Not on game day, just for set up and tear down.

I lurk on this sub often so I get the frustration that artists feel when their clients undervalue their work. I’m not an artist but the memes and stories are entertaining to me. Well, I’ve now found myself in the middle of a not-so-fun “stand off” with an artist and I’d like to know, from the perspective of redditors here, whether I’m being the choosing beggar. I’m removing a lot of detail as negotiations are still ongoing.

Background: I posted on a sub asking artists if they were interested in rendering/sketching/drawing from a photo reference. I clearly posted my budget ($25). So, as I mentioned, I’m not an artist, and I don’t know what the terms are that people use in the industry. I have commissioned pieces before from a handful of artists on Reddit and I’ve never had any issues.

Situation: An artist, W, commented that they were interested, I saw their portfolio and liked their work, so I went with them. There was a contract and everything, with the work described as a simple sketch, draft of two people, and done as a cartoon. I was satisfied and paid in full.

Yesterday, I received a drawing that wasn’t coloured in. I commented my happiness with it, suggested minor changes, and said I couldn’t wait for it to be coloured. That’s when I got a long email explaining that a “sketch” is a drawing that isn’t coloured and that if I wanted it coloured, I had to pay an additional $25. You can imagine my disappointment.

I was never told from the beginning that colouring was extra. If this is something understood in the industry, I certainly didn’t get any memo especially since, as explained, I’m not an artist. I’ve since asked the artist if they’re willing to reduce their fee since I’d like the gift soon and I’ve already paid them the full budget I had set aside for this.

But am I wrong to ask for a reduction of the fee? Tbh I’m irate to have to pay more, but I’ll take it as a “punishment” fee since I should have been extra clear that I wanted a coloured sketch. But to have to pay 100% more is ridiculous to me.

I’m willing to hear others out on their opinions on the matter though.

Edit: So most if not everyone has made it clear that “sketch” refers only to a black and white drawing. While my only defence is that I am not American and we don’t really use sketch in that way, I did come here asking for judgment and so am willing to admit that I clearly was wrong from the start. I will learn from this mistake and will speak to the artist about it. Also, I know that it is Reddit and some people love being assholes online because it’s easy to do it when you’re hiding behind the screen, but I do thank those people that were critical yet kind and civil about it.

I don't know if anybody else has worked with dogs but german shepherds and especially huskies are some of the hardest breeds to train. Shots are expensive in our area the first year of shots is around 1k, car riding can be hard especially if they have motion sickness, and to have other dogs and kids?? That is ALOT for a new dog to come into. But please give it to me for free but pay for everything and train it too

Seriously wtf

My BFF makes significantly less money so I try to help her out here and there. But things are getting more expensive around here and since we meet up at least 3/4 times a week it was getting a bit out of hand.

I noticed that I always pay for everything(lunch,dinner), but if she buys me one coffee she would later ask for $3 back. Whenever she comes over for dinner I obviously cook or get take-out that I pay for. She not only started to invite herself for dinner 3/4 times a week, but whenever I came over hers for dinner I noticed she always wanted to get take-out and if I “could bring some over”. So I would also pay for it.

I am all for helping someone in a rough spot but with her I started to feel used. Like she didn’t come over for my company but to get free food. I could write a book about these “incidents” but I think you get a pretty good idea why I started to split everything 50/50 whenever I pay for something.

So what she does now is “can you pay and then I’ll transfer you the money”. Which she 9/10 doesn’t transfer and I ALWAYS need to ask for it. I hate this because she makes me feel like a beggar, asking for my own money back. Or like I am too cheap to miss $15,- but it isn’t just the $15. It adds up to an easy $250,- a month if I don’t ask for my money.

Because I hate to beg I don’t chase my money. I just keep track of what she owes me and every time she asks me to pay I reminder her she still owes me X.

Because I was on holidays we didn’t see each other for a while and next time we met up I reminded her she didn’t transfer the $50,-. She looked at me like I was crazy, she didn’t recall when or what. I always write it down so I showed her that we were shopping and the store didn’t take cash so I “had to” pay for her stuff.

She then accused me of not reminding her and how the hell was she supposed to know because I wrote it in my app but didn’t share it?!?!

Like, you ask me for money. YOU should be the one reminding me! Not the other way around! But you can remember that one coffee you bought me weeks ago and will subtract that from anything you ask me to pay.

Update:

Just wanted to make clear my friends isn’t poor and has no money for food. I would happily support a friend in actual need. She wants a certain lifestyle she probably can’t afford. She goes shopping all the time, buys expensive make-up etc. She can afford a basic lifestyle, she just probably can’t afford the lifestyle she is living now so instead of choosing between going out for lunch and dinner OR make-up and new outfits, she wants both and tries to save a penny left and right.

For context, I'm getting married and the mother in law lives across the country and can't afford to make it up here. I've offered to pay her way up here and even do all the planning to make my wife to be happy and I'd hate for her mother to miss out on her daughters marriage. But lord she's testing my patience.