Five dollar concept art
by Michael or something like that · 02/21/2009 (2:44 pm) · 11 comments
So you've decided to make your own game. You have a terrific concept, and you've rounded up a couple of people to help you make your dream come true. You've even got a little bit of money put aside for tools and resources. It seems like your budget should get you everything you really need, but you know you are going to have to make some sacrifices...
I'm here to make sure that concept art isn't one of them. My goal is to help gaming start-ups by offering speed-painted concept art at five dollars a piece. Several examples of speed-painted concepts are below; most of these took 45 minutes to an hour to produce. Why am I offering concept art at a price that translates to below minimum wage? Because I want to help start-ups and improve myself. I'd like to produce lots of work and get the time required to create such a piece to 30 minutes, or a little under. See? We both benefit.
Sample creature concept:
Sample weapon concepts:
Sample environment concept:
Sample character concept:
Sample vehicle concept:
What should you do if you want to commission some concept art? Send a description that's up to three paragraphs long to my email address, sleepingpaint@gmail.com. You can include links to some reference images, if you like. I reserve the right to refuse your order, especially if you ask me to draw anything lewd, or racist, etc. If your order is approved by me, it will generally take me no more than five business days to deliver it to you. Your wait time may be as short as several hours. It depends on what I happen to have on my plate. I will NOT typically revise a speed-paint; if you really want something changed to make your protagonist look "just right," email me about it and maybe we can work something out. If I have to sink additional time into revising the piece, expect to be charged (at the same low rate, of course.)
Once a concept is complete, I will email you to say so, and to give you my Paypal address. *I am only able to accept payments via Paypal at this time.* As soon as I receive your Paypal payment, I will send the art to you. I reserve the right to display the concept as a demonstration of my artistic abilities. I must be credited in your game and my signature must be present whenever the concept is displayed. All remaining rights are yours. If you want to use the concept art for a load screen in your game, or print it on a t-shirt, or anything of that sort, you are completely free to do so.
I am usually available for other 2D art jobs, anything from sprite animation to GUI design.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, and good luck with your games!
I'm here to make sure that concept art isn't one of them. My goal is to help gaming start-ups by offering speed-painted concept art at five dollars a piece. Several examples of speed-painted concepts are below; most of these took 45 minutes to an hour to produce. Why am I offering concept art at a price that translates to below minimum wage? Because I want to help start-ups and improve myself. I'd like to produce lots of work and get the time required to create such a piece to 30 minutes, or a little under. See? We both benefit.
Sample creature concept:
Sample weapon concepts:Sample environment concept:Sample character concept:Sample vehicle concept:What should you do if you want to commission some concept art? Send a description that's up to three paragraphs long to my email address, sleepingpaint@gmail.com. You can include links to some reference images, if you like. I reserve the right to refuse your order, especially if you ask me to draw anything lewd, or racist, etc. If your order is approved by me, it will generally take me no more than five business days to deliver it to you. Your wait time may be as short as several hours. It depends on what I happen to have on my plate. I will NOT typically revise a speed-paint; if you really want something changed to make your protagonist look "just right," email me about it and maybe we can work something out. If I have to sink additional time into revising the piece, expect to be charged (at the same low rate, of course.)
Once a concept is complete, I will email you to say so, and to give you my Paypal address. *I am only able to accept payments via Paypal at this time.* As soon as I receive your Paypal payment, I will send the art to you. I reserve the right to display the concept as a demonstration of my artistic abilities. I must be credited in your game and my signature must be present whenever the concept is displayed. All remaining rights are yours. If you want to use the concept art for a load screen in your game, or print it on a t-shirt, or anything of that sort, you are completely free to do so.
I am usually available for other 2D art jobs, anything from sprite animation to GUI design.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, and good luck with your games!
#2
02/21/2009 (4:12 pm)
Nice Michael I think this'll work out well for everyone. 
#3
I do not make a living as a concept artist, but I am concerned about fellow artists being recognized for what they're worth.
Michael, I think offering your work at a per-image basis is a brilliant idea, and will help many developers on a budget get affordable concept art, but please raise your hourly rate. Again, your time and talent is worth more.
02/21/2009 (4:18 pm)
Frankly, I think by offering art at prices so low, you're lowering the value of every other concept artist out there. I do not think this works out well for everyone. Forgive me if that sounds harsh. Your work is worth more.I do not make a living as a concept artist, but I am concerned about fellow artists being recognized for what they're worth.
Michael, I think offering your work at a per-image basis is a brilliant idea, and will help many developers on a budget get affordable concept art, but please raise your hourly rate. Again, your time and talent is worth more.
#4
@ Scott: I hope so! :)
@ Russel: I was a bit worried about that, myself... But what I am selling is a little more than a half-hour of my time, with no revision process. It's a speedpaint that may help get a designer's idea across to a 3D artist, nothing more. If I can reach my goal of 30 minutes per concept soon, then I am getting 10 dollars an hour: Not a wonderful rate by any means, but hardly terrible, given that it will be coming from game designers looking to get a foot in the door.
I agree that a fully developed concept, meticulously designed through teamwork between the developer and the artist, is worth far more than this. It is my hope that the artists offering that kind of service aren't in direct competition with me, and that this will not harm their business.
02/21/2009 (5:22 pm)
@ Maxim: Hey! Didn't know you were around here. I have plenty more, this is just the quick stuff.@ Scott: I hope so! :)
@ Russel: I was a bit worried about that, myself... But what I am selling is a little more than a half-hour of my time, with no revision process. It's a speedpaint that may help get a designer's idea across to a 3D artist, nothing more. If I can reach my goal of 30 minutes per concept soon, then I am getting 10 dollars an hour: Not a wonderful rate by any means, but hardly terrible, given that it will be coming from game designers looking to get a foot in the door.
I agree that a fully developed concept, meticulously designed through teamwork between the developer and the artist, is worth far more than this. It is my hope that the artists offering that kind of service aren't in direct competition with me, and that this will not harm their business.
#5
I would charge at least $10-12.50 for 30 minutes of your time, for one offs, even at this point in history... I'd be hesitant to even suggest going lower than $7 per 30 minutes for bulk work.
02/21/2009 (7:39 pm)
I'm definitely going to agree with Rusell here.I would charge at least $10-12.50 for 30 minutes of your time, for one offs, even at this point in history... I'd be hesitant to even suggest going lower than $7 per 30 minutes for bulk work.
#6
Short story is, Mike is entering with a competitive rate, and a on par quality. What he charges is his own rate, imo. On the other hand, if the art work level increases and yah, it becomes a slighty higher grade then a speed paint, sure charge, more, but not for what I see above.
02/21/2009 (8:21 pm)
well, tell you what guys, You and Russel charge 10 bucks a 30 minutes of you time for high end stuff, but the guy has stated his fee, let him make his own prices, its the same thing with folks that charge 250$ bucks a hour for support tickets (thats a hour, not per ticket) stop trying to inflate the prices to some professional rate, which im looking at the art above, is just as he said a speed paint. I see most concept arts that take 1-4 hours each.. and at 10-12.50 a hour thats what? 10-50 bucks per piece, vs 5 dollars for a half a hour quick reference sketch?Short story is, Mike is entering with a competitive rate, and a on par quality. What he charges is his own rate, imo. On the other hand, if the art work level increases and yah, it becomes a slighty higher grade then a speed paint, sure charge, more, but not for what I see above.
#7
Your not going to hurt anyone's business by what your doing. Even if you were, Inflating your prices so others can charge more doesn't sound like a good thing to me in any case. It's up to the artist to provide a good or service that differentiates itself in some way to justify the price being charged.. not some unspoken agreement.
I truly look forward to seeing more of your work.
02/21/2009 (10:46 pm)
Michael, I think this is great on your part. Kill two birds with one stone so to speak. You get to fine tune your abilities, and potential customers get some good concept speed paint for a indie friendly price. Your not going to hurt anyone's business by what your doing. Even if you were, Inflating your prices so others can charge more doesn't sound like a good thing to me in any case. It's up to the artist to provide a good or service that differentiates itself in some way to justify the price being charged.. not some unspoken agreement.
I truly look forward to seeing more of your work.
#8
Perhaps I should elaborate a little more on why I don't believe this will hurt the market. My target audience are primarily start-ups who would never even consider paying $10 for 30 minutes of work, because they can't. They don't have that kind of money. They are forced to try to find an artist willing to do this kind of work free of charge, or, almost as bad, for some kind of deferred equity plan. This can be frustrating for the designers and the artists involved, and, in my opinion, much worse for the market than having rough concept sketches available for a low price.
If you still happen to disagree with me, please email me, I'll be happy to discuss my philosophy with you while being open minded about yours. I would prefer to keep this post from turning into a long, boring debate.
02/22/2009 (12:55 am)
I'd like to thank everyone who's offered their support. Perhaps I should elaborate a little more on why I don't believe this will hurt the market. My target audience are primarily start-ups who would never even consider paying $10 for 30 minutes of work, because they can't. They don't have that kind of money. They are forced to try to find an artist willing to do this kind of work free of charge, or, almost as bad, for some kind of deferred equity plan. This can be frustrating for the designers and the artists involved, and, in my opinion, much worse for the market than having rough concept sketches available for a low price.
If you still happen to disagree with me, please email me, I'll be happy to discuss my philosophy with you while being open minded about yours. I would prefer to keep this post from turning into a long, boring debate.
#9
Again, thank you for offering this and I hope I can take your service soon. As you said, startups have not much money to spend and it is a limiting factor.
02/22/2009 (2:26 am)
Michael, thank you so much for the offer and I totally agree with you. I also see no competition here as every concept artist has their own style. So you can't compare the work the people do imho. It is concept art. Everyone should be free to set a price they feel comfortable to. Again, thank you for offering this and I hope I can take your service soon. As you said, startups have not much money to spend and it is a limiting factor.
#10
I think people tend to forget that here most people are hobbyists or very small groups trying to get a game going in there spare time with there spare dollars.
Thanks Michael!
02/22/2009 (2:59 am)
In my opinion this is great, its cheap enough for me to get some things drawn up. Otherwise its just always in my head.I think people tend to forget that here most people are hobbyists or very small groups trying to get a game going in there spare time with there spare dollars.
Thanks Michael!
#11
06/01/2009 (11:59 am)
I've used Michael's services for writing, game design and concept art... he provides excellent service at a great value for Indies.
Torque 3D Owner Maxim Lyulyukin aka "Robomaniac"
draw more of them ;)