I know this theme has been posted before but I didn’t see anything recent so wanted to post something new and get some advice.
I’ve only commissioned a few art pieces in my life from lesser known artists and have been happy and received the work without a super long wait.
Last November I commissioned a very well known established artist for the first time. It was for a character I created and he said for a piece like that he would need the money up front and the time frame would be 7-9 weeks. He’s one of my all time favorite artists and well established so I trusted and went for it because I knew he would hit it out of the park and I’d appreciate the piece for years.
Now it is 10 months and I’m still waiting. We traded emails back in February and he apologized and explained that he is slow on commissions, especially on original characters as he wants to get it just right, and it wouldn’t be much longer. He was very nice and we had a good exchange. I also bought a piece he had posted on CAF and that eventually did get sent to me along with some signed posters (which were just added as a bonus).
However I emailed him again a month ago just to check the status of the commission and no reply.
Reading threads about commissioning artists it seems clear now I should not have paid up front, but based on his status in the industry I figured there was absolutely nothing to worry about. And I don’t mind the wait, I am a bit concerned though that he wasn’t honest about the wait time when I first arranged the commission.
I’d love to hear people’s comments on similar situations, and how to move forward. It was not a small amount of money (which I think makes me more anxious - I don’t want to feel someone has stolen from me, especially someone I’ve looked up to for years) - but honestly it’s the piece I really want, and maybe some communication.
Thanks for anyone’s comments and stories...