From a chat with @WobblyPython the other day, a tip for indie devs commissioning art: KNOW WHAT YOU WANT.
Artists haaaaaate being given vague prompts or "make what you think looks good". They want details, they want opinions, they want to be told "use these specific colors".
Artists aren't mind-readers! They don't know what you want. If they try to guess, they can put a lot of work into a piece that you don't like, and then what? Are you going to refuse to pay for it? They're not getting that time back.
Before commissioning someone, do your homework:
- Find references, i.e. pieces that are similar to what you want
- Give context on what the art will be used for
- Give as many details as you possibly can
More generally, cultivate yourself! Experience art and develop opinions about it! This doesn't have to mean going to museums, though you can do that. Art is everywhere! It's in games, TV, cartoons, literature, advertisements. Examine it! Figure out what you like!
So the birdsite version of this post can't have nuance but this one can.
Some artists are fine just throwing down whatever they want in the face of your dollars. I'm not one of these guys. If you're interested in just making sure I get some money you can do it without demanding an unspecified tiny temple to your contribution by just throwing money at http://patreon.com/wobblypython. (You get access to my discord where I post all my streamer meme art and we pass around links to posts looking to hire artists. I also do a fair amount of behind the scenes posting on how I accomplish effects and such.)
I work a lot in art that is intended to be deployed somewhere. I make borders, animations for streamers, logos, Veadotube talksprites, even live2D models sometimes. I make graphics that are going to be something or part of something at the very least. There is nothing in the world that is worse than having someone asking for a logo or a layout but what they're actually asking me to do is develop their entire branding standard from nothing for like, $30. It happens all the time.
I charge an hourly rate of $50/hr, but I have some attention deficit problems so I only charge when I'm putting pen to tablet. The reason I picked up this monetization system though is because of aimless clients who "Will know what they like when they see it." but I have to make everything that you don't fucking like when you fucking see it. It burns tons and tons of my, the starving artist's, time. I don't have a lot of time. I don't have a lot of money. The LAST thing I want to do is be splashing around in the shallow end of your imagination trying to come up with something that matches your inscrutable, indescribable, perfect vision. Even less so when bills are coming due.
So how do you avoid being "that guy"? Ref sheets are great! Environment pics are great! Pictures that just have nice colors that you like are great! Pictures that have the cool lighting you want are great! SEND THEM. You cannot destroy my, or any artists's DM's hard enough with references while we're figuring out what you want. It is so much easier to filter down out of what you've bombarded me with than filter down from the cosmic everything that sending me "Do what you want" entails.
I cannot tell you how many new artists have been sunk by taking on a client that 1: Doesn't know what they want. 2: Doesn't know how to communicate what they do want. 3: Cannot be pleased no matter how many changes are made or hours are consumed. Lots of new artists don't know how to tell a client "No", or don't feel like they have the ability to do that after they've started working.
I know a lot of artists also only do busts, or 3/4 view only, or my favorite of "Your character here" and this is another way of filtering down all that possibility. Those artists are for sure capable of more but that tiny porthole is what they're willing to offer because of these exact issues.
So the point of this idea is that you don't have to have already made the image you want, but be ready to communicate what you like! Have things you like! And if you really want to "just support" an artist our Patreons/Paypals/KoFi's/Venmo's/Gofundmes/Pockets are all over the place. Just put a dollar in the jar and you can bet your ass that dollar is going to go a huge distance toward us continuing to make cool things anyway. We didn't get into this because we wanted to make other people's visions. We have our own ideas. We make the art that we want to make. We're out here honing our skills not for the great commissions market. We're doing it because we have a sense of things that we have always wanted to make as well, but we have to pay rent all the same.
