Lemma Soft Forums

Hey guys, hope you have some time to answers some of my questions, because it’s been a mystery from me and my google search skill only can come up with so much. Think it’d be better to ask you guys who already have experience on them.

1. What are the red lights you notice from artists you hire that makes you think, this will not work with me? Yep, you can include the infamous disappearing artist syndrome.
2. On the opposite of that, any particular experience you have had that makes you wants to hire the artist again OR enjoy working with them?
3. (OPTIONAL) Do you have favourite places/ websites you use to look for artists to hire? How do those places work compared to this forum? Even deviantart, it seems like that place is a generally known go-to for looking for artists. I do notice there’s already this thread about this, so this one is optional

Thanks for taking the time if you answer them, guys Mods, if I put this post on the wrong section, just move it to the supposed place. Thanks for all your hard work!

1. Completed projects are a good indication that they can get the job done. While them having many unfinished projects is not necessarily a bad omen because it might not have been them that pulled out, it's certainly not a good indication either. Of course, people that comment on having worked with the artist and say it's a definate recommendation are a good sign.

2. That's more a matter of being lucky in finding the right person, some people even join a lot of jams to stumble upon a good team member that they'll know works well whom they'll contact later again, while not making any contact with the less-enjoyable team members who didn't get their deadlines after the jam.

3. Deviantart seems a bit big and too random for a good search, although I don't know how to navigate that site so nevermind me. But when you recruit here you can at the very least be sure that the artist knows what a VN is and what they'll need to do.

1. Most Artists have some form of social media, be it tumblr or a blog of some sort. That should give you an idea of what the person is like and if you think you should work with them. Honestly, the best way to avoid the "Vanishing Artist Curse" is to pay them. Like a decent pay, none of this $2 a sprite shit I see around. It's always going to be a risk in some sense, but that's going to be any person in any role.

2. You just find people you click with. Finding a person who is passionate about a project as you are takes a long time. Though there is nothing wrong with a more impersonal relationship as long as you can work well together. Work is Work, but doesn't mean you can't enjoy it.

3. I use tumblr a lot these days. I already follow a lot of artists on multiple social media sites and keep my eyes open for someone I would like to work with. Even if they are someone who doesn't do VNs specifically, the worst that can happen if you ask is they say no. And as long as you are a strong enough director and give good direction, said artist doesn't even need to know what a VN is to make good work.
I like the lemma forums, but since there are a lot of amateur anime artists on here I can't always find the style I am looking for. So I tend to wander other places.

Thanks for the replies, Mammon and KittyWills (I'm still looking how do you @ people here )
It's pretty surprising you look for artists at tumblr instead and I can see what you meant that it's a matter of finding people that click with you and paying them decent pay, of course. So, do you guys know what to look when deciding whether a new/ unknown artist is good enough to hire then?

sheypyg wrote:So, do you guys know what to look when deciding whether a new/ unknown artist is good enough to hire then?

Do you mean quality of the art its self? That's what portfolios or art blogs are for. If you see an artist you like but they only draw their characters in a standing poses, they may not be the one you want drawing actions poses. Or if you have a diverse cast with varying body types and faces you may not want to hire the kid who has a same-face anime style.

If you mean the artist themselves, just be up front and honest on how much work making a VN is. I'm making a very small VN with only two characters and the game never leaves it's main location and we're already over 50+ art assets in. If they are a new artist to VNs, make sure they know what they are getting into.

Hey there~ As an artist, I'd love to share my thoughts on this matter. My experience may not be with an artist, but I hope it will still helpful to you ^^

What are the red lights you notice from artists you hire that makes you think, this will not work with me? Yep, you can include the infamous disappearing artist syndrome.

To me, it's disappearing writer. Even though they have wonderful writing samples/portfolio, if they need 3 days to reply your email and they don't inform you why they're slow at replying, I think that should be translated into red light. Communication is vital when working remotely, and I highly recommend that you state when you first working together, that communication must be done at the very least once a week. If 2 weeks gone by without any contact from them, it's best to just move on and search for other artist.
It also helps to read their social media or online gallery like deviantart or instagram for example, where you can see the reply from the artist when someone commented their works. If they reply politely or formally (like simple 'thank you'), you can assume that they will talk to you in more serious and formal manner. Or if the artist reply with lots of emoji, they have more bubbly personality. Those things are not fixed though, but they give us some hints about the artist personality.

On the opposite of that, any particular experience you have had that makes you wants to hire the artist again OR enjoy working with them?

I've read that there are 3 things that makes client willing to hire an artist for the second time : they deliver great work, they deliver their work on time, or they're fun to work with. And an artist just need to cover 2 out of those 3 things to keep the client coming back. You're either very lucky or have lots of money to be able to hire someone that have all those things. Great works that delivered on time usually will cost you a lot. If you're in hurry, you usually have to compromised on quality. And if you're looking for someone who's fun to work with, be patience because good work takes time.

Do you have favorite places/ websites you use to look for artists to hire?

Funny enough, if you're on tight budget, lemmasoft is the place. Very affordable artists are relatively easy to find here, where on deviantart or tumblr or instagram, you usually have to dig deeper to find some. You can also find artist on Facebook groups. One thing to consider is search for someone as passionate as you. If you can keep the communication open, I'm sure you'll be fine =)

Thank you for the detailed response, morinoir That's quite enlightening actually. Especially the info about finding artists on this forum and compared to deviantart, tumblr and instagram. It's pretty surprising to me people look for artists at instagram, because I thought people prefer tumblr and deviantart!

KittyWills wrote: Do you mean quality of the art its self? That's what portfolios or art blogs are for. If you see an artist you like but they only draw their characters in a standing poses, they may not be the one you want drawing actions poses. Or if you have a diverse cast with varying body types and faces you may not want to hire the kid who has a same-face anime style.

If you mean the artist themselves, just be up front and honest on how much work making a VN is.

Oh, that explanation does help! I was thinking more of how do you know they'd be dependable in communications, but from your guys response apparently the best way to find it is by try working with them. Thanks again for the reply, KittyWills.