I am doing small IAP expansion for one of my games (Tactical Warrior) and I have been trying to decide if it is best for me to do new art needed by the IAP myself, like usual, or contract a real artist to do it. I could use some advise on this. Most importantly, I am wondering what I should expect to pay for the size of job I need done? I need images for 6 types of warriors (2 men, 4 small beasts). They need not be overly detailed because they usually are displayed at 100x100 and 50x50. This is what the graphics for warriors already in the game look like:
For all character art I have done, the price usually averages at a out $10 per piece. However, if pieces are similar and only minor changes are needed between them, It is less.
If you already did all of the art, you may as well do the new stuff too. You want the style to be the same - if the new stuff is a lot better than what you already have, it becomes very noticeable. You would probably need the artist to redo ALL of the art assets to maintain consistency.
Wow! I can hardly believe how cheap that is. Is that prices you have gotten from artists working for you or prices you have given as an artist? Yeah, I guess. If I did get an artist I would need him/her to understand that it needs to match what is there, even if what is there doesn't look particularly great. I don't know if that is easy for an artist to do
That is the average amount I have paid to various artists. (100 plus pieces) Your art is fairly unique, I kind of agree with the other comment that someone else doing art for you may not match up. Honestly I think it is fine the way you have been doing it.
Another option, which I have done, is pick the amount of money you feel comfortable spending on art, and then post the job with that amount on Craigslist. Only the people that are interested in the amount of money will apply, and you will get quite a range of talent. Look through their websites, pick the one that you like the best, and hire them. If you feel no one can do better than what you have, then definitely do it yourself. And remember, of course, that the more money you offer, the higher level of talent it will attract.
If you are willing to share it, what would you consider to be more typical prices, Sinecure? That is does seem really cheap. I ended up just doing it myself though. I figured, with it only being a small number of images, it is probably just simpler to do it myself. This does seem like a pretty good idea, but it might be tough for me to do because I don't have a ball park idea of for art prices. I wouldn't know if my price was low or high