Posted May 31, 2025 by Meiri
I recently closed my CG artists form, where I looked for artists to illustrate Doce Fim’s CGs for its upcoming demo.
The form had two types - one for USD currency artists, and another for BRL currency artists. In total, the forms had 120 responses, the vast majority of them from the USD version.
I thought it would be helpful for others devs to know how this process went, so I wrote down a bit of what it was like and how our evaluation process went.
I’ll share our evaluation criteria here. Overall, we didn’t encounter any ‘bad’ artists. The final decisions mostly came down to how well the artist’s style aligned with the game’s existing assets, and, most importantly, whether we could reasonably afford to work with them.
Here’s a breakdown of what I considered:
- Art Style Cohesiveness
We asked: Does this artist’s style mesh well with our current graphical assets?
The key here was visual consistency. Would players notice a jarring difference between character sprites and other art assets? We had to rule out some very talented artists simply because their styles (e.g., cell-shaded, semi-realistic, or highly “moe” aesthetics) didn’t align with the overall visual direction of the game.
- Artistic Skill and Technique
This was evaluated by my art director. We looked at the artist’s grasp of fundamentals: anatomy, lighting, shading, composition, and background work. We also assessed their strengths and weaknesses. Would they require additional support in certain areas, and if so, would it be worth the extra time and budget to provide that help?
- Budget Compatibility
We cross-checked the pricing provided in the form with our allocated budget. Could we reasonably stretch our budget to pay the artist fairly? I did not want to underpay anyone. If the pricing wasn’t feasible, even for someone whose art we loved, I had to regretfully move on.
- Professionalism
We assessed how each artist presented themselves through their application and past interactions with project leads or clients. Were they clear and respectful in their communication? Did they take the application seriously? This gave us insight into how they might approach collaborative work on a long-term project.
- Attention to Detail and Instruction-Following
I included specific directions in the form to gauge whether the artist could carefully read and follow instructions. Some applicants accidentally answered “no” to critical questions or clearly skimmed parts of the form.
This may sound minor, but from past experience, I know how much misunderstanding instructions and skimming through directions can lead to project delays, miscommunication, and unnecessary frustration.
- Communication Skills
We evaluated this through their form responses, how they responded to follow-up messages, and feedback from previous clients and collaborators (especially in game jams and smaller projects). Being upfront about potential delays or boundaries was seen as a big plus.
- Availability and Scheduling Compatibility
We also had to factor in the artist’s availability. Were they currently overbooked? Did their timeline align with our production schedule? A talented artist might still not be the right fit if they wouldn’t be able to deliver when we needed them to.
- Past Experience with Games (Optional but Valuable)
This wasn’t required, but artists with prior experience working on games, especially visual novels, are often more familiar with the pacing, layout, and nature of game art. It also meant they usually had a better grasp on what kinds of assets are needed and how their art will be implemented.
In past projects with artists who weren’t familiar with VNs, I had to explain what a sprite and a CG is, for example. This required me to make documents explaining the terminology and how these images needed to be set up, getting examples from other games, and answering questions back and forth. So, it’s a big plus if we can just get to work on the assets.
Having past work experiences with VNs in particular also meant I could ask past project leads on how it was like to work with the artist in question.
This one’s a bit hard to quantify, but it mattered. Sometimes, something just feels off, even when everything looks good on paper. My art director and I would check in with each other when that happened to make sure it wasn’t just personal bias. And in several cases, we both independently felt the same unease.
The vibe-ometer went off.
Now that that’s done with, I want to talk about why I made a form instead of reaching out individually like I have done in the past.
There are a few key reasons:
My Discord DMs (the #1 method of communication with artists according to the form itself) are a horrid mess of past jam collaborators, friends, and random contacts. I just knew I would lose track of who’s who, who had a cool budget estimate or not, and so on.
I’m shy. When I first contacted Doce Fim’s sprite artist, I almost threw up in nervousness, and it took ages for me to build up the courage to do so. The form helped break through the initial communication barrier. If you’re shy like me, perhaps this could help alleviate your worries.
It was easy to set up and view at any time. Seriously, having everything in one place helped so much. I didn’t have to go digging through my DMs or e-mails to find this or that person. I highly recommend making a form if that’s something you struggle with.
In the end, the form helped streamline the process, standardize submissions, and make evaluations fairer. And as a bonus, I didn’t get an anxiety attack even once!
As for what the form included, here are the questions I wrote for it:
My games are character-driven and focus on the psychological, offering emotional stories inspired by real experiences.
For the demo, I’m looking for 4 CGs with simple backgrounds. I want the focus to be on the characters instead of the backgrounds. The full game is estimated to have about 20 CGs with similar complexity, possibly more depending on how crowdfunding goes.
I want to hear what YOUR pricing for the demo’s workload is. I’m working with an extremely indie budget, but I want to pay artists what they’re worth.
Be aware that since I’m still in the budgeting phase for the CGs and attempting to get funding, it may take a little while for us to close a deal and begin production. I’m currently jobless and relying on itchio payouts for this project, so I appreciate your patience.”
I’m not looking for a style copy, but I would prefer if the CGs and sprites don’t have too much of a striking difference in quality and polish.
Looking for:
Not looking for:
(A screenshot of the game, showcasing its graphical style, was shown here.)
What’s your name, and what’s the best way to contact you? (Discord, e-mail…) (Another example of my sprite artist’s style was shown here.)
Have you worked on a visual novel before? (Yes/No)
Are you 18 years old or older? Although this game is SFW, it delves into sensitive themes such as mental health issues, and there are some suggestive scenes. (Yes/no)
Have you worked as a CG artist for a visual novel before? (Yes/no)
If you answered ‘yes’ to the above, what VNs did you work on?
Do you understand that this is a commercial project, and that your suggested pricing must consider commercial rights? (Yes/no)
Do you understand that is not a revshare/revenue sharing project? (No/Yes, I understand this project is not a revshare one.)
Do you have any social media where you post your artwork? Link it below. (This is to weed out possible art thieves or scammers. You don’t need to be extremely active, I just need to know if you’re a real person.)
Send in your portfolio link! If you’d like, link me what you consider to be your best work as well. If you’re sending a Google Drive link, please make sure your name is in there somewhere.
What are your commercial CG illustration rates? E.g $X for fullbody, $Y for bust-ups, +Z for each extra character…
Here is a list of the 4 CGs we need for the game’s full demo. I’m not looking for extremely detailed backgrounds. I’d rather the focus be on the characters. (A list of CGs went here) Please write down below your estimate for pricing for each illustration, in USD.
What’s your estimated time for delivery of all 4 CGs? E.g 2-3 months
What inspires your art? **
Anything else you’d like to say?**
The yes or no questions really got a few folks, from what I saw. You could tell when they were just skimming through to get to the end or didn’t read through the initial introduction.
And the the last question was what helped me see who REALLY read the form properly.
There were submitters who asked if this was my first VN (I linked my past projects and introduced myself as an experienced dev from the start), what the game currently looked like (when there was a screenshot and examples of my sprite artist’s style through the form), if it was NSFW, and so on and so forth.
This didn’t automatically eliminate anyone, of course. I still gave the benefit of doubt if the style was compatible and the prices were in our budget. But as someone who knows what happens when a collaborator struggles with reading instructions properly, I did put a lot of weight into it.
I appreciated folks who asked their own questions at that last bit as well. Interest in the production schedule for organization purposes was neat to see.
I would also like to highlight the ‘what inspires your art’ question. This was not an eliminatory question, just something my art director and I found interesting to insert in the form. It was fascinating to read where peoples’ art journey started and what drives them to create. It also helped a lot with the vibe check.
Oh, and I did get two or three art scammers/thieves. There was one genAI user and I think two obvious art thieves. This is why I asked for socials.
The form’s responses, which I inserted in a spreadsheet, were reviewed by me and my art director. I would do an initial evaluation, crossing off those who had impossible pricing estimates or incompatible styles, and then ask her for her opinion on the remaining artists.
This was helpful, as she caught things like bad anatomy practices or who struggled with composition, and issues with portfolios such as jarring differences in skill from artwork to artwork, which I wouldn’t have caught by myself.
Here’s a screenshot of how I set up the spreadsheet’s evaluation part.
“Nevi’s Check” is my art director’s opinion. On ‘notes’ I wrote down my thoughts and our final evaluation.
After our initial evaluations, we determined whether it made sense to move forward with a paid style test for certain candidates. In total, we requested style tests from five different artists.
These tests weren’t just about assessing artistic skill. We also used them to gauge communication, the ability to follow instructions, timeliness, and overall professionalism.
Each artist who completed the test was a pleasure to work with. There were no issues, and everyone handled the process with clarity and respect. That alone reaffirmed that our form and selection process were doing their job well, as we were connecting with capable, communicative artists.
Our reasons for requesting a style test varied depending on the artist. In some cases, I simply wanted to see how our characters would look rendered in their style. For others, I needed to confirm their ability to deliver a full, polished illustration from start to finish.
And for a few, the test was less about the final image and more about evaluating how they engaged with me over their preferred communication method.
Personally, I would rather work with someone who has good art and good communication skills, rather than someone with the most amazing art in the world rivaling the greats… but absurdly terrible communication.
The style test phase helped us make confident, informed decisions while maintaining fairness in the process. It also gave us a glimpse into how working with each artist might feel on a longer-term basis.
There was one case where an artist gave me a extremely different price estimate for the test compared to their initial responses in the form. I can’t recall the exact pricing, but it was something like they said $50 for a bust up with commercial rights in the form, but when I actually asked for a test of similiar complexity with no commercial rights, they wanted $120. It set off alarm bells, to say the least, so this test did not happen.
With the artist selected, we will now begin production of the CGs for the demo.
My Patreon subscribers will get exclusive sneak peeks into the process, WIPs, and the final illustrations as they are delivered to me. I hope to be able to share them all with the public soon, and get the demo released this year!
Finally…
I want to sincerely thank everyone who took the time to apply. We were genuinely impressed by the range of talent, creativity, and passion on display. Even if you weren’t selected for this particular project, please know that it wasn’t a reflection of your skill or worth as an artist. In many cases, the decision came down to practical constraints like art style compatibility or budget limitations.
I strongly encourage anyone who applied to stay connected and consider submitting again for future projects. This definitely won’t be the last time we’re looking to collaborate with artists, and we’d love to keep talented people like you on our radar.