Artists don't like having to say 'I haven't done anything new with it yet'. That's not an excuse for not keeping contact, mind you. On the flipside, I don't understand commissioners who ask for progress constantly. I don't mean like, once every couple months or something, I mean like once a week or every few days. When I have something to show my commissioner, I go to them, so it seems kind of pointless, and it's stressful to have to repeat yourself over and over to someone who seems to think their piece should have been done the day after you took it.

Communication is so important in commissions though, no matter what. But sometimes people need to reign in their excitement/impatience and let the artist work (not that this is one of those cases).