How can I find someone to illustrate some recent experiences of mine?
October 1, 2018 2:07 PM Subscribe
Unfortunately my budget is rather limited but can anyone please suggest how I can find an illustrator to produce some short pieces? I am thinking akin to a Graphic novel - Harvey Pekar / Crumb, Sacco, Guy Delize type style + scenario. I have made some basic jottings with pages into squares and ideas of dialogue representing some very challenging experiences I think may be of interest to some small group of others out there. Any suggestions gratefully received.
Metafilter jobs? Asking at your local university art schools to see if students might be interested?
Also, and I mention this only because you say that your budget is limited, but illustrators, good illustrators, probably want to and should be compensated well for their services.
posted by whistle pig at 2:17 PM on October 1, 2018 [7 favorites]
Also, and I mention this only because you say that your budget is limited, but illustrators, good illustrators, probably want to and should be compensated well for their services.
posted by whistle pig at 2:17 PM on October 1, 2018 [7 favorites]
The real challenge on a budget is to find someone who wants to do the work at the price you can afford to pay - and the less you can afford the harder it'll be to inspire. If you've got a concept that you think will resonate with a specific group of people, do some searching on deviant-art to see if there are illustrators part of that subset; that might be your best bet to find an intersection of enthusiasm and talent.
posted by aimedwander at 2:53 PM on October 1, 2018
posted by aimedwander at 2:53 PM on October 1, 2018
Most illustrators/comics artists have an avalanche of these types of requests - namely, no real budget and the expectation for a lot of free work. Work like this provides little upside for them and takes them away from their own work.
I'd strongly suggest that you think about drawing this yourself. With good writing and a compelling story, the art doesn't have to be of professional quality. There are many published comics artists out there in the alternative comics space who have styles that are self-taught or amateurish and they are still successful because their stories and writing are great. You could start by doing rough storyboards of your stories and then go back and refine after some practice. A great way to learn is to try to copy the the work of artists you like.
The other alternative is to save or raise enough money to pay someone properly for this work.
posted by quince at 3:10 PM on October 1, 2018 [17 favorites]
I'd strongly suggest that you think about drawing this yourself. With good writing and a compelling story, the art doesn't have to be of professional quality. There are many published comics artists out there in the alternative comics space who have styles that are self-taught or amateurish and they are still successful because their stories and writing are great. You could start by doing rough storyboards of your stories and then go back and refine after some practice. A great way to learn is to try to copy the the work of artists you like.
The other alternative is to save or raise enough money to pay someone properly for this work.
posted by quince at 3:10 PM on October 1, 2018 [17 favorites]
The primary stumbling block is that the style of art you are asking for is very labor-intensive. It’s beautiful, expressive stuff, but it also takes a good bit of time to do.
You might do well to be more flexible and accept the style that a more affordable artist can provide.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:46 PM on October 1, 2018 [3 favorites]
You might do well to be more flexible and accept the style that a more affordable artist can provide.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:46 PM on October 1, 2018 [3 favorites]
You can find artists most easily on Twitter, instagram, tumblr, etc. it’s as simple as sending them an email and ask if they’re available. There’s also general freelancing sites like upwork, moonlighting, fiver. Not sure how ambitious you’re thinking -consider that a full length graphic novel might be 12 months of labor but a short nonfiction piece like you might see on The Nib might take (I assume) between a few hours to a few weeks of work. Good luck!
posted by cricketcello at 4:49 PM on October 1, 2018
posted by cricketcello at 4:49 PM on October 1, 2018
I know nothing about graphic novels and the fact that nobody has suggested this makes me thing it's not a good idea for reasons people who know about graphic novels would know but I don't. But let me suggest it anyway and someone who knows about graphic novels can shoot it down, if necessary.
You could try posting a request on upwork. It's been a long time since I posted anything there, but you can sometimes get good rates because many of the people working there are living in places where the cost of living and wages are a lot lower.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:54 PM on October 1, 2018
You could try posting a request on upwork. It's been a long time since I posted anything there, but you can sometimes get good rates because many of the people working there are living in places where the cost of living and wages are a lot lower.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:54 PM on October 1, 2018
I've seen a few artists on Tumblr who do commissions. You might gfind them by searching on keywords artwork and commission.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:08 PM on October 1, 2018
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:08 PM on October 1, 2018
How about Fiverr? Working with an illustrator that's not based in the U.S. would probably be friendlier to your budget, and like Upwork, Fiverr is a global marketplace.
Quince is right -- this is going to be a familiar request for a lot of illustrators. It will be a hard sell for an illustrator to do it at a discount unless they share your passion for the subject.
posted by Ostara at 9:43 PM on October 1, 2018
Quince is right -- this is going to be a familiar request for a lot of illustrators. It will be a hard sell for an illustrator to do it at a discount unless they share your passion for the subject.
posted by Ostara at 9:43 PM on October 1, 2018
Steven M. Johnson is an illustrator best known for his futurist art book, Public Therapy Buses. He is on Patreon and Facebook and is available to do illustrations. His rates are reasonable. You can see more of his work on Core77.
posted by parmanparman at 2:24 PM on October 2, 2018
posted by parmanparman at 2:24 PM on October 2, 2018
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https://forum.deviantart.com/jobs/offers/
https://forum.deviantart.com/jobs/services/
I have no experience actually using these services.
posted by shino-boy at 2:14 PM on October 1, 2018