Got a little commission problem...advice would be appreciated

[Dr. Otto]

There's an artist I've met online, whom I've commissioned for a TF comic sequence. Unfortunately, I seem to have dug myself into a hole.

English isn't the first language of this particular artist, and there's been a misunderstanding between us regarding the price for the commission. When I initially asked for the cost of a single comic page, the artist came back to me with an estimate of $120. The script that I sent him contained exactly six panels - I kept it as short and sweet as I could.

He then sent me a sketch for a "first page" - basically the first two panels of my script, extended into three larger, more elaborate panels. This confused me a little, but the art was terrific, so I couldn't really complain. I assumed the artist was simply adding his own flourishes to the story, which was fine by me. However, I then discovered that the artist expects to be paid $120 for each subsequent page, three in all...which would come to $360, way beyond what I thought was our agreed price! As I currently have to be super-conscious of my budget, doing the occasional TF commission was foolish anyway, but apparently I've made an even bigger fool of myself.

(I should add that the artist DID send a note stating he would only do the comic for $120 per page, but the sentence he wrote was slightly garbled, so I ended up misinterpreting it. As the script I sent him was for a single comic page comprised of six panels, I simply assumed we understood each other, which was my mistake.)

What to do next? I would be devastated to cut my losses and abandon the commission, as the artist has already taken $120 of my cash, and as I said, his stuff looks great...but going on with the commission is also unwise, as I have Christmas to consider. I've pissed off another artist before due to a similar clusterfuck, and I don't want to piss this guy off either.

It's a real pickle to be in, and all because of language barriers. The real tragedy is that I'll have spent $120 for an unfinished comic...

[qzar9999]

I would recommend, assuming you can get this translated, that you ask him if he'll temporarily hold off on doing the other two pages, perhaps until after the holidays or whatever, and then when you can afford to, pay him to complete the comic. You get your finished piece, you don't break your bank, he doesn't do work that he then waits months to get paid for, everybody wins.

[Dr. Otto]

Thanks! Happily, we managed to work out an arrangement.

[qzar9999]

Glad I could help. ^_^