Me working as a pixel artist

[wanderer123]

Hey so I am still a beginner to this but I've improved a lot. I was thinking that while I train, I can work as a super-cheap pixel artist (since I really need a job)- like under $10/hour. On Upwork I'll work for lik $7.50- but I'll make less because of the fees/taxes. Here are my recent original works (most based on a reference)

[eishiya]

Working for very low rates undermines other artists by setting clients' price expectations too low. A lot of clients aren't knowledgeable enough to tell what makes a better artist's time worth $20+/h, so when they see artists offering very low rates, it just makes the higher, fairer rates of more skilled artists look unreasonable.

How fast are you? You may actually be able to charge higher rates than you think, if you can work quickly, as many beginners can before the pickiness that comes with greater skill sets in. Most clients care about price-per-asset or price-per-frame rather than price-per-hour, and will often ask for quotes to that effect. It's entirely possible that you can provide competitive rates for that without setting your hourly rate so low.

Lastly, what country do you live in? You shouldn't be working below minimum wage, and you should make sure the money you earn justifies the time spent. I know it's tempting to think "some money is better than no money", but at a certain point, that approach does more harm than good. You may be able to make money using your other skills until you feel comfortable charging a fair rate for your pixel art.

[wanderer123]

Hey eishiya, that's a lot you've written there- thanks!! I don't know what to say about all that- I might need time to think about all that.

I just thought that I'd have better chances to work at a really low rate because I'm not a very good nor experienced pixel artist and I could get a higher chance of landing a job since I need one for even a little bit of money. It's just that, charging like $12 or more might be too high since I am not very good yet.

I've made that gun very quickly like 10-15 minutes for either animated or just the frame. The sword took a while to rework it to make it good like this. The character shooting his energy attack (Yusuke shooting his spirit gun) was pretty fast too. If my speed is in question, I could work by frame like you've told me.

[eishiya]

Getting work is more complicated than just your price, or even your quality:price ratio. The quality and breadth of your portfolio matters, your speed matters, your personality matters, your taste matters... And of course, there's a lot of luck involved.

Not only that, but the apparent value of your work vs. your price also matters - if you price your work too high or too low, that can give potential clients a bad impression. Prices that are too high make you look arrogant in addition to putting you out of people's price range, while prices that are too low make people wonder what the catch is - and the catch is most often that the artist is unpleasant to work with or can't actually do anything other than what's in their portfolio. Charging too low can also lead you to working with flaky or downright malicious clients - people who aren't serious enough about their project to properly compensate their artists are often not very serious about paying at all.

I know I'm sounding quite negative. I don't want to discourage you from putting yourself in the market! Rather, I want to encourage you to value your time more. Even a beginner artist is an artist with worth and value. Your time is worth more than $7.50/hr.

Fill your portfolio with work people will want for their projects. Usually, when people are hiring people for very specific tasks like just VFX or just character animations, they have the budgets to hire more skilled artists. People looking for artists of lower skill and prices are often looking to hire just one artist to do everything. Show people that you can do that by making some mock-ups (including UI), character turn-arounds, some basic move/attack animations. They don't need to be great and you don't need to spend a lot of time on them, they just need to be better than what a non-artist can do xP Aside from making you more attractive to clients, doing this will give you the experience you'll need to do the work you're paid for.

[wanderer123]

I see you know this industry quite well. You have written so much here that I don't know what to say- it's certainly is a lot to think about!! I just basically really need a job because I could use more money, even if it's a little more money. I honestly don't know what to do. I know I can and will (if all goes well) continue practicing pixel art but I also need a job. I was thinking in working on upwork.com. What do you think I should do now? Maybe I should first practice a lot and thus improve my pixel art abilities before I go and work? The minimum wage in my city of New York (USA) will be $12 for companies with 10 or less employees, on 12/31/17 so maybe I should work like that starting on that date or some months later? If I will work, where should I work- upwork.com is good enough? These are my ideas.

[eishiya]

I'm not all that familiar with "this industry" - but I am somewhat familiar with the common issues that self-employed artists run into, and these issues are common across all media. Pixel art, like other art, is skilled work, but a lot of clients try to treat it like it's not when it comes to paying for it xP

Pixel art is a bit niche, so it might not be easy to find pixel art-specific work in general places like Upwork. Sites like that also essentially put you in competition based largely on price, which is not great for getting you paid fairly and for helping you find the best client for you (and vice versa - making sure you're the most appropriate artist for your client). Most pixel artists seem to get their clients though specialist communities and personal connections. You can and should still make a listing there, but make sure you also post in the job/portfolio sections of Pixelation, TIG Source, Pixel Joint, and other places frequented by people looking specifically for pixel artists.

$12/hr is very cheap, so I'd say that's a good bare minimum to start with. No need to wait, as this isn't about being legal - as a self-employed person, you don't have a legal minimum wage - it's about making sure your time is adequately compensated. If you can't earn enough with pixel art, there are probably other things you can do, possibly even more in-demand things than pixel art. They might be less fun, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and you can always return to pixel art.

[wanderer123]

This is good info! But I am not sure what you advice me to do?

[eishiya]

I'm advising you to

make a listing [for your pixel freelance work] there [on Upwork]

make sure you also post in the job/portfolio sections of Pixelation, TIG Source, Pixel Joint, and other places frequented by people looking specifically for pixel artists

- charge a bare minimum of $12/hr, ideally more, and be prepared to give per-asset prices to potential clients (calculated based on your hourly price and how long you expect to take on them)
- consider doing different work (not pixel art) if you have trouble finding pixel work for a reasonable ($12+/h) rate

[wanderer123]

On Upwork I can't make a listing, but I can apply to existing jobs. I can put my portfolio on it too. I think I'll charge on per-assets based on how long it should take me to make them. So $6/asset or less if it'll take me longer to make it. I can post a listing on byond.com for a cheap(er) listing, I don't think there are downsides to making cheap pixel art on that website.

[||||]

I would advise you to not actually try to market your pixel art  ..yet., because it's not right to sell a faulty product.

I don't understand the desire for beginners to want to make money right away. I've noticed that here; a lot of portfolios are posted by obvious beginners.
 
If that is the sole reason you're doing it. I would advise you to get into something more remunerative (study law or work on getting a PHD).

If you like pixel art and you're doing it because it's a hobby then why bother trying to sell it? If you need money get a normal job and try to practice in your free time. Over time if you get good enough to actually benefit a game project it might be worth selling. You said yourself that you're training, so instead of trying to market yourself you could train in other ways. Like get involved in some volunteer pixel work for a game mod or hack; or get involved in some of the collaborations on pixel art sites.

Do whatever you will, not trying to hold you back or anything.  But since you asked I figured I'd give my opinion because this is something that's bothered me before... people being like: "yeay, I made some sprites; I'm now a pro! GSM." Pixel art isn't easy to be good at and takes a lot of practice and subtle understanding.


If you're in it for the money that's kind of lame. Make art because you like making art. Get good at your hobby.. then when there's demand for your skill maybe take some work and call it a trade. But just jumping in it for the money I highly advise you not.