It's disheartened me to see one of the latest, trending topics in the community: artists who scam their clients.

And every time I see this topic go through its evolution online, it makes me realize there's something wicked to be said for people who are fortunate enough to have a stranger's trust—and a stranger's money—and simply step on it like trash. I know how it is, it happened to me. I paid for an "emergency comm" 4 years ago.

4 years later, no sketch, no update, nothing.

From the time I was a child, I dreamed of how wonderful it would be to spend time doing what I loved (drawing; creating) and actually making money off of it. Of course, it seemed impossible. Very much a childish fantasy. Only "people with degrees" could make art their job. That's what I thought for the longest time.

I remember one of the first commissions I ever got. It was for an independent group of race car drivers who drove to bring awareness and funding to the research and hopeful cure of ALS disease. They were directly affected by this terrible ailment through a family member, who later lost their life to it in 2023. But this team entrusted me to do an art of their beautiful Chevy Camaro.

About a year later, the car crashed on the track. The driver came out alive. But the car was complete shambles and nothing like it had once been.

I tell this story because it meant the world to me for people of that league to trust a "nobody no-name" artist (me) in the infancy of my art-selling journey. They showed me they believed in me. They trusted me with something important to them, their cause, their reputation.

And I did my very best for them and delivered it to them in a timely manner to prove I valued their trust.

Since that day 4.5 years ago, I have never taken one, single client for granted. It doesn't matter if they pay me $30 or $200. I treat each of them equally. It doesn't matter what is going on in my life. I communicate if I cannot promise the delivery date I name. I communicate everything.

By nature, most people are understanding, as long as a hired artist treats them with a certain level of respect. The artist deserves respect, of course, but the client does, too. They are giving me potentially hard-earned money. A percentage of their paycheck potentially hard to part with.

That deserves respect and fair treatment. They might be a stranger to me, but I'm just as much of a stranger to them.

I've been fortunate to work on over 150+ commissions. I have never taken it for granted ONCE. I have always delivered a job on time. The longest I've ever taken is a month. If I took a year? 2 years? 3?

I swear the guilt alone would kill me!

If you commission me, you will always get your art (in a timeframe of 1-2 weeks). If you want an update, you will always get an update. I will never, ever leave my clients in the dark.

Let's do better, people.