Three Things to Consider First
- Hiring me means hiring someone who’s going to give you a highly-detailed, custom painting. At this stage in my career, I’m not interested in doing quick sketches, cartoon drawings, anime characters, or simple line work. Those are all wonderful pieces of art, but for the most part, I’ve moved away from them. If you’re looking for cheap character art, I’m not your artist. That being said, what I will give you is my full attention.
- Because I am disabled, nothing about what I do is fast. Even as my skills improve, there are physical limitations to consider so I can’t whip out a cover in a day…not for anyone or any price. I’m just not capable of it without severe harm to my body. On average, a custom art piece takes me about 35 hours to complete, from sketch to finished product. This varies a bit depending upon the complexity of the scene.
- What I give you is an art piece made just for you and your project. When I paint something for myself, there is a strong likelihood that I can sell prints of it at conventions and art shows, but whatever I make for you may be customized in a way that the art is only useful for you, your book cover, or whatever project you have in mind. That means I am taking time out of my day where I could be painting something that continues to make me money in order to paint something that earns me a one-time payment. This is why I charge professional rates.
Bonus!
By hiring me, you’ll also be supporting someone who is disabled, nonbinary, queer, and neurodivergent.
What Custom Artwork Gets You
- CONTACT ME
- Let’s discuss your project and schedule a one-on-one meeting. Just reach out via the Contact Me button in the top right corner. Feel free to give me some information about your project. If it’s a book cover, include the genre, rough synopsis, timeline, etc. I do require a non-refundable deposit of 50%. Once we lock in a start date and sign the contract, I’ll invoice the deposit.
- ONE-ON-ONE MEETING
- We’ll meet via Zoom and chat about your project one-on-one. If it’s a book cover, we’ll discuss your vision and needs, what’s needed to fit your book’s themes and genre, and you’ll get feedback on ways to amplify or simplify your cover and its impact.
- FIRST PROOF
- The initial proof usually takes 4-5 days from the agreed upon start date and is usually a detailed sketch to make sure we’re moving in the right direction. If so, I’ll start the work in earnest.
- REVISIONS
- You can suggest changes or tweaks you want. Not looking like you want it to at all? We can go in a different direction too. This portion can take several days between revisions depending upon the complexity of the changes. I do limit the number of major revisions to four without incurring additional charges.
- FINAL PIECE
- Once any revisions are done, I’ll show you a lower-res proof of the final work. Assuming all is well, I’ll issue the final invoice (sans deposit). Once the invoice is paid, I’ll send the high resolution files you you and you’ll have your custom art piece.
Need Extras?
Extra bits I can offer for an additional charge:
- TYPOGRAPHY: Do you need a title or other lettering on your project? I can offer this for an additional charge for some projects. Let’s chat.
- TEMPLATES: Are you needing art for a book cover? Needing book cover templates for Ingram Spark, KDP, BookVault, Draft 2 Digital, Lulu, etc.? I can do these for you as well if you want for an additional charge. You will need to provide the templates for your project from your various distributors or sites.
- AUDIO BOOK COVER: Do you need your custom art piece rearranged/converted to fit the square audio book cover? For an additional charge, I will provide you with a high-resolution file perfect for audio books.
- WRAP-AROUND BOOK COVER: Do you need your custom artwork to wrap around the back and front of your book? I will gladly do this for an additional charge.