Help Wanted (Artist) with Rather Large VN Project

[Dark Pulse]

Hi there. I'd like to talk to some of you about a little original project a friend and I have been working on for about the last year and a half. It began when he, after writing a Tsuki fanfic, decided he wanted to branch out into an original world and universe. So, he created one. (Actually, he created two, but then dropped the first one in favor of this second one). He's the one who is to write it, while I have been helping him along on characterization, bouncing ideas off of him, and helping him storyboard out the routes.

There's just one little problem: He is a visually-oriented person. As a result, he can't really "see" or picture a character without some kind of art reference.

For awhile, what we both mostly did is scrape some Boorus, find characters as close to what he felt they should be as possible, and he'd do some basic editing on it, and we'd go "This character looks like them, except for this, this, and this difference." That worked for awhile, and he is able to picture some characters rather well thanks to this, but as time went on and the characters have evolved, he's finding some harder to picture than others - and a few, impossible. Obviously that's not a good thing.

So he did what anyone would do: Tried to find an artist. And the prices they gave him, simply put, were RIDICLOUS. We're talking $150 for a 200x200 piece of art. Obviously, this is not how much most artists charge. I have no idea where he looked, but the one thing very clear is that he is being utterly ripped off here.

That, my dear precious snowflakes, is where those of you with art ability come in. He is fully willing to pay for this work, and he will actually pay pretty good money for it, too - this could definitely turn into a fairly stable paying job and get someone quite a fair bit of money if they're willing to stick with it.

Now, here's the catches.

• There's going to be H in this story. If you're not comfortable with doing H, this will probably be a problem at some point, as it would mean you'd be limited to concept art, character images, and non-H CGs, and I think we would both like to keep things "consistent" in art style - i.e; one person doing it all.
• Some of the content could be fairly controversial to some people (though keeping in mind the people here, it will probably surprise none of you). This can be discussed in private, if necessary, before you take on the job.
• He would obviously like to see some samples of your work to help him decide what he likes best.
• He is willing to pay in advance if necessary.
• Images need to be colorized. Obviously, this will mean a cost increase. He's fine with this.

Prices are negotitable. If you feel up to the task and would like some regular-paying work, feel free to give us your quotes for the following:

• Concept art (per character)
• Sprite art (images for use as character sprites in the VN, per character)
• CG art (for use for important, unique scenes in each story, as well as backgrounds/places/etc.)
• H art (self-explanatory)

If you feel you're up to the challenge, reply here with your prices, some bits from your portfolio, and I'll pass them along to him. Having an artist will definitely help him get off the ground on this project, and will serve to motivate him further to finish it, since once he can picture a character, he is much better at getting into their heads and personality.

Thanks in advance for your consideration. Hopefully we can work out something that will net an artist a good deal of money, and get him what he needs to really get the ball rolling on finishing out this VN.

[KAIZA]

Well, as I mentioned, I'd be pretty willing to try. One of my greatest weaknesses right now, though, would be backgrounds. Not that I couldn't try, but I wouldn't bet on those...I am willing to do the H-stuff, though.

Portfolio

B&W Quickies

B&W Sketches

Color

These two work better as simply concept sketches.

As for prices...well, I don't really have any, since I've lacked the self-confidence to charge for stuff.
However, like I also mentioned, I'd be willing to do a test run: I'd do some work for you, and if you like it, we can negotiate something.

[Strange_One]

H

I wonder if 2C would up to this...

[I3uster]

She has literally 300 requests to do.

(Don't take Apple he's mine)

[Strange_One]

Huh. But are they paid? >.>

[Dark Pulse]

All I know is the more interested parties I can get, the better he'll be. Particularly if they're not into ripping people off.

[Apple]

Who is 2C

[IhaxlikeNoob]

Tusia (I think).

[Dark Pulse]

I think it's Tusia too, and while I'd love for her to do it, I don't know if she'd feel comfortable taking money for it since I'm involved in it.

But then again, I have to talk to her first. Haven't been in touch with her lately and I don't have her Skype.

[Valduran]

This thread has been dead for over 6 months so I'm not really sure what's going on, but I'm curious to know if you were ever able to find an artist.

I can't say for sure that I'd be willing to take time away from my own VN project to work on another, but since I'm out of legit paying-work at the moment I've got to consider all possibilities. So for now I'd just like to know if you guys are still in the market, as it were.

[Ratman]

So he did what anyone would do: Tried to find an artist. And the prices they gave him, simply put, were RIDICLOUS. We're talking $150 for a 200x200 piece of art. Obviously, this is not how much most artists charge. I have no idea where he looked, but the one thing very clear is that he is being utterly ripped off here.

This shit right here is why I don't associate with the art communities anymore, be it irl or on the internet. Standards are missing in every sense of the word. It's always people expecting you to work for free like we are living in m-muh socialism, and the lucrative spots being taken by assholes. And beyond the point where there are eyes above the nose and mouth under it, people can't appreciate skill to save their life. All those hours you've put into studies, normal people can't tell the difference, only other artists can. The community just keeps twisting itself and becomes more self-serving each decade, so that the only people able to communicate with normals left are the slackers who never really got into it but can do sameface mechanically.
And I even like working for free, but this shit ain't right. One of these days I'll snap and move to Bavaria and set up a Garden Gnome factory, so everyone in there can have enough rope to hang themselves.

I guess it has to do with how in order to do even basic soulless craft right, you have to either not be a dick at all, or be a very special kind of an immense dick.

[Kat]

Oh, artists can be immense dicks with ego, just ask one of my friends about his ex-girlfriend. She thought she is elite, rubbed it in everyone's face, and claimed my artist friend Emil that he has no talent and mocked him for studying in a backwater art school. Now she is fired from her elite school, with no employment, while Emil makes custom dices for a company, gets art awards and makes money for living. Who is laughing now, I guess?

[Phearo]

I'd help, but I really can't do H.

[Dark Pulse]

This thread has been dead for over 6 months so I'm not really sure what's going on, but I'm curious to know if you were ever able to find an artist.

I can't say for sure that I'd be willing to take time away from my own VN project to work on another, but since I'm out of legit paying-work at the moment I've got to consider all possibilities. So for now I'd just like to know if you guys are still in the market, as it were.

We have but also haven't. While we do have an artist, that artist has had a lot of stuff happen in life, so the spot is still technically open. If you're still interested, I can send a test profile.

This shit right here is why I don't associate with the art communities anymore, be it irl or on the internet. Standards are missing in every sense of the word. It's always people expecting you to work for free like we are living in m-muh socialism, and the lucrative spots being taken by assholes. And beyond the point where there are eyes above the nose and mouth under it, people can't appreciate skill to save their life. All those hours you've put into studies, normal people can't tell the difference, only other artists can. The community just keeps twisting itself and becomes more self-serving each decade, so that the only people able to communicate with normals left are the slackers who never really got into it but can do sameface mechanically.
And I even like working for free, but this shit ain't right. One of these days I'll snap and move to Bavaria and set up a Garden Gnome factory, so everyone in there can have enough rope to hang themselves.

I guess it has to do with how in order to do even basic soulless craft right, you have to either not be a dick at all, or be a very special kind of an immense dick.

Not sure if you're mad at me or agreeing with me.

[KitsuneKo]

Hmmhmm...

I'm kind of interested, though I do have my own conditions for the work.

The first condition is that I don't work for pay; I'm loaded enough as is. However, that doesn't mean that I won't ask for some kind of compensation. So the first condition is that the development crew give me the information pertaining to the project's development, and that deadlines are well established and set to have utmost efficiency for the project's completion.

The second condition is that at least one person who is heading the project is well established among a recognizable circle, with a fair amount of influence among an internet community or such.

The third condition is that this project should be done seriously and maturely if you want my help. Half assed writing, crossovers, poor use of conventions, lack of originality, poor editing, and overall sheer stupidity must be void in the actual project. Also, a guarantee that the project will be finished within a set amount of time, like say within one year or two.

The fourth condition is that I am fully credited for any work I submit for this project, and that my <pen> name is emphasized on the release.

The fifth condition is that you don't pile work on me, nor ask me to work at a pace I'm uncomfortable with. For example, I mainly focus on characters, sketches and draft work, and while I'm completely capable of doing backgrounds, it bores me to no end and you'll have to accept that I'll be very slow if you request that from me. That said, if you have multiple artists for the project to handle different aspects of the art, then this could work better as to not put too much pressure on me.

You can take a look at my 1 week old deviantart page here. http://kickedfromartclass.deviantart.com/

Sorry if the demands seem rough. I'm also still learning and improving as an artist, and this is a great learning opportunity for me too! Although I'm looking at the marketability opportunity more than anything :P So given that this project takes maybe a year from now, you can expect that if you want me to finalize or edit my works prior to the release, that I will be much better than I am currently (I haven't been illustrating seriously for very long ._.)

Although so far nothing on my page is at a finalized stage (translated to fully digital, with colours and shadows), I will eventually start finalizing my work on my deviantart. If you like what you see, and are fine with the conditions I applied, then contact me or leave a message here with an address that I can contact you at ^^;

I'm not sure if PMs work for me on this site yet, so... Bleh.

[Dark Pulse]

Hmmhmm...

I'm kind of interested, though I do have my own conditions for the work.

Well then, let's see whether those are met.

The first condition is that I don't work for pay; I'm loaded enough as is. However, that doesn't mean that I won't ask for some kind of compensation. So the first condition is that the development crew give me the information pertaining to the project's development, and that deadlines are well established and set to have utmost efficiency for the project's completion.

Considering the characters are all fairly well developed at this point (though some profiles are fairly out of date), there'd definitely be stuff you could do immediately while we polished up the profiles. As long as we knew we'd get art out of it, obviously, that's a good motivating factor.

Accepting no pay... well, that might be a bit of an undoing for you. This isn't a small VN by any stretch of the imagination, but if the breadth of it doesn't matter, obviously it makes you a stronger candidate. Albeit one I'd admittedly think would be a bit insane to tackle a project as large as this with no monetary compensation, but that's just me - if that's the terms you work by, I have no problem with it and I doubt he would either. Free is free, after all.

Information? We've got documents up the ass. Not just characters, but world history, organizations, the works. This isn't casually developed; we're making a full-on coherent universe. Is that enough for you?

The second condition is that at least one person who is heading the project is well established among a recognizable circle, with a fair amount of influence among an internet community or such.

Hi. I'm an admin of Beast's Lair, and the one who you can thank for this lovely vBulletin board after we were kicked off Proboards in 2011. That good enough for you? I'd hope so, because if not, the only "circle" influence I have is (mostly) writing a very long fanfic for Tsukihime.

It's just me and the other author, pure and simple. He's done nothing like this before and I'm the one with far greater experience in these sorts of lands, so if my qualifications are too low for you, then we're likely not "enough."

The third condition is that this project should be done seriously and maturely if you want my help. Half assed writing, crossovers, poor use of conventions, lack of originality, poor editing, and overall sheer stupidity must be void in the actual project. Also, a guarantee that the project will be finished within a set amount of time, like say within one year or two.

Well, it's already been in development for awhile, but it's also somewhat been slow since the other co-creator is someone who is very much a visually-oriented person - I can picture many characters without art, but he is someone who needs the art in order to really "see" them. Seriously and maturely should generally not be a problem. He is inexperienced when it comes to writing (that's what I'm helping guide him on), but he's willing to do the writing if there's someone willing to do the art. There are no crossovers here, Paths go through a multiple-phase development process, and there is really no stupidity in that sense, so you're not going to get someone who's doing silly ideas - simply put, we've come up with our own universe, and we see no reason to sully it.

The fourth condition is that I am fully credited for any work I submit for this project, and that my <pen> name is emphasized on the release.

Naturally and easily granted. There is no way you would not receive credit on the project (unless we wind up not using your work, of course, which is another matter entirely).

The fifth condition is that you don't pile work on me, nor ask me to work at a pace I'm uncomfortable with. For example, I mainly focus on characters, sketches and draft work, and while I'm completely capable of doing backgrounds, it bores me to no end and you'll have to accept that I'll be very slow if you request that from me. That said, if you have multiple artists for the project to handle different aspects of the art, then this could work better as to not put too much pressure on me.

Well, we could potentially float several artists, though obviously our resources are limited. We do need backgrounds (though not right now - the characters themselves are far more important), CGs, and so on at some point, so if you are sole artist, this would indeed be on you; however, at the same time, we do not generally demand things like "we expect it in x days;" more likely, we'd ask you when you think you could have it done by, and then you would give us a date to which we'd hold you. Beating it would always be nice, of course, but especially if it's free, basically, the power of "when it would be done by" is more dictated by you, since we know everyone has lives and other obligations. Basically, as long as it doesn't take you like weeks on end to produce a CG, and you stick to whatever deadlines you'd assign yourself to (barring anything happening - it's life, shit happens), I doubt we'd have problems.

However, you also point out the marketability. Depending on what you mean by that, we may run into a problem.

• As I've pointed out in my initial post, there are going to be sexual situations in these paths. (We are deciding if there is going to be an option to skip past those scenes - a sort of "adult content" switch, basically - but some paths have more of it than others.) If this is a problem, then thank you for your interest, but it likely will not work out.
• There's also going to be a fair share of violence in the stories; some of it is implied, but there are several scenes of intense, graphic violence. This is not exactly a shiny, happy world; there are some seriously bad people inhabiting it. The same situation as above: If this is not something you're willing to do, it likely will not work out.
• As I've said, neither of us are technically experienced members of a circle. I, however, help run this place, and I have written very long fanfics which I need to stop being lazy on and put the rest up as it's been almost 2 1/2 years and people are still patiently waiting. If that means we don't have enough clout, then obviously, there's nothing I can do about that.
• We need to know if there's anything specific you will refuse to do. In other words, are you willing to draw pretty much anything, or is there some things you absolutely, positively, cannot draw for one of a number of reasons? I can explain some of the situations that will happen in some of the paths, for example, but I'd rather keep that to a PM conversation as it's confidential information. Obviously, your appropriateness for this project would heavily depend on what you are willing to do (or not do, as the case may be).

If you think you're still viable for this project, or would like more specifics to help determine that, message me back via PM (just click my username, then "Send Private Message" - you can access PMs; you've passed the post threshold that locks you out from them) and we'll open discussions. On the other hand, if what I've seen here has made it clear it won't work out, then just leave a message to that effect and thank you for your time.

[Phearo]

..Well, seeing as that most of other projects are in the afterburner at the moment, can you send me a test profile I can check out? If you want to see some of my works, I'll just point you to my deviantart.