StephenHermer.com
Writing, Iguanas, and Electronics

Artist Contest

I have spent a few days looking at sample illustrations on a few online marketplaces where artists can be hired. I am planning on ordering chapter illustrations, so the artist I work with will need to be able to draw a basic scene from that chapter, then do it again for twelve to twenty more chapters. And perhaps as many as eight or ten books in the series. I may need a single artist to commit to creating two hundred illustrations, so hiring the right artist is critically important.

Why a single artist? If I write a series of novels, I want the illustrations to be consistent throughout them. This probably means a single artist, but I could hire a team and still have consistency in tone, in how characters look, and in how the theme is approached. I also do not want to micro-manage the artist because I believe they need creative freedom to do their best work. And let me be honest, I am no artist, and I will not know how to illustrate better than any artist I hire.

Artist Contest

I hired three illustrators to create a scene from my first novel. The cost, a little over $100, is an investment that I am happy to spend to sample their work. 

I gave each the same somewhat vague criteria (a child, dressed in rags, is attacked by a giant centipede), and I am now waiting to see what they come up with. If none of them "win," I will contact three more artists and do this again. If one of them stands out, I will start ordering illustrations based on my scene list. If more than one of the artists stand out, I will use them on different series or perhaps to create promotional artwork.

So far, all three asked me questions about the background (they are in a basement of an abandoned building), props (they can be holding a burning torch, they do not wear shoes), and about the centipede (no violence, the image needs to show the scene before the centipede attacks). And now, we wait for results.

I have to admit that I am very excited to take this step, particularly since I am personally very busy this month and am not able to make any progress on the actual writing.

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