Artists of The Escapist.... I have a question about how you take jobs...

[DudeistBelieve]

I'm in the market for some artwork I need done. I'm not looking to hire just yet because I need some money off to the side first, cause I'm very well aware no one works for free anymore. Damn you and your free enterprise.

I do require some information, and a ball park figure.

What do I need to present to the person as far as idea? Do I need a hard explanation as to the dimensions or pixels I want the image to be or if I just say "Big enough to fit on a T-Shirt and look nice" be general enough?

Suppose I presented to you, It's suppose to be the cover of a book. So theres the title, my name, heres what the main character looks like, and she drinks whiskey and smokes a lot and I give some tone of what the book is about. I need the image large enough that I can put it on T-Shirts initially, and hi-res enough that I could re-size it later. I also completely own the rights to image upon completion of the transaction.

What would the time table be for this kinda project? Time is not a factor to me, but what would be a reasonable amount of time to expect to wait? And what would be a ballpark estimate for this project? I was hoping it be in the $100-$200 range, I can't really afford more than that and would that be over paying?

I have no idea really how one goes about this sort of thing, so any tips on how I can make this transaction easier when I'm ready would be awesome.

 

[Dizchu]

It depends on the artist, honestly. When I've done commissions before I've asked for specific details and I managed to present the work within a few days. Other artists can take longer, work on limited information, improvise, etc. Also different artists work at different rates depending on if it's a full-time gig, how fast they're able to produce content, how much detail they put into the content, demand, etc.

Talk to the artist you're interested in working with, they'll surely give you more details. When it comes to commissioning artists there's really no wrong or right way to do it as every artist is different. All you can really do is judge by the artist's portfolio and ask questions.

 

[the December King]

Personally, for the 100- 200 dollar range, I'd like some reference images for the character in question- perhaps you have a preconceived idea of what she looks like from an actress or other reference? Then a reference for clothes style preferred, perhaps a separate image representing the desired pose, maybe an ambience reference. Some or all of these could be text-based as well (detailed descriptions, or allowing me some degree of creative room to explore).

I'd go through 2- 3 stages of approval/adjustments or alterations throughout the creation process, so you're happy with where the image is progressing. It'd likely be all digital at this point, though I do often do pencil sketches first, and would love to get back into traditional painting. The digital product will be large enough to print as needed, and depending on the style of the piece, may end up a vector work (which scales seamlessly). Icons and avatars of the piece would be done free on request.

Did a character study for Diablo1099 a while back, and an avatar piccy for Caramel Frappe. Figure they might make good recommendations if you like.

aaaand my web page, while outdated, does have some of my works:

The Serpent Sage

(the reason I'm acting so hungry is because this is the last week of full-time work on this current contract, and then I'm on the full time hunt!)

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

What do I need to present to the person as far as idea? Do I need a hard explanation as to the dimensions or pixels I want the image to be or if I just say "Big enough to fit on a T-Shirt and look nice" be general enough?

I happen to do both book illustration (freelance) and t-shirt design (full time).
What looks good on a book cover though will not necessarily look good on a T-shirt (I'm talking about the box around the image specifically, borders look awful on t-shirts unless they're meant to go with the design). Printing companies also have their own specifics that may effect your price depending on how many colors the design is. While I don't determine the pricing for the company I work at, my understanding is that it can get pretty hefty. In general, the fewer colors, the better your price and the better the design tends to look when printed.

Suppose I presented to you, It's suppose to be the cover of a book. So theres the title, my name, heres what the main character looks like, and she drinks whiskey and smokes a lot and I give some tone of what the book is about.

Every artist is different, but this would be enough information for me. I might ask a few questions about specific details concerning the character's appearance and/or personality to get the most accurate representation.

I need the image large enough that I can put it on T-Shirts initially, and hi-res enough that I could re-size it later.

T-shirt images are pretty big as they are (complex designs for us fit into a 15in x 15in square) and demand either vector graphics [footnote]In which case re-sizing doesn't matter and will not effect the quality of the image[/footnote] or very high resolution. This actually works to your advantage, since both a t-shirt and book cover are print media and demand the same, high standards. In general, it's also better to start with a larger, high resolution image and shrink it down, rather than starting with a smaller image and scaling it up.

I also completely own the rights to image upon completion of the transaction.

Depends on the artist, they may disagree with that one depending on what you want to do.

For example, if an artist designs you a logo for a t-shirt, even if you payed for the t-shirt, you may have only payed for the t-shirt. They might take issue with you taking their design and then choosing to put it on billboards, business cards, beer cans, brochures, ext.

That's because other people are now profiting off of their work in a way in which wasn't intended. Not only that, your stuff isn't going to look good anyway because it wasn't made with that purpose in mind. You can't take a 8.5x11 illustration and blow it up to the size of a billboard, you're going to lose quality. What you can do however, is go to the original artist who made it and ask them for a version that would suit your purpose, rather than going above their head and paying the billboard company to format it for you and ending up with a result that doesn't even look good.

The billboard company would also ramp up the cost, because you'll most likely be giving them a flattened jpg rather than a working file and they'll be forced to make due with only what you provided, which can make their job difficult.

In the end, it's probably in your best financial interest to develop a good working relationship with the original artist, so you have the freedom to get edits if you need them.

Even if you can find an artist who doesn't mind you using their stuff for things other than t-shirts or your book cover, it would still be a gesture of goodwill on your part to allow them to display it in their portfolio should they choose to, also free advertising for you.

What would the time table be for this kinda project? Time is not a factor to me, but what would be a reasonable amount of time to expect to wait? And what would be a ballpark estimate for this project? I was hoping it be in the $100-$200 range, I can't really afford more than that and would that be over paying?

Every artist is different as far as speed is concerned, it could be as short as a week or as long as a month depending on complexity and how many drafts. I wouldn't wait longer than that though and make sure to find an artist who will communicate with you regularly about the progress of the project, rather than one who will just disappear and show up a month later with something you don't like at all. As far as the price range goes, every artist is different, but yeah, that looks like the ballpark.

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I hope I was able to help you get an idea of what you're wanting to know, if you have any more questions, need further explanation, I'll do my best to answer.

 

[Wrex Brogan]

...Well, Dizchu beat me to the punch. A lot of this stuff you work out with the artist in question, such as the finer details of the piece (don't dump all the info on people before you've commissioned them though, only expand on it after they've asked for it). Single character is *usually* within the 100-200 dollar range for most people, though I will say there could be some... interesting pricing problems given the desire for the full rights to the artwork and the fact you clearly want to sell it on T-shirts and the like. That entirely depends on the artist you commission, as I know more than a few who would refuse to take up such a job without reimbursement based on how your sales are (not necessarily a cut of the royalties, but typical contract is something like 'X amount of sales generated results in Y amount being paid to Artist').

But yeah, it's all stuff you work out with the artist at the time. If you want to commission someone, do a whole lot of research on how things like their prices and completion times, since those vary so often. During the actual act of asking for the commission, just give a rough detail of what you want (include ALL characters), your budget and your desire for the full rights. Also be prepared for negotiations if necessary.

 

[Chaos James]

I wish I had a decent example of one of my old sheets for a commission, but when it comes to getting what you want from an artist, giving them as much detail as possible is a major boon.

What I do is, I go find images with whatever parts I need, be it a shirt, a pair of shoes, maybe an earring or a pose. Colors as well, if you want something more specific, and then I slap all these images into Paint and type up information beside each one. "This shirt, but dark green" or "This jacket but with a wider collar", whatever you need to really hit home what you need from the image, along with pointing out the specific element of the image.

Compiling that all together and giving it to the artist can help a long way in getting a good representation of what you want, and keeping open communications and being patient is a good plan.

Overall, as long as you take it serious and put in the effort to ensure a quality picture, you'll get along fine.

Hope everything works out!