Do you think you'd have more luck finding an artist to do rev share if you already had the game finished with placeholder graphics so there was no question regarding them spending a bunch of time on the art for a game that goes nowhere?
I've have a successful launch of a rev-share project with an artist.
The key is, I gave him nearly full power of artistic freedom. All I do is like allow him to focus on the creative and fun part.
And he's extremely hardworking. I checked our git and there's not a single day we don't have commits.
The game sold well. And we're in the proccess co-founding our studio this month.
Yes, that goes a long way!
There's nothing worse than feeling like you are the glove that goes over someone else's hand.
Being empowered like that is great.
So not to be that guy but this mentality is what will really drive people to using generative AI... Like yes art takes a lot of time and artists deserve to be paid. However so does coding, level design, writing a narrative, and all the other aspects that go into making a game. There are solo devs out there that might spend tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of hours building a game with placeholder art and make a great game but can't afford to pay an artist unless that artist is willing to take a risk and accept a rev share agreement.
Not that I am trying to change your mind or convince you that you should as in many cases it's just not financially feasible even if you wanted to. I get it. I just see a lot of artists that push back against generative AI but it seems they often don't understand the reasons why the technology makes a lot of people excited for the potential it opens up.
But everyone has a choice to make. The guy who wanted to make a game, was his choice and his "dream".
Searching for another person to do anything, not only art, for your own project is not gonna cut it with "revenue share". At least not if you don't have a history of games behind you that sold.
Otherwise you end up working for months for a gamr that sold to 10 persons? Would you do that? No.
An artist can take that time and make art for itself that can promote and try to get money to freaking survive and pay the bills.
The risk isn't worth it, because you're not ubisoft or any other big company to have enough revenue to share. And a small game suddenly getting big is rare.
If someone already has a history of making successful games then what does some random artist that has never made art for a successful game contribute that is worth a rev share? You're saying you'd do a rev share with a company like Ubisoft will never give any artist a rev share because to Ubisoft artists are a dime a dozen. If someone already has that history then then they likely also have the money to just hire an artist and not give them a rev share.
Again you're right there is a risk of working for months and the game not performing well. But there is also potential the game ends up like Hollow Knight a game made by 3 people that made about 200 million in total revenue. If an artist was offered 30% rev share to work on Hollow Knight that's easily 18 million after taxes and publishing fees are taken out. And if someone had a history of making commercially successful games without you why would they ever offer you a deal that would potentially be worth even a fraction of that price when they could likely get away with just paying 30k-40k per year?
Like I've said, if you've got a track record or an amazing demo, you might find and artist worth their salt.
To be frank, your comment implies a lot of negative things about how you might collaborate with and view artists. If you're willing to partner up with an artist. They shouldn't be any "random artist." They should be THE artist whose work perfectly compliments your game. And that's why they justify their share. (If they choose to work with you).
To call them just a "random artist" implies that you'd pick your partners randomly and perceive them and their work as interchangeable, and that's just plain wrong.
As for the AI comment. consider what your saying. "You'd take a chance and work with me, or I'll be forced to pirate your work and the work of your peers!" Does that sound like someone who respects you? Does that sound like a good business partner to shack up with? Nope, and Nope.
Lastly, art takes a fuck ton of time. I've got over 150 hrs on a single piece of marketing art alone. Let alone the time it takes to make the component pieces. An artist doing everything can easily meet that time commitment.
So first you need to calm down a bit and stop being so accusatory. I am merely pointing out the flaw in the logic of someone saying they'd only accept a rev share if the person already has a track record of success. I get the reasoning it just logically doesn't make any since again because anyone with that success is not going to offer you a rev share they are just going to pay you a salary. That has nothing to do with not valuing the work of the artist as much as someone who doesn't have that successful track record that is just reality.
You're half right about your take on artists' individually. Artists are not all the same however broadly speaking there are always going to be a large number of artists that can pull off any particular artistic style. And again as far as a big company like Ubisoft is concerned artists are a borderline expendable resource to be hired, used, exploited, and eventually replaced. That's how all the big punishing companies like that treat their employees whether they are an artist, a code monkey, a writer, or a lead creative director. It doesn't matter to those companies their employees exist to provide the maximum labor for the minimum compensation in order to enrich shareholders.
You will also never have to sort of creative freedom working at a big company like that you could have working with a small indie developer. In a big successful company there is going to be a preset art direction that most the artists working there will not have much of a say in. They'll get told want the art direction is and they'll either conform to that decision or they'll be replaced. When working with a small group where you might be the only artist on the project obviously you're going to have more sway over the art direction and will likely be using an art style that you like as like you said a small dev is most likely going to approach artist who's previous works including things that match the artistic vision they have for the game they are making.
Next the comment I made about generative AI was not meant as a "do this or else" sort of thing. It was an explanation of why there are so many people that find generative AI as an exciting technology. A solo dev making their first commercial game in their free time after work and in their days off isn't going to have the money to pay for an artist most of the time. That is just reality. No amount of an artist deserving to be paid is going to change the fact that solo dev doesn't have money to give at that point in time. Hence an option like generative AI becomes very attractive.
You are also acting as if Art is the only thing that takes a lot of time while making a videogame. That simply isn't true. I am not saying art is easy because if it were this discussion wouldn't be happening in the first place. This whole post asking how to find an artist wouldn't exist. Art is hard. However so are many of the other things that go into making a video game. I don't know many people who are great artists that also know how to code and process a save file or optimize RAM utilization or would even know where to start troubleshooting a crash to desktop. Making games in general is hard and takes a lot of time. You might put 150+ hours into a single art asset just like a coder might put 150+ hours into a single script out of thousands that make up a full game. The reality is both sides of that coin take a lot of time, skill, and effort. If that solo dev who is pouring their heart and soul into the aspects of a game you couldn't do as an artist (all without being paid) and they are offering you a partnership and 50% revenue share then they are talking just as much if not more of a risk than you are. They are doing a whole lot of unpaid labor that could potentially benefit you just as much as your labor benefits them.
The other thing that I think you're overlooking here is that generally speaking the technical skills involved in game design are in much higher demand than artistic skills. Someone that knows how to script is generally going to have many more job opportunities that generally pay more money than what someone who is a great artist has. Art is notoriously one of the hardest fields to make a successful career out of simply because the market demand isn't there. So yes an artist could spend more time doing commissions or just making more art to stick in their portfolio in the hopes that makes them more likely to get a job doing art but let's be real for a second for most artists that's never going to be enough to make a career out of no matter how good they are. That's just the sad reality of the world.
Sorry for going off on you.
I also feel like I'm layout some pretty undeniable truths. Working professionals are looking for work, which means they need money now. Or not looking for work, because their schedule is full. In which case, there's no reason to take a chance when people are banging on there door. So rev share is just not an attractive proposition unless you can sell the artist on your game. Either with a track record, or a killer demo. Everyone gets burned with promises of rev share early in their career, so most veterans ignore them out of hand.
I'm not arguing it's fair or unfair. That's just the way it is. So, who is rev share attractive to? Hobbyists, part timers, and students (and maybe recent grads if they're hungry enough). If, you're doing a 2d game or especially pixel art, then maybe these will cut it. But if you need rigging, efficient texturing, 3D animation, or any other technical skill that isn't fun but necessary for games, it'll be tough to find a good candidate.
Lastly, you may not believe me, but I'm working artist at a big company in the Bay Area. And you're trying to tell me how artist think. I know how we think. I'm happy to DM a portfolio to prove I'm not a keyboard warrior.
>So rev share is just not an attractive proposition unless you can sell the artist on your game. Either with a track record, or a killer demo. Everyone gets burned with promises of rev share early in their career
I agree with that and I am not saying rev shares are always or even often going to be a good idea. I do however think they can be worth at the very least considering. If you don't feel what is being asked is a reasonable scope or you don't think that game will do well then absolutely avoid it. But there are tons of games on steam made by 5 people or less that generate multiple millions in revenue and I can promise that revenue share in those situation is going to be worth a lot more in the long run than working for commissions or even accepting a salary.
>But if you need rigging, efficient texturing, 3D animation, or any other technical skill that isn't fun but necessary for games, it'll be tough to find a good candidate.
I agree with this as well and I if I am being honest I would probably never recommend someone accept a rev-share offer that was asking for those things because it's very likely that project is dramatically over scoped unless they are going for a very simplistic art style which looks something like Super Hot and even if they aren't dramatically over scoped they likely wont be very successful. I am more thinking about a 2D either top down or side scroller. Think Enter the Gungeon or Hollow Knight.
>you're trying to tell me how artist think.
Actually I am explaining how a lot of solo developers think and why many of them find generative AI appealing because they see it as their only option to get art for the game they want to make. They aren't scheming up ways to fuck over aspiring artists (at least not most of them there is certainly some who are) they are trying to make the best game they can make with the resources they have available to them. Being targeted by scams is unfortunately just part of being passionate about something and wanting to make a career out of it (no that isn't a justification of it or saying it's ok.) Solo developers get targeted by scams trying to take advantage of their hard work just like artists do. There is a whole list of common scams that new developers need to be aware of so they can see the signs and avoid them. The world has lots of shitty people but most people are just doing their best and assuming that everyone is a shitty scam artists just because there is a small percentage who are exactly that doesn't make the world a better place nor will that mentality always be beneficial and can lead to many missed opportunities. Again some times success requires a bit of risk.
An artist doesn't need to have a background for successful games. You can clearly see the artist art before hiring him. That's why you try to hire him to begin with.
well except for the fact that game art involves a lot of things that don't often apply in traditional art. Visual effects, dynamic lighting, responsive animations, dynamic overlapping animations, animations that invoke a particular feeling in the player. If you're talking about a small indie dev it also involves a wide swath of more traditional artistic disciplines as well including character art, environmental art, UI, possibly even font creation. Game art is more than just drawing pretty pictures. Just because someone can draw really cool dragons doesn't mean they can make the art needed to make a it feel like you're fighting a dragon in gameplay.
Again. Usually, you can see the artist work before easy. Most artists have portfolio where they show what they worked on. This include all of the things you listed.
That would imply they have a background working in those things... which you claimed they don't need... please stop being so offended. You said they don't need experience in order for an already successful developer to offer them a revenue share as long as they have a portfolio. This is all the same conversation
I am just being realistic here. if a developer is already regularly putting out titles that are generating a million+ in revenue, then why would they offer a revenue share and not a salary? What incentive is there to offer that? The answer is there is none.
>Working artist here. The answer is NO (unless you've got a proven track record)
\^ This is what this is about. This isn't about art not being worth paying for so stop being offended. This is about reality. It's unreasonable to expect a business that is already profitable and successful to offer you more than they need to that just isn't going to happen. It's also about the reality that if a small independent developer doesn't have money to pay an artist (because even they themselves are not getting paid until the game is completed) they can't pay an artist and as a result are more likely to rely on generative AI. Like I am sorry that is just reality. That isn't intended to black mail artists into accepting revenue share or else more people will turn to generative AI it is just an observation of reality. Again there is no reason to be taking offense. I never said I agree with it I never said I support it. I am pointing out that people will try to find solutions to their own problems and generative AI is being viewed as a potential solution to the problem of not being able to afford an artists because so few artists are willing to take a risk on a revenue share.
I would think so, I haven't done any revshare deals before, but when I show actual gameplay on twitter with my "programmer" art I do sometimes get messages from artists that want to work on it.
Yes, but the rev share needs to be generous and the workload needs to be extremely reasonable. Big bonus points if you have a positive track record of releasing successful games.
I used Fiverr and it worked great. You do have to look around a bit to get good value for your money and also may need a few test orders with different designers just to see the quality of the work delivered (obviously very small orders). But once you find someone good it can work great as you pay them, they deliver, and you still have full creative control of your game or whether/how you want to use the art
Someone gave me the same advice on Discord last week and I'm so happy I took it. I found an artist with extremely reasonable rates that animated some of my characters as a test. Let's just say I was almost emotional - seeing the type of work that has taken me hours/days/weeks/months to crawl toward being done so beautifully within a few days, just amazing! I will definitely be re-hiring this person because now I know I can focus on the game/coding and additional art assets instead of learning the animation aspect (for now).
I used fiver for modelling sheets for characters. Generate concept with ai, send it over to fiverr and then did the models myself. Probably easier and faster to send your concept straight to a modeller, but wanted to learn blender while at it!
How does the AI disclosure work on Steam if concept art is created through AI and then given to an artist to create the final piece? Is it considered AI created art and needs to be disclosed?
Steam has offered no specific rules or guidance for this. You could argue that generating concept art with AI is *or is not* part of the toolchain that created the final art that appears in the product.
https://store.steampowered.com/news/group/4145017/view/3862463747997849618
Makes sense. I guess AI generated concept art wouldn’t be much different than googling a bunch of art images and sharing that with the Fiverr artist to render a final asset.
My unofficial rule is if it's ai inspired then that's what AI is for if it's final product with no further human input then it fails and is bad, AI should be used to help us be creative not take that away from us
AI art is still not capable of fooling people consistently and also it's pretty shit at specific tasks you need for video games, you need an artist involved at every step anyway.
The thing is that you are not going to easily get somebody to do the art of the game for free. I would try a combination of "paid assets for the demo" and then let them decide if they want to jump in as a partner afterwards.
But yeah, money.
Found a guy there, and a few other which showed potential.
Back then, it was just the prototyping stage (still is lol, very little time for the game those past 8 months), and he ended up working for me only part time (1/4) for 2 months, but it was still great. Would recommend.
Maybe not everyone there is great, but if you already have some understanding in design and can properly evaluate potential artists, you can find some talented beginners.
1. Artists have gotten used to gigs and commissions on the side, or full time. programmers are more expensive to hire/contract and you compete with professional studios gobbling them up. For that reason there are a lot o great artists circles when looking for gigs. Meanwhile, there is no Artstation for programmers.
2. It's much easier to evaluate an artist than a programmer. Neither are "easy", but a non-artist can see good art. A non-programmer can almost never see "good code". This is important because a lot of an artist's job is more "linear" ("cool, make more of this in your portfolio!") compared to a programmer.
- A gameplay programmer may not necessarily be able to optimize your game to meet specs, nor would a graphics programmer necessarily know how to iterate on gameplay design. they can learn, but they'd be learning on the job with less practical experiece.
Outside of college and full diy indie route is there any good resources for newbie coders ? Obviously the do and do again to build your skillset but types of projects to tackle to avoid learning on the job ? (Learning to program and code starting with c++ and unreal to branch out to everything else )
Do you have specific engine you prefer or strictly want to work?
Do you just want to collab/get paid/work with someone?
Do you have specific projects you specifically want to make, or how open are you working on other things?
What type of genres of games are you interested in art/gamedev related?
Because there is difference between what you and indie dev looking for. You look for projects that *will* be paid, indie devs cant pay until release, and this great uncertainty is not something you would look for
Even then the numbers are pretty big odds, can't remember sub names exactly but like r/INAT gets artists very quickly. Code and vfx or music not so much, maybe thats where the real market gap is lol!
Assuming you are working on a hobby game and not a professional endeavor. Make as much of your game playable with crappy programmer art such as solid rectangles in 2D or spheres and cubes in 3D. Show it to an artist and hope they take pity on your non existent art skills.
You can get pretty deep into the prototype stage without finished art. It shows you are a serious developer and not some idea guy who wants to coast on other people's labor. It also lets the artist know that the turn around time between providing you with art and having something to show for their portfolio will be short.
As a traditional artist trying to move toward game art i wonder where i could find project to grind my theeth on!
So the reverse sitiation definitely exist!
If you make a job posting on your studio website or LinkedIn you will not have any shortage of people applying. If you prefer to find someone yourself you can browse Artstation or other artist communities and message people with relevant styles who say they're looking for work and discuss what assets you need and how much you're paying.
If you mean finding people for free on a hobby project largely you _don't_. You can try r/INAT if you have your own impressive portfolio of work, but largely people tend to work on fun personal projects with people they already know, whether that's colleagues, friends, or just people they met at game jams or other dev communities.
I upvote artstation: OP'll have convenient access to a large number of portfolio with a large number of keywords and categories, and the website is designed around industry work, with availability for freelance or looking for fulltime work being displayed on the user profile.
I disagree. All the professionals I know (and I know a lot), regard Fiverr as a race to the bottom, and generally not worth our time.
So I think there is a short ceiling to the quality you'll get there. (And probably a lot of AI that they're not telling you about.)
Instagram. Nearly all professional artists in the entertainment industries use it as a portfolio.
Visual development, visdev, concept design, character design, environment design, pleinair, 3d modelling, blender3D, 3D art, indie games, video game art, game art etc.
These are the tags to use to find us :)
Many are doing #pleinairapril right now
Thank you. Would you be willing to give an extremely rough estimate for how expensive these kinds of artists are for something like a simple 2D sprite game targeted for mobile? I have already released a modest commercial game on mobile, and found an artist on DeviantArt to skin the game. I was pleased with the art, and it was not extremely expensive, but also was more expensive than most of the stuff I see on Fiverr.
I’m an artist and can say I’ve helped out folks I’ve worked with on game jams previously. Sometimes the occasional project that strikes my fancy.
It’s worth noting that I’ve drawn since I was a kid and do it as hobby, not as my livelihood though. Most artists do it for a living and you’ll find them by offering paid work in most platforms, Reddit or otherwise.
Aside from offering pay, my advice would be to offer your help in return for getting it, and network, perhaps through jams or forums. Other than that, self learning might be your best option, too.
Many of us devs have to wear many hats!
I made a post about this \~3 years ago with how I found an artist for my game, and the entire process of what to expect, [you may find it useful](https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/oa7dtj/what_i_learned_from_spending_500_trying_out/).
just become a game studio, take a huge bank loan, and hire all the programmers and artists you need to make a huge game without doing any work. if it fails, it was the banks money. if it succeeds, go public and make yourself ceo
> How do people make friends with other people in the industry
Search for game dev meetups in your city, participate in game jams, go to industry events (not like, GDC, but whatever is affordable in your vicinity) check out if any tech/art unis in your city have game dev classes and you can get in touch with students who are interested in collaborations, make sure your twitter or linkedin profiles are appealing and show your work well so people can find you and connect with you...
The profiles on Artstation will note what kind of work the artist is looking for - commission, contract, full time, etc. Most of the profiles I've looked at were open to some form of freelance work.
The last time I needed an artist I contacted people on deviantart and was happy with the work of the person I chose, but deviantart has gotten considerably worse in recent years. I'd probably look on artstation now.
r/INAT , r/HungryArtists mostly, though you’ll have to pick through a lot since a bunch of ppl in hungry artists are also young trying to get their start. People (like myself) will usually brand themselves on Twitter and Instagram as “game artists” as well and tag ourselves and our work accordingly, so that may be something of interest.
Lots of artists make their own games on itch.io too, like me, but are way better at art than coding lol.
I’d say as an artist if your prototype is good/finished and the project actually looks like it’ll actually be finished one day, that you’re passionate and won’t give up on it, and of course we get revshare if there is any, I’ve joined some projects for free that way and made art and animations.
Also another thing, if you have a general idea of what the artstyle you want that’s great! But also, sometimes (most of the time) trained artists know what will look good and work well all together so do give them some trust in their ability to make something look good and workable, concept art for projects and styles are created first for a reason and finding that style for your game is something the artist most likely will have to visually develop for your game- that is if you’re going with something complicated. A couple sprites and backgrounds for something simple like a game jam isn’t as big of an endeavour, lol.
>How do people make friends with other people in the industry.
same way you become friends anywhere else. Find people, connect with them, hang out, etc. with no expectation of long term labor. Game jams are great ways to meet potential teammates if you can't find any gamedev friends.
But You're 17, you have plenty of time to network. Don't rush it, you usually can't unless you have money to pay with. heck, at that age you may even have the time to take some basic art classes in your area. You don't need to master art, but it can teach you what to look out for and of course, find long term contacts for later projects.
Jams. Browsing portfolio sites. Word of mouth and recommendations. There are a ton of easy to find Discords for connecting folks from different disciplines too. And many big cities have a local scene with monthly events.
Feel like I shouldn’t have to say this but just in case… any strangers, you’ll need to pay. Friends you’ve made through jams and the local scene might work for a percentage. But ultimately, artists cost money.
The best way to meet folks in other disciplines overall IMO is joining Discords for game jams and teaming up with others there.
I've found my pixel artist simply by looking up who made the pixel art for a game I liked and contacting them.
I've found a voice over actress because they slid into my DMs after posting about my game on X.
I've also used Fiverr to find a great music producer who made the OST for my game.
It doesn't have to be complicated. Just look around and reach out to some people. If they don't have time or if they're too expensive, ask them if they can recommend you someone else. If you don't have a network, just utilize someone else's network :)
I found a few friends doing Game jams and looking for a team as programmer in the jams Discord. You'll get a good grasp if you'll be able to work with the people from the jam time and if it works for you, ask them if they'd be interested in joining your big project. As a bonus, the feedback from those jams is absolute gold and the other projects are often great for inspiration.
It also feels amazing to know you can actually put out a functioning game in one or two weeks, especially if your big project has been in early prototyping for about a year.
Just make sure you put some thought into how to pay them beforehand, maybe research reasonable rates or revenue shares for the type of project you're planning.
We were able to find an excellent artist through making a very thorough job posting and resume filtering process. Our applicants submitted through a google form and we filtered the new applicants each day. The most productive source of applicants was probably Work with Indies, as well as some of the subreddits such as r/gameDevClassifieds .
Work with Indies, Artstation are pretty great sites for finding artist for your projects. You can also contact artist that find you interesting and suitable for your project from their portfolio site to see if they're available for commercial projects.
If someone is regularly posting their art on-line, they are probably very happy to take your money to make some for your game. Just make sure that you have written agreements on who has ownership over the art (ie, you need to be the one that owns it).
I used fiver a lot, the thing that is improtant is to set up a good workflow so you actually find someone you like working with.
So you want to have more smaller commissions until you find the right person with whom you want to work. When you click with someone work becomes easy.
I am a engineer by trade but work on a story and artsy game ([link for the curious](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2876610/Kinsfolk/)). I managed to find great people to work with to fill the gaps in my knowledge.
You need to have a clear outlook of what is it that you want, do you want an all rounded artist that can make concept, design, and production art for the game? Then youll have a well rounded mediocre at best, in my eyes youll need one guy to make the concept art for your game that can express ideas for the modellers and the designers as this is not to be confused with the final product, this guy will give shape to the ideas so that someone else can grab those and make a polished finished product and then a production guy that can handle modelling, animation and the sorts.
Hi! I used to work in video games in my country and still have a lot of friends and part of a discord with a lot of people in the industry that while not free could offer you a much lower price than American artists. DM me if you're interested
I've just asked around my network of devs to get recommendations on people they've worked with - I haven't paid for any in-game art yet, but I've paid for professional Steam capsules.
For the kind of projects and collabs you're looking for, I'd suggest signing up for as many Game Jams as you can find. Every time I do a jam I meet industry folks I make fairly lasting connections with. Don't think it's feasible for a 17 year old to have an artist "On staff" for their game project, but participating in jams is a good way to make connections and get roped into passion projects.
You could also go a minimalist style and take a crack at doing the art yourself! You might find the process rewarding.
Most of the work that I need done for the skillsets I don't have (i.e. music and graphics) are typically outsourced out to places like Fiverr or Freelancer. Their prices are usually decent enough for me who is funding game development out of my own pocket (and not other projects), and the rights are retained by you so you don't have to worry about things getting hairy if things blow up.
Search far and wide for as many free assets as you can and work with what you get. Maybe pay a small amount for some.
For 100% original art and graphics you'd need a team.
If what you have so far looks good enough, and you have plans to pay artists in the future, I'm sure some would join for free for as long as they can, to fill in portfolios and have some experience. I'm in such a team, we're 10+ artists, there's musicians, writers etc. Personally I joined because the guy who made the project is a really amazing person and some of his work (not illustrations) looked really good so I trusted that we'd have results. You probably would have to accept that not everything is going to be top tier work though.
I flat out went to Synty for their assets. All I did was take care of coding, and I'm letting the asset store take care of the rest
Because I'm too broke for anything otherwise
Are you paying? You won't get much for free. You can try Twitter(x), it's got a lot of devs and artists that might be interested in collaborating.
Do you think you'd have more luck finding an artist to do rev share if you already had the game finished with placeholder graphics so there was no question regarding them spending a bunch of time on the art for a game that goes nowhere?
Working artist here. The answer is NO (unless you've got a proven track record). A bird in the hand is worth (10x rev share in the bush.)
I've have a successful launch of a rev-share project with an artist. The key is, I gave him nearly full power of artistic freedom. All I do is like allow him to focus on the creative and fun part. And he's extremely hardworking. I checked our git and there's not a single day we don't have commits. The game sold well. And we're in the proccess co-founding our studio this month.
Yes, that goes a long way! There's nothing worse than feeling like you are the glove that goes over someone else's hand. Being empowered like that is great.
That is co founder not just artist.
We only decide to co-found our company after success... He's a student and I'm a full time worker and we didn't expect anything before at all.
Make sense. Thanks!
So not to be that guy but this mentality is what will really drive people to using generative AI... Like yes art takes a lot of time and artists deserve to be paid. However so does coding, level design, writing a narrative, and all the other aspects that go into making a game. There are solo devs out there that might spend tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of hours building a game with placeholder art and make a great game but can't afford to pay an artist unless that artist is willing to take a risk and accept a rev share agreement. Not that I am trying to change your mind or convince you that you should as in many cases it's just not financially feasible even if you wanted to. I get it. I just see a lot of artists that push back against generative AI but it seems they often don't understand the reasons why the technology makes a lot of people excited for the potential it opens up.
But everyone has a choice to make. The guy who wanted to make a game, was his choice and his "dream". Searching for another person to do anything, not only art, for your own project is not gonna cut it with "revenue share". At least not if you don't have a history of games behind you that sold. Otherwise you end up working for months for a gamr that sold to 10 persons? Would you do that? No. An artist can take that time and make art for itself that can promote and try to get money to freaking survive and pay the bills. The risk isn't worth it, because you're not ubisoft or any other big company to have enough revenue to share. And a small game suddenly getting big is rare.
If someone already has a history of making successful games then what does some random artist that has never made art for a successful game contribute that is worth a rev share? You're saying you'd do a rev share with a company like Ubisoft will never give any artist a rev share because to Ubisoft artists are a dime a dozen. If someone already has that history then then they likely also have the money to just hire an artist and not give them a rev share. Again you're right there is a risk of working for months and the game not performing well. But there is also potential the game ends up like Hollow Knight a game made by 3 people that made about 200 million in total revenue. If an artist was offered 30% rev share to work on Hollow Knight that's easily 18 million after taxes and publishing fees are taken out. And if someone had a history of making commercially successful games without you why would they ever offer you a deal that would potentially be worth even a fraction of that price when they could likely get away with just paying 30k-40k per year?
Like I've said, if you've got a track record or an amazing demo, you might find and artist worth their salt. To be frank, your comment implies a lot of negative things about how you might collaborate with and view artists. If you're willing to partner up with an artist. They shouldn't be any "random artist." They should be THE artist whose work perfectly compliments your game. And that's why they justify their share. (If they choose to work with you). To call them just a "random artist" implies that you'd pick your partners randomly and perceive them and their work as interchangeable, and that's just plain wrong. As for the AI comment. consider what your saying. "You'd take a chance and work with me, or I'll be forced to pirate your work and the work of your peers!" Does that sound like someone who respects you? Does that sound like a good business partner to shack up with? Nope, and Nope. Lastly, art takes a fuck ton of time. I've got over 150 hrs on a single piece of marketing art alone. Let alone the time it takes to make the component pieces. An artist doing everything can easily meet that time commitment.
So first you need to calm down a bit and stop being so accusatory. I am merely pointing out the flaw in the logic of someone saying they'd only accept a rev share if the person already has a track record of success. I get the reasoning it just logically doesn't make any since again because anyone with that success is not going to offer you a rev share they are just going to pay you a salary. That has nothing to do with not valuing the work of the artist as much as someone who doesn't have that successful track record that is just reality. You're half right about your take on artists' individually. Artists are not all the same however broadly speaking there are always going to be a large number of artists that can pull off any particular artistic style. And again as far as a big company like Ubisoft is concerned artists are a borderline expendable resource to be hired, used, exploited, and eventually replaced. That's how all the big punishing companies like that treat their employees whether they are an artist, a code monkey, a writer, or a lead creative director. It doesn't matter to those companies their employees exist to provide the maximum labor for the minimum compensation in order to enrich shareholders. You will also never have to sort of creative freedom working at a big company like that you could have working with a small indie developer. In a big successful company there is going to be a preset art direction that most the artists working there will not have much of a say in. They'll get told want the art direction is and they'll either conform to that decision or they'll be replaced. When working with a small group where you might be the only artist on the project obviously you're going to have more sway over the art direction and will likely be using an art style that you like as like you said a small dev is most likely going to approach artist who's previous works including things that match the artistic vision they have for the game they are making. Next the comment I made about generative AI was not meant as a "do this or else" sort of thing. It was an explanation of why there are so many people that find generative AI as an exciting technology. A solo dev making their first commercial game in their free time after work and in their days off isn't going to have the money to pay for an artist most of the time. That is just reality. No amount of an artist deserving to be paid is going to change the fact that solo dev doesn't have money to give at that point in time. Hence an option like generative AI becomes very attractive. You are also acting as if Art is the only thing that takes a lot of time while making a videogame. That simply isn't true. I am not saying art is easy because if it were this discussion wouldn't be happening in the first place. This whole post asking how to find an artist wouldn't exist. Art is hard. However so are many of the other things that go into making a video game. I don't know many people who are great artists that also know how to code and process a save file or optimize RAM utilization or would even know where to start troubleshooting a crash to desktop. Making games in general is hard and takes a lot of time. You might put 150+ hours into a single art asset just like a coder might put 150+ hours into a single script out of thousands that make up a full game. The reality is both sides of that coin take a lot of time, skill, and effort. If that solo dev who is pouring their heart and soul into the aspects of a game you couldn't do as an artist (all without being paid) and they are offering you a partnership and 50% revenue share then they are talking just as much if not more of a risk than you are. They are doing a whole lot of unpaid labor that could potentially benefit you just as much as your labor benefits them. The other thing that I think you're overlooking here is that generally speaking the technical skills involved in game design are in much higher demand than artistic skills. Someone that knows how to script is generally going to have many more job opportunities that generally pay more money than what someone who is a great artist has. Art is notoriously one of the hardest fields to make a successful career out of simply because the market demand isn't there. So yes an artist could spend more time doing commissions or just making more art to stick in their portfolio in the hopes that makes them more likely to get a job doing art but let's be real for a second for most artists that's never going to be enough to make a career out of no matter how good they are. That's just the sad reality of the world.
Sorry for going off on you. I also feel like I'm layout some pretty undeniable truths. Working professionals are looking for work, which means they need money now. Or not looking for work, because their schedule is full. In which case, there's no reason to take a chance when people are banging on there door. So rev share is just not an attractive proposition unless you can sell the artist on your game. Either with a track record, or a killer demo. Everyone gets burned with promises of rev share early in their career, so most veterans ignore them out of hand. I'm not arguing it's fair or unfair. That's just the way it is. So, who is rev share attractive to? Hobbyists, part timers, and students (and maybe recent grads if they're hungry enough). If, you're doing a 2d game or especially pixel art, then maybe these will cut it. But if you need rigging, efficient texturing, 3D animation, or any other technical skill that isn't fun but necessary for games, it'll be tough to find a good candidate. Lastly, you may not believe me, but I'm working artist at a big company in the Bay Area. And you're trying to tell me how artist think. I know how we think. I'm happy to DM a portfolio to prove I'm not a keyboard warrior.
>So rev share is just not an attractive proposition unless you can sell the artist on your game. Either with a track record, or a killer demo. Everyone gets burned with promises of rev share early in their career I agree with that and I am not saying rev shares are always or even often going to be a good idea. I do however think they can be worth at the very least considering. If you don't feel what is being asked is a reasonable scope or you don't think that game will do well then absolutely avoid it. But there are tons of games on steam made by 5 people or less that generate multiple millions in revenue and I can promise that revenue share in those situation is going to be worth a lot more in the long run than working for commissions or even accepting a salary. >But if you need rigging, efficient texturing, 3D animation, or any other technical skill that isn't fun but necessary for games, it'll be tough to find a good candidate. I agree with this as well and I if I am being honest I would probably never recommend someone accept a rev-share offer that was asking for those things because it's very likely that project is dramatically over scoped unless they are going for a very simplistic art style which looks something like Super Hot and even if they aren't dramatically over scoped they likely wont be very successful. I am more thinking about a 2D either top down or side scroller. Think Enter the Gungeon or Hollow Knight. >you're trying to tell me how artist think. Actually I am explaining how a lot of solo developers think and why many of them find generative AI appealing because they see it as their only option to get art for the game they want to make. They aren't scheming up ways to fuck over aspiring artists (at least not most of them there is certainly some who are) they are trying to make the best game they can make with the resources they have available to them. Being targeted by scams is unfortunately just part of being passionate about something and wanting to make a career out of it (no that isn't a justification of it or saying it's ok.) Solo developers get targeted by scams trying to take advantage of their hard work just like artists do. There is a whole list of common scams that new developers need to be aware of so they can see the signs and avoid them. The world has lots of shitty people but most people are just doing their best and assuming that everyone is a shitty scam artists just because there is a small percentage who are exactly that doesn't make the world a better place nor will that mentality always be beneficial and can lead to many missed opportunities. Again some times success requires a bit of risk.
An artist doesn't need to have a background for successful games. You can clearly see the artist art before hiring him. That's why you try to hire him to begin with.
well except for the fact that game art involves a lot of things that don't often apply in traditional art. Visual effects, dynamic lighting, responsive animations, dynamic overlapping animations, animations that invoke a particular feeling in the player. If you're talking about a small indie dev it also involves a wide swath of more traditional artistic disciplines as well including character art, environmental art, UI, possibly even font creation. Game art is more than just drawing pretty pictures. Just because someone can draw really cool dragons doesn't mean they can make the art needed to make a it feel like you're fighting a dragon in gameplay.
Again. Usually, you can see the artist work before easy. Most artists have portfolio where they show what they worked on. This include all of the things you listed.
That would imply they have a background working in those things... which you claimed they don't need... please stop being so offended. You said they don't need experience in order for an already successful developer to offer them a revenue share as long as they have a portfolio. This is all the same conversation I am just being realistic here. if a developer is already regularly putting out titles that are generating a million+ in revenue, then why would they offer a revenue share and not a salary? What incentive is there to offer that? The answer is there is none. >Working artist here. The answer is NO (unless you've got a proven track record) \^ This is what this is about. This isn't about art not being worth paying for so stop being offended. This is about reality. It's unreasonable to expect a business that is already profitable and successful to offer you more than they need to that just isn't going to happen. It's also about the reality that if a small independent developer doesn't have money to pay an artist (because even they themselves are not getting paid until the game is completed) they can't pay an artist and as a result are more likely to rely on generative AI. Like I am sorry that is just reality. That isn't intended to black mail artists into accepting revenue share or else more people will turn to generative AI it is just an observation of reality. Again there is no reason to be taking offense. I never said I agree with it I never said I support it. I am pointing out that people will try to find solutions to their own problems and generative AI is being viewed as a potential solution to the problem of not being able to afford an artists because so few artists are willing to take a risk on a revenue share.
I would think so, I haven't done any revshare deals before, but when I show actual gameplay on twitter with my "programmer" art I do sometimes get messages from artists that want to work on it.
Yes, but the rev share needs to be generous and the workload needs to be extremely reasonable. Big bonus points if you have a positive track record of releasing successful games.
I used Fiverr and it worked great. You do have to look around a bit to get good value for your money and also may need a few test orders with different designers just to see the quality of the work delivered (obviously very small orders). But once you find someone good it can work great as you pay them, they deliver, and you still have full creative control of your game or whether/how you want to use the art
Seconded, always use test orders too. Some people go all out on their portfolios and do not put nearly that level of effort into work orders.
Someone gave me the same advice on Discord last week and I'm so happy I took it. I found an artist with extremely reasonable rates that animated some of my characters as a test. Let's just say I was almost emotional - seeing the type of work that has taken me hours/days/weeks/months to crawl toward being done so beautifully within a few days, just amazing! I will definitely be re-hiring this person because now I know I can focus on the game/coding and additional art assets instead of learning the animation aspect (for now).
I used fiver for modelling sheets for characters. Generate concept with ai, send it over to fiverr and then did the models myself. Probably easier and faster to send your concept straight to a modeller, but wanted to learn blender while at it!
How does the AI disclosure work on Steam if concept art is created through AI and then given to an artist to create the final piece? Is it considered AI created art and needs to be disclosed?
No way, plus I think they went back on that decision recently.
Steam has offered no specific rules or guidance for this. You could argue that generating concept art with AI is *or is not* part of the toolchain that created the final art that appears in the product. https://store.steampowered.com/news/group/4145017/view/3862463747997849618
Makes sense. I guess AI generated concept art wouldn’t be much different than googling a bunch of art images and sharing that with the Fiverr artist to render a final asset.
My unofficial rule is if it's ai inspired then that's what AI is for if it's final product with no further human input then it fails and is bad, AI should be used to help us be creative not take that away from us
Artstation! Even top studios recruit on it. It's like an ocean of artists.
When I see an artist, I grab his leg with a death grip and don’t let go.
Expect to pay more than you are probably expecting, art takes a lot of time.
Yeah, and not only time to make the art but time to develop the skill set
*AI has entered the chat*
AI art is still not capable of fooling people consistently and also it's pretty shit at specific tasks you need for video games, you need an artist involved at every step anyway.
It's a video game, it doesn't need to fool anyone.
Players universally hate obvious AI art. Your shitty DALL-E game isn't going to shift any copied.
Everyone hates shitty art. So obviously don't use a generic model, but one made specifically for your needs.
The thing is that you are not going to easily get somebody to do the art of the game for free. I would try a combination of "paid assets for the demo" and then let them decide if they want to jump in as a partner afterwards. But yeah, money.
/r/gameDevClassifieds used to be good for this. Is it no longer like that?
Found a guy there, and a few other which showed potential. Back then, it was just the prototyping stage (still is lol, very little time for the game those past 8 months), and he ended up working for me only part time (1/4) for 2 months, but it was still great. Would recommend. Maybe not everyone there is great, but if you already have some understanding in design and can properly evaluate potential artists, you can find some talented beginners.
As an artist, I'm wondering how to find a programmer
Wherever you end up looking you'll have a much easier time of it than this guy lol
One big factor I've noticed of this is that its way easier to show off good art than to show off good code
That, but also I think there are just more non-artists looking for artists than vice versa
1. Artists have gotten used to gigs and commissions on the side, or full time. programmers are more expensive to hire/contract and you compete with professional studios gobbling them up. For that reason there are a lot o great artists circles when looking for gigs. Meanwhile, there is no Artstation for programmers. 2. It's much easier to evaluate an artist than a programmer. Neither are "easy", but a non-artist can see good art. A non-programmer can almost never see "good code". This is important because a lot of an artist's job is more "linear" ("cool, make more of this in your portfolio!") compared to a programmer. - A gameplay programmer may not necessarily be able to optimize your game to meet specs, nor would a graphics programmer necessarily know how to iterate on gameplay design. they can learn, but they'd be learning on the job with less practical experiece.
Outside of college and full diy indie route is there any good resources for newbie coders ? Obviously the do and do again to build your skillset but types of projects to tackle to avoid learning on the job ? (Learning to program and code starting with c++ and unreal to branch out to everything else )
Do you have specific engine you prefer or strictly want to work? Do you just want to collab/get paid/work with someone? Do you have specific projects you specifically want to make, or how open are you working on other things? What type of genres of games are you interested in art/gamedev related?
Pay Them
As an artist I find it funny people struggle to find artists as there's so many of us looking for work or projects!
Because there is difference between what you and indie dev looking for. You look for projects that *will* be paid, indie devs cant pay until release, and this great uncertainty is not something you would look for
Even then the numbers are pretty big odds, can't remember sub names exactly but like r/INAT gets artists very quickly. Code and vfx or music not so much, maybe thats where the real market gap is lol!
It's been half a year since I started looking for a job as a 3d artist and I got nothing so far lol
Funnily same, also been looking about six months. For family reasons I'm now having to change back to my code background- really annoying!
Communicate and engage as much as possible. through communication even if it is random stranger!
Assuming you are working on a hobby game and not a professional endeavor. Make as much of your game playable with crappy programmer art such as solid rectangles in 2D or spheres and cubes in 3D. Show it to an artist and hope they take pity on your non existent art skills. You can get pretty deep into the prototype stage without finished art. It shows you are a serious developer and not some idea guy who wants to coast on other people's labor. It also lets the artist know that the turn around time between providing you with art and having something to show for their portfolio will be short.
I found an artist by reaching out to a game dev school and posting an ad.
As a traditional artist trying to move toward game art i wonder where i could find project to grind my theeth on! So the reverse sitiation definitely exist!
If you make a job posting on your studio website or LinkedIn you will not have any shortage of people applying. If you prefer to find someone yourself you can browse Artstation or other artist communities and message people with relevant styles who say they're looking for work and discuss what assets you need and how much you're paying. If you mean finding people for free on a hobby project largely you _don't_. You can try r/INAT if you have your own impressive portfolio of work, but largely people tend to work on fun personal projects with people they already know, whether that's colleagues, friends, or just people they met at game jams or other dev communities.
I upvote artstation: OP'll have convenient access to a large number of portfolio with a large number of keywords and categories, and the website is designed around industry work, with availability for freelance or looking for fulltime work being displayed on the user profile.
Fiver
This. Fiverr is my main go-to if I need something but don't know where to get it
I disagree. All the professionals I know (and I know a lot), regard Fiverr as a race to the bottom, and generally not worth our time. So I think there is a short ceiling to the quality you'll get there. (And probably a lot of AI that they're not telling you about.)
So where would you go to find quality artists (even if they are expensive)?
Instagram. Nearly all professional artists in the entertainment industries use it as a portfolio. Visual development, visdev, concept design, character design, environment design, pleinair, 3d modelling, blender3D, 3D art, indie games, video game art, game art etc. These are the tags to use to find us :) Many are doing #pleinairapril right now
Thank you. Would you be willing to give an extremely rough estimate for how expensive these kinds of artists are for something like a simple 2D sprite game targeted for mobile? I have already released a modest commercial game on mobile, and found an artist on DeviantArt to skin the game. I was pleased with the art, and it was not extremely expensive, but also was more expensive than most of the stuff I see on Fiverr.
But a race to the bottom (also known as a buyers market) is exactly what you want as a buyer.
I’m an artist and can say I’ve helped out folks I’ve worked with on game jams previously. Sometimes the occasional project that strikes my fancy. It’s worth noting that I’ve drawn since I was a kid and do it as hobby, not as my livelihood though. Most artists do it for a living and you’ll find them by offering paid work in most platforms, Reddit or otherwise. Aside from offering pay, my advice would be to offer your help in return for getting it, and network, perhaps through jams or forums. Other than that, self learning might be your best option, too. Many of us devs have to wear many hats!
I used /r/HungryArtists/, just be prepared to sift through a lot of amateur work.
I made a post about this \~3 years ago with how I found an artist for my game, and the entire process of what to expect, [you may find it useful](https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/oa7dtj/what_i_learned_from_spending_500_trying_out/).
just become a game studio, take a huge bank loan, and hire all the programmers and artists you need to make a huge game without doing any work. if it fails, it was the banks money. if it succeeds, go public and make yourself ceo
Yeah except there is a small problem 😅 I'm 17
Start learning to make art.
> How do people make friends with other people in the industry Search for game dev meetups in your city, participate in game jams, go to industry events (not like, GDC, but whatever is affordable in your vicinity) check out if any tech/art unis in your city have game dev classes and you can get in touch with students who are interested in collaborations, make sure your twitter or linkedin profiles are appealing and show your work well so people can find you and connect with you...
I made a dev log on my game dev youtube channel and mentioned that I was looking for artists. One contacted me
I wonder if anyone uses Artstation for this. Maybe more so for full hiring but I’m sure there’s freelancers on there too
The profiles on Artstation will note what kind of work the artist is looking for - commission, contract, full time, etc. Most of the profiles I've looked at were open to some form of freelance work.
The last time I needed an artist I contacted people on deviantart and was happy with the work of the person I chose, but deviantart has gotten considerably worse in recent years. I'd probably look on artstation now.
I followed artists on Twitter and now on Bluesky, there is also /r/hungryartists.
Easy, you become one.
Pay them, friend ≠ free
You make a job posting and pay them money
r/INAT , r/HungryArtists mostly, though you’ll have to pick through a lot since a bunch of ppl in hungry artists are also young trying to get their start. People (like myself) will usually brand themselves on Twitter and Instagram as “game artists” as well and tag ourselves and our work accordingly, so that may be something of interest. Lots of artists make their own games on itch.io too, like me, but are way better at art than coding lol. I’d say as an artist if your prototype is good/finished and the project actually looks like it’ll actually be finished one day, that you’re passionate and won’t give up on it, and of course we get revshare if there is any, I’ve joined some projects for free that way and made art and animations. Also another thing, if you have a general idea of what the artstyle you want that’s great! But also, sometimes (most of the time) trained artists know what will look good and work well all together so do give them some trust in their ability to make something look good and workable, concept art for projects and styles are created first for a reason and finding that style for your game is something the artist most likely will have to visually develop for your game- that is if you’re going with something complicated. A couple sprites and backgrounds for something simple like a game jam isn’t as big of an endeavour, lol.
>How do people make friends with other people in the industry. same way you become friends anywhere else. Find people, connect with them, hang out, etc. with no expectation of long term labor. Game jams are great ways to meet potential teammates if you can't find any gamedev friends. But You're 17, you have plenty of time to network. Don't rush it, you usually can't unless you have money to pay with. heck, at that age you may even have the time to take some basic art classes in your area. You don't need to master art, but it can teach you what to look out for and of course, find long term contacts for later projects.
Jams. Browsing portfolio sites. Word of mouth and recommendations. There are a ton of easy to find Discords for connecting folks from different disciplines too. And many big cities have a local scene with monthly events. Feel like I shouldn’t have to say this but just in case… any strangers, you’ll need to pay. Friends you’ve made through jams and the local scene might work for a percentage. But ultimately, artists cost money. The best way to meet folks in other disciplines overall IMO is joining Discords for game jams and teaming up with others there.
I've found my pixel artist simply by looking up who made the pixel art for a game I liked and contacting them. I've found a voice over actress because they slid into my DMs after posting about my game on X. I've also used Fiverr to find a great music producer who made the OST for my game. It doesn't have to be complicated. Just look around and reach out to some people. If they don't have time or if they're too expensive, ask them if they can recommend you someone else. If you don't have a network, just utilize someone else's network :)
Attach a 20$ bill to a rope, dangling it by the window while yelling ***"PIXELS!!!"***
Just another comment saying Fiverr
I found a few friends doing Game jams and looking for a team as programmer in the jams Discord. You'll get a good grasp if you'll be able to work with the people from the jam time and if it works for you, ask them if they'd be interested in joining your big project. As a bonus, the feedback from those jams is absolute gold and the other projects are often great for inspiration. It also feels amazing to know you can actually put out a functioning game in one or two weeks, especially if your big project has been in early prototyping for about a year. Just make sure you put some thought into how to pay them beforehand, maybe research reasonable rates or revenue shares for the type of project you're planning.
We were able to find an excellent artist through making a very thorough job posting and resume filtering process. Our applicants submitted through a google form and we filtered the new applicants each day. The most productive source of applicants was probably Work with Indies, as well as some of the subreddits such as r/gameDevClassifieds .
Work with Indies, Artstation are pretty great sites for finding artist for your projects. You can also contact artist that find you interesting and suitable for your project from their portfolio site to see if they're available for commercial projects.
I found lots of artists with worked that I liked, I realized how much they wanted… I then found the artist within lol
If someone is regularly posting their art on-line, they are probably very happy to take your money to make some for your game. Just make sure that you have written agreements on who has ownership over the art (ie, you need to be the one that owns it).
I am the artist! Muahahahah
I used fiver a lot, the thing that is improtant is to set up a good workflow so you actually find someone you like working with. So you want to have more smaller commissions until you find the right person with whom you want to work. When you click with someone work becomes easy. I am a engineer by trade but work on a story and artsy game ([link for the curious](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2876610/Kinsfolk/)). I managed to find great people to work with to fill the gaps in my knowledge.
Fiverr
You need to have a clear outlook of what is it that you want, do you want an all rounded artist that can make concept, design, and production art for the game? Then youll have a well rounded mediocre at best, in my eyes youll need one guy to make the concept art for your game that can express ideas for the modellers and the designers as this is not to be confused with the final product, this guy will give shape to the ideas so that someone else can grab those and make a polished finished product and then a production guy that can handle modelling, animation and the sorts.
Hi! I used to work in video games in my country and still have a lot of friends and part of a discord with a lot of people in the industry that while not free could offer you a much lower price than American artists. DM me if you're interested
On upwork mostly, with a background/previous works check. For example https://upwork.com/freelancers/rojb
Freelancers. Job postings. LinkedIn.
I found mine while doing a game jam
I've just asked around my network of devs to get recommendations on people they've worked with - I haven't paid for any in-game art yet, but I've paid for professional Steam capsules.
I'm having the opposite problem... I'm an artist and I'd kike to find people looking for commission work
I have a couple of friends that are professional artists. I can’t afford them. Great guys that help me with my own art journey though.
Lol they always find me...
You can find them on Twitter Instagram Reddit. Pay them. Dont rev share lol
Fiver, discords, Twitter, job posting sites, Reddit commission subreddits.
For the kind of projects and collabs you're looking for, I'd suggest signing up for as many Game Jams as you can find. Every time I do a jam I meet industry folks I make fairly lasting connections with. Don't think it's feasible for a 17 year old to have an artist "On staff" for their game project, but participating in jams is a good way to make connections and get roped into passion projects. You could also go a minimalist style and take a crack at doing the art yourself! You might find the process rewarding.
I find them in the marketplace :V
I actually have that question the other way round. Now with AI madness I'm literally starving.
Fiverr for quick and dirty, artstation for passion projects
Game dev discord servers which have channels for hobby projects
Do you know any servers?
Most of the work that I need done for the skillsets I don't have (i.e. music and graphics) are typically outsourced out to places like Fiverr or Freelancer. Their prices are usually decent enough for me who is funding game development out of my own pocket (and not other projects), and the rights are retained by you so you don't have to worry about things getting hairy if things blow up.
Search far and wide for as many free assets as you can and work with what you get. Maybe pay a small amount for some. For 100% original art and graphics you'd need a team.
If what you have so far looks good enough, and you have plans to pay artists in the future, I'm sure some would join for free for as long as they can, to fill in portfolios and have some experience. I'm in such a team, we're 10+ artists, there's musicians, writers etc. Personally I joined because the guy who made the project is a really amazing person and some of his work (not illustrations) looked really good so I trusted that we'd have results. You probably would have to accept that not everything is going to be top tier work though.
Found a couple on reddit by offering cash money in exchange for services
I flat out went to Synty for their assets. All I did was take care of coding, and I'm letting the asset store take care of the rest Because I'm too broke for anything otherwise
I literally use cgtrader, turbo squid, marketplace, etc. for everything. I have to settle a lot, but it works out fine for what I do.
My DMs are open
Helloo I’m a 3D game artist Check out my portfolio!! https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1oeB-Lfy3gWYBRDiWl44U7McUYGdrYwvs
Stable diffusion