Baby's First Artwork Commission

[jjmcc]

I am interested in commissioning cover artwork for my WIP, and have a vague sense I should have done this a year or so ago. I am very very very DISinterested in generative AI. The fear I might court an internet troll that takes my money and gives me AI work (that I might not even recognize as such!) is haunting my dreams. I do not mean to impugn any working artists, it is my complete ignorance of the marketplace that enables my paranoia.

Are there forums/marketplaces out there where I can find actual old-school artists? Anyone been down these paths enough to point me in a productive direction and/or ease my mental anguish?

No, you don’t owe me that, but take pity on me!

[rileypb (Phil Riley)]

I’ve only done this once, so my experience is limited, but I had a good experience using Fiverr. I could be confident that it was real work because the artist would adjust splines, etc. according to my requests. Can’t do that with Midjourney. See the artwork for BOSH for reference.

[Warrigal (Garry Francis)]

Two that I’ve found useful are Deviant Art and Art Station. However, even these now allow, and even encourage, AI generated art. I think you’ll find that Deviant Art is cheaper, as you can request artists for free on their forum. Just specify that art must not be AI generated.

You can also find lots of artists looking for work on itch.io and some of these will do it for free if they’re just looking for experience or wanting to add to their portfolio for future work or they’re hobbyists, like most of us.

[tvil (Tobias V. I. Langhoff)]

You could state in your request that you need the original source files in order to output versions in different sizes and so on. I doubt generative AI can’t make PSD and AI (ironic) files or the equivalent for other programs than Adobe.

[laurenodonoghue]

Every artist I’ve ever commissioned I’ve found on Tumblr! I think even if you don’t have an account you can search by tag - ‘commissions open’ or similar - and there’ll usually be a masterpost with info about pricing/how to contact them with enquiries.

A look through someone’s portfolio/blog is usually a pretty good indicator of authenticity, especially if they post WIP sketches and things of that ilk.

What kind of art style/image are you looking for?

[jjmcc]

@laurenodonoghue

What kind of art style/image are you looking for?

I am looking for an 80’s game-sleeve cover art vibe, winkingly amateurish generic fantasy beneath a prominent logo. Compounding the ask, I would need both a large ‘painted’ version, and a smaller, 16-bit graphics version (presumably filtered in some fashion), with a specific palette.

Thanks for all the advice so far!

[Warrigal (Garry Francis)]

Another alternative that I should have mentioned is to search and/or browse the artwork on some of those sites until you find something you like, then just purchase or licence that artwork. In some cases, you can get an exclusive licence. This is probably cheaper than hiring someone.

I’ve just noticed that DeviantArt now includes a declaration if it’s “Created using AI tools”. Both the sites I mentioned have an option to suppress AI content when searching, so I imagine that this is available on all these types of web sites.

[Hidnook]

I would recommend asking the artist for multiple thumbnail sketches (small, quick sketches), or at least send a sketch before continuing so that you both know what you prefer before getting deeper into it. Knowing the artist’s style (portfolio, etc.) is crucial too.

[Pacian]

@laurenodonoghue

Every artist I’ve ever commissioned I’ve found on Tumblr! I think even if you don’t have an account you can search by tag - ‘commissions open’ or similar - and there’ll usually be a masterpost with info about pricing/how to contact them with enquiries.

Same for me, though “every” in my case is just the one (so far and not including my IFComp prize commission from Aster F).

When first contacting the artist, I made sure to explain that, while this was not “commercial” work (assuming your game is free) it was promotional art that would be redistributed outside my control (e.g. on social media etc.), in case the artist wanted to take this into consideration for pricing/attribution (or refuse the commission altogether).

@laurenodonoghue

A look through someone’s portfolio/blog is usually a pretty good indicator of authenticity, especially if they post WIP sketches and things of that ilk.

Speaking of WIPs, a non-AI artist will also want to share progress sketches before and probably during the commission process, which should provide further assurance that its not gen-AI.

[BrettW (Brett Witty)]

I might share some notes from how I commissioned the cover art for my IF Comp 2023 game.

Finding an artist

My goal was for just cover art for the IF Comp listings. I had commissioned artists before. Some were professional artist friends, others professional artists who I supported on Patreon. I’ve also taken chances on cold calls on Twitter, where I’ve randomly wondered aloud about commissioning art and they’ve DMed me. That situation didn’t work out well. I’ve also found commissions via Ko-fi which did work well. In general choosing an artist seems way better than advertising for one.

For IF Comp 2023 I wanted something nice and specific. My usual artists were too busy to annoy, and I have an aversion to the low-paying jobs via Fiverr and equivalents.

I wanted a digital illustration or sketch, and wanted to support local artists. Through some basic web searches I found some local art academies with student portfolios. I also found some directories of local artists working vaguely in the realm of what I was looking for. Artist academies or game design academies are also good.

I made a shortlist and found one that looked great. I had backups, but this artist had a style that I could point to their portfolio and say, “This please” but she also had a variety of styles, which meant versatility.

Approaching the artist

I hit them up on their commissions email with an email with clearly stated objectives:

1. I was looking for an illustrator for a very small scope commission.
2. Very short context (IF Comp and it’d be the cover art, with a link to previous examples)
3. It’d be a square-aspect digital image for unlimited distribution. 700px square, just so I could scale it down to the usual 350px.
4. Why I thought they might be a good choice (style and flexibility)
5. My experience with commissioning artists (I had a clear idea of what I wanted, but was happy for them to inject their own - often better- ideas)
6. Timelines.
7. A note on commercial aspect (she had firm notes on commercial distribution and I had to make clear it wasn’t commercial, but I needed distribution rights)

I then asked for rates, which she said depended on complexity of my idea. I hadn’t put that in yet to save info-dumping even more. Details I included in that:

• Size
• Digital format (I got them as PNGs, which I could convert to whatever IF Comp needed)
• Colour
• Image description (“A father handing his daughter a USB key”)
• Explanation of detail required (“Detailed enough to convey father vs daughter”)
• Themes (Hand me Down had a theme of autumn, so suggested orange leaves for the background of the shot. Each character had a theme and very brief description)
• Requirements for space down the bottom for the title.

The Commission

The artist confirmed the information and the timeline. She quoted an amount which included the indefinite usage license as I described (a few hundred AUD). This was for artwork with visible linework, which worked fine for me. Rendered art without linework was 25% more due to the extra process. I was keen on the linework and pointed out what in her portfolio best matched what I would like.

She sent me an Agreement to read and sign digitally. She then worked on some concept sketches. After the sketches I had to pay a 30% deposit before she’d work on the full colour finals, which is usual.

She offered three different options: a top-down, a side on with more character, and a side on with the father dropping the USB into her hand. I went with the first after much deliberation. I discussed what I preferred and why.

We had some discussion about stylising the USB key with elements from the story. I suggested maybe the manor in the story and had some links to places that inspired the design.

We also discussed lettering and I ended up putting that in myself.

We had a little back and forth about the designs, but not too much: three versions of the outline roughs, and one colour rough. I was very pleased with the result. I made sure I had the right details for crediting her, as it’s the right thing to do and part of our licensing agreement.

The whole process took about a month from initial approach to finals. This seemed about right compared to previous commissions. You don’t need to chase the work coming from professionals, but there’s always some minor delays, so you need to be somewhat flexible. We finished on good terms and I hope to work with her in the future if I can.

Maggie McMahon Illustrations

[jjmcc]

Thanks to everyone that contributed to this thread, they were all super helpful, and Brett in particular was insightful in all the ways I needed. I have a tentative path forward, and am excited to court this completely different phase of my project!

Can’t wait to share it with you all… in 2026? 27? 28?