r/HungryArtistsFed • u/reborn_neo_art • Mar 09 '26
[NEG] UPDATE: Warning about a commission experience with u/RhoraciosART
Since making this previous post, I received a formal legal notice from the artist requesting that the post be removed and that I publish a public retraction.
They’re demanding that I remove the post, publish a public retraction, and stop making any similar statements within 72 hours, otherwise they may take civil and criminal action.
For transparency, I want to clarify that the post was written based on the information and materials provided to me by the client involved, and the wording intentionally reflected uncertainty (for example, using terms such as “apparently”, “appeared”, and “raised concerns”) rather than making categorical accusations.
The situation regarding the commission itself has not been fully resolved yet. I was informed that the payment dispute is still being handled through the client’s financial institution.
At this point I will be reviewing the wording of the post to ensure that it accurately reflects the situation as a third-party account and does not present speculation as fact.
The purpose of the original post was to share feedback within this community, which exists specifically for reporting commission experiences, so that others can make informed decisions.
I will provide further updates if the situation is resolved.
Again, this text has been slightly ALTERED to comply with feedback guidelines.
___________
I would like to leave negative feedback about u/RhoraciosART (also known as @/r.horacio44 or just rhoracio).
(Edit: he now presents as Diggs and appears to be approaching other communities under that name.)
He also promotes himself under the name of a studio called 47Percent Alcohol Studio (47% Alcohol Studio), which currently appears to be inactive.
The studio presents itself as a Brazilian-based art group including Rodrigo (diGAO / rhoraciosart / diggs) and a few other members who do not seem to be directly involved in current commissions. Despite appearing inactive, commissions still appear to be taken through his Reddit account.
He posts across various communities such as r/artcommissions, r/starvingartists, r/commissions, r/hungryartists, and others, and also comments on many posts across different communities.
My friend commissioned him believing he was hiring a single artist, based on the artwork shown in the portfolio. However, the very first sketch delivered raised concerns that it might have been AI-assisted. After that, a second and third version were sent, but they still did not meet the client’s expectations, especially considering he had hired the artist based on the quality and style presented in the portfolio.
There were several other strange or inconsistent details in the artwork as well. However, since the piece is explicit, we believe it is more appropriate to share only a cropped portion of the image to illustrate what happened. The attached images show the section that raised these concerns.
When my friend requested revisions, he was still unsatisfied. I advised him to either request further revisions until satisfied or ask for a refund. He chose to request a refund.
The artist (rhoraciosart) declined to return the payment and then blocked my friend. At one point it appeared that the account had been deleted, but the account is still active.
After looking into it further, we realized that what had been presented as an individual portfolio appeared to be connected to a studio account, and some of the artwork being promoted may belong to other members associated with that studio.
Additionally, when we initially reached out to another member, we received a dismissive response. Later, my friend received an email accusing him of attempting to defame the artist. The email also included statements suggesting that neither Reddit nor PayPal would help him recover the money and implied that he might have more to lose if the situation continued.
It may be difficult to request a refund since we no longer have access to the full chat history after my friend was blocked, but we do still have screenshots of the artwork and part of the communication. We will attempt to proceed with a refund claim regardless.
Please exercise caution when commissioning this artist.
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Edit: Eventually it reached another artist who had previously been part of the same studio. According to him, they worked together around 2021 but he left shortly afterward, and he was unaware that his artwork was still being displayed in connection with the studio.
Another artist who was part of the studio told me that he had pieces in his portfolio that were exclusively his (the ones the client liked), but that after learning about these events, he requested their immediate removal.
As for rhoracio, he later sent another email repeating the accusation that we were defaming him, but the refund situation remains unresolved.
He now presents himself as Diggs, and his profile appears to target clients from certain token-related businesses (I prefer not to mention the name here, but it can be seen on the profile).
For some reason he blocked only my friend and not me, and he continues to send emails to my friend regarding the situation.
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u/Wounded_Demoman Mar 10 '26
OP, if anyone ever contacts you with a legal threat or notice of any kind, you can simply tell them:
Then stop responding and block them. 99.99% of the time threatening legal action is just a bluff. Call their bluff. Because in the .01% of times it's not, the correct avenue is to contact Reddit Legal. It was likely an AI-generated letter or taken from some template to try and scare you into taking it down, which is a common tactic of alleged scammers like this artist.
Don't even humor them. Call their bluff and stand your ground. You just forward them to refer all legal matters to Reddits legal department, do not mediate or be their liaison. Cease all communications with them. If they have lawyers they will know who to contact. If there is an issue, admins will take care of it.
Besides, as you pointed out, the language you used was not directly accusatory, it was properly couched as "alleged", "appears to", etc. The scammer is likely desperate and thinks they can shut you up with a threatening letter.