[Hiring] Illustrator for Satirical Children's Book
Hello,
I'm looking for an illustrator to do an entire children's book. This book is satirical in nature, reference any book by Mark Thunder for an idea on what a satirical children's book is. While the premise is intentionally absurd, I'm looking for someone who will treat the illustrations with the same care as a traditional children's book.
Style
The style of the book should be fantastical and bright. The story will revolve around a gnome at his cottage so a mash between the style of the covers of the Magora books and Berenstain Bears is what I'm envisioning. I'm not an artist though and of course will take into consideration your own style. This is just my vision.
Scope
The project will be for the entire book, which is right now:
- Book Cover
- 1 spot illustration
- 24 full pages
- 2 full spreads
Note that I'm not including type setting as I can do that myself and don't want to exclude any good artists if they have no interest. If you are also able to do the typesetting that would be wonderful and we can come to a separate payment agreement for that.
Content
I know this is Reddit, so I imagine I'll lose many of you here. The overall content of this book will be a pro 2A, lightly anti-government, "conservative good liberal bad" joke. If that's not your thing it's cool, this is meant to be in good fun. If you are uncomfortable with this content for any reason that's totally fine, this project might not be for you. I'm putting this here just so we don't waste anyone's time; mine or yours.
The protagonist is Tanner, a calm, stoic garden gnome living peacefully in his cottage. Much of the humor comes from his reactions to increasingly ridiculous situations, so expressive character acting is more important than elaborate scenery. Some scenic jokes will also be required however.
Budget
Given the scope of this project, I expect it to be in the ball park of $3000 - $4000 all said and done. This includes the full scope, minus typesetting, and 2 rounds of revisions per illustration phase (rough sketches and final color).
Timeline
Flexible. I'd rather find the right artist than rush the project. Also if you're in the middle of other projects I'm okay with you working on them at the same time as mine. We can discuss deliverables when we get there.
Hiring
What will happen is I'd like any one interested to share their work in the comments. From there I'll reach out if I see something I like and commission a character sheet for the main character as well as 1 sketch of a page from the story board. This commission will be paid at $100-$150 and will not come out of the budget. This is to ensure that even if you're not chosen you get paid for your time. I think that's fair.
The ideal artist isn't necessarily the most technically skilled. I'm looking for someone who enjoys visual comedy, expressive characters, and collaborative storytelling. If Tanner, or the content in general, makes you smile, we'll probably work well together.
Ownership
The final commissioned artwork will be work-for-hire, with all commercial publishing rights transferring to me upon final payment. You'll of course be welcome to display the work in your portfolio.
Final Words
I'm reaching out this way because I would like to support real artists in the community. Using AI for ideating is fine but I expect the submitted sketches and final products to be done entirely by human hands. You can work with other people, I don't care, so long as it's all original. I hope this has been thorough enough for you to make a decision and I look forward to hearing from all those interested.
Have a good day!
EDIT:
I was not expecting so many talented people to respond so quickly. Please given me a few days to go through all the submissions and reach out to people. As it will be impossible for me to respond to every one I'll update this post again when the short list has been determined.
Final Edit:
Hello Everyone,
Thank you so much for everyone who applied. At this point the talent pool is so large I'll not be taking any more applications. The short list has more or less been finalized so for those of you I have contacted, I look forward to working with you. For everyone else, while we won't be working together this time I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.