I am investing in a large amount of stock art (well... enough) for the Soft Cover of Salem World.

The Questions:

How often do you see art in multiple games that is the same?

Does it turn you off when you see the same art used again?

Is stock art worth the expense (1/3 of original so far) with the above risk?

Well, some art I see a lot, others I don't. I only buy OSR these days, really (occasional Traveller)

For instance, you constantly see the Outland Arts/ William McAusland stuff. Even Kevin Crawford uses them. But it's because it's pretty nice work for a really good deal. Like what, $8 for 20-30 pieces a pack?

Similarly, you see a fair amount of the Purple Duck stock art (especially that rat picture). I use a lot of it myself.  Again, because it's cheap ($3-4 each and often on sale for much less) and high quality for the most part.

But a lot of start art you don't see a lot. Because some of it's more expensive and some of it really sucks. There's a certain old school artist that can't draw hands, for instance. Yet he charges a lot. No thanks.

If you are paying 1/3 of original art, you must be using the higher priced stuff that is rarely seen.

I much prefer original art but not sure if it is financially feasible. I would personally find an artist willing to partner and have them do all the artwork so there is a unified look.

Quote from: rway218;950766I am investing in a large amount of stock art (well... enough) for the Soft Cover of Salem World.

The Questions:

How often do you see art in multiple games that is the same?

Does it turn you off when you see the same art used again?

Is stock art worth the expense (1/3 of original so far) with the above risk?

1. I sometimes see the same art/artist used again and again (the most popular being James Shields and McAusland)
2. No it does not turn me off if used appropriately.
3. Is it "dangerous"? I think people expect big-business games to have original art only, and will be more lenient to DIY publishers. OTOH I've also seen comments the likes of "I don't care about art, so don't pad your DIY product with art, especially stock art. You're only adding costs for no real value"
Like Voros said I'd rather pick few artists that have consistent styles, or better yet find a "partner in crime" willing to create original art for a low price/royalty fee.
I don't get the "(1/3 of original so far)" part... What do you mean exactly?

PS: Lots of people use art in the Public Domain done by the greats, or free art packs available on DTRPG.
Have you taken a look at Kevin Crawford's Free art packs on DTRPG?
Here on Dragonsfoot there's a library of Public Domain images sorted by theme that is very cool: http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=97

Quote from: artikid;951868I don't get the "(1/3 of original so far)" part... What do you mean exactly?

The quotes I've gotten from artists so far have been reasonable, but the stock I've purchased is about a third of the price of the quotes.  I was aiming at higher priced stock hoping it would be less "used" than the less expensive.

In the release of Salem world I used public domain art, and it looks great, but doesn't flow well.  The Soft Cover Release will hopefully have new material and artwork.

Quote from: rway218;951909The quotes I've gotten from artists so far have been reasonable, but the stock I've purchased is about a third of the price of the quotes.

Ah, OK, now I got it.

I did use public domain for the first hard cover release.  On my computer the images looked great and matched well, but the Print version looked disjointed.  Is there a good program to render the images to a good uniform look?

Quote from: rway218;952233I did use public domain for the first hard cover release.  On my computer the images looked great and matched well, but the Print version looked disjointed.  Is there a good program to render the images to a good uniform look?

I think you might have used low resolution images, it should be possible to get high-rez versions of most public domain images I think.

Quote from: artikid;952397I think you might have used low resolution images, it should be possible to get high-rez versions of most public domain images I think.

I checked my downloads... and you are correct!  they are low rez, and the site I got them from offers high rez, so I'll start over lol.

By the way, your stuff on Drive thru is GREAT!  Have any Native Americans... like a good Skinwalker?  Non Lycanthrope shape-shifters are hard to find

#shamelessplug

Glad to help and thank you, I try to do my best.
As of now I do have two Native American characters for sale right now, but no shape shifter so far.

One is a fanta-historical shaman lady: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/167687/Shaman-Girl
The other is a MIB/Secret agent type: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/199035/Native-American-Man-In-Black

In my wish list until I get my next budget together (shamen woman)

Quote from: artikid;9518681. I sometimes see the same art/artist used again and again (the most popular being James Shields and McAusland)

I can't seem to find the 'Like' or +1 button anywhere for this...
Honestly, it's an honor to come across a statement like this.

To RWay218, it is for this very issue that I started my stock art Patreon projects. They are meant to be the bridge between pure stock and straight commission. Patrons get to submit ideas for what I draw, vote on ideas, plus they get the benefit of my being backlogged on putting up new stock art. I'm currently over a year and a half (maybe 2 now) behind in putting up new stock art. The number of projects using that artwork is greatly diminished.

If any of that interests you, you can view my main stock art project at //www.patreon.com/jeshields

(PS - The last batch of stock art included a shapechanger.)

If you'd like advice on straight commission, let me know. I'm happy to speak on that subject.

My advice would be to use a mix of original art and stock art.