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For those not in the know, I've been working on my skills as an illustrator and concept artist for the past few months (you can view my progress here). As it stands, I feel I've reached a point with my skills where I can begin looking for gainful employment.
With Dakka being the biggest locus of all things wargaming on the net, I'm aware that there are smaller operations that gather here from time to time, and I'd like some advice. Primarily, for you miniature producers and game developers out there (and any other artists who might be lurking around here), where do you go first to find your concept artists? Simply put, there are many places on the net where I can advertise myself, but there are so many that it's far too easy to get lost in places that are entirely inconsequential. Essentially, what's the best way to reach out to you guys?

If there are any other artists roaming these forums, what are your preferred methods of getting in contact with clients?

Lastly, if anyone is interested in my work, you can see more and contact me at www.thinkinglines.com

You might try asking MajorTom11 for advice, and he's also in Canada to boot!

Your art is great and looks to be improving at a rapid rate looking at what you have posted in this thread sequentially. I really love floating (yoga?) woman and leaping sword female (alien?) , I also liked horned helmet man with sword until I saw his codpeice , now the shape of it just looks wrong. I love the futuristic feel that seems to me to look sleek and dynamic. Keep going

goddammit wrong thread. can a mod move this reply to http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/542784.page

I have some advice that isn’t art/design specific, but hopefully will be useful to you.

Some of this comes from a very well known miniature painting chap, and some form my own experience as a budding-very-nearly-professional photographer.

Whilst starting out, do not do any work for ‘exposure’ or as a favour. Start charging right away. You’ll still get the exposure, and you’ll have a few quid in your pocket!

Under promise and over deliver. Say “It will take two weeks” knowing it will only take ten days then deliver on the 11th. Clients dig that sh*t.

Try and avoid mates rates, but be prepared to low ball a quote if you think it will lead to recurring work. It pays to be flexible with your terms, but don’t be a push over.

Get your quotes right. I did some dumbass Monday Maths and doubled a quote accidentally. I sent another quote as soon as I’d realised, but I still haven’t heard from the person so it’s fair to say I ballsed that up.

Shame, as that was a) music industry based and b) recurring work.

SIIIIIIGH.

I wish you the very best of luck in your future endeavours!

Do you have a portfolio to show to clients?

 monders wrote:

Whilst starting out, do not do any work for ‘exposure’ or as a favour. Start charging right away. You’ll still get the exposure, and you’ll have a few quid in your pocket!

This is something I've argued with friends about, and I'm glad someone agrees with me. You wouldn't expect someone in any other field to work for free, creative work should be no exception. It also lowers the standard of respect and compensation for everyone in the field.

Whenever someone talks about the value of 'exposure,' I've always been made to wonder how much exposure someone can get from a company (short of volunteer work) that can't even afford to pay their own creatives.

 Jehan-reznor wrote:
Do you have a portfolio to show to clients?

Right on my website.

I've considered remaking it to be exclusively for illustration work.

I mean something tangible or you going to take a small iPad to the client?

More then likely, face to face isn't that common any more. It's 2014. Globalism. Internet.

 Jehan-reznor wrote:
I mean something tangible or you going to take a small iPad to the client?

Considering I currently live in the middle of nowhere right now, I have the intention of doing most everything digitally.

That said, were I to have an appointment for an interview, or attend a convention of sorts, I'd go to the printers (not Staples, they're awful) and get them done properly. I'm not fond of tablets or laptops, but I really love the look and feel (and smell!) of printed work. It also lets you leave something behind, which is memorable.

I also like having everything on my phone, as well.

 Fafnir wrote:
Considering I currently live in the middle of nowhere right now, I have the intention of doing most everything digitally..

I thought you were Tied and gagged in the back of my car .

I'd say: (and I'm just pulling this out of my ass - have no experience with what you're asking)

a) Find a small miniatures company doing work you dig (thanks to Kickstarter, there's about 1 billion of them)
b) Make a few cool pieces of fan art. Post it to their forums.
c) Inquire about maybe doing some commission work for their upcoming xyz?

This would probably work for various small videogame companies, etc too.

You do really great work, I'd imagine tons of smaller places would love to have you aboard. You probably won't make a ton of cash from them - but in terms of getting your foot in the door and building a professional resume it'd be a good start.

Good luck!

 Fafnir wrote:

This is something I've argued with friends about, and I'm glad someone agrees with me. You wouldn't expect someone in any other field to work for free, creative work should be no exception. It also lowers the standard of respect and compensation for everyone in the field.

Whenever someone talks about the value of 'exposure,' I've always been made to wonder how much exposure someone can get from a company (short of volunteer work) that can't even afford to pay their own creatives.

EXACTLY.

Imagine you wanted a new bathroom suite? You wouldn't expect the fitter/plumber/electrician to do it for free - they're skilled professionals, as are we.

I did a lot of freebie photography for friends and family over the last 18 months, but that was really to fill my portfolio and as such was beneficial for me.

Your character work is solid, but there's a major hole in your portfolio. BACKGROUNDS! Jobs where you just work on character design are few and far between, and usually staffed by in-house guys with tremendous experience. Showing you can do a little of everything, and do it consistently, is the best way to garner paid work. Environmental art, technical illustration, multi-figure scenes, different lighting conditions, all of these will help show range.

As for finding work, posting your website on appropriate forums is the best method. I started with the old-style mail campaign, sending out postcards and cold-calling, and I netted exactly two jobs, both woefully underpaid. As soon as I had an adequate site together and started plastering it around then work started to trickle in.

I, too, live in the middle of Canadian nowhere, and freelancing can be a tough gig. If you hit any of the major Canadian cites there's a dearth of game and media companies who are looking for art staff on a fairly regular basis. If you want to start from where you are, I'd suggest hitting up RPG forums. There's a lot of competition (most of it unimpressive, but cheap), but the solid artists rise to the top rather quickly. The pay can be on the low end, but drawing beats flipping burgers for most. Once you're established try asking for more...confidence in negotiation can usually net you a reasonable fee.

Also, never work for free.

Yeah, backgrounds are something that I tend to have difficulty visualizing, at least in comparison to character artwork. I'll begin doing warmups based on scenery in order to improve on that.

As for RPG forums, do you know of any specific ones worth looking into?

Nivision gives some pretty solid advice about expanding your horizons. The fact that I cant do backgrounds almost at all has bitten me in the backside more than once. You've seem to have good handle on the digital medium so you've got me beat there. Best of luck and dont give up!

The boards at RPG.net are a good proving ground, and if you're proficient in story-telling at all you could try the Digital Webbing boards. Comics are great for building skills quickly because you get to do a series of complex compositions, environments, and characters, and keep them consistent throughout.