Commissioning Star Trek Art Work

[CeJay]

Hi guys,

For a while now I've been playing with the idea to look into the possibility of commissioning some artwork for one or two of my fan-fiction series based on Trek.

As I'm not a big fan of photo-manipulations, it would have to be completely original artwork.

I was thinking along the lines of images for each individual character and possibly a group shot of all characters.

I'm not quite sure which format I would like to go with. I've used a comic-book look for one character which was based on a previous image created for a different purpose. The artist kindly allowed me to change it slightly and use it for my cover art. http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=59706

I would either like to go with a similar cartoon-ish look or go with a Poser look which I think looks amazing when done right. It also looks like a lot of work and might be too much for my budget.

Basically I'm looking for suggestions, ideas and also what kind of prices I'd be looking at. If this is not the right place to ask these questions, any pointers in the right direction would be appreciated.

 

[Shawnster]

There are many talented individuals here. The artwork is the main reason I joined this board. You may be able to find some that will do it out of the love of their heart and others whose prices may vary widely.

There is a lot of time involved but I'm sure the results will be well worth it.

Check your PM, please.

 

[SLWalker]

You know, you could always ask me. ;-) At least to within reason. I mean sure, I'm no pro, but I'm definite good at cartooning/comic-book style.

 

[Ptrope]

If this is not the right place to ask these questions, any pointers in the right direction would be appreciated.

If you're looking to hire artists, then this is not the right place to ask; the board rules prohibit soliciting. If you're just looking for fellow fan participation in a project, then we're a bit more understanding .

 

[CeJay]

If that's the case then I guess I'm just looking for input and suggestions for now.

For example Poser vs. pen & pencil style or other formats. That's one of the main issues I'm considering. I've noticed that this forum specializes on starships and technical artwork. But what would work best for creating character images?

Also, if I wanted to commission an artist, any ideas of where I should go?

 

[Ptrope]

If you're a facile artist, especially with people, I'd recommend hand-drawn art, either with pen/pencil/marker/etc. or using a digital tablet with a decent paint program. Poser (my particular weapon of choice, usually) is a great tool in the right hands, as you've probably seen, but it depends upon either a large library of specific 3D content, or a lot of postwork in order to get specific costumes, scenery, etc., and you're back to digital drawing/painting at that point. You could always try it out for free - DAZ 3D makes a free program similar to Poser called DAZ|Studio, which can be further improved with purchased plug-ins but is pretty capable out of the box, and there's a lot of free content, including the base figures that are most commonly used by Poser addicts (like me! ). One can even use Poser or DAZ|Studio to lay out one's characters and scenes, and then render basic images that can be further developed as fully-detailed scenes either by tracing them or painting over them.

Having aspired for awhile to create a Poser-rendered comic, I've come to the painful conclusion that unless you have a render farm and a lot of disposable time, it's really not a cost-effective way to create a comic on anything resembling a regular basis. Drawing is a lot more flexible, and often the results have a lot more life to them than the Poser images; it takes an inordinate amount of time - although it is possible - to create a really superb image using Poser or D|S, and anything less usually looks half-baked (at least to me).