How do I quickly hire someone to sketch a line drawing from my photo?
October 8, 2013 1:14 PM Subscribe
I'm heading up a committee for a new book award. We want to create an embossed seal to place on the winning books, very much like the Newbery or Sibert seals. The thing is, we are honoring someone with the name of the award, and would like to create embossed seals with an image of his face. I've been working with a designer who has converted my photo to a line drawing in Photoshop but the results are not great. She suggests getting someone to draw a picture from my photo.
So here's my 2 part question: what should an artist know to create a really great image for an embossed (no-ink) image?
And second, how can I hire someone over the internet to do a job like this, cheaply and super-quick?
So here's my 2 part question: what should an artist know to create a really great image for an embossed (no-ink) image?
And second, how can I hire someone over the internet to do a job like this, cheaply and super-quick?
If you want a real professional, use a specialized site like Illustrationweb.com or Hireanillustrator.com to find and hire an illustrator.
Alternatively, look on a contractor site like Elance, Guru, ODesk, or Freelancer.
Fiverr is usually pretty low end (no surprise there - you get what you pay for).
posted by Dansaman at 1:27 PM on October 8, 2013 [2 favorites]
Alternatively, look on a contractor site like Elance, Guru, ODesk, or Freelancer.
Fiverr is usually pretty low end (no surprise there - you get what you pay for).
posted by Dansaman at 1:27 PM on October 8, 2013 [2 favorites]
My wife had someone do this for a photo of her and her two sisters. Wasn't expensive. Results were good, not amazing, but would probably meet your needs. She found the person on Etsy. Shoot me a MeMail or email if you want me to ask her to dig up the woman's details so you can reach out to her.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 1:28 PM on October 8, 2013
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 1:28 PM on October 8, 2013
Anytime I need artwork on the cheap, I contact people through kijiji/cragslist or just email my local college of art & design and get a student. They're happy, I'm happy!
posted by St. Peepsburg at 1:29 PM on October 8, 2013
posted by St. Peepsburg at 1:29 PM on October 8, 2013
Best answer: I would say you need to know two things - how much detail will your embossing process hold, and how large do you want it to be? That Sibert seal is visibly less detailed than the Geisel one, some of which is probably determined by the size at which you want your seal rendered, but it also looks like the Geisel seal has a couple of height levels to the embossing while the Seibert is all at one height.
If your embossing process requires vector images, definitely tell the artist that from the get-go as well.
In general, I'd say a simple photo trace like that looks quite easy given a reasonable and clear photo to start from. As long as your budget's above the fiverr level, I'd be happy to handle it or refer you to one of the illustrators I know.
posted by tautological at 1:37 PM on October 8, 2013
If your embossing process requires vector images, definitely tell the artist that from the get-go as well.
In general, I'd say a simple photo trace like that looks quite easy given a reasonable and clear photo to start from. As long as your budget's above the fiverr level, I'd be happy to handle it or refer you to one of the illustrators I know.
posted by tautological at 1:37 PM on October 8, 2013
Standard artist rates involve not just the difficulty of doing the artwork, or difficulty associated with the format requirements, but would be scaled up or down if the artist loses or retains rights to the image, if the image is for public or private use, if it will be broadly distributed or not. Because this would become part of a public widespread award, that might increase the fee.
posted by aimedwander at 2:13 PM on October 8, 2013
posted by aimedwander at 2:13 PM on October 8, 2013
How are you embossing the end product? You probably need either an Adobe Illustrator or a Photoshop file though it's possible it needs a different format (AutoCAD?).
I teach my undergraduate art students how to do digital self-portraits in their intro Computer Graphics class. Any of them could do a portrait off a reference for you in Illustrator or Photoshop. And my students would love to be commissioned to do this. As a graduate student I loved to be commissioned to do this. As an art professor I still like to be commissioned to do this (but I charge more).
So if I were you, I'd email your local university's art department director and ask if they could pass your request along and then add what you want (and in what software) and what you'll pay and when you need to receive it and that if anyone's interested they should email you a couple samples of similar work ASAP. If it's anything like my program you'd hear back from some interested and capable students willing to work for a penance the same day and get image turnaround by the next.
Unless it's AutoCAD - then you'll have to pay more because far fewer people know the software.
posted by vegartanipla at 3:13 PM on October 8, 2013
I teach my undergraduate art students how to do digital self-portraits in their intro Computer Graphics class. Any of them could do a portrait off a reference for you in Illustrator or Photoshop. And my students would love to be commissioned to do this. As a graduate student I loved to be commissioned to do this. As an art professor I still like to be commissioned to do this (but I charge more).
So if I were you, I'd email your local university's art department director and ask if they could pass your request along and then add what you want (and in what software) and what you'll pay and when you need to receive it and that if anyone's interested they should email you a couple samples of similar work ASAP. If it's anything like my program you'd hear back from some interested and capable students willing to work for a penance the same day and get image turnaround by the next.
Unless it's AutoCAD - then you'll have to pay more because far fewer people know the software.
posted by vegartanipla at 3:13 PM on October 8, 2013
I was really happy with the custom watercolor this etsy seller did for me. She also does woodblock style illustrations which might look neat. (her stuff is whimsical mostly so I don't know if that would actually work for what your organization.
posted by vespabelle at 3:36 PM on October 8, 2013
posted by vespabelle at 3:36 PM on October 8, 2013
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posted by carterk at 1:16 PM on October 8, 2013