Be Excellent To Each Other

My friend has written a children's book which she intends to initially publish herself on a small scale.

Funds are limited and she needs 20 small drawings and a front and back cover. She has been quoted £1,500 for this work.

Is this reasonable? Does anyone know of an artist who could do it cheaper? All advice or help would be gratefully received. Thank you.

Below is an example that the artist sent to her.

The look of pure lust in that boy's eyes!

What the hell kind of book is your friend writing?



£1,500 seems a bit much for 20 illustrations of that quality, but then I've never purchased any commercially.

I'll do them for less.

PM me if interested.

This is my friend's site:

http://www.mikeys-murals.co.uk/

He's a children's illustrator, no idea what he'd charge but I know he's always looking for work. I'll be seeing him later if there's any message you want me to pass on.

£75 quid is a reasonable amount for commissioned work, btw.

Shit yeah, soz mate I immediately thought of Gibbie with the children's book thing.

Per image, right? not for 20.

Duh, yeah.

Well, £75 buys a lot up North.

No worries.

Cunt.

Any news on that NHS cash?

Yes. Your mum. 75 times.

Christ, she's chiselling you, mate.

Nemmie - sorry.

I'll try again mate. I just get put off every time I ask about it.

Couldn't you just pay Richard Blackwood to act out the scenes, then you photograph him and apply a Photoshop line drawing filter?

How could that fail?

Actually forget Blackwood, get Dimrill to do it!

Sounds more than reasonable to me. Most of the illustrators I know would charge more than that.

Ultimately, you get what you pay for, and quotes have to take into account amendments. Bear in mind that although £1500 sounds like a lot, it's under 70 quid per image (two of which are covers, which take longer).

That all said, I'm not terribly keen on the attached illo. The figures don't look bad, but there's some oddness/inconsistency regarding line and shadow, and the 'sandcastle' is hideous. Some of the colouring's pretty bleh, too.

I really don't like that attached image. It's creepy.

It looks like the artwork for some shit kids educational game from 1994. You know, when art software first got gradient fills so everyone went overboard with the skies, grass, etc.

Yeah I was not overly keen on it either.

Thanks for the advice. I really no idea about pricing and I will pass this information on to her and send the necessary PM.

You want illustrations?

download/file.php?id=1363&mode=view

In fact, you want a theme for a children's book?

lol love the manbag.

Manbag?

That's no way to talk about Craster.

I'd definitely but a Dimrill & Craster children's book. Not for my own kids, but for a child I disliked and wanted to give nightmares to, or to an orphan in some sort of psychological experiment to see if I could turn them into a psychopath.

I think "Craster and Dimrill on the Bus" could teach kids a lot about the world around them. A series of 8-10 illustrated novellas, perhaps.

At the very least, an occasional 3 panel comic strip to go on the beex site wouldn't go amiss.

The Craster on the bus goes...

The Craster on the bus consorts with members of the mustelidae genus, hmm hmm hmm...

You ride the short bus.

Coming soon to own on DVD: Craster and Dimrill on the Bus.

Join Craster and Dimrill as they tour the country, making new friends and meeting up with old ones.

Rated 18 for scenes of badger rape and stories about poo.

Bangbus?

*Keeps very quiet about the Craster and Chris cartoons.*

*Remembers Craster has already posted some*

*deletes post*

Woah. The what? I missed this...

Post please