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<blockquote data-quote="Dias Ex Machina" data-source="post: 4499452" data-attributes="member: 58907"><p>Time to give credit where credit’s due. Although I have talked artwork before, I don’t think I have personally done it justice...so here I go, without a net.</p><p></p><p>When Amethyst was in its infancy, I went searching around for inspiration. Online artwork was a good place to start. I toured through GFX, Deviant art, Epilogue. During my surfing, I came across dozens of artists that reflected what I was looking for. At first, I used them for personal use only for my gaming group. As I moved the game online, I sought permission from these artists to use their work with Amethyst (it was free at this point). It is funny to note several of these talents have gone on to much bigger things. Some of them were already big. Let me start by saying these artists know perfectly well people download their images and are using them in ways where the artist should receive some compensation or at least permission. So when I contacted these artists with requests to use their artwork for a free RPG, you would be surprised how many said yes. Not only that, they were appreciative by simply being asked. Just ask and most will say yes. In fact, in the five years I have been following online artwork and getting permission to use artwork for these free projects, only two have said no. One was some Hollywood matte painter. You might think, “Of course, that person would say no,” but you’d be wrong. I had two other matte painters that said yes.</p><p></p><p>The first contacted was William Campbell of Spinefinger designs. William was one of those artists that inspired concepts that didn’t exist until I saw his work. Art fell into two categories: Art that I was looking to represent something specific or art that inspires something that didn’t yet exist. Often times, the idea that comes from the piece doesn’t resemble anything like the concept I explore, while other times they are creepingly similar. I did this for months, acquiring hundreds of images, many of which I abandon as my tastes narrowed and matured. I even got permission to use some terragen images by a talented artist who name escapes me now. Many of these moved on as I shifted from digital renders and moved towards digital paintings. William is now working for Kaos studies, recent publisher of Frontlines: Fuels of War. The second artist I contact was Jaime Jones, a young and talented painter with some astonishing work. He also said yes and expressed an interest in the setting, even to the point of doing free work for it (that never ended paying off but funny story on that one). Katherine Dinger was another artist I also got permission from in the early days. Jaime Jones would get a job working for Arenanet with Guild Wars and Katherine Dinger became a principle artist on George RR Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire RPG and CCG, also being featured in Midnight. Fredrick Ramqvist (Magic: The Gathering), John Wallin (Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay and Gears of War), and Christopher Vacher (a gaggle of Disney films—yeah, a matter painter; I told you) all allowed me to use their personal work for free. Other fantastic names followed like Gary Tonge, Seung Ho Henrik, Roman Kochnev, Hampus Gimfalk, and Andy Simmons. Fairly soon, I moved the game online as a free RPG and began seeking out even more artwork, but this time, art that fit and flowed with the others. Gone would be the renders, replaced with a more classic style that didn’t jar with the others. Dinger and Jones, Gimfalk and Kochnev all were kept around. This time, mere months before going online with the 2nd edition free Amethyst, I had acquired Derek Herring, Marek 'Prasa' Hlavaty, Martin Bland, and a gentleman by the name of Nick Greenwood.</p><p></p><p>As mentioned previously, this second edition never saw the light of day. It was abandoned and I threw down a challenge to my friends in creating a legit version of Amethyst that could be published, albeit on the internet. We needed art and we couldn’t use a single piece we had acquired because all of those were dependant on use not making money. I could buy the rights to them, but I felt it would be stronger to ask these supporting artists for original work. What better way to reward someone support like coming back and commissioning them with money...real money. Obviously, the first people I contact were the first that said yes: William Campbell, Katherine Dinger, and Jaime Jones. A second round went out to Derek Herring, Andy Simmons, Marek Hlavaty, and Nick Greenwood. Being a fan of other artists that didn’t respond to my requests, I did so anyway and mailed out inquiries to Keith Thompson and Jason Engle. Because of Campbell’s obligation to Fuels of War, he was too busy, as was Herring and Hlavaty. Jones still wanted to be part of the project despite his full time job but could only finish four pieces. Dinger would throw down with 8. Our biggest issue at this point was format. We originally tried to justify only a handful of color images, including a cover. Jones got the cover, which he dove into with both feet…and promptly vanished into for four months. Apparently, artists like cutting to the last second before delivering. Give an artist six months and he’ll go on vacation for five. Better to give goals like “three by this week” then repeat every week thereafter.</p><p></p><p>Either way, Jones didn’t want to do Black and White and we knew the majority of the book would be. Because color cost so much more, we needed to find a B+W artist. Alas, all the artists I had acquired only do color and I had to real fight to find one that would take the cut in commission. On our end, Black & White represented a classic time of RPGs. We don’t need color. Have we all been spoiled? Yes…and I was cheap. Well, not cheap. I simply didn’t have the money for dozens of color images. When Keith Thompson expressed interest, we were overjoyed…then we saw his rates and gloom began to set in. I’m not kidding folks, his B+W was twice as much as Jones’s color. We accepted we may only have five or six images for the 3.5 Amethyst.</p><p></p><p>God bless Nick Greenwood.</p><p></p><p>End part 1</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dias Ex Machina, post: 4499452, member: 58907"] Time to give credit where credit’s due. Although I have talked artwork before, I don’t think I have personally done it justice...so here I go, without a net. When Amethyst was in its infancy, I went searching around for inspiration. Online artwork was a good place to start. I toured through GFX, Deviant art, Epilogue. During my surfing, I came across dozens of artists that reflected what I was looking for. At first, I used them for personal use only for my gaming group. As I moved the game online, I sought permission from these artists to use their work with Amethyst (it was free at this point). It is funny to note several of these talents have gone on to much bigger things. Some of them were already big. Let me start by saying these artists know perfectly well people download their images and are using them in ways where the artist should receive some compensation or at least permission. So when I contacted these artists with requests to use their artwork for a free RPG, you would be surprised how many said yes. Not only that, they were appreciative by simply being asked. Just ask and most will say yes. In fact, in the five years I have been following online artwork and getting permission to use artwork for these free projects, only two have said no. One was some Hollywood matte painter. You might think, “Of course, that person would say no,” but you’d be wrong. I had two other matte painters that said yes. The first contacted was William Campbell of Spinefinger designs. William was one of those artists that inspired concepts that didn’t exist until I saw his work. Art fell into two categories: Art that I was looking to represent something specific or art that inspires something that didn’t yet exist. Often times, the idea that comes from the piece doesn’t resemble anything like the concept I explore, while other times they are creepingly similar. I did this for months, acquiring hundreds of images, many of which I abandon as my tastes narrowed and matured. I even got permission to use some terragen images by a talented artist who name escapes me now. Many of these moved on as I shifted from digital renders and moved towards digital paintings. William is now working for Kaos studies, recent publisher of Frontlines: Fuels of War. The second artist I contact was Jaime Jones, a young and talented painter with some astonishing work. He also said yes and expressed an interest in the setting, even to the point of doing free work for it (that never ended paying off but funny story on that one). Katherine Dinger was another artist I also got permission from in the early days. Jaime Jones would get a job working for Arenanet with Guild Wars and Katherine Dinger became a principle artist on George RR Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire RPG and CCG, also being featured in Midnight. Fredrick Ramqvist (Magic: The Gathering), John Wallin (Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay and Gears of War), and Christopher Vacher (a gaggle of Disney films—yeah, a matter painter; I told you) all allowed me to use their personal work for free. Other fantastic names followed like Gary Tonge, Seung Ho Henrik, Roman Kochnev, Hampus Gimfalk, and Andy Simmons. Fairly soon, I moved the game online as a free RPG and began seeking out even more artwork, but this time, art that fit and flowed with the others. Gone would be the renders, replaced with a more classic style that didn’t jar with the others. Dinger and Jones, Gimfalk and Kochnev all were kept around. This time, mere months before going online with the 2nd edition free Amethyst, I had acquired Derek Herring, Marek 'Prasa' Hlavaty, Martin Bland, and a gentleman by the name of Nick Greenwood. As mentioned previously, this second edition never saw the light of day. It was abandoned and I threw down a challenge to my friends in creating a legit version of Amethyst that could be published, albeit on the internet. We needed art and we couldn’t use a single piece we had acquired because all of those were dependant on use not making money. I could buy the rights to them, but I felt it would be stronger to ask these supporting artists for original work. What better way to reward someone support like coming back and commissioning them with money...real money. Obviously, the first people I contact were the first that said yes: William Campbell, Katherine Dinger, and Jaime Jones. A second round went out to Derek Herring, Andy Simmons, Marek Hlavaty, and Nick Greenwood. Being a fan of other artists that didn’t respond to my requests, I did so anyway and mailed out inquiries to Keith Thompson and Jason Engle. Because of Campbell’s obligation to Fuels of War, he was too busy, as was Herring and Hlavaty. Jones still wanted to be part of the project despite his full time job but could only finish four pieces. Dinger would throw down with 8. Our biggest issue at this point was format. We originally tried to justify only a handful of color images, including a cover. Jones got the cover, which he dove into with both feet…and promptly vanished into for four months. Apparently, artists like cutting to the last second before delivering. Give an artist six months and he’ll go on vacation for five. Better to give goals like “three by this week” then repeat every week thereafter. Either way, Jones didn’t want to do Black and White and we knew the majority of the book would be. Because color cost so much more, we needed to find a B+W artist. Alas, all the artists I had acquired only do color and I had to real fight to find one that would take the cut in commission. On our end, Black & White represented a classic time of RPGs. We don’t need color. Have we all been spoiled? Yes…and I was cheap. Well, not cheap. I simply didn’t have the money for dozens of color images. When Keith Thompson expressed interest, we were overjoyed…then we saw his rates and gloom began to set in. I’m not kidding folks, his B+W was twice as much as Jones’s color. We accepted we may only have five or six images for the 3.5 Amethyst. God bless Nick Greenwood. End part 1 [/QUOTE]
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