Old school manual artwork

[Agesilaus]

I was reading through the Ultima manuals (revisiting the series once I finish BG2 again), and I realised that I want some art like this to use in my own projects:



What's the best way these days to get it? Does anyone here do this sort of artwork and take commissions? I reached out on twitter as you can see, but I would prefer someone from the codex in particular if anyone is doing that work or has a good recommendation.

Edit: I deleted the original tweet because people kept reaching out, but I think there's enough talent here on the codex honestly.


Edit holy shit stop voting "didn't load", I deleted the tweet to get rid of furry artists messaging me. Here is a tweet that is still up that has ultima manuals artwork:

 

[Lagole Gon]

>Looking for someone who can make monotone, small-scale artwork

Not exactly "small scale", they seem quite detailed, just some of it's lost due to low resolution. Getting a quality art like this would cost you a lot.

You should probably use Dalle-E 3 and get someone to fix the details. But you will lose style consistency, no way around it.

 

[Agesilaus]

>Looking for someone who can make monotone, small-scale artwork

Not exactly "small scale", they seem quite detailed, just some of it's lost due to low resolution. Getting a quality art like this would cost you a lot.

You should probably use Dalle-E 3 and get someone to fix the details. But you will lose style consistency, no way around it.

What is "a lot"? By "small scale" I don't mean that the art is easy to make, I just mean that it fits on the page of a book next to some text (like in the ultima manuals).

I was intending to pay for the art of course, but perhaps I'll change my mind if it's hundreds per picture or something like that.

And yes, the ai stuff got recommended to me, but... It just seems soulless/not quite right. If an artist starts with AI and edits it to look like what I posted, that's fine, but otherwise I wouldn't bother with AI.

 

[Rincewind]

I was intending to pay for the art of course, but perhaps I'll change my mind if it's hundreds per picture or something like that.

Umm, you're expecting an artist to create *detailed* original art for you for less than a few hundred bucks per drawing?...

Sure, you could get quick 5-10 minute sketches for a couple of tens of bucks if the artist is in a good mood, or is a friend, etc.

Frankly, you're better off with a friend or hobbyists who are willing to work for free or for a symbolic fee.

There's also a question whether the artists only licenses the drawing to you, or does part from the artwork forever, giving you exclusive rights. For the latter, $100-300 per piece would be pretty damn cheap, but I'd expect a good artist to ask for $500-$1000 at the very minimum. A couple of thousands would be more realistic for *really* good art (e.g., for book covers, etc).

 

[Agesilaus]

I was intending to pay for the art of course, but perhaps I'll change my mind if it's hundreds per picture or something like that.

Umm, you're expecting an artist to create *detailed* original art for you for less than a few hundred bucks per drawing?...

Sure, you could get quick 5-10 minute sketches for a couple of tens of bucks if the artist is in a good mood, or is a friend, etc.

Frankly, you're better off with a friend or hobbyists who are willing to work for free or for a symbolic fee.

There's also a question whether the artists only licenses the drawing to you, or does part from the artwork forever, giving you exclusive rights. For the latter, $100-300 per piece would be pretty damn cheap, but I'd expect a good artist to ask for $500-$1000 at the very minimum. A couple of thousands would be more realistic for *really* good art (e.g., for book covers, etc).

You're telling me that an indie artist would charge 500-1000 dollars for a drawing like this the size of a post-it note?

I mean, if that's the going rate then that's the going rate. Just wasn't expecting to hear such a steep price. I still have a use for such artwork, though; price aside, do you have suggestions on how such artists would be found? Ones talented in this style, not 3d images of furries or whatever. Also, in terms of originality, they would be given details as to what they're actually drawing, I'm not asking them to imagine a cool scene, tell me about it, and draw it.

 

[Rincewind]

You're telling me that an indie artist would charge 500-1000 dollars for a drawing like this the size of a post-it note?

One of your errors is you're fixating on the size. First of all, no one draws on post-it notes... Most people drawn on nice big sheets of paper, A4 or much larger, then scale it down. But size is immaterial anyway, you're not paying per "square centimeters", lol.

Comic artists regularly draw at 2-3x the size of the final medium *at least*. You don't imagine people draw postage stamps at the actual final size, do you?

I mean, if that's the going rate then that's the going rate. Just wasn't expecting to hear such a steep price.

It depends on how much the artists value their time, do they do art professionally, etc. E.g., you can get maybe some nice art from a receptionist or a dental assistant who draws things in his/her spare time for fun and recognition. Not really for the money.

But if you're after a pro artist who needs to make a living out of their art, they need to earn enough so at least they don't starve... That needs to be factored into the price. And doing art is not digging ditches, you can't push a button and churn out drawings eight hours a day... That needs to be priced accordingly. Also the downtimes between commissions, etc.

I still have a use for such artwork, though; price aside, do you have suggestions on how such artists would be found? Ones talented in this style, not 3d images of furries or whatever. Also, in terms of originality, they would be given details as to what they're actually drawing, I'm not asking them to imagine a cool scene, tell me about it, and draw it.

I would look around at DeviantArt and ArtStation. But ArtStation is especially frequented by pro artists; I doubt you'll get much for 20-50 bucks there.

Think of it this way: how much would a 30 minute consultation with a lawyer cost you? Or even just having something fixed in the house by a plumber or electrician? Sure, the lawyer "just talks", the electrician "just connects some wires", and the artist "just draws some lines". Well, and every author "just types", right?

Being able to draw human figures and facial expressions anatomically correctly requires *years* of training. Basically, they need to study human anatomy in detail to do it right. Sure, the requirements for "furry artists" and comic/caricature artists are a lot lower, and if you're happy with lower quality, non-realistic art, you might get something a lot cheaper. Non-realistic, comics-like art is a lot cheaper to produce, that's for sure.

Something something recent trends in gaming everything looks like a mobile game something...

Another shortcut is to have real people pose for you, take a photo, then trace it on paper. Actually many pro artists have been doing that for decades to speed things up. Either way, creating those four images you posted can take many days of work per image when you factor everything in.

 

[Rincewind]

> Ones talented in this style, not 3d images of furries or whatever.

And yeah, that rules out most of the cheap art You want someone who actually studied how to draw on paper by doing it for years/decades.

 

[AdolfSatan]

I think an error many would-be-customers make when gauging the value of a piece of art is assuming that the final output is the only version that existed of said piece. Looking at the finished image doesn’t seem like it would take much time to draw, but that’s because we don’t see all the time that went behind in composition and iteration.
Good artists cost good money, not many ways around it. You might be able to negotiate “bulk” pricing by ordering a set of several pictures tho.

 

[Baron Tahn]

The best way is to shop around and find and artist you like, engage then and see what they say. Most artists will be happy for paid work and willing to negotiate, as long as you don't go for someone outrageously successful. Perhaps offer them a small percentage of the take, I accept those sorts of deals for my work in some fields (not a drawer myself tho) or maybe they would do 6 for the price of 5, you know. An artist will appreciate it you headhunt them and say 'I really enjoy your work and would like to enquire about a quote for x project' for example. If they come back with something too high then that's that, try the next one.

 

[PunchYouInTheFace]

I would prefer someone from the codex

You've been here for 1000 years, surely you must have realized most people here are artistically stunted?

Artist do not come to chud cave. You must go to where they gather, Artstation etc. Plenty of starving artist with decent art capability and willing to be paid cheap.


And no, it probably wouldn't cost you a gorillion dallars like some of these artictically stunted chuds suggested. They're trying to scare you to use AI.

 

[Rincewind]

You've been here for 1000 years, surely you must have realized most people here are artistically stunted?

Joke's on you; you're here too, mate

 

[Agesilaus]

ffs I have to leave the codex and visit "artstation"? All I wanted was some 80s ultima sketches, it's so over. Thank you for all your sage advice, chuds.

 

[Baron Tahn]

Ha. Sorry guv, can't draw. If you wanted to work on cool stories and world building, wanted some cool historical or scifi consultation, I'd love to help, but it's a rpg forum after all...not an art one.

 

[Lagole Gon]

I would prefer someone from the codex

You've been here for 1000 years, surely you must have realized most people here are artistically stunted?

Artist do not come to chud cave. You must go to where they gather, Artstation etc. Plenty of starving artist with decent art capability and willing to be paid cheap.


And no, it probably wouldn't cost you a gorillion dallars like some of these artictically stunted chuds suggested. They're trying to scare you to use AI.

There are 2-3 semi-competent artfags on Codex who worked for money. Including me. But AFAIK all left the business behind.

Also, why would you actually make stuff and contribute to making a game, while you can sit on your ass and complain about games being bad?

 

[Baron Tahn]

That your work? That's fucken good man.

 

[PunchYouInTheFace]

There are 2-3 semi-competent artfags on Codex who worked for money

I'm 100% supporting human artist whether they're a fag or chud.

Now draw him giving birth.

 

[Hag]

When I was drawing regularly I sold a couple simple B&W pieces for 50€, which seemed at the time a fair price for original art, lower than gallery price, but enough to cover time and work. Not taxes though.

 

[Lagole Gon]

There are 2-3 semi-competent artfags on Codex who worked for money

I'm 100% supporting human artist whether they're a fag or chud.

We'll, I don't.
I'm an artfag equivalent of that guy who thinks awakening the ancient evil will work out for us just fine.
I know risks are great. But the rewards... oh, who can measure...

 

[Rincewind]

I would prefer someone from the codex

You've been here for 1000 years, surely you must have realized most people here are artistically stunted?

Artist do not come to chud cave. You must go to where they gather, Artstation etc. Plenty of starving artist with decent art capability and willing to be paid cheap.


And no, it probably wouldn't cost you a gorillion dallars like some of these artictically stunted chuds suggested. They're trying to scare you to use AI.

There are 2-3 semi-competent artfags on Codex who worked for money. Including me. But AFAIK all left the business behind.

Also, why would you actually make stuff and contribute to making a game, while you can sit on your ass and complain about games being bad?

If this is your, it's pretty good.

...well, in case it's not yours, it's good too

 

[MrBuzzKill]

As an artist, it pains me to say it, but as somebody already pointed out your best bet would probably be AI generators.

 

[Glop_dweller]

An acceptable [commercial] use of AI art would be to have the AI generate the art as examples of composition. Use the AI to get the scenes you're after, then have an artist use them as reference/interpretation for the hand drawn originals; the AI images need not match the finished illustrative style, but simply convey the concept accurately. Iteration using AI is very quick and effective; much, MUCH better than waiting days or a week per image from the artist—who's time is still spent on the art that doesn't quite suit your needs; requiring further changes.

For non-commercial projects, AI images could make a hobby project become actually possible with a large set of art assets.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

Deviantart and Artstation are considered anathema now because they feed users’ work into AI. Artists are moving to a new site called Cara.

If you use AI, then they will blacklist you.

 

[Scrounger]

AI is sometimes good if you need a quick composition for yourself or an artist. With that said, what do you say about this...

Spoiler

 

[Agesilaus]

I would prefer someone from the codex

You've been here for 1000 years, surely you must have realized most people here are artistically stunted?

Artist do not come to chud cave. You must go to where they gather, Artstation etc. Plenty of starving artist with decent art capability and willing to be paid cheap.


And no, it probably wouldn't cost you a gorillion dallars like some of these artictically stunted chuds suggested. They're trying to scare you to use AI.

There are 2-3 semi-competent artfags on Codex who worked for money. Including me. But AFAIK all left the business behind.

Also, why would you actually make stuff and contribute to making a game, while you can sit on your ass and complain about games being bad?

Very nice, thank you for posting.

AI is sometimes good if you need a quick composition for yourself or an artist. With that said, what do you say about this...

Spoiler

His face does look like that react symbol, but otherwise this is actually pretty good. Was it all done by AI or what?

 

[Scrounger]

I didn't provide context, sorry. I wanted to follow up on what Glop_dweller said and that is that AI art can be used as an example for composition.

I've used those generated wizards for composition idea and drew this piece by hand - as a inspiration.
I needed an hour but to be honest, I'm not virtuoso in that kind of craft - although I'm sure there will be always someone who likes weird stuff.

Now that I look it again, it does look like some kind of arcane hopw roewur ne...