I have no pictures in my Wandering Monsters High School.

Ideally there should be pictures.

How do you go about finding artists, and how much money will you likely be out?  I have pretty close to zero money to invest in this right now, and I certainly don't want to spend hundreds on pictures if I don't know for sure I'll be able to make money off the game.

So what's the best approach?  Should I find artists willing to work for free or cheap?  Or for a percentage of the sales or something?  How much are the typical rates and/or percentages?

I'm trying to build a budget.

I assume this question has been asked before many times.  If so, feel free to just point me to FAQs, articles, or threads on the topic. Thanks!

--Kynn

Kynn, there are several ways to get the art you are looking for.

First, you could just pay an artist. Prices for that could range all over the place -- you'll just have to ask individual artists and find out what they're charging. You can also post in the Connections forum here or similar sites on the internet, letting potential illustrators know you can't afford much, but to contact you with the details.

Second, you could use royalty-free images, like old woodcuts.

Third, you can ask around your group of friends and find someone who's talented and willing to do your illustrations as a favor, or simply because they get a kick out of their art being used in a game.

As to finding previous discussions, yes, there are tons. You can find them quickly enough by using the search function. They'll have more information on prices and payment structures and such.

Also -- do not rule out drawing your own stuff.

Most people way underestimate their own artistic abilities, IMHO, and doing your own art for a game sidesteps the extremely difficult issue of trying to communicate your particular vision to an artist.

I really enjoyed doing art for the new Dogs of the Vineyard, but despite the fact that I've been drawing a lot longer and a lot more than Vincent, Vincent's work kicks mine's ass, and I'm not ashamed of that.  It kicks it because it is *Vincent's own game* and he could work out of the same groove, the same vibe, the same inspiration, that brought forth the game itself.  There is power there.

Give yourself a chance to try making at least some of your own stuff.  You're an indie RPG designer.  You dare try yourself what many people think is best left to professionals.  Well, apply that to the illustration too.  You never know what you're going to come up with until you try.

And even in the worst case scenario, if you find your efforts totally unacceptable, and you decide you do want to have someone else do art for you, your own work will serve as an invaluable guide to what you're looking for to whatever artist you do end up with. :)

I have two artists, Lee Cerolis and Nathan Bolt, doing free work for me. They're very good but want to break into the gaming scene and want their stuff to be seen, so they're willing to take a chance on me. I'm offering them each a full page ad in the back, a la what Kirt did in Unsung.

I posted some requests on DeviantArt.com and here and there. I created a web page for my RPG in development and dedicated a page to a "Call for Artists" with details about what I was seeking. Both Lee and Nate found me. Nate's a Forge guy, too.

It's not appropriate for all games, but all of the interior art for Timestream is from the public domain site morgueFile.com. I emailed each photographer and asked for contact info (email & website), which I put in the book. I really like how it looks, though, again, its not going to work for every game. It may be worth checking out, though.

Don't forget www.clipart.com. You can find images before you subscribe, then $16 will allow you a week to download them.

Kynn,

If you got some artistic talent, I so go and do it yourself.  If not another location (besides what folks have already mentioned) for good art is places like Dover Publishing.  They sell the shit by the CD-ROM and have a large catalog.  Also check out this site.  It has a list of sites with public domain (or mostly public domain) art.

Keith

ejh wrote:
Also -- do not rule out drawing your own stuff.
Give yourself a chance to try making at least some of your own stuff.

No one seems to have mentioned it yet, but some artists (not many) are also willing to work for a percentage of profits. Another no-money-up-front option is to agree on a price to pay for th art, but also have the payment come only from the profits. I.e. you pay nothing up front, but all money made from sales goes to the artist until the agreed upon rate is paid off.

As a side note, "conventional wisdom", for what it's worth, says spend a little more on the cover than the interior art.

For the most part, as an 'indie' operation, "pay by percents" is just too much work. If we were talking something like a CCG where you needed 300 pieces, that may be a way to go: keeps you from having such high initial art costs, lets you get the work you need.
Your average RPG however? You usually won't need THAT much art. Clip art packs exist all over RPGNow for the express purpose of using in published works, a few artists will sell second rights to work for a much lower rate than an original commissioned or first rights work, and a number of people know at least one person who's line art is at minimal passable- clean something of theirs up, use it for an inconsequential piece.

General rule of thumb though: you get what you pay for. Sometimes you're lucky though and get someone who just loves the concept so much they want a hand in it as well.

daMoose_Neo wrote:
For the most part, as an 'indie' operation, "pay by percents" is just too much work. If we were talking something like a CCG where you needed 300 pieces, that may be a way to go: keeps you from having such high initial art costs, lets you get the work you need.
Your average RPG however? You usually won't need THAT much art.

Clip art packs exist all over RPGNow for the express purpose of using in published works, a few artists will sell second rights to work for a much lower rate than an original commissioned or first rights work, and a number of people know at least one person who's line art is at minimal passable- clean something of theirs up, use it for an inconsequential piece.

General rule of thumb though: you get what you pay for. Sometimes you're lucky though and get someone who just loves the concept so much they want a hand in it as well.

glyphmonkey wrote:

daMoose_Neo wrote:
For the most part, as an 'indie' operation, "pay by percents" is just too much work. If we were talking something like a CCG where you needed 300 pieces, that may be a way to go: keeps you from having such high initial art costs, lets you get the work you need.
Your average RPG however? You usually won't need THAT much art.

What? That doesn't make sense. You're paying the same amount of money, one way or the other - just because it's a percentage of sales doesn't mean it's not the same amount of money.

glyphmonkey wrote:

Sometimes you're lucky though and get someone who just loves the concept so much they want a hand in it as well.

If that's the case, they're not professional artists and should be taken with a grain of salt. No professional is going to sacrifice that much time for someone else's vision. Maybe your illustrator is a friend and will cut you a deal, but recognize that the illustrator, or designer, or whoever you're dealing with is sacrificing their resources for your book. It takes a lot of time to make a decent illustration. Time they could have spent making money to buy food.

timfire wrote: Don't be so harsh, Joshua, that's basically what happened with W. Don Flores and The Mountain Witch. Granted, he didn't work for free, but he did it for a *whole lot* less than he deserved. There are really good people out there that are looking for a way to break into things, and just want to get a couple projects in their porfolio. True, it's never a guarrentee that it will work out spectacularly, but it's worth trying.

glyphmonkey wrote:
If that's the case, they're not professional artists and should be taken with a grain of salt. No professional is going to sacrifice that much time for someone else's vision. Maybe your illustrator is a friend and will cut you a deal, but recognize that the illustrator, or designer, or whoever you're dealing with is sacrificing their resources for your book. It takes a lot of time to make a decent illustration. Time they could have spent making money to buy food.

Maybe your boyfriend's an illustrator and wants to support you. But he's still sacrificing something for your project.

Hello,

This thread is drifting, and it's your doing, Joshua. You have an agenda regarding art and payment. I'm not saying it's good, and I'm not saying it's bad. I'm saying it's not the thread topic, which is to help Kynn understand the range of practical options that are available.

This isn't done by calling what you want in your transactions the "good" thing.

Back on topic, folks.

Best,
Ron

OK, taken to PM.

Depending on how much art you need it might not be as expensive as you think to hire someone (or several someones) to illustrate your game. What I would do is first decide exactally how much you can afford to pay. Often when people contact me to do art, they dont really know how much they want to spend. So thats one of the first things I ask. So decide how much money you can spend. Can you spend $25? $100? $150? 500? Okay, good. Put up a post here, on RPGnet, and any place else you want stating the nature of your project, the kind of illustrations you are looking for and how much you are paying. Whether you want to list a set price for the whole project or per illustration is your call. Once all your information is presented up front artists can look (and we do look) and decide if they are interested in the project. If someone contacts you it will because they want to work on your project at the price you listed.

I think (and this is just what I think) that you can usually find an artist in your price range, whatever your price range is. I often go below my normal price for projects that seem interesting, and I know many other artists do as well. And it is absolutly tue that you get what you pay for. You cant expect A level work with E level payment, and few artists are ever going to put their best effort into someone elses project. However, there are plenty of people out there who will do you some damn fine art for far less then you might expect. So dont be afraid to ask. At worst no one will answer your post.

As far as some of the other stuff mentioned here, ieven if you cant draw it yourself, theres plenty of other cool options you could explore. Photos and photo collages are always options. John Harper did some cool photo manipulations for Stranger Things (check his site). As far paying artists with a percentage of the profits, I'm pretty wary of it. There are a lot of well intentioned people out there that promised their artists a percentage of the profits in exchange for their work, and then were never able to pay them because the project never got off the ground or never made any money. That happens a lot. Its happened top me more then once. So for that reason jobs that offer a percentage of the profit instead of actual money dont usually get my attention. However, a percentage of the profit can be a nice way to spice up an otherwise lackluster upfront rate.

Anyway, hope that helps.

Jake Richmond