AuthorTopic: Pixelartist salary?  (Read 28921 times)

Offline hawken

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Re: Pixelartist salary?

Reply #20 on: September 20, 2006, 02:28:44 pm
pixelling for advertising earned me a whole wodge of cash. Seriously

I won't go into it but there is money to be made if you have the right head on the right shoulders.
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Offline Bo

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Re: Pixelartist salary?

Reply #21 on: September 23, 2006, 04:53:40 pm
I dont realy know. i only worked for pay once and i got 110 usd. could have finished the work in a single day if i wasnt so lazy :P

Offline Elk

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Re: Pixelartist salary?

Reply #22 on: September 24, 2006, 03:04:05 pm
advertising = THE job of artists o.o
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Offline Dogmeat

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Re: Pixelartist salary?

Reply #23 on: September 28, 2006, 11:42:41 pm
Back when I was actually decent I got about 35k a year in San Francisco, which is about half of what it takes to live here. One of the reasons why I went back to IT, pays more than double that.

On the other hand though, being a production artist or creative director is truly a joy and was one of the funnest jobs I ever had. One of the only jobs where it was still fun after 13 hours in 1 day :)
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Offline Aeon Vision

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Re: Pixelartist salary?

Reply #24 on: September 29, 2006, 05:58:41 pm
May i ask how long the freelance pixelers here pixel?
I hope to freelance a bit to some day, maybe when i'm done with school.

I'm sorry for not having those long posts like you guys make, i can't really talk that much about this subject.  :P

Offline AdamTierney

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Re: Pixelartist salary?

Reply #25 on: October 03, 2006, 04:34:24 pm
May i ask how long the freelance pixelers here pixel?
I hope to freelance a bit to some day, maybe when i'm done with school.

How long as in hours per day, how long we pixellled before getting work, or how long we pixel now that we have work? When I pixelled regularly for fun, I did it maybe 2 hours a day. I pixelled for about 12 or 18 months before getting my first paid gig. I made a living at it a year later and a year and a half after that I got my first salary gig. I rarely pixel for fun anymore, and most of my job is design/art direction so if I pixel at all it's usually cleaning up other peoples' animations and models. I usually do a fair bit of pixel modelling and animation on any freelance jobs I take on the side.

Just hang around here, participate in all the challenges and show your work constantly. The collective wealth of knowledge about the pixel arts is incredibly strong here.

Offline sir-knight

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Re: Pixelartist salary?

Reply #26 on: October 05, 2006, 05:12:07 pm
I am under the employ of a fairly medium sized (and quickly growing) mobile games company. Right now we emply 3 full time and 1 parttime graphic designer/illustrators. Our artist salary starts at $40k canadian with a full benefits package. From what I understand this is a bit of an anomaly in the graphics business; it definitely is for me, coming from TV animation.

Freelancing is not for the faint of heart. You really have to plan 12 months ahead and keep money set aside for things such as periods of unemployment. As an animator I faced this situation for the first and only time - 6 months of employment, 7 months off, 12 months on, and then I started at the game company. I was lucky enough to be hired out of animation school. But for those of you who don't have formal training, it might be a good idea to persue some.

My animation demo reel and illustration portfolio was heavily scrutinized when I was hired here, as well, the programmers appreciate the fact that I am able to communicate to them. One of the hurdles an artist has to become is being able to communicate with the developer. We don't speak the same professional language for the most part.  A few developers prefer working with me (the new guy) over the other 3 artists because they were all more traditional illustrators and designers. I came from a very technical position in animation, in addition to being able to draw and animate, I also have a some of technical knowledge in terms of how programming works.  Being able to understand even part of the development process will go a long way in this field, not only in finding the first job, but maintaining good working relations with those you work with.

Offline big brother

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Re: Pixelartist salary?

Reply #27 on: October 06, 2006, 04:01:18 am
It varies on the place, but for a staff position you're generally looking at something around 40k USD/year (entry) with some benefits (health, dental?). Although this isn't great pay, since pixel art is such a specific skill, if you're willing to relocate it's fairly easy to find work.

Most freelance jobs work around an hourly rate, which will be a higher number than if you did the division on the annual salary (taxes, private insurance, etc.). I'd say $30/hour is a fair freelance rate for pixel art.

Advertising is a solid route for an artist to make money, just be aware that it takes much more than a knowledge of art or graphic design.

P.S. Avoid Gameloft like the plague. Their 'system' results in an over 50% turnover (NYC office). To give you an idea, by the end of my 10 month employment, every artist that was there before me had quit (all but one within five months). They were giving out 1k bonuses if someone you recommended got hired, but none of us would wish that fate on an enemy, much less an acquaintance or a friend.  :)
(I think ripping art from other games, shrinking and digitizing photos, and working with art mis-direction got us depressed.)

« Last Edit: October 06, 2006, 04:20:59 am by big brother »

Offline Frychiko

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Re: Pixelartist salary?

Reply #28 on: October 06, 2006, 06:15:04 am
P.S. Avoid Gameloft like the plague. Their 'system' results in an over 50% turnover (NYC office). To give you an idea, by the end of my 10 month employment, every artist that was there before me had quit (all but one within five months). They were giving out 1k bonuses if someone you recommended got hired, but none of us would wish that fate on an enemy, much less an acquaintance or a friend.  :)
(I think ripping art from other games, shrinking and digitizing photos, and working with art mis-direction got us depressed.)

The times when I look for jobs, I can see their adverts plastered in every bloody forum available on the internet and even in places where it doesn't belong.
I knew someone who's working at Gameloft, NYC, but I wonder if she's still there...
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Offline sir-knight

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Re: Pixelartist salary?

Reply #29 on: October 06, 2006, 02:58:31 pm
our company steals gameloft employees  :D