I know a lot of artists, and when I say a lot, I mean you could populate half a city with them all. So let me start off by saying artists are individuals. For every one that not only demands payment up front, but rips your face off and shoves it down your throat should you even suggest some other type of arrangement (as you've already experienced in this forum) there will be other artists that would be more than happy with some kind of delayed payment method because they know what it's like to be broke and quite possibly tried to work out a similar deal with a programmer before. First, I'd suggest you try numerous and diverse outlets, such as game sites (like this place, gamasutra, etc.), computer art sites, art college forums, and so on. The more you reach out the better the chances of finding someone good. Secondly, be flexible. List the various ways you can repay the artist, from percentage to flat rate to future employment. I know dozens of artists who got their current jobs because they did a few freebies early on. Let them design the credits page so they can be sure to put their name on top in big bold letters. Third, ignore people like those who have already posted that become offended if you don't provide full payment up front before they'll even say hello. Chances are they already have jobs, a big portfolio and have forgotten what it's like to die a slow, ignoble death, destitute and unknown. A large number of my artistic friends have done free jobs, and gotten ripped off a number of times, but that work led them to the careers they're in now. I also know a number who refuse to do anything for free, and they're still in retail dealing with angry customers because nobody sees their work. Just keep looking, you'll find someone who needs a break as desperately as you need an artist. Fourth, put things in writing! It's one thing to say "I'll give you 50% of my profits," but it's a whole lot better to write up a document that says "For every copy of the game sold (insert name) gets 50%" that is signed, notarized, and waved in front of a lawyer or two. It's a good sign that you're serious and fully intend to pay. Lastly, suggest a trade of skills. While I like your idea of a fixed percentage (to those who think this is sacrilege, just talk to people who did art for the first Magic: The Gathering game) keep in mind that there are artists out there who have good ideas for an iPhone game or "entertainment" app, but lack the programming skills to make it a reality. When you send out offers, suggest that if they do the art for your game, you'll do the programming for their game (with percentages going both ways). Many of the artists I know are happy to barter and trade skills, such as web art design in exchange for auto repair, or decorative woodwork in trade for plumbing expertise.
Well, I'm a cartoonist and optimist who would be willing to do work now in return for a decent percentage of the hoped-for profits in future. I have assorted pics posted at: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/karno/ ...and some of em aren't even porn. Lemme know at [email protected] if my style could be right for the job.
I was in a similar situation as you. I hope my experience can help you. I had an idea for a game and I am good at coding, but I don't have much talent when it comes to art. My plan was make it real simple and focus on gameplay to make up for it. Big mistake. While I did have a lot of people that tried my game really like it, many just ignored it because of the the graphics which caused some initial negative reviews that killed my sales. I won't do that again. What I ended up doing is this. I called in some favors that I had with some artist friends of mine (I had fixed their computers in the past). I got them to show me some simple tools to use and then got them to make some graphics for me while I learned how they did it. This way I learned some basics and could at least do the work myself. From there I created a thread here and used some friends to bounce my samples off of. This way I could get some feedback without impacting them too much to not abuse your friendship and not anger the online community. So far things have gone well. The community here was amazing. Lots of good constructive criticism. But be sure to have a thick skin whenever you post your work online. I understand that you are going out on a limb building your app and you don't even know if you will ever even get $250 to get your first check (That's how I feel), so you don't want to throw too much money at it. But you can't expect free or even cheap labor. If you want to get it done without money you are going to have to barter your time with someone, share revenue (not easy with strangers), or do it yourself. While my best work is not even close to the worst work of a professional at least its better then what it was. Here is the thread I created here if you want to see how things went. http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=4365&highlight=makemesay PS. I had a user of my app contact me who said they really liked it but said the graphics needed work. After explaining my situation to them they even offered to help me. So far they haven't yet due to other obligations, but hopefully things work out and they do help me out. But since they are doing it out of the kindness of their heart, I can't complain even if I have to wait months.
