A question of ettiquette:

A little while ago I commissioned an artist, paying in advance. Since then it took weeks to get a preliminary sketch, which wasn’t right at all. Now it’s been another week and I haven’t heard back on my feedback.

It’s clear this artist isn’t going to make something I like, and will take forever to do it. I’m not going to put effort into chasing a $30 refund from an art student, but it’s pointless for him to spend more time working on it.

Do I just tell him, “it’s not going to work out, you shouldn’t bother with it?” But that sends a horrible message - screw up, and people will just let you keep the money without expecting the work. But at the same time why put someone through the effort for something I won’t value?

Maybe I should just tell him to finish execution on the original sketch anyway?