Hello guys, your advice needed :)! Currently I believe the hobby project we are working on is ready to receive a graphics boost, but I am not able to find an artist. The budget is quite limited and I am so far trying to find a person to work part time on the assets. Despite the fact that I had my vacancy open for week, I already had 44 applications, but I do not see what I want. I have spoken with a few ppl, I simply do not feel the synergy… I believe the expectations are way to high, with one of possible sources being related to the lack of experience working with artistic souls … I would like to ask for advice and some tips on how you choose the right guy for the job… Do you simple ask questions or you do ask for a test task (like drawing something in the style of the game)? How do you judge the portfolio? Other important steps?
I’ve only worked with a couple of artists for small one-off jobs, but my advice is to stop waiting for artists to come to you. Instead, go out and find an artist you like, and then approach them with your offer. Artists are all over the place: Twitter, Instagram, Deviant Art, Tumblr, etc. Find one you like, peruse their portfolio, and then ask if they take commissions or are available for a job.
This also means that you should know up front exactly what you want: how many images? What sizes? What specific poses, backgrounds, etc?
Other than that, remember that artists are people whose time has value. Don’t ask artists to do stuff for free (and doing stuff for exposure is doing stuff for free). Have a budget and be honest about that up front.
Thank you for suggestion, I am trying now a different approach, try to engage the artist directly.