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Hello all,
This is my first post. I am happy to be here.
But I would like your help if you can. I have a few questions and concerns. If you can do anything to address them, it would be greatly appreciated.
I am an aspiring artist and fan of fantasy art (DnD, MTG, Pathfinder, and more). I have been kicking around the idea of doing a submission of artwork. But I am possibly not ready in terms of skill to go the official route and submit via the site. So I am slowly building up a portfolio while working a full time job. It’s hard to find time, but I’m trying. I am not a Pathfinder player either, so certain fine details about gameplay will be lacking (although I do read pages and comments). And that’s where I am hoping you can help me streamline the process.
I am wondering has anyone ever posted their own artwork here or links to artwork here?
Is it completely unrelated to do so?
Would it be annoying or fun to be involved?
Anyone able to give any artistic / style critiques?
Would people be able to provide feedback on things obviously wrong with a picture that a newb would miss? -- Example: “No a wizard cannot equip a sword”.
Must haves - "A halfling ninja MUST have a wakizashi as his weapon".
Or feedback on what they would love to see in artwork? -- Example: “I would like to see a half-orc sorcerer instead of the typical barbarian / fighter role”.
Give suggestions on how to make characters look less cliché? Example: "Wizard always wearing a long robe". Fantasy fashion lessons, lol.
I am currently sketching / playing around with these concepts right now since they don’t seem to have been done yet by other artists:
Mounted gnome summoner
Half-orc scarred witch doctor
Halfling ninja
Of course all of this would be voluntary and not paid (remember, this is a hobby for me at this point). And I will probably not be able to fulfill most, if not, all suggestions depending on how many come in. But I figured this is a route nobody has tried before and it would be fun to see what kind of suggestions I get. It can’t hurt, right?
So let me know what you think. Your feedback is appreciated.
I wish you all the best in your artistic endeavors.
I think I have a thread poking around someplace with a few of my old drawings. I went to school for illustration and graphic design but by 2006 when I got out of school the market bottomed out and like many artists I found myself working in an office and art became a hobby.
My skills have atrophied considerably since then.
Be careful asking for feedback P@trick. The internet can be a cruel place and if you are not used to art criticism it can sting. Hell it can sting in academic settings too. I had one instructor tell me in front of the entire class that my drawings looked like "bad lawn art".
Anyway I always enjoy seeing fellow gamers artwork and look forward to seeing what you produce.
Cheers,
-Kit
Welcome to the boards, P@trick!
There have actually been multiple artists who have posted their artwork here over the years, some for profit, others to build up their skills and portfolio with pro bono work. An example of the latter that immediately comes to mind is a board member known as Ruloc. Click on the links in this sentence if you are interested to see the thread he ran, and his DeviantArt page wherein he posted his finished pieces.
As far as artwork critiques, while people on Paizo might be able to give you thematic guidance, if you're looking for pointers on your style and technique, you may be better served by springing for a paid account on DeviantArt. Paid members there gain the ability to actually solicit critiques from other members of the community, and those who reply are generally much more thoughtful and considerate than in a lot of other corners of the Internet. (Though TBH, Paizo is one of the friendliest communities I've seen if you can steer clear of hot-button issues.)
If you are curious about what some highly-specific art orders might look like, and how other artists have interpreted them, I have a few posted on my wiki that you can feel-free to peruse. In fact the last one (which was for one of my players) was never completed due to the artist becoming too busy in RealLife™. Should you feel up for working on that, I'm sure that player would be thrilled. :)
At any rate, gamers LOVE artwork, and you've come to the right section of the forums to solicit such responses. Good luck!
EDIT: OH! On the topic of seeing how other artists vary in their interpretations of the same subject matter, do a search on "Tyra" when you visit DeviantArt. She's the OC (original character) of a couple with the means to have commissioned dozens (if not 100s) of artists to portray their character. Figure such a phenomenon might be a source of interest or inspiration to you.
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Welcome to the boards, P@trick!
Thanks. I just now discovered this reply. Better late than never! But thanks for taking the time to write me.
I am probably going to close this request. I fulfilled one drawing for someone who was kind to request my help. But as I soon discovered that the request was less to do with what I was looking for thematically and keeping me on focus with my eventual submission. I think if there are any obvious errors with my drawings I could get feedback at that point in time. But it was fun helping this individual out.
So I will keep working on stuff in my spare time and probably post to Deviantart like you suggested. I am already signed up there and have a few fans of my practice anatomical drawings. I suspect when I get more "personal" and fun work there, people will have more suggestions for me.
Thanks so much for your feedback Laithoron.
I am primarily an artistic cartographer as my specialty in illustration, and I do create map content for various publishers supporting Pathfinder, including doing the original hand-drawn map of the City of Kasai for the Jade Regent Adventure Path - so I have been published by Paizo as well.
I have a Facebook and G+ community where I post most of my cartographic art. I seldom post art in this forum, since this forum doesn't support thumbnails of artwork/photos as most other forums do, otherwise I probably would post something artistic here more often.
As in my case, it might be easier to contact various 3PP publishers, like Rite Publishing, whom I do lots of cartography for, and is willing to take on new artists (albeight with a fairly low payment involved, still you're getting published.) If you want your artwork to be published for games, going the route of one of the third party publishers is probably your best bet, and place to start. Once you build a reputation for your art, you'll get more popular, then possibly gaining an opportunity to get your work published by Paizo, itself.
As an aside, I create 1 or 2 sample maps each week that I post to my G+ community, and just doing that gets me work. In the past week, I've been contacted by FASA games to create an airship deckplan, based on my sample of a Pullman luxury train car map I recently posted. Also my use of bevels in my photo-realistic style map has recently gotten me an ongoing commission with Activision video game company to create the tactical maps for the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare tactical guide book. So my G+ community seems to be driving publishers my way for work - perhaps something you'd be better off trying, than posting here on this forum.
I wish you all the best in your artistic endeavors.
Cheers,
-Kit
Thanks Kit.
I have a pretty thick skin. And I don't imagine anyone judging me harder than I can judge myself. If it hurts, it's probably true and stuff I need to work on. If it's "BS", I will likely see through it.
I am like you - working in an office to pay bills. But I think I just gave up on the idea until I realized I have nothing to lose and should try again. Sure I lost a lot of time letting my skills atrophy too. The milk is spilled and right now I have a mop in my hands. :-) That's my new attitude.
Thanks Gamer-Printer,
That post was super helpful! I have never heard of G+ before. I will check that out.
And I realize low pay is where you have to start. Once you pay your dues, then you can negotiate higher pay.
Thanks again.
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At Gamer-Printer: Your page is amazing by the way. That explains the influx of work.
Visiting my G+ page, look in the top left corner of the page where you can join G+ yourself. Once you do, create your own G+ group which is creating your own G+ page, name it appropriately and start posting your art. Also you'll need to join like-minded G+ communities, including art communities and RPG communities. Share your art on those other G+ communities as well. Also grant a "+1" to anybody who offers a positive comment on any artwork you post to gain 'friends' - remember 'friends' share your work, so you'll get more exposure with more friends you have.
For finding 3PP for Pathfinder, look in the top most forum section here on Paizo's message boards. Anybody who publishes content for PF posts there, so comb through that section to find any and all PF publishers. Find their home pages, and contact them with samples of your work and request to do art commissions for them. That's probably a good place to start.
And thanks for your comment about my G+ community. Bottom line is your art needs to be good, if so, you'll get work. Otherwise get better at your craft, but keep posting samples, it will work out in your favor eventually.