Very silly question but I have to ask as I think about this every time I post about it LMAO

Hi, ideally if you're looking at this thread you're a person who buys are :] [For game currency or real currency], sit down, I got a question for you.

Are you ever bothered when you see an artist posting something like 'I don't want to do my comms :(' or something similar when you've personally commissioned them or got commissions waiting from them? Do you not care? Does it put you off? I wanna start a discussion about it as I'm genuinely curious about how people feel! :0

Edit: If anyone feels like commenting examples of what would vs wouldn't bother them, that'd be super cool too! :0

So, how do you feel when an artist you've commissioned says something along the lines of 'I don't want to do my commissions'?

it definitely does depend on how it's said! most of the time it's more of a "i just feel lazy right now", which is completely understandable. however if it's directed in a negative tone i'd likely be a little bothered by it ^^

as someone who takes commissions, if i don't want to do owed work right this instant, i will only whine about it to my friends because it seems impolite to do that where the people waiting on work will see it. I've always felt like it would put me off because then i might assume: Oh this person doesn't like my OC design / doesn't have any motivation / i am now questioning whether my piece will be done on time or take a few months. ESPECIALLY if I've already paid because then it's like.. may i have my money back then if you're going to complain about not wanting to do it to anyone who will listen. And especially if it's already been a worrying amount of time and yet the only update on the art you're waiting on is "i don't want to work on it".

i just feel like it should be something said in private if you really need to say it somewhere, otherwise it just feels ungrateful to me since someone admired your art and is paying you for it, and yet you're still telling everyone you don't want to do it.

Depends on how it's said / other factors.

If its been months from ordering/an update, if they are saying it every other day, or anytime I comission them (or they get another commission)? Yeah I probably won't commission them again. Otherwise I don't really mind.

I can't lie, it puts me off a ton. On a few fronts.

I completely get people are human and there are things they don't want to do and art, while a cool fun hobby, is still work if you monetize it but if you want your job to be seen as legitimately as other jobs (which artists advocate for all the time, that art is a hard job and the like) you shouldn't complain anywhere your 'customers' can see it.

It has the potential to make people feel crappy about the characters they love, that they're really excited to see in your style, and it can plant seeds of doubt about whether an artist is trying as hard as they could on your commision because well, you're watching them have a bitch about even doing it to begin with. It kinda just feels like a weird vaguepost, almost?

It's just a lot of, "Oh, what if they hate my character? :("
Also, I have to be honest, pretty much any time I pick up a tablet pen, it ends in tears. Hot. Streaming. Tears. If an artist is complaining about their comms, I can't imagine having the skills needed to do art but just not wanting to. I'd love to be able to draw well enough to be burdened by comms. My brain only really knows how to relate through the experiences I've had, so I just assume they're leaning over a desk bawling their eyes out. That sounds terrible, right?! Or at least, you'll immediately feel like you haven't paid them enough for all of that pain and suffering!! It just kicks up an immediate guilt in me. It feels like I'm torturing someone, haha.

Light complaining is okay but I've witnessed a few times where artists are downright ripping up the design they've been commissioned to draw and it just sits icky with me.

Maybe I'm just paranoid but scams and outright ghosting is so common from artists you commission these days that I need people that have the drive of a Belgian Malinois to get my comms done. I don't want to have to carrot (praise the fuck out of small wips) and stick (hey, it's been a while, can I get an update?) my artists into drawing my character. It's just painful. I paid you to draw.. I don't want to have to hold your hand for 6 months to an end result.

I'm guilty of dragging my feet, for sure, and that's why I take payment after. lol

These responses are very interesting! :0

Me personally, I'm not bothered at all :0 unless it was something like 'This OC is really complex/hard to draw' or something along those lines - as I'd hope in that case the commission artist would contact me and maybe ask for a diff OC - which I'm nearly always okay with :] or maybe ask for clarification on markings/clothing, etc.

It's something I say every now and again but always feel a little odd or funny saying, deffo something I'm wondering if I should cut back on saying for the comfort of my commissioners, as I'm always grateful for every comm and am grateful for a bit of a challenge every now and again too! :0 Looking at the results/feedback so far, I think I'll deffo stop ahah, I'd hate to ever put someone off commissioning me in future!

Keep the comments/discussion coming, this is definitely something I'd love to talk about!

I put this on the same shelf as work-related complaints. You don't want to do the work, but you eventually wind up having to do it. So it's just a quick stress relief before you dive head-in into whatever headache you have to handle.

I voted for it depends on how it's said because context is always important. But I can't lie, it would put me off from commissioning that artist again regardless. I agree with a lot of the other points people are making here like the fear of "oh, what if they're complaining because they don't like my character?", or wondering if that means the completion of their piece is going to be dragged out.

Personally, I already have a lot of anxiety when commissioning artists for pieces and if I saw the artist I commissioned complaining about their comms, it would make me feel bad for sure. Because for one, I want the piece I commissioned but I also don't want to put any added pressure on the artist, especially if they're already feeling like they don't want to do it. So now, as the commissioner, I don't feel comfortable approaching the artist for updates or asking for changes because I feel like I'm being a huge pain in the ass at that point. Idk if anyone else relates to this, but that's my perspective on it lol