How can someone afford art for a card game when they can't draw themselves?
I'm currently working on a card game, and one of the biggest challenges I've run into is the artwork.
There are a lot of cards in the game, and hiring an artist to illustrate all of them would be very expensive. My budget is already quite limited, especially since this is an independent project and I don't know whether the game will succeed or ever make enough money to cover its costs.
Unfortunately, I'm not an artist myself, and I don't have the skills to create the kind of artwork I'd like my game to have.
So I'd like to ask people who have faced a similar problem: How do you find affordable art for a card game when you can't draw and can't afford to commission an artist for every card?
Are there ways to work with beginner artists, collaborate with other creators, find artists who are interested in smaller projects, or use other alternatives that don't require a huge budget?
I understand that artists deserve to be paid fairly for their work, and I'm not expecting someone to illustrate hundreds of cards for next to nothing. I'm just trying to figure out what options exist for someone starting with limited resources.
I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who has managed to overcome this problem or has advice on how to approach it.
Thanks!