Hey guys,

I'm sure you didn't mean it in this way, but please do not be cheapskates and try to rip amateur artists off just because they don't know better. It's an assholeish thing to do, and likely they will warn others in their circle not to deal with you at a later date when they wise up a little (even when you eventually have the means to pay).

The best way to go about getting art when you don't have much of a budget to speak of, instead of doing dodgy dealings with kids who don't know any better, is to find an artist friend who is legitimately interested in your game, or try to get an artist with lots of free time (preferably already an acquaintance or a friend of a friend) to have some sort of an interest. Artists who can't stop themselves drawing doodles from the ideas they get from the game idea are much more likely to work on promised royalties or only a small amount of money as a reward due to budget constraints.

I'll remind you, also, though. There's a limit to even what the most enthusiastic will do without cash. Do not try to convince them they need to do 30 backgrounds, 10 sword animations, 60 different scrolls and NPCs, all with walk/run/jump animations, etc. Honestly, the most you'll get are the designs and some basic assets for free. animations beyond walk/run/jump might be kind of pushing it for people without a lot of free time (when all the other things they're doing are promising a salary or at least eventual full-time payed job if they're a student still), and not every artist can do everything.

In any case, just consider this a cautionary reminder. Good luck in your respective searches for an artist or two, hope you find someone who remains enthusiastic even when you're open about the fact that you have budget limitations (though I'd recommend still offering some kinds of rewards as a thank you, at least).

I agree that you should try not to 'exploit' anyone, but if you're making a game that's non-commercial or open-source then I don't see a problem with recruiting artists to work for free. Since the thread title says, "amateur/hobbyist", I'm assuming that's the case.

I'd suggest starting with a mix of making your own art, and using free stock art (see OpenClipArt.org and OpenGameArt.org for starters), with the understanding that most of it would only be placeholder artwork. It can look really poor, as long as it functions well enough to continue letting you get programming done.

Once your game is in a playable and functional state, and you've personally already invested six or more months of your time into it, then show it on places like where artists tend to gather. Some of those places are for-hire-for-money, others have artists who are willing to pitch in and help out for free if your game will be released for free.

The reason why your game should be in a playable functional state and that you should've already invested alot of your own time into it, is so you are less likely to ruin other people's investments into your game (which now become partly their game also), by getting bored and cancelling the project. Just common courtesy. It also means they are more willing to jump in and help out if they can see that some things are already working.

And having poor placeholder artwork won't demotivate artists. Infact, it might encourage them, because almost anything they make will be better than that, so they might be excited to leap in and get crackin' on the project. Just remember that if they are working for free, than in becomes their project also, not just yours, so be open to hearing their opinions. And also remember that if they are working for free, they aren't employees, so don't try to be their boss and order them around. Though you do need to have an idea in advance of what you are wanting, and your goals for the project, so the project isn't just flopping mindlessly around and energy isn't being wasted developing art and code and content that will eventually end up being replaced and wasted.