I'm sorry you had these two shitty experiences, but I want to thank you for sharing them with me. This makes me feel much less weird about my own commissions that have gone south.
I wonder what happened with those two artists, though. It sounds like, with the watercolor, the artist may have sold it twice? Or perhaps the physical painting became damaged in some way? And maybe the artist thought they'd paint a replacement and send it to you, but they just couldn't bring themselves to do it? Who knows.
Either way, it clearly would have been better for everyone if the artists felt empowered enough to communicate with you openly without having to worry about bad things happening. Not like you would leave bad reviews or anything, but still. Lord grant us all the strength to turn down sales and commissions with the self-confidence of a middle-aged man.
Speaking personally, I spent more than thirty entire years on this earth before I realized that it's okay to just delete weird or negative comments on AO3 and FFN, and I still feel a little guilty when I do it.
no subject
I wonder what happened with those two artists, though. It sounds like, with the watercolor, the artist may have sold it twice? Or perhaps the physical painting became damaged in some way? And maybe the artist thought they'd paint a replacement and send it to you, but they just couldn't bring themselves to do it? Who knows.
Either way, it clearly would have been better for everyone if the artists felt empowered enough to communicate with you openly without having to worry about bad things happening. Not like you would leave bad reviews or anything, but still. Lord grant us all the strength to turn down sales and commissions with the self-confidence of a middle-aged man.
Speaking personally, I spent more than thirty entire years on this earth before I realized that it's okay to just delete weird or negative comments on AO3 and FFN, and I still feel a little guilty when I do it.