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[Imagineergames]

I'll give you my two cents.

Have a LOT to show. Write orderly, Show, not tell. Have a prototype. Use placer art. If you can, try to draw yourself. Train yourself. Sketching your ideas is a VERY useful skill that will help you in everything in your life. Not just for games. DO NOT POST until you get some good stuff to show.

At the beginning of SOV I had to pay for lots of the assets. As my skills and the game itself grew, People were more interested and willing to help me out. They became very loyal too. Why not help out a starving artist with extra bucks? Want to save? learn to do stuff yourself. Don't disqualify yourself by saying "I'm not an artist" or "I'm not a programmer" etc etc. Learn everything you can.

 Also, have a design document. Well detailed, not Kilometric. Just something everyone can read and say "Oh I get 100% what it is about"

 That's all I can tell you. Hope I don't come off as a smartass. Wish you the best of luck.

[Sar]

I'm another artist-programmer, so I'm possibly not the best person to ask for advice. But on the other hand, I've also been an artist on other people's projects that I've slipped off of and generally lost all motivation for, as well. I would say:

Have a prototype. Use placer art. DO NOT POST until you get some good stuff to show.

 Also, have a design document. Well detailed, not Kilometric. Just something everyone can read and say "Oh I get 100% what it is about"

These are both very important things, for two reasons.

Firstly, as has been mentioned before, artists don't usually understand code and also have little idea which programmers are the good ones and which are the bad - a playable demo without art, which is nearly always possible, can show them that your game is worth helping out with, it's a cool thing that they can make even more cool with their artistic efforts.

Secondly, you don't just want an artist who turns up one day and says "yeah, I'd like to do game art", you want an artist who will actually stick with your project and not abandon you after ten weeks. The more cool you convince him your project will be, the more likely he is to stick around... and conversely, the less of your project you explain to him up-front the more likely he is to discover something about it he doesn't like later and decide it's not something he wants to be involved in. Not to mention that it's a buzz to see something you've drawn moving about and spitting fire (or whatever) in-game, which helps keep the motivation levels high; you want to be able to do a quick turnaround between the artist giving you art and that art appearing in the game, to help keep them interested. Ideally it would be instant, they can just save over your placeholder art in the data directory and it's there.



Lastly, I'd also add that it's also worth being open to discussing the rest of the project with your artist, not just giving him sprites to churn out. This is part of the "an artist is a team member, not a commodity" attitude, I guess, but really - make sure they feel like you're listening to their opinions and allowing them to help make a cool thing rather than enslaving them in pixel-spriting bondage.

[evil dan]

I have been an Artist/Animator by profession for most of my adult life and here are a couple of thoughts:

1. There is an abundance of talented Artists who would LOVE to get work on your stuff, but don't know about you yet.  I know it is hard to believe but believe me.  Artists love getting involved in interesting stuff.  Hell, if I wasn't so busy I would jump in myself.

Go online and find where we hang out.  You will get more responses because there is a bigger pool.  Maybe even put an ad on Craigslist for an unpaid internship.  I wouldn't necessarily avoid Deviantart, but keep in mind that you may get a lot of interest by people who are not the right fit (or just unqualified) for the project. 

After all, it's best to have options.

2. (and this is important) Once you start getting people interested, be picky. Sar has some great points about collaborating with folks who have work ethic. 

[jrjellybeans]

I agree that I've found in my own case that there ARE a lot of talented artists out there.  The problem is that they're always involved in "some other project."

I've had plenty of work to show to people.  And, I've met plenty of artists that have told me "I'm extremely interested in your project, but just don't have the time."

But, all that aside, thanks to all of the artists who answered.  You've helped me and my partner a lot!

[Nava]

When Infinite Ammo was looking for artists, I flipped through the extensive favorites in my Deviant Art account and found a whole bunch of artists whose styles might fit the game. Then I emailed them and explained the project and how I thought their work might match what we were looking for.
If they emailed back in interest (and about eight did), I had them sign NDAs and then we discussed the game in greater depth. Most were then willing to try out simple concept sketches for us to see what their interpretations of the world and characters would be. Now we have a great artist on board who is perfect for the project and passionate about it.

There are many artists who don't have much experience with game art but who are very interested in learning. If we work with them and pull them in to the community, then the pool of available artists grows and everyone benefits.

Any artist can be a game artist if they want to.... don't limit yourself to looking in game forums

[ChevyRay]

Any artist can be a game artist if they want to.... don't limit yourself to looking in game forums

Best advice so far, Nava. Evil Dan said more or less the same thing in his first point too. If you really look hard enough, and be open and enthusiastic about your search (meaning not just posting a job description on some boards and waiting for picasso to pop along) will pretty much have you covered.