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Looking for Artists/Info
bioreboot
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So a friend and I are thinking about designing and printing a card game, and we need some great sci fi art to display on the cards. We are looking for an artist to help. We would need about 30 images along the lines of sci fi, space ships, and pew pew. The problem is we have a very small budget. But we can prominently display your name in the credits and on the cards.
What I'm looking for is some info from anyone that knows of a good place to find amateur artists, and specifically, what the ball park figures are for this kind of work. Also, if anyone here on penny arcade or anyone you know would be interested in this project please let me know, either here or on a private message.
What I'm looking for is some info from anyone that knows of a good place to find amateur artists, and specifically, what the ball park figures are for this kind of work. Also, if anyone here on penny arcade or anyone you know would be interested in this project please let me know, either here or on a private message.
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However, I get the feeling he may be underestimating the pricetag of a project with this kind of scope. Probably grossly.
Sorry if I came across as looking for free labor. This will certainly be a commissioned project, I am not looking for charity work.
I am more than likely underestimating the price tag, but I have never worked with or hired an artist. This is why I am looking for information from people that have either done projects similar to this or have hired artists in the past, that can give me a range for me to be able to budget this kind of thing.
If you went to Krazy Kaplan's Discount Freelance Artists and contracted the cheapest person you could find for your job, they would be charging a minimum of $100 per illustration, which is roughly the rate you would charge a dying grandmother who wants a sweet sci-fi illustration for her last will and testament. That's presuming 5 hours of work for the drawing (it would have to be a fairly simple drawing at this timescale), at $20 an hour (extremely cheap).
That works out to $3000 all told, at minimum. A serious artist will charge double that.
If you're seriously willing to shell out that kind of cash for an artist on this project, talk to a mod to get a thread approved with more concrete details.
[Edit] And in the future, questions are reserved for the "Question and Answer" thread up top.
How do you know how fun it is? What are some of the core mechanics, and how is it different then other games out there?
Assuming you haven't already, there's no reason you can't build a great prototype using blank card sets to test out the game, iron out the kinks and really get a polished game design set up.
Once you're that far, if you want art for it, I suggest setting up a small company with your partner and fund-raising to get an artist or series of artists to contribute. There are huge numbers of ways to get funding for small projects like this, such as Kickstarter and any number of others like it.
What I'm trying to say is don't get too ahead of yourself. Work out the game before you start asking for others to invest tons of time and effort into your project. Make sure it is something you're ready to stand behind, you've tested and you know exactly what the art needs to be, or at least a very clear idea you can communicate to an artist once you're ready for it.
The figure I gave you would be for an amateur who has done no work, has no self-esteem, and has no frame of reference for pricing. Typically the largest group to match that criteria is 14 year-olds who trace Magic Card illustrations and How to Draw Manga tutorials. And if you're relying on someone to be responsible, buckle down and kick out 30 illustrations, chances are you don't want to tap into that workforce.
Anyone who would be able to reliably do that kind of project will also likely have more experience, which means higher prices, and even doubling the figure I gave you before won't cover that. Promising "exposure" isn't going to soften that number. Especially when it's a project you and your friend are "thinking" about starting.
The fact is, you are looking for a specialist to invest a huge amount of time into a project that is interesting to you and your friend. Nobody is going to do that kind of undertaking for the public good, for "exposure", or out of love for what you and your friend are trying to do. If they wanted to do 30 sci-fi illustrations for no money, they'd do them, and then put them up on deviantArt and get just as much attention. If they wanted to do it for a small profit, they would do the above, and then open up for commissions. If they wanted to do 30 illustrations for a portfolio, they would do both of the above, and put them in the portfolio, and be saved the headache of having the share the rights to their work with an upstart card game.
And yes, you are looking for a specialist. Like I said, unless you trust this venture in the hands of a highschooler, you are going to need to hire someone with at least a little bit of skill and experience in being able to finish large projects.
This is where things can get really confusing. Some people charge differently based on the style, medium and detail of the picture. But i beleive most freelance artists just charge a flat rate per hour as you're paying the artist mostly for their time. A really simple vector drawing may take longer than a fully rendered realistic illustration
as for finding artists, concept art.org may be a good start for online. Otherwise find local art schools or universities in your area and talk about placing advertising on notice boards, sending emails to students etc.
just like landscapers have no end of opportunities of lawns they could mow for free in exchange for the owner of said lawn telling their friends about this guy who did it for free
that don't mean mister cheapskate is getting his lawn mowed, because there's plenty of folks with tall grass and money
I hope that you are not discouraged from continuing with your project. If you have the core of the game worked out and have some way of showing the artists the kind of game you're looking to create, you may get more enthusiasm.
We generally use new threads on the forum to post our own artwork for critique here. If you'd like to continue your search, please feel free to post your inquiry in either the chat thread or the questions/discussion thread.