So I was chatting with my buddy the other day...
He is a freelance comic book artist who is working on a book for Marvel comics, and has done other professional work in the industry for years now. We were chatting about the various requests for free work that are out there...

He made some interesting commentary and I wondered how the rest of PJ's felt about this...

he was saying how frustrating it is to be working at the level of quality he is, and still have people hit him up for free work on their "sure to be the best comic ever" ideas. He's like, "I have my own ideas I wanna work on before I would ever work on someone else's free artwork."

He said he has done free work for video games ideas in the past that never turned into a real game... and he considers it ALL to be good practice. He won't do those things anymore, because he can be making real money doing what he does for a regular company.

Now see for me... This is such an interesting topic, because I have ideas that I am CERTAIN could become the next best online game. But I am lacking in the resources artistically to make them happen.

I originally started prowling the various message boards and such looking for an artist that could share my belief in the potential for 'The Game" I have cooked up and sign on for a "I'll do the art now without pay, but when you hit it big, I want my cut"... Fortunately for me, I never got a taker...

Now I find myself growing in my pixel skills and I believe I could easily do the artwork that I want done AND it will be done EXACTLY like I want...

BUT what about those guys/girls out there that have the next best thing in the their head, but without art... well, the game will prolly suck... without money, they prolly won't get the art... etc, etc...?

Is there a workaround? For those of you who are pixelling at a level that is considered payable in the industry, what do you feel is the best way to go? Should beginner pixellers stay FAR away from the freebies? Because of all the jokers out there looking to rape a newbie pixeller? Or should they give it a try?

If they give it a try, is there a good formula to follow before accepting a FREE job? What about contracts? Anyone know of a decent contract that would protect the artist and still give the beginning game a chance to earn some dough?

I guess I'm just kinda trying to get everyones ideas on this...
I have read some posts here at PJ and other places that show a certain amount of pessimism concerning these grabby MMORPG groups that want free artwork in advance... and then I have heard from people who are happy with the various levels of success they have had from working with these fringe groups...

Gimme your thoughts...

i mainly work for fun, however if a paid job is going i would take it. I
like working for things that actually have potential and not jus n00bi
games that want free graphix.   Im still only 15 and i dont consider
art as a job, just a hobby, getting paid is just a bonus.

The images i make and post on my web page are relesed under the creative commons lic.