I once commissioned someone and ended up with a commission that looked nothing like what it should have and left out a lot of detail and I had no idea what to say to them except to thank them for taking my commission. I honestly was upset that I paid quite a few dollars for a drawing and it looked unfinished. 

There was this one time I was paid to draw a girl who was roasted and stuffed like a pig. That was one hell of an adventure

Maybe I'm late to this thread but HOOOOOLY SHIT last year apparently didn't want me to comm anyone cuz holy shit... ._.

*I had to wait 7 months for a few pieces that I know the artist COULD churn out in a matter of hours [like, I watched them stream many times] but... didn't. For 7 months. Because video games. [total was like $80+ AUGH, at least the end result was A+++]

*Tried to commission another artist for a quick comm, they told me to pay AFTER they sent an initial sketch, then disappeared. I sent another note JUST to check that I was supposed to wait to pay since their journal rules stated otherwise, JUST IN CASE-- Now they're like. Semi-active and have never even opened my notes. This was last August. I... tried???

*The one that burns me up the most though... An artist whose style I thought was unique opened up some quick comms for convention fun-time funds or whatever-- Figured I'd buy 2 pics, $20 each and the turn-around was quick, BUT... She. Literally traced from her OWN example image. For both characters. Then slapped 343985945 sparkles on to cover up the shady quality. Even their sta.sh files HAD THE IMAGE TITLE in the URL name, like-- are you fuckin' serious M8, unfortunately I knew something was off from the start but kept quiet and pretended I was happy with it at first. I shouldn't have, omg.

So I feel you on the bait-and-switch issue, it SUCKS. :c

I actually have two similar experiences... but I was lucky since the pictures were almost for free.
And yes I still believe for a free/cheap commission, request or prize you still should put some effort in your pictures. I always try to give the creator a fitting chracter to draw which is equal with their level of skill, but if they ruin the easiest character, they just didnt try and didnt care. So dont offer any requests at all if you dont want to draw it! man!

So the first story is about one deviant, which I stumbled upon, complaining about she cant draw and I said to her she'll draw better if she tries and draws much. And I looked at my gallery and decided that after 200 pictures drawn she should clearly be better - like it was with me. I promised her I would commission her then. You know, motivation and such.
Haha. Two weeks later she writes me, she wants to be commissioned because she already did 200 pictures. And oh my god, they all were crap and no effort put in it. But I wanted to hold my promise, commissioned a custom design and extra gave her some tips about which colors work together.
I wonder if she even listened, but the colors were not fitting AT ALL. It was the worst I've ever laid eyes on!!
(I altered the design a bit and turned it into human, its now one of my favourite oc's)

My second experience was when I joined a contest. I really did my best for the group-icon I did and I won first place
But the first place prize was the shittiest I've ever got. I gave her a really simple task. It was my simplest OC I had- just a white cat with dots and a rainbow tongue. So she wouldnt have to put much thinking into perspective and pattern, could have focused on proportions (which she clearly needed practice in) and could have gone wild with the rainbow theme.
But NOPE! Oh how much wrong I was. She clearly didnt put ANY effort in it. It was just something that seemed like something with 4 legs - or splatters - or whatever. The shading was so miserably It ruined the whole picture. Even the dots of the fur were ugly - how can you ruin dots???? I've seen her gallery, I KNOW she could have done better! I was clearly offended by the way my OC was protrayed, but didnt wat to say it.
She deleted her Account after some time...


I want to add "with a good look you can actually see if something is traced:
The proportions are right, but the linework and shading is shakey."

I have seen people told you that for 6 dollars you shouldn't expect much. But even if it was cheap when you do something for someone and especially if you get paid for it you should try your best.

I hope none of my commissioners feel this way about me D: I've gotten a few where they never replied after I sent them the final version and I wonder if they hated it :C uwaah Particularly this one: Commission - DarkGumi I spent soo long on that background and I guess they hated it. The guy's face was pretty bad... but I tried XO

jfc I can draw Shibe's, where's my 50 bux >:C

I've commissioned a friend of mine when she first started drawing. I choked at the anatomy and such, but because she was a beginner and didn't really find her style yet, I let it pass.

Even so, I displayed it on my page for publicity and I cringed wheever I looked at it. Thankfully I took it down when I remodeled my page.