That is definitely more than expecting but at least I have some numbers to work with, and I do understand that greater quality will demand a greater price but this "middle of the road" estimate is very helpful.

Also it might be worth to think about just buying models and/or graphics for some of your assets to reduce the costs. After all a lot of fantasy-weapons tend to look the same or at least very similar. The same goes for some GUI-elements such as health-bars. For enemies and especially bosses (and tilesets) you will still want to custom-model it, as this will make your game look more unique compared to other games of the genre.
Buying models and images will likely prevent you from applying a very unique art-style but the reduce in cost might well be worth it.

Make sure you adjust all those numbers. A day for a weapon could be a huge overestimation if you're talking about a 2D game for iPHones - a week for a character could likewise be off, a month for a tile-set, etc. I would estimate higher for GUI. Factor in reworks as well.

I thought I had thrown in 2D Mobile in my original posting but I had left it out, that's why such a number was surprising to me because I was under the assumption that this was all for 2D. That's what I get for assuming though!

Also it might be worth to think about just buying models and/or graphics for some of your assets to reduce the costs. After all a lot of fantasy-weapons tend to look the same or at least very similar. The same goes for some GUI-elements such as health-bars. For enemies and especially bosses (and tilesets) you will still want to custom-model it, as this will make your game look more unique compared to other games of the genre.
Buying models and images will likely prevent you from applying a very unique art-style but the reduce in cost might well be worth it.

This is an option too, but the only problem I can see with this is if the "winning" artist's style does not match these generic pieces. The biggest thing I wish to avoid is a Frankenstein'd game with mismatching pieces. Granted it's easy to minimize the damage (Don't choose Sci-Fi pieces if the game is Fantasy) but it's something I hope to not even have to mess with.

From my experience as a freelance artist, I can say that having an hourly basis for making out a fixed price is the best way to go with it. I'm still a guy with only one game on my portfolio in terms of video game asset art, so my price will usually run at $13/ hr, and this is the regular price for others around my "experience level." So you're probably safe with an estimate from $10 to 15 an hour for what you're going for.

From my experience as a freelance artist, I can say that having an hourly basis for making out a fixed price is the best way to go with it. I'm still a guy with only one game on my portfolio in terms of video game asset art, so my price will usually run at $13/ hr, and this is the regular price for others around my "experience level." So you're probably safe with an estimate from $10 to 15 an hour for what you're going for.

I found out I've been saving by bulk job if the planning and estimate are realistic.
I think its a win-win because, while the artist earns less an hour, they get a longer chunk of work they can rely on and from my basic understanding of a freelancer's job, that can give them a bit of a break from job hunting. (Correct me if I'm wrong).

I found out I've been saving by bulk job if the planning and estimate are realistic.
I think its a win-win because, while the artist earns less an hour, they get a longer chunk of work they can rely on and from my basic understanding of a freelancer's job, that can give them a bit of a break from job hunting. (Correct me if I'm wrong).

This is how I plan on paying for things, in bulk at milestones so that way if something falls through on either end both of us will at least have something instead of nothing (say the project ends or the artist has life issues that interrupt his work).