I think two months with no updates (or any communication) about a possible delay due to work/school/etc is a little too long, but that's just me.

The customer is not always to blame, but patience is a virtue!

Not always to blame, how... generous of you? I mean, I don't think the customer is always right but I think taking it to the other extreme isn't helpful either @_@

Well "taking too long" is a nicer way of saying "they've taken my money and given me nothing in return so far". Of course it's the most common complaint! It's the most common problem in most business transactions!

I wasn't saying that commissions can't take a long time, whatever the circumstances, or that updates need to be sent out every week but that it would go a long way (and generally DOES go a long way) for the artist to give their commissioners an update, even if it's a short "Hey just to let you know, there may be a delay of a week/2 weeks before I get to work on your commission" because I think a lot of people complain when they feel they have no idea when their commission will be done and start to get the feeling the artist has taken their money and run, so to speak. And unfortunately, there ARE artists who, purposely or accidentally, do this with their customers, so I don't think the complain is unrealistic or invalid.

And I personally have seen a number of artists start commissions at the start of a con and finish those commissions before the end of the con, so everyone's milage may vary about how long art takes.

I generally think that it's better to try to eliminate the delay rather than try to mitigate it by making it more palatable, especially since doing things like not taking payment until the art is done can lead to situations where the artist is ripped off. The common method of accepting half payment before and half after is to prevent artists from not being paid for their time and materials. Some delays are hard to avoid but if an artist is finding themselves regularly behind commissions due to their life, they either gotta re-prioritize their life or maybe think about not making art professionally. Because you gotta act like a professional to be one and that means getting stuff done on time.

It's perfectly natural not to contact someone if you don't know their contact info. I can't tell you the number of sketchbooks I've gotten with NOTHING in them. I have it posted on my sales sign now that name, address, and phone number must be in the sketchbook. I try to write it in a note book for badges but things can get confusing after you get a dozen or so orders.

I have to admit I was a bit baffled by this comment. If the turnaround times furs demand on commissions is panic-inducing, then how in the world do any artists survive the serious freelance illustration industry?

I've found the furry community to be excessively lenient in terms of turnaround time. Two months for a badge without any updates -is- a bit of a wait and somewhat unprofessional in my opinion. Any non-fur client would doubtlessly never stand for that so I'm rather surprised at how many people expect clients to stand for it in the furry community.

This is actually a running pet peeve of mine. As an artist, I obviously do not mind the leniency of furry commissioners since more time to complete a project is always welcome, but I often get frustrated when I see artists in the furry community expecting clients to be easy-going about less-than-professional business practices and ridiculous wait times and then getting annoyed when they're not.

If artists in this community want to be taken more seriously and improve their reputation, then they need to get better about wait times or at least about communicating with their clients. A waitlist with a full commission plate after a con is understandable, but they should at least give the commissioner a timeframe upfront and then keep them updated if that timeframe changes.

2 months is kind of long for a badge unless it's a super detailed, ultra researched one. I'm working on one that taken two months both research and in developing techniques to get it to look right. Standard con badge though shouldn't take more than a few days.

I don't know...do you have a link to his stuff?

BTW: if you're the artist of the same name as the one on FA, then you kick ass!