Sourcing 2d top-down art

Kilgore__Trout

Hello,

I'm working on my first game (for PC) and looking for some advice on where to source top-down 2d art. As is the case for most first-time game developers, I'm quite limited in terms of resources.

I've done most of the GUI design myself, but my artistic ability is too under-developed (i.e. non-existent) to go any further. The assets I need include character sprite sheets, splash screen, icons for equipment, a few scenes to push the story on, and a trailer. You'll have to pardon my ignorance, but would this fall within the remit of a graphics designer/digital media, or would I be better off looking through the likes of deviant art to find a good candidate?

Can anyone here share their experiences of sourcing game art: how they went about it, a basic idea of cost (I'm aware this is a "how long is a piece of string" style question)

Thanks!

Kilgore__Trout

Thanks for suggestion. I agree with you that free art resources aren't a good call. The chances of finding something vaguely in line with what you want is slim.

I had a go at making my own graphics, but I haven't drawn since about the tender age of 10, and everything ended up looking amateurish at best, horrible at worst. I'd also agree that any discipline can be learned given enough time, and in principle I like the idea of doing everything yourself, but in this case I think it wouldn't be practical. What i suspect would happen is that even after a few months, my ability would be less than inexpensive freelancers. In the mean-time, I would have lost that time in pushing the game forward, and learning in the core area of design and development.

Probably viable for someone that already has some interest/ability in art, but I don't think it's going to work for me.