Why Do Cover Artists Not Contribute Any Interior Art?

[James Jacobs]

As Erik said, cover artists are more expensive. Also, working on covers takes a lot more time than interiors, since covers have to be a LOT more detailed. Since they're more expensive and take more time to create, that creates a perfect storm of reasons NOT to have those authors do interior illustrations, since those illustrations can be PLENTIFUL and thus cheaper is better and faster is better.

 

[Klaus]

As Erik said, cover artists are more expensive. Also, working on covers takes a lot more time than interiors, since covers have to be a LOT more detailed. Since they're more expensive and take more time to create, that creates a perfect storm of reasons NOT to have those authors do interior illustrations, since those illustrations can be PLENTIFUL and thus cheaper is better and faster is better.

Yes, but the real question was if "cover" artists get paid more for interior artwork than a purely "interior" artist.

For instance, if you paid Todd Lockwood to do an vignetter picture of a dragon for a MM-style book, would he get paid more than a journeyman artist? That's what Olaf wanted to know.

 

[Janx]

I don't have that interpretation of what the OP is asking, it seems he just questioning the general situation.

I think a closer question would be:
would Todd Lockwood get paid more to do a cover, or an interior piece (assuming illustration, not a cover worthy painting like the 2ePH had a few of)

I suspect the price for a cover art is higher than what an illustration pays. There's size differences and expectations of "level". Publishers/art directors would know that answer.

that said, as I mentioned about the 2E core books, they used a number of full-color "cover worthy" Elmore paintings as full page illustrations. Those must have cost more than the simpler illustrations they had elsewhere in the book, unless they owned the rights on the elmore pieces and could bypass some traditional costs.

 

[Morrus]

Yes, but the real question was if "cover" artists get paid more for interior artwork than a purely "interior" artist.

For instance, if you paid Todd Lockwood to do an vignetter picture of a dragon for a MM-style book, would he get paid more than a journeyman artist? That's what Olaf wanted to know.

I guess the answer is yes if the publisher in question believes his name will add value to the product (or if the artist in question is notably more talented than others being considered).

It always comes down to a value for money equation - especially in our industry where, frankly, there isn't much money.

Plus, of course, some artists will simply charge more. Todd Lockwood charges more than Claudio, for example. It depends how much they charge and what difference the publisher thinks that'll make to sales.

It's kinda akin to casting a known or unknown actor in a TV show (although it's amplified massively in TV since actors are more recognisable to the public than artists are).

 

[TheAuldGrump]

3. Not all RPG art is original. Many publishers, even the bigger ones, buy rights to use pieces of art. The front cover may be a rental from a well-established artist, while the interior may be filled with stock art and small commissions. Either the cover or the interior art may be original or re-used.

Not just RPG covers - and at least one cover (Old Nathan from Baen) reused a cover from Dragon Magazine - reversing the trend.

The Auld Grump

 

[Erik Mona]

It comes down to cost, both real (in the case of the publisher) and opportunity (in the case of the artist).

Since you brought up Todd Lockwood, I'll use him as an example.

Paizo's current pay rate for covers starts at about $1200 and goes up based on the "asking price" of a given artist. Because Todd Lockwood is so experienced, such a great artist, and has more art opportunities than he has time to paint, he is not available at Paizo's regular (or even high) cover rate. We can't afford him. Nor can we afford Brom or Tony DiTerlizzi, both of whom have achieved a fair amount of fame and success and are no longer doing much in our industry.

Add in the fact that most RPG cover art is contracted on an all-rights "work for hire" basis (which means the publisher owns the painting and severely limits the artist's ability to reprint or make any additional money off the work short of selling the original), and you're adding a stipulation that many artists just don't want to deal with when they have the option of more lucrative art that they own outright.

So, let's say we could somehow convince Todd Lockwood to work under his pay rate for the fraction of the rights he is used to retaining. And it's worth noting that for most artists, they're willing to do anything if the price is right, so something like this isn't out of the question if I'm willing to bust the bank and sacrifice profit margin for the right cover artist. So Todd's on the (very expensive) cover. Huzzah!

Think he wants to do any interiors? Paizo pays about $600 per full page of color art, with a half-pager getting $300 and so on down. This rate is better than most companies in the industry, but Wizards of the Coast pays a bit more. Many artists will tell you that a full-page illustration takes the same amount of time as a cover. So you do the math. Is it better for the artist to take another $1500+ cover assignment (for which he will probably retain all rights) or do my interior piece for less than half the amount of money?

After a certain point, artists start viewing themselves as "cover" artists, so they may turn down interior work on principle. Sure, you can get them to do interiors, but it's going to cost a LOT more than it will to get another artist to do it, and we're back to sacrificing profit margin. And again, if they're really good, they have other publishers knocking on their door with more lucrative work. Hell, if they're someone like Wayne Reynolds, they're probably moving on to another Paizo cover immediately after they finish the one just before it, so putting him on interiors robs me of the ability to use him on the cover of the next big release.

So, in summary, as I said before: They expensif.

--Erik

 

[pawsplay]

Not just RPG covers - and at least one cover (Old Nathan from Baen) reused a cover from Dragon Magazine - reversing the trend.

The Auld Grump

I still remember my befuddlement as a young teenager seeing the original GURPS Fantasy demon-pentagram cover on a boxed Ultima computer game.