was because I had to leave an abusive household and was staying with a friend, on top of that I was having trouble finding a job and could no longer afford my phone bill. So many people dm'ed me asking for a commission spot (like 30+ people) and I told them I would write their names and info down and that they could send reference photos for what they wanted (I was mainly a portrait artist). I only accepted payment AFTER the artwork was already done, as because I was struggling I could not guarantee a timeframe of when the piece would be done (anywhere from days to weeks). In the end I was only able to accomplish half of the commission slots, and to this day I feel really bad for the people who requested a commission but never received one. I earned enough money and had to focus on other things :( but it's like I gave them false hope for a commission/was unreliable even though I didn't take any money. Super grateful for everyone who supported me though. So the story of beka asking for commissions bc she was struggling but then supposedly using the money for other reasons really irked me.
A friend of mine commissioned someone through "artists and clients" and that artist practically disappeared for 2 months before resurfacing again. I advised my friend to cancel her order but since there was no fear of losing the money, she didn't cancel it. She finally did get her work but it was an annoyingly long wait. That's why when I opened my account on the site, I told people I would inform them if there is any delay in their artworks. It's better than keeping the client in complete darkness.
I always look at art commissions as a actual job and ensure quality but get them done. It’s so unfair when people think it’s okay to just take money and never give what was promised. Great video.:)
The brushes are soooo pretty along with the art 😊
Oooh, I think the boarder around the flower painting turned out really cool!
oh my god i know this artist who has a tos that says if someone sends too much money, or uses the wrong account to send money, they dont get that money back. and a lot of people have commissioned them and tons of people say they're scamming, and blame everything on disabilities
This I why I'm not gonna do commissions until I get out of community college and have a job to back myself up with when I get stuck. I really want to learn how to plan out my commissions and art business because I don't want to be labeled a scammer or get scammed. And I really think that's important on both sides.
I love these videos so much, I love watching and enjoying the art and listening to her calming voice talk about very interesting topics :)
I like how your that type of friend who everyone goes to for advice when trouble arises XD
My grandmother spent 40$ on something from an artist for me over a year ago. The artist kept making excuses about why it wasn't sent out and then one of the people who also bought this item started harassing the artist and now the artist hasn't been responding to messages. I'm worried we won't get the item but fingers crossed.
I actually had to request a refund on it cause my grandmother was upset.
these stories were really interesting, and very well told, I really enjoyed this!
also that red panda you painted was super cute
Lemia is like our art mum
I had the art trade problem. A very young follower that was just starting out on art asked me to do an art trade with them. I asked mutuals if they were reliable and was answered “yes”. So I accepted and started on my piece about 2weeks later as I was moving house (I told the other person it would take a bit to finish my part and they said they were busy with school so it would match up) . I finished my part of the trade in within a few days of starting it as we only agreed on a uncoloured sketch sort of art work. I asked the person if they finished theirs and they said they were almost done so I uploaded my part. After another 2 or so weeks of not hearing from the other person I dmed them on Instagram and they told me some tests came up but they would finish soon - I obviously understood that school comes first, so I waited more. Another MONTH went by and I did not hear from the person or saw them upload any art work onto their acc ( they uploaded pictures of the fandom they were into tho.) So I contacted them again asking about their part of the trade and they told me they did it and uploaded it... I didn’t see it on their account so I asked “where, do you have another acc?” They answered with yes and I asked them to give me the link to the other acc or tag me in their trade part (like I had done for them) but never received a link or a tag. I regretted not listening to my guts, however, my part came out really nicely and so I decided to keep it up and just forget the trade ever was a thing.. No I am much more careful with whom I do an art trade, especially when followers ask me to do one with them. (I basically made it a “mutuals” only.
I make pendants as a hobby using wire weaving techniques and I generally refuse to take money up front for custom pieces. I wait until I'm finished, then show the buyer the piece to make sure they are satisfied before they purchase it. That way I can remake it and sell the finished one and not be out anything.
That's how I manage to do it anyway. That way, if I can't finish something, due to time constraints or personal issues; I can tell whoever commissioned me ahead of the "due date" that I won't be done in time, and then nobody misses out or is out money.
+Fawx that's an interesting perspective on selling jewelry! I wish other art stuff could work that way. Unfortunately once you show an online person a commission, there is no reason to pay you anymore. That and you can't deconstruct and reuse the materials. :(( But very interesting perspective! Thanks for sharing!
Your laugh/giggle is so great!!! XD
But seriously it’s so happy and makes me happy
Am simple panda. I see a red panda AND a lemia video? :D ish a must watch
+Pasquala :3 lol! I love red pandas too! Good choice in animals, friend!
PayPal changed their buyer protection policy to 180 days a couple of years ago, at least in the US.
+Erin good Lord that long?! That's awesome! :) Thank you for pointing that out Erin. I had no idea they changed it somewhat recently.
LemiaCrescent still not enough time. I ordered a small craft thing in july. Its now december. Last update by artist was October. Their list was long too. I wouldnt have ordered if i knew it was that long. It passes out of paypals hands on the 26th December.
I love the tiny little ham you put on the tartlette
I'm relieved because i thought that a scam artist is an artist who looks at other paintings made by artists they admire and recreate those
I always watermark my stuff until i get the money
I want them to see the design and tell me yay or nay but until the money is in my bank, or theyve shown proof of them sending the money
that watermark is gonna stayy
Once I was commissioned but I couldn't finish the piece. I felt really bad and ended up giving the buyer a full refund along with the unfinished piece. I was too busy with school and my mental health to do the commission.
I'm a casual freelance artist
I've passed the 2 month limit before due to me being in College, taking care of my Grandmother ( whose left side is paralyzed ) and working
that being said I always offer a completely free art piece when a commission does go over the 2 month limit and people seem to find that as an acceptable trade for me taking longer than average
I've taken over 40 commissions (most private ) and I've only missed the 2 month deadline twice
that being said people have tried to scam me using my practice of this, I've had someone talk to me about commissions send me the info in a note ( on DA ) and paid on Paypal
but then 3 days later I noticed the money was refunded; and stopped working on the commission
fast forward to 3 months later and the person who got the refund is asking why I didn't do his commission and is demanding I draw his free artwork; and I told him "you got a refund 3 days after sending the money so I didn't finish it " he then proceed to pull the "it wasn't me " and kept demanding free artwork; and of course Paypal tells you who got the refund and since this was his only commission I knew he had to do it; so I repeatedly told him "re-pay for the commission and I'll do it" but then he went into cursing and calling me all sorts of things; and at that point I was like "not dealing with this" and blocked him on all accounts
unfortunately the bastard gets to laugh cause now he goes around telling people I scammed him; I've had a few people ask me to refund his money since then and showed them he was already refunded ( of course they were really confused over that ) but I'm aware that not everyone he talks to has come to get the real story from me and I randomly get blocked by people over his lie oof
Oh gosh
I remember that day when i did an art trade with somebody, and they did their part, but i was a bit lazy and started doing it way too late. Then, when i came to that person's profile, looking for the character i had to draw, i saw that they were using a lot of curse words and offensive content in their latest posts. They also seemed to have stealed art from other people. I was really confused, and i saw how rudely they replied to other people's criticism. And i started to feel like: "How dare they steal and be so offensive, i don't want to draw ANYTHING for them" And that's how i acted. I never did my part. But now i watched this video and started to feel a bit bad.
Am i considered as a scammer? I just really strongly don't want to do my part. What do i do?
Update! see my previous comment for the backstory, but it's taken me and multiple other people calling her out on this video for me to finally get my stuff several years after I payed for it. So thank you LemiaCrescent for posting this video.
The downside is I now can't enjoy it because of this experience.
(I know this vid is old but still I'm gonna share my story)
even as an artist myself I'm cautious now with commissioning people because of the many problems that happened but a majority are just artists not paying attention to refs and being rude so I'll talk about this specific scam:
I paid a specific artist for a digital fullbody, after a month or so they made a post saying their computer broke and they needed to do traditional art which was already sketchy to me because they shouldve already messaged me to say "sorry, I can't do the commission" and refund me instead of making a post and opening commissions again so I messaged them saying "hey, since you can't do my commission can I have a refund?" and their response was "oh I don't have the payment anymore, sorry!!" meaning they were either lying or spent what I paid them before even starting the commission (keep in mind, I messaged them way before their post asking about the commission and they said they "havent started on it but will soon" and I never received a WIP) so I told them something along the lines of how that was unprofessional, they shouldn't spend the payment before doing the commission, and that I needed something in return since they cant seem to refund me nor gave me anything for what I paid them
They started arguing about how I "shouldn't ask for professionalism from a 14 year old" in which I told them that they shouldn't be doing commissions if they weren't going to be serious about it/ "if they're 14 and can't be professional" (I honestly didn't even know their age in the first place), I didn't care how old they were they were paid to do something and should've known better to do it instead of spend what I gave them because for me it's like buying something from a store but they refuse to give you the item, they then told me they'd do a traditional fullbody piece in place of it of a higher standard and do you know what they gave me?? they somehow gave me a digital piece despite saying their computer broke and they couldnt do digital so they had to open traditional commissions to pay for the repairs....they attached a message saying "I did this at school just for you" and blocked me, it still baffles me to this day because I don't think they really did that at school otherwise they would still have digital art open and wouldn't have put up such a fuss about it or blocked me
If you are past puberty and open commissions, you should know better to fulfill what you were paid to do because it's a job....that's like paying you to work somewhere but you just don't show, it's common sense and if you're "too young to be professional" then don't offer to do a job for payment because with jobs you're supposed to be professional and fulfill the tasks given otherwise you shouldn't be doing it in the first place and art is a job since many do it to pay bills and whatnot!! don't come up with excuses on why you didn't do it if you're not refunding the person who paid you, either refund them or do the art otherwise you shouldn't open commissions in the first place if you're so unreliable and don't even do them to begin with...if you really don't want to and/or can't do the commission just say no in the first place or refund the money, it's as simple as that.
Interesting video, Lemi! I've been lucky enough to avoid scams so far. I always ask for a deposit, which certainly helps. I generally try to avoid putting myself in awkward situations where there's not a balance in trust/expectation between parties too.
Second story, depends on whether it’s legal or not.
If the lease has a drop date, as in you can be late on a months payment as long as it’s made within a deadline, then yes, but it depends on the deadline, I believe it varies by state in the US, but the general rule is 2 months
Last time I was this early Connor Murphy was still alive
AHHH DEH FAM
TOO SOON BRO
waaaait buff dudes dead or just irrelevant?
Too soon there buddy
AAAAH DEH
Ive done so many art trades and I'm always super fast to finish them, and only one person I've ever traded with has actually finishe their side and it's super upsetting becausei put heaps of effort into my art
Do you paint this from your mind?or do you have some reference material at a side and just draw the pose you want and than apply the colors that are needed to make that art piece. If I have to do something from my mind it's messy, but when I have reference it look so much better. I play with my reference and I search a pose I find interesting. Search an image with the colors I like and sometimes I clay a figure of that subject and put a lamp on it to know where the shades are. That's how I get my work done what about you? When were you able to draw without reference?
I've only been scammed once in an art trade, and I've never done one again. I did an art trade with another relatively small (but good!) artist back when my art wasn't so good. She knew my art skill and I provided examples of my art so she knew what she was getting into. I finished mine in 3 days and it's been two years and I haven't heard back :( I contacted her about half a year ago and she said she was really sorry and she would start on it soon, but I still haven't heard anything. For now I just ignore it and give her the benefit of the doubt that maybe she really _did_ forget but I'm not sure anymore.
back when i was newer to instagram, i initiated an art trade with someone. long story short, after months of asking where their side was they stopped responding and i never got my art. i stopped doing art trades except for with close friends after that
BagelPrince What's your instagram?
For the art trade advice, what if the other person is just as reluctant as you? What would you do then?
I did an art trade before, worked on the picture for the person for around an hour (which isn't too bad compared to other arts I and other people have done) and the person didn't make their piece. I was sooooo mad and it's been years and I know my art and their art weren't the greatest yet it still bothers me that I did what I was supposed to but they just never did the same back. I don't know how to avoid this except demanding the other person uploads theirs first and then they just sort of have to believe me when I say that I already made my end of the deal. I haven't tried for more art trades since then but perhaps another way to avoid it is to welcome "fanart" and then do fanarts back? I don't know, it'd be nice if you could just trust people but sadly people have to steal like that.
(I commented that before completing the video and I'm glad this came up again! That was a nice positive spin of the expended time and effort too so yay :) )
I had a friend (who feels like a former friend now) who was making these amazing fairy lights meets hobo dream catchers that were amazing. I paid her to make me a custom wise since she had made and sold a few to her other band online friends, to make a living on the side for herself. However after weeks, a month, that then became two months...after I paid her $15-20 bucks USD on PayPal to her, I finally asked her about the commission. She said she'd refund me the money because she had previously "suddenly fell out of making the fairy light-dream catchers"...yet, she still made the pieces for other commissioners that paid for their commission ones because "they live in the UK near me so shipping to them will be cheaper" than it would be to still make mine and mail it to me in the states. Even though I received my money back on paypal, her whole attitude and feeling like she did rip me off commission wise just changed our friendship to where I rarely talk to her.
When I was in college aside from be the school superstar (I became famous early in the first year) I was know for my art (it was all over campus) and I use to work for free, and I started making copies. Because of that my friends started to whine about their being no originals, but when one of my friends who would not except a copy wanted something I charged for it, and they didn’t want it. I’m the artist here! I charge now no questions asked, but when asked to do some artwork nobody wants to pay.
okay but like,,,, i've been procrastinating on commissions for a while bc i havent had the proper motivation?? and i intend on completing the art but i still feel so bad about not doing them yet,,,, help
Thank you for leaving in the tape peeling :3
do you sell art yourself?
also i just wanted to say i'm a young artist and i love your art it's such a inspiration to me.
and just one more question how to you get the angle on the piece that you draw in almost every video and how do you add the audio?
I made a simple looping animation for one of my really good freinds in high school. We agreed to him paying me 20$ once it was done. When I told him I had finished it he said he didnt want it anymore. He never got the gif, but I had spent lots of time making it for nothing.
Lesson learned.
I think I accidentally scammed someone when I was younger? Basically I was in an art trade group chat, I showed examples of my art and someone drew the character from the example, Which is not my character but my friend's, I didn't know what to do so I didn't give them the drawing I was suppoce to and I regret it so much and I can't find the user.
Oh I really love this artwork you made! ^^ Lovely color work!
I usually sketch something out then ask for payment. That way even if they don’t pay, they only get a crappy sketch but if they do pay, they know I’ve at least started
Honestly ive been “scammed” by art trades a couple times but i dont really mind it tbh. Most of the time i just jump on ppls art trade offers because im bored and wanna draw something. In fact i think ive been in only one art trade where the other person did their part
This recently happened to me. The situation has thankfully been resolved. But last year at Ohayocon 2018, my friends went to the artist alley while I was watching all of our stuff. They purchased a 30 dollar commission for me. It was Sunday so unfortunately I had to contact the artist on instagram and wait for her to complete it and post it online. Weeks go by, and I message her "hey how is the commission?" and she would always tell me that she didn't get around to it. A few months would go by and then I'd ask again, being very understanding and friendly about the piece. Which by the way it was a 4 x 6 chibi commission. She always used the excuse that depression or family got in the way of doing it. Which I would totally understand if she didn't post daily pieces on her instagram, even other peoples commissions. After about 8 months of waiting I asked for my refund back. And of course I paid in cash so it was more difficult to beware that artist without proof that I paid. But I did and the artist knew it and I had proof in our messages that I paid with cash and that she knew about it. I continued to message her after asking for my refund back, and she never looked at any more messages after I asked for my refund. She ghosted me and even muted my messages. But I kept messaging her, and after a few weeks of trying, I started posting artist bewares on my facebook and instagram and tagged her in them so that people knew who she was. Thinking back now, tagging her was very vindictive for 30 dollars, but I was positive if she was doing it to me then she was doing it to other people as well. So I kept going and I got so drained of it and was about to quit. Two friends in particular commented on her stuff and one actually went as far as to discuss a commission then out her that they knew what she was doing to me. After that she finally reached out to me, apologized, and returned my money. This took nearly all of 2018 to receive my refund. So now when I go to conventions, I try to buy prints or talk to the artist before I commission pieces from them.
Noice
The description lists canvas, but what type of paper is that? I'd love to mess around more with acrylics, but I'm not a huge fan of actual canvasses.
It's a canvas paper made by fredrix. :> It's literally just canvas attached to a pad. It's nice because I can practice now and then store the pictures more easily.
that sounds really pleasant actually; I feel as if I'm waisting so much when using a canvas.. same with moleskine, it just feels so expensive (I don't even like moleskines paper that much :/)
It really does feel like a waste when you're beginning especially. You get these HUGE canvases and make these really not great paintings and then what do you do with them. >_> Nobody wants them on their wall. lol I'd tape the canvas paper to a board of some sort to keep it flat. I taped it to my table and then the lights made glare and it was horrible, you can see it in the video too. T_T So tape it to a board and then an easel if you wanna get rid of the glare.
Hope this helps! The canvas paper is much cheaper. :D
LemiaCrescent thank you so much for the tip! I'll definitely be on the lookout for that now, it was honestly the biggest obstacle for me to actually paint. I did just paint in my regular sketchbooks from time to time, but I didn't want to completely fill them since that would ruin the binding ect.
If I always wait for the other person to finish their work before I even start it then I might be seen as a scammer
Your art is so lovely! I absolutely adore your use of color in these paintings
Youre art never make me bored😲
Harshie Channels me nether its amazing
I remember almost scamming someone on accident, she's still one of my best friends and I did eventually get it done but I took way too long and I still apologize about it to her.
Oh my god, that tape peel 8D =u=
But those are some really insightful stories and some great advice, thank you for sharing Lemi! =)