Problem with Larry Stroman Commissions

[ratchet]

Originally Posted by risingstar

Artists could so easily avoid these happenstances...
It all seems so unnecessary.

Agreed - such a shame

[Edward-G]

Originally Posted by TSM_in_NY

Here's the "short" version, I commissioned Mr. Stroman for two pieces which, ultimately, were only delivered when he was threatened with a Paypal claim.

Oh, I REALLY wish that I had the foresight to file a claim at the 45-day mark. At that point, I thought that he would deliver on his promise.

[TSM_in_NY]

^ As the old saying goes, "If wishes were horses, dreamers would ride.".

Someone on the CGC boards in the thread discussing Mr. Stroman wrote suggesting that the website Bleeding Cool be contacted on this subject, well, I did just that back on or about Jan. 27th of this year.

Here is what I wrote to them:


Dear Mr. Johnston,


It was suggested to me that this information would be of interest to you and the readers of your website and that additionally you might be able to help me rectify this situation.


On November 26th of last year I paid Larry Stroman $322.16USD for two 11" x 17" original art commisions including S&H and insurance for the full replacement value of the artwork.


Mr. Stroman stated that the turnaround time for the two pieces would be 2-3 weeks. So as to not delve in to the finer details of the entire transaction he did not ship the merchandise until the 8th of this month.


Once I examined the artwork I saw that one piece had a tear in it. I contacted Mr. Stroman and this was his reply:


"name redacted im not sure whats going on here but ive never had so many issues about commissions as i have with these. from the spacifics of everything. art recieved commission complete."


This, to say the least, was not the reply I was expecting.


As I had paid him via Paypal I contacted them and they offered to open a claim against him which was for the full amount.


As Mr. Stroman was unwilling to do anything to rectify the situation I brought both pieces of art to a framer who trimmed the damaged edges from both pieces to make them look presentable as the were not going to be framed anythime in the near future.


Starting on Wednesday Jan 23rd 2013 Mr. Stroman began harassing me via the Facebook private messaging system to close the Paypal case against him and return the art for a refund.


As I, nor the purchaser of the other piece of art, did not want to return the two pieces I offered a compromise to him.


Refund me the $30.00USD that it cost me to have the two pieces repaired and I would close the Paypal dispute.


Suprise, suprise, he refused to do even that. Also, just so you know, at no time did he even apologize for sending the artwork with a tear in it.


On Saturday 1/26 Mr. Stroman posts the following on his personal Facebook page (twice, in fact), on my Facebook wall and, lastly, on the Facebook wall of the person who got the ripped artwork:


"name redacted, this is larry stroman the guy you commissioned two 11/17 original pieces of comic art from. give me the art back because you did'nt pay for them!"


I called Paypal yesterday and asked them to please make a decision on the dispute because of Mr. Stroman's constant harassment of both myself and the other party in this transaction who Mr. Stroman was harassing on a near daily basis via private message on Facebook.

In the end Paypal closed the case and refunded me the $30.00USD that I paid the framer.


In my life I've never dealt with an artist this unprofessional.


In one of his messages to the buyer of the other (ripped) piece he basically blamed me because I didn't "spacify" (not "specify") that I wanted undamaged artwork. Really? REALLY??? To quote Tennis great John McEnroe, "YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!".


Besides making libelous comments about me to the other buyer in a private forum, Mr. Stroman also thought it was a good idea to post them on my Facebook wall for all my friends and business associates to see as well. Lastly, he also posted it on his Facbook wall where my picture was posted by one of Mr. Stroman's friends.


I hope that you will find this story of enough interest and/or entertainment value for you to post on your site so that anyone else who might be considering commissioning a piece of artwork from Mr. Stroman will have a better idea of what kind of person they are dealing with and any comic book publishers who might offer him work could also know what kind of person Mr. Stroman is both personally and professionally.


If you have any questions or would like to see the pictures of the damaged artwork please let me know and I'll be happy to answer them and/or send the photos to you.


Thank you in advance for your time.


Yours truly, name redacted

I guess the folks who run Bleeding Cool didn't find this story worth pursuing since I didn't hear word one back from them. :-[

I feel comfortable in my assumption that the people who have paid that scumbag their hard earned money are now ____ outta luck. They are ______ and NOT in a good way.


Your friend, TSM-in-N.Y.

[risingstar]

I recently hired an artist for a commission who wanted a sizeable deposit. I was fine with that providing work was set to begin on the piece once he received a deposit, and that it would be finished by the deadline with PayPal. If he wasn't prepared to start work on the piece, I had no problem waiting to submit the deposit until his schedule cleared as I had no interest in playing cat and mouse with an artist any longer than I needed to. He understood and agreed to these terms.

He originally wanted me to send the deposit as a gift instead so he can save on the fee. I respectfully declined as putting myself in that kind of retarded position for no fathomable reason was just that, retarded. The artist understood. He said I'd see a sketch within a few days. Weeks later, I see a doodle sketch which suggests to me that he isn't all that familiar with the characters I commissioned him to do, even though he originally said he was a fan. I then spent goodness knows how much time googling reference images for him, as it was clear, he didn't do the background work himself. More weeks went by and still not much to show for it other than "oh yes, great pics!" and "I now have a better idea what you want". In my mind, it appeared he know what I wanted on day 1.

As it became clear this might be "one of those artists...", I reminded the artist of our original terms and that the PayPal deadline was approaching. I did not buy into any of the BS list of excuses we've been used to hearing for years. The day before the paypal deadline, I got my cash. Six weeks wasted -- BUT, I never really lost control of the commission. At the end, I treated the artist like I would anyone else I hired to do something for me. It starts politely and respectfully, I assess progress, and if things turn out well, great, if not, guess what -- you're fired, which is what happened.

[risingstar]

There is simply way too much artwork out there to buy to ever have to accept this kind of work ethic, or lack of. There is always some other piece of artwork you can love just as much or more. Besides, it's a bit more of a challenge to enjoy a piece of artwork from someone who dicked you around than it is from someone who appeared to respect your time and hard earned money and met their deadlines without any BS.

[aric]

Originally Posted by risingstar

Besides, it's a bit more of a challenge to enjoy a piece of artwork from someone who dicked you around than it is from someone who appeared to respect your time and hard earned money and met their deadlines without any BS.

This is actually very true. I've had a few bad experiences during my tenure as a commisisoner, and honestly even once the pieces were delivered....i never enjoyed them. The experiences were just so bad...that it spoiled the art for me(not talking about Stroman...just responding to the part of this post that reallly resonnated with me)

[Simplyrob]

Originally Posted by aric

This is actually very true. I've had a few bad experiences during my tenure as a commisisoner, and honestly even once the pieces were delivered....i never enjoyed them. The experiences were just so bad...that it spoiled the art for me(not talking about Stroman...just responding to the part of this post that reallly resonnated with me)

+1 on this. i had to get rid of said art because it just didn't belong in my collection. i still see the artist at cons and he has no idea who i am or what he did to me...........but i remember.

[Edward-G]

Larry has just listed a Deadpool for sale on his CAF account. I've emailed him again to see he wants to resolve the issue of my pending commissions. I offered him several options, including a refund. No reply so far.

[aric]

Are you sure he's getting your messages? Try messaging him via Facebook

[Edward-G]

Originally Posted by aric

Are you sure he's getting your messages? Try messaging him via Facebook

Yes, I've messaged him on Facebook in addition to gmail, yahoo and CAF.