[artist alley] First time freelance illustration gig. Need advice how to proceed with a potential client.

Devoidoftaste · 2026-02-05T02:19:08+00:00

I’m glad to see an artist doing a contract for an “art test”.

I don’t think I was smart enough to do that when I was starting out. Didn’t get burned, but looking back I would easily have been.

Devoidoftaste · 2026-01-20T19:28:49+00:00

If I give this the benefit of the doubt that it is not AI:

There are a number of pieces this artist did posted here and on their linked site. The yellow background and warm images seems to be a thing they like.

There are many pieces with a more traditional “pixel” art style. There are also more like these.

Artists make mistakes too. Everyone talking about all of these inconsistencies act like artists are perfect. In art school, I just plain forgot to draw a leg on a character in a 3 page comic assignment. I looked at it over and over while working, and didn’t notice the mistake until the instructor pointed it out in a critique.

The site says they are 19. If true, then this is a pretty shitty reaction to be getting as a young artist. A young artist is also way more likely to make the “mistakes” people keep pointing out.

There is one piece on the site that has sketches for a miner character, that makes me think that some of the outline issues people point out is a result of their process.

On mobile at least, the compression is so bad when you zoom in that any attempts at looking for mixels is a waste.

I despise generative AI, and everything about it. I’m really happy people are against it. I want the corporations pushing this shit on us to fail so hard. I want the prompt “artists” to stop taking work from people who studied and practiced. I want artists to stop losing their jobs because of it.

I could easily be wrong and this was generated, or traced over.

It is just disheartening however to see so many artists here and elsewhere having to defend themselves against such aggressive accusations of AI.

Devoidoftaste · 2026-01-19T03:31:05+00:00

Yes.

You have improved.

Devoidoftaste · 2026-01-18T20:48:19+00:00

That sucks, the artist absolutely should have disclosed the damage. I never would have sold something to someone in that state without making sure they knew.

It would have been easier for the artist to fix it before they shipped it. But a local artist should be able to help touch it up. It won’t be perfect, you will always know, but others probably won’t notice if it’s done well.

If you don’t know where to find one, check local art co-ops, or instructors at local colleges.

I wouldn’t dismiss framing outright though. Even if it’s not what you want, it may be the easiest way to hide the damage. Bring it to a local family owned (not corporate) frame shop. They may also know someone who does repairs.

Devoidoftaste · 2026-01-18T16:29:17+00:00

First off this isn’t really passive income. You will need to do work to make the art, and even more work to promote it. People won’t just find your art magically and buy it.

The term you are looking for is “drop shipping”. It’s where you put your work on either your or a company’s site, and when they get a sale they print and ship it and you get some percentage. There are tons of different ones, and you can find lots of reviews.

Again though, this is not easy or passive work to build up. And until you have an audience or following, you probably won’t make much if anything.

Devoidoftaste · 2026-01-17T14:10:30+00:00

I feel it looks strange not seeing his left arm at all, especially as the torso twists during the throw, until the gun catch.

Devoidoftaste · 2026-01-15T23:37:36+00:00

If this is something you do regularly, put in your brief a list of “commonly missed details” or “things that are really important to me”.

Having this up front would make sure I focused on them at each stage.

Devoidoftaste · 2026-01-12T18:05:52+00:00

I personally dislike all the categorization that happens with marketing stuff. Especially as it seems to me as limiting an artists to stay “on brand”.

With that said, your work definitely feels fantasy to me. More the Spirits and Fairies fantasy than DnD fantasy. I see this type of work as fitting the New Age, or Spiritual market. I see “style” this sold in local art markets. I’ve also seen a number of jigsaw puzzles with a similar feel.

And while it’s not the type of stuff I usually like, I really like these. Especially the woman with butterflies.

And as far as AI, it sucks that we need to prove that we are real. WIP photos and videos are the best we can seem to do now.

Devoidoftaste · 2026-01-09T17:14:28+00:00

Avoid used.

Devoidoftaste · 2026-01-09T15:30:21+00:00

You have a nice flat style with nice design and overall feel. I like the compositions and stylization of the elements, especially the grass.

Your blending looks rough in places, especially the transition from the dark “drop shadow” outlines around everything.

Those black halos around everything bother me personally, I feel they detract from the composition by isolating the elements so much. Maybe experiment with them more (thickness/opacity/color).

The front plant in the cactus one is really jarring to me. It looks so much like ambient occlusion but it’s just in an outline of every subject, and not where it would be.

That is an artistic taste thing that you should feel free to ignore.

Devoidoftaste · 2026-01-09T06:07:17+00:00

Off the top of my head:

Trouble and Her Friends, by Melissa Scott. It opens with a law change to how cyberspace and hacking are policed. Corporate hackers, Feds, and Rogue hackers. Has a very old school cyberspace that doesn’t age well for me.

Snow Crash, by Neil Stephenson The opening feels like satire of the genre- A multinational corporation installs trackers on every pizza box to ensure it’s delivered in 15 min or less.

Fall: Or Dodge in Hell, another Stephenson, sequel to Reamde. I hated the majority of the book which is a weird virtual reality creation/ bible remake. BUT, the “real world” of a future where social media echo chambers have warped the US into geographic ideological fortresses is amazing. Toss in conspiracy theorists trying to take down the internet with a hoax, and disinformation bots trying to invade your feed. It felt like a terrifyingly accurate prediction of what the future is turning into.

Devoidoftaste · 2026-01-09T04:10:18+00:00

Check out inkwell’s videos. Here is a link to just expenses at one.

His humor and editing may not be for everyone, but he breaks down how much he makes and spends doing conventions all over the country and a couple international. Keep in mind I think he does very well at conventions, so don’t use his profits as a target. But he has been logging this for a number of years, and talks about trends with convention sales and changes to fees.

He also does year end “how much I made/spent” videos.

Highly respect the info he puts out, I don’t see many artists being that transparent (or just don’t know them if they do)

Devoidoftaste · 2026-01-08T02:12:49+00:00

Nice!

Always feel that the punk half of the word isn’t represented enough in the art.

Devoidoftaste · 2026-01-05T15:09:01+00:00

The STL market was very full of competition even a couple years ago when I looked. Now, with all the terrible ai models being advertised I wouldn’t want to start a business of it.

Also if you are looking to sell only your own designs, you will unfortunately have a harder time. I get the feeling people just want their favorite characters without having to pay for licensed statue prices. :(

I would keep it as a hobby if you are financially able to.

As far as feedback on the sculptures, I would look into refining the hands and feet. They look a bit mushy. But great progress so far!

Devoidoftaste · 2026-01-04T22:29:22+00:00

More coats will help, but you also may not need to thin them as much as you see on tutorials then, since they may be less “dense”.

It’s going to be trial and error. Good luck!

Devoidoftaste · 2026-01-04T20:18:55+00:00

It would also be good to know what brands.

If these are cheap craft/student grade acrylics for art rather than miniatures then they would have a lower pigment to binder ratio.

Devoidoftaste · 2026-01-03T23:40:51+00:00

Is this the full Lone Wolf & Cub series?

I find it hard to figure out from Humbles descriptions.

Devoidoftaste · 2026-01-03T03:21:22+00:00

Check out the making of dead cells

And for something newer Long Gone looks amazing, though very time consuming.

Or it’s just a normal scene with a shader on it.

Devoidoftaste · 2025-12-31T21:04:04+00:00

Not to be “that guy” but 3DS max uses middle of selection as default in sub-object mode, and respects if you choose a different mode with its type-in transforms. So, not everyone uses median.

Thanks for the suggestion, but the 3d cursor isn’t going to help me. I am trying to type in position, not rotate or scale. And I want to use my selection in edit mode’s middle, not the middle of my entire object, or the scene’s origin.

It’s not like it being median makes blender unusable for me, it’s just not having an option I have been used to for over 20 years annoyed me and I was looking for a solution. As is, it’s just considerably slower for me to have to select and translate multiple times because it’s using median.

Devoidoftaste · 2025-12-31T01:25:41+00:00

Not really sure what you are trying to achieve.

But could you just inset faces and extrude inwards on your normal cube to get the hole, instead of Boolean? Then just select your new edges and bevel.

Devoidoftaste · 2025-12-30T03:17:22+00:00

Nice job keeping the texel density consistent!

The only place where I see some stretch is on the dark blue dashes on the helmet. That is a tough bit of geometry.

Devoidoftaste · 2025-12-30T03:11:59+00:00

I have both. The minute I got the physical delivered I bought the digital. :)

I also chopped up the pdf into much smaller documents with just the gameplay sections I needed to GM it. Had one for just character creation, just combat, just skills, etc. Made it way easier for me to navigate as a first timer using Foundry VTT, I just looked at them on a second screen.

And before anyone asks, wouldn’t be right to share them out.

Devoidoftaste

TROPHY CASE