How to find artists

[mastershakeme]

Um, I'm sorry if this is already a topic, but I was just wondering... Where do you guys get your artwork? Is it fanart and people randomly offer it to you? Or do you commission someone to do the work? Or -- and I'm really hoping this isn't the case -- is everyone just super talented at drawing? I suck at anything artistic.

 

Idk, I see a lot of authors on this site with banners and cute character icons and stuff. I'm just wondering if anyone had any advice. I'd kill to see my characters come to life in illustration. 

[Carlos Hazday]

My signature banner was created by Mann Ramblings when I was promoted to Promising Author. The illustration was made by a Palm Beach artist from a photo a friend of mine took of me.

 

Story banners I create with Photoshop. The pictures are my own.

 

I'm following this entry. I might be in the market for an illustrator for the children's book I'm working on!

 

[Pmsingtiger]

Well do you mean book covers like photomanipulation? I'm a graphic design artist and portrait artist by trade so that's where I get mine 😬

[Carlos Hazday]

If you look at most any of my stories, I've replaced the signature banner atop them with individualized banners. Here's an example. The picture is the clock tower atop the oldest building on Georgetown's campus seen from the sidewalk at the bottom of the hill.

 

 

[Pmsingtiger]

22 minutes ago, Carlos Hazday said:

If you look at most any of my stories, I've replaced the signature banner atop them with individualized banners. Here's an example. The picture is the clock tower atop the oldest building on Georgetown's campus seen from the sidewalk at the bottom of the hill.

 

 

I don't think you can do that anymore

I tried last time I made a story and the option was gone. Don't edit it or it will take it away! 😧

[Carlos Hazday]

Oops, sorry. The feature's only available to promoted authors. It's one of the perks.

Along with the vacation home and the sports car. LOL

[Pmsingtiger]

25 minutes ago, Carlos Hazday said:

Oops, sorry. The feature's only available to promoted authors. It's one of the perks.

Along with the vacation home and the sports car. LOL

I’m more upset about the banner ☹️

[mastershakeme]

8 hours ago, Pmsingtiger said:

Well do you mean book covers like photomanipulation? I'm a graphic design artist and portrait artist by trade so that's where I get mine 😬

 

I wish I could do anything!!!! I've seen some amazing photomanipulations.... have you ever considered lending another writer some of your talents  I'm so desperate to have some art to share with my readers!!!!!! And of course... I'd just like to have them be my phone's background or something  My daughter's my lock screen and yaoi is usually my home screen   

 

7 hours ago, Carlos Hazday said:

Oops, sorry. The feature's only available to promoted authors. It's one of the perks.

Along with the vacation home and the sports car. LOL

 

Ahhh! That's not fair! Well, I mean, I guess it is.... Do you get to upload larger images as well? I always have a hard time making my pictures smaller so I can upload them  

 

7 hours ago, Pmsingtiger said:

I’m more upset about the banner ☹️

 

Me too! I just want to upload images and make my story look pretty!!! Why is that so haaaard!!!

[mastershakeme]

9 hours ago, Carlos Hazday said:

I'm following this entry. I might be in the market for an illustrator for the children's book I'm working on!

 

BTW I'd be interested in seeing your children's book when you're ready to share it with the world!!! I have a little one to read to now! How cool! I was thinking about trying my hand with a children's book as well because all the children's books I'm reading my daughter are lame as fuck... They have no plots!!! 

[Pmsingtiger]

1 minute ago, mastershakeme said:

 

I wish I could do anything!!!! I've seen some amazing photomanipulations.... have you ever considered lending another writer some of your talents  I'm so desperate to have some art to share with my readers!!!!!! And of course... I'd just like to have them be my phone's background or something  My daughter's my lock screen and yaoi is usually my home screen   

1

I make book covers, but I usually do them for publishing houses or independent authors for work. I'm not the best photomanipulator, but I get by. If you ever find some good stock photos though I'd love to help put something together

[mastershakeme]

1 minute ago, Pmsingtiger said:

I make book covers, but I usually do them for publishing houses or independent authors for work. I'm not the best photomanipulator, but I get by. If you ever find some good stock photos though I'd love to help put something together

 

Wow! Really?!?!? So... like free images from Google? The stock images have white backgrounds right? lol???

[Pmsingtiger]

Just now, mastershakeme said:

 

Wow! Really?!?!? So... like free images from Google? The stock images have white backgrounds right? lol???

Stock images are images that you can use for photomanipulation. The rights have to be purchased or given freely by the person posting the photos. They don't have to have white backgrounds, it just depends what you want to do with them.  

[mastershakeme]

33 minutes ago, Pmsingtiger said:

Stock images are images that you can use for photomanipulation. The rights have to be purchased or given freely by the person posting the photos. They don't have to have white, it just depends what you want to do with them.  

1

 

We should talk for reals... I want to ask lots of questions 😛 

[Carlos Hazday]

1 hour ago, mastershakeme said:

 

BTW I'd be interested in seeing your children's book when you're ready to share it with the world!!! I have a little one to read to now! How cool! I was thinking about trying my hand with a children's book as well because all the children's books I'm reading my daughter are lame as fuck... They have no plots!!! 

 

Go to the Promising Authors forum and find a thread named Dolphin Delivery. I posted one of the three scenes I've written as a sneak peek.

[Carlos Hazday]

Most images on Wikipedia are free to use. I've borrowed a couple and all you have to do is credit the author. US government images ( i.e. NASA) are public domain and free.

[mastershakeme]

15 hours ago, Carlos Hazday said:

 

Go to the Promising Authors forum and find a thread named Dolphin Delivery. I posted one of the three scenes I've written as a sneak peek.

 

Yay! I didn't want to be too presumptuous asking to see your unfinished work... I'll check it out! 

 

15 hours ago, Carlos Hazday said:

Most images on Wikipedia are free to use. I've borrowed a couple and all you have to do is credit the author. US government images ( i.e. NASA) are public domain and free.

 

I like how you got creative with the wiki images.... I probably wouldn't have found a use for an image of a college, but then again, the setting of one of my stories *is* a college. So, yea, your idea could have worked for me... 

 

But don't worry, I'll never be able to steal your idea 😂 It's seems almost impossible to get promoted. You are a GA God... That means something to me 😉

 

 

[Carlos Hazday]

Crap!

 

Where the hell does that comparison come from? GA God my butt. As was explained to me a long time ago, promotion to Promising Author does not mean I'm all that, it simply implies I show 'promise.' Please note I've not been elevated to the lofty heights of Signature Author.

 

Promotion I think is based on a lot of things. Popularity is but a small part of it; improvement I feel is more important. I encourage everyone to ding me when I do something wrong, I pay attention, and try not to repeat the same mistakes. An open mind and willingness to listen have helped me improve. I came to this in my 50s so I don't have a lot of experience.

 

Oh, and that picture of the college building? I took it myself during a trip to Washington. I use lots of real locations in my stories and I'm always scouting for new ones when I travel. Hell, I do it when walking about my neighborhood. I know I'll be paying attention, sending myself memos, and taking pictures later on today during Wilton Manors Pride Festival.

 

[mastershakeme]

28 minutes ago, Carlos Hazday said:

Crap!

 

Where the hell does that comparison come from? GA God my butt. As was explained to me a long time ago, promotion to Promising Author does not mean I'm all that, it simply implies I show 'promise.' Please note I've not been elevated to the lofty heights of Signature Author.

 

Promotion I think is based on a lot of things. Popularity is but a small part of it; improvement I feel is more important. I encourage everyone to ding me when I do something wrong, I pay attention, and try not to repeat the same mistakes. An open mind and willingness to listen have helped me improve. I came to this in my 50s so I don't have a lot of experience.

 

Oh, and that picture of the college building? I took it myself during a trip to Washington. I use lots of real locations in my stories and I'm always scouting for new ones when I travel. Hell, I do it when walking about my neighborhood. I know I'll be paying attention, sending myself memos, and taking pictures later on today during Wilton Manors Pride Festival.

 

 

OHHHH!!!! Please find some way to share the pride pics you take today! I want to see this!!!! I've never been, and I'd be super nervous to go. I'm *not* unashamedly prideful 😔 

 

I know you're not in the TOP author rank, but I'm still jelly! I'm not popular at all. In my little story world I am, but that's it. I kinda forgot how useful it was to be in a crowd and watch how people "do" things. For example, I've been noticing authors linking to their stories in the fourms by using the signature section in the bottom of their posts. What a great idea, duh!!! 

 

 

[Carlos Hazday]

Get on Instagram and search for #Pride or something like that.  Let me see what I can do, I posted a couple of pictures two or three years ago but had to crop them. The attire of some participants isn't G rated!

[mastershakeme]

@Carlos HazdayLol! Idk why I didn't just look on my own 😛 

 

Have a lot of fun today!!! 

Edited June 16, 2018 by mastershakeme

[Cia]

There are some artists on the site, but it really varies who does what/how/when. As a kid I drew elaborate shaded graphite images, mostly sci-fi/paranormal themed (go figure), but I hated coloring/painting. I do photography as a hobby, typically nature shots. I used to hike a lot with my kiddos when they were pre-elementary before school consumed our lives, so that's slowed way down. After that I started doing a lot more photo manipulations. I do most of the site graphics now, the ad banners, some of the author banners, the social media memes, newsletter stuff, etc... so I still do a lot of that, and I do cover art/promotional graphics for eBook authors/my own work as well. You can see a variety of my personal stuff in my galleries, though it's rather random and not usually stuff I've refined/edited much. Most of that goes to my blog/eBook/published content. 

 

A word about creating/using graphics, especially here on GA. Please do NOT upload graphics you get from images you just google. Unless you download stock that is free under a Creative Commons license or a derivative art with non-attribution license, there's copyright issues you could be violating. Stealing art is just as serious as plagiarizing words to an artist. And if you are using it for commercial purposes, ever, you really want to be sure you can prove you have legally downloaded the stock (screenshots of the image with the release/license information clearly marked). Upside is there are a lot of great websites out there to find art you can legally use, like Wiki or NASA as mentioned... though there are limits even there you must be aware of.

 

Wikipedia has some pictures uploaded that are editorial content only, which means you can't use them. If you're looking for images that are free to download/use, go to wikicommons instead. 

 

NASA.gov web pages do use some copyrighted images with permission and they are usually attributed immediately. However, you can be liable if you use them without permission, even if you don't know. And you cannot use any images/devices/technology images with NASA logos on them/in them or personnel images without express permission. 

 

Deviantart.com is an artist community website that is both a giant gallery, community, and place to find artists who take commissions or find art/photography that is posted for legal download/use as is or in derivative works with and without attribution licenses.  

 

pixabay.com is a website for free stock downloads. You'll find a ton of high quality vector images/graphics and phto in all different sizes. You must sign up for a free membership if you want to download the largest-sized images. This is my preferred website for stock images. I can find a ton of them that I don't even need to alter. You can find similar content at pexels.com and unsplash.com if not as many overall/as good of variety as on pixabay. 

 

You can find clipart for free at clker.com  that's good for using on logo artwork. 

 

That's just a few things to think about and a few sources to check out. Thanks for the topic/discussion about all this for those members/authors/non-artists in the mix who might not know who to ask. I'll be sharing it in the newsletter this week too! 

[mastershakeme]

13 hours ago, Cia said:

There are some artists on the site, but it really varies who does what/how/when. As a kid I drew elaborate shaded graphite images, mostly sci-fi/paranormal themed (go figure), but I hated coloring/painting. I do photography as a hobby, typically nature shots. I used to hike a lot with my kiddos when they were pre-elementary before school consumed our lives, so that's slowed way down. After that I started doing a lot more photo manipulations. I do most of the site graphics now, the ad banners, some of the author banners, the social media memes, newsletter stuff, etc... so I still do a lot of that, and I do cover art/promotional graphics for eBook authors/my own work as well. You can see a variety of my personal stuff in my galleries, though it's rather random and not usually stuff I've refined/edited much. Most of that goes to my blog/eBook/published content. 

 

A word about creating/using graphics, especially here on GA. Please do NOT upload graphics you get from images you just google. Unless you download stock that is free under a Creative Commons license or a derivative art with non-attribution license, there's copyright issues you could be violating. Stealing art is just as serious as plagiarizing words to an artist. And if you are using it for commercial purposes, ever, you really want to be sure you can prove you have legally downloaded the stock (screenshots of the image with the release/license information clearly marked). Upside is there are a lot of great websites out there to find art you can legally use, like Wiki or NASA as mentioned... though there are limits even there you must be aware of.

 

Wikipedia has some pictures uploaded that are editorial content only, which means you can't use them. If you're looking for images that are free to download/use, go to wikicommons instead. 

 

NASA.gov web pages do use some copyrighted images with permission and they are usually attributed immediately. However, you can be liable if you use them without permission, even if you don't know. And you cannot use any images/devices/technology images with NASA logos on them/in them or personnel images without express permission. 

 

Deviantart.com is an artist community website that is both a giant gallery, community, and place to find artists who take commissions or find art/photography that is posted for legal download/use as is or in derivative works with and without attribution licenses.  

 

pixabay.com is a website for free stock downloads. You'll find a ton of high quality vector images/graphics and phto in all different sizes. You must sign up for a free membership if you want to download the largest-sized images. This is my preferred website for stock images. I can find a ton of them that I don't even need to alter. You can find similar content at pexels.com and unsplash.com if not as many overall/as good of variety as on pixabay. 

 

You can find clipart for free at clker.com  that's good for using on logo artwork. 

 

That's just a few things to think about and a few sources to check out. Thanks for the topic/discussion about all this for those members/authors/non-artists in the mix who might not know who to ask. I'll be sharing it in the newsletter this week too! 

 

That's awesome about the newsletter! 

 

I feel kind of awkward asking about publishing because I feel like I'm breaking some kind of rule. I'm pretty sure I agreed to some sort of contract when I signed on that said NOT to post a story here if you plan on ripping it off and publishing in the future. I'm extremely confused about the steps involved in self-publishing anyway, and I think that's the only route for my off-the-wall type of fiction. I know it can be done effectively, but to be honest, my head is kind of spinning just thinking about it. 

 

My reasoning behind asking for artists was because I going to make a Pateron. Only, I have no images to add, nothing interesting at all to make it look appealing or draw interest. Ugh! I wasn't even thinking about making a cover yet! lol!

 

Thanks for the warning on posting Google images. I had a feeling that was the case. 

 

I always knew deviant art was a good place for commissions... If you commission an image, then you can use it where ever and however you want, correct? 

 

 

[Cia]

Well, that depends, @mastershakeme. Typically, anyone who does graphic design for a business will have a design contract. It will stipulate copyright ownership and legal liability should there be any copyright violation issues (usually the artist) , usage rights for the author/website owner/client (as in electronic rights for eBooks and/or print-on-demand books, as well as digital and printed promotional materials such as blog/social media headers, banners, ads, bookmarks, etc...) as well as size and resolutions, delivery methods, delivery date, payment and usage of the cover for marketing/promotional purposes by the artist if the author/client agrees. 

 

The client discusses their design needs and wants with the designer, they agree, sign the contract, the designer creates the ad, the author accepts it or asks for edits to the image. Once it's complete, they pay. Then the designer sends the file, the author uses it how they agreed, and BOOM! Done. 

 

It's more informal and you have more liability if you work with someone who just makes graphics for fun. Of course, that increases your odds of getting it for free.  

[mastershakeme]

34 minutes ago, Cia said:

The client discusses their design needs and wants with the designer, they agree, sign the contract, the designer creates the ad, the author accepts it or asks for edits to the image. Once it's complete, they pay. Then the designer sends the file, the author uses it how they agreed, and BOOM! Done.

 

Besides having no funds, the commission route sounds like the best option! 

 

In my experience, getting free design work is an impossible task! I was 'promised' free art in the past, 2 different times. Both times, everything blew up in my face and nothing got done. 

 

Tricky tricky!