How I Commissioned Artists for My In-Game Characters

My love for art goes all the way back to childhood when I would sit by my mother’s easel and watch her create landscapes with her paintbrush. Try as I might, I never picked up her knack for artistry, but my love for it was strong. I had a big imagination as a child and would create stories and scenes in my head. When the MMORPG took over the world of games, my creative juices finally found an outlet.

Around the turn of the century, I started creating characters in games that would carry over from one game to the next with my own overarching story arc that followed with it. Not in a role playing sense as I could never really get into that, but with my personal stories for each character.

It was around 2005 when I discovered that there were artists out there who would draw your in-game character for you. It seemed the perfect fit to my muse. I took a chance and commissioned my first piece of art and I was hooked.

Step 1. Research the world of in-game character designers

Over the years, I have amassed over 800 pieces of art for my characters ranging from every skill level, artistic style and even a few from well-known comic artists. You can find artists that take commissions all over the web. My favorite place is DeviantArt. There are artists in this community who will take commissions and create pretty much anything you can imagine. I have found that, with a perfect match, an artist can take your ideas and descriptions and turn it into beautiful works of art that tell a whole story.

Step 2- What do you want your final art piece to look like?

The most important step in commissioning art of your in-game characters is having a visual reference for the artist to go by. Generally, they will want screenshots of that character from the front, side, back and an up close shot of the face. If you have no visual reference to go by, be as detailed in the written description as possible while including details you feel are important. If you are commissioning a scene, make sure to have all those details up front as well. The real magic happens when all of your ideas and descriptions gives the artist a direction and they get inspired.

3. Step 3 – Find your artist

Seeking out these artists can take some time as you want to browse their style (manga, digital paintings, realism, etc.) and prices. Several factors can go into finding a good fit such as comments from others who have previously commissioned that artist. This will tell you a great deal about what to expect in the process. Generally, an artist will have all the details for their services written out – always a plus. I became so engrossed in this process that I generated a list of such artists. Though I have not maintained it for a while now.

If you are so inclined, have fun with it. Though I have to warn you ahead of time, it can be very addictive.

Mike Poe, Project Manager