So, recently, I've been contacted by an artist or two wanting to work with me on a game. The first guy had to drop me because of other projects, but I was okay with that. The second contacted me through newgrounds. Now, naturally I wanted to see a portfolio or something so I looked through his submissions. They weren't bad really. But I wanted to check on something. I asked to see if he could send me something from his sketches, real life stuff. At first he didn't know what I was talking about, but after I made it clear, he said he'd try even though I was feeling that they didn't look good. (even though I assured him that it would look better then mine) That was a week ago. I sent him a pm just now but I don't think I'll get an answer back.
So, my question here, is, why? If I have the good fortune of being contacted by another artist wanting to work with me, I would very much like the best argument that I can make for it without sounding like a total d-*. The reasoning I'm currently going with is one that I've been told before: I want to see if you have the fundamentals down. Is that being too rude or something? What else should I ask look for? Does it matter if it's paid/unpaid? Shouldn't right?
Edit: Oh hey, I got a pm back!