How much does a selfemployed comic artist make a year. In comics from 1941, frank giacoias smooth, thick line has been recognizable over a surfeit of outstanding pencillers. Looking for some amazing digital comic book inkers who can ink digitally on comic book pages and covers. This survey is for comic book professionals to fill out in order to gain an anonymous idea of what page rates were in the industry for 2018. I felt bad until one day i was talking to an inker working in the same studio and he only got.
So, whether youre a penciller, inker or letterer, or a combination of all three, send me a note of the positions youre hoping to fill, and samples showing your work in the position ie. Some of you may be familiar with hal laren comic work but if not i run. The inker sometimes credited as the finisher or embellisher is one of the two line artists in traditional comic book production the penciller creates a drawing, the inker outlines, interprets, finalizes, retraces this drawing by using a pencil, pen or a brush. Inker page rates making comics the inking and lettering art. The survey responses are gathered from comics professionals who choose to. Comic artists are not required to have bachelors degrees in fine arts or related majors, but its difficult for them to acquire artistic skills without some formal education.
The trick here is that almost anything that can put ink on paper can be used from mechanical pens, to sharpies, to qtips or sponges. I am more focused on mainstream comics with a level of professionalism. Comic book collectors are often lifelong enthusiasts of the comic book stories, and they usually focus on particular heroes and attempt to assemble the entire run of a title. Comic books while the comic book genre has traditionally been considered a form of childrens entertainment. Penciller show pencil work in sequential comic page format. In this salary story, youll learn how to be a comic book artist and about the factors that affect a.
How much is the budget for making a comic book monthly, at. Comic book colorist job description, skills and tools. It was a lot of fun for a long time but we went bankrupt as a company several times so by the time i left i was happy to leave. Additionally, we hope that this data will encourage professionals not to accept work that pays below a living wage. Here are the various scenarios talent can find themselves positioned in the comic book industry and the page rates. Comic book inker rob hunter has provided his response to abhay khoslas response as reported here to michael davis original article on bleeding cool regarding dan didio. The survey aims to build a resource about standard rates in the comic book industry for comic creators. A penciller, who renders the original drawing in pencil. With their successes proving that it can be done, we were asked what kinds of royalties creators see after they send their. What is the royalty percentage for creatorowned comics. What are the going page rates for writers and artists in the comic book industry.
Patrick tuller is an illustrator and comic book artist inker. Comic artists are usually hired by the page, but may be hired for an entire project. Comic book inker rob hunter has provided his response to abhay khoslas response as reported here to michael davis original article on bleeding cool regarding dan didio he is a little bit. This is used primarily in the inking of comic books. Heres how much you can make doing the various jobs. How much does a comic book artist make per project. For hire comic inkercoloristscover artist available for paid works.
We also hope this data will encourage more professionals not to accept work that pays below certain standards. The most common inking utensils are the crowquill pen and brushes. There are many resources out there that teach writers how to format their ideas into a compelling comic book script but there are precious few that explain how writers can hire or find artists to draw their work. Page rates for midrange comic book artists us dollars, 201718. How to hire a comic book artist hire an illustrator. In addition to the page rates, we asked a few additional questions to gauge. If you are posting a wip it must be at least 60% finished work in progress. There isnt a page rate for them, so theyre for promotional purposes only. What is the typical number of pages in an american comic. This post about page rates at the top comic book publishers is being passed around a fair bit, and some of it confirms what i know to be true or to have been true 5 or 6 years ago, but when my current publisher, oni press, comes in dead last for page rates, i have to step in and point something out. There were a handful of exceptions, im sure, but most of the artists could pump out pages like human printing presses. What are the going page rates for writers and artists in. Typically, in comics, there are two artists who work on any book.
This is a useful article for both artists, and people looking to commissionbuy art, specifically in the realm of comics. A descriptive listing and ranking of the 20 greatest american comic book inkers. What do marvel, dc, dark horse, idw, other imprints, and. For hire comic inkercoloristscover artist available. In time it became obvious that the inker was the second most important visual element in producing a comic book. I think i can post my page rates now that i am becoming more confident over my. The first issue of a longrunning comic book series is. The results of this survey are kept 100% anonymous and will be used to maintain our web site as a resource for all. Aspen, avatar, bluewater, boundless, capstone, dark horse, idw, image nmb. Their page rates arent good but they are nice and professional and i was paid promptly. Rates vary upon the skill requested and shown below.
I think most veteran comic book writers could finish a script in under, say, 100 hoursfast enough that quite a few authors write for 23 comic book series each month. Josef rubinstein, comic book inker of all with alex grand. Page rates for comic book talent ive covered the various scenarios talent can find themselves positioned in the comic book industry and the page rates. We will look at some of these rates, based on pro artists that i know and we will build our budget.
On learning to be a colorist the way you learn to be a comic book colorist is you learn from other colorists. Comic book work is preferred, but theyll also accept any published fiction writing that will highlight your skills as a possible dc writer. The web site fair page rates kept a list of all the rates in the comic book industry until the people running the site moved away from it. If you want to assume a standard comic is 22 pages and youre doing them at the standard size which you dont really have to if youre making a di. I have another 814 photos with comic book covers to crop, and save as a new file as the article number. If it is a single issue marveldc type comic then its usually 32 pages including ads. Jotarion featured by owner oct 8, 2019 hobbyist traditional artist. Penciler 1 page in 8 hours inker 2 pages in 8 hours colorist 2 to 5 pages a day average letterer 1 to 2 days to do a full comic book page rates are based on the expected time to complete a page. Simply put, a comic book inker renders another artists pencil drawings in india ink. From the golden age until the 80s, pencillers were generally expected to turn in at least two pages a day, while an inker was expected to turn in around 34. Inking was necessary in the traditional printing process as presses could not reproduce pencilled drawings. Today, we have an interview with an incredible inker of the bronze and marvel age, joseph rubinstein, who has inked probably more artists and more characters than anyone in history.
Its time once again for our annual page rates survey. A short compositionequivalent to about a page, or 2000 charactersexplaining why you want to be a dc comic book writer. Danny bulanadi is available for comic book jobs as an artistinker. Its entirely about the conversation you have with your fellow collaborators. Professional freelance comic book letterer jaymes reed.
There are notes on equipment, inking with pen and with brush, shading, feathering and crosshatching, contouring that is, edging an element of the picture to help define it in some way facial shadows, backgrounds. The art of comic book inking is divided into three sections. This ink is a black carbonbased ink that is used because it retains its color when put to the page. French and british comics also have different numbers of pages. I think that a 32page comic is much less work than a 80,00090,000 word novel manuscript which usually takes a year or more. Creatorowned comics are making a solid resurgence in the comic book world from ben templesmiths crowdfunded squidder, to jim zubs skullkickers. Heres why we are still complaining about page rates rob. Now for the long answer the best way to move forward is to be as informed as possible. Comic book ink art and artist appreciation, education, and discussion.
Gary martins the art of comic book inking is a professionalgrade guide to inking comic books. Straight from the graphic artist guild handbook for pricing and ethic guidelines 2001. All artwork are on 11 x 17 2ply bristol comic book paper. The first 70 or so pages are concerned with the basics of inking. His primary comic book inking experience includes big bang comics for image, david hahns serena published by an. The problem is that the all artists should make marvel page rates crowd is they refuse to recognize. Look no further, comic book artist dustin evans has come to the rescue. Rates vary a lot especially at image because i dont think image pays there artists or writers page rates the creators get profit from sales.
Overall, this was one of the best books on comic book creation i have read, for example, better than the basic dc comics guides. As the last man in the production chain, he was the one who had the final word on the look of the page, and who could help control the mood, pace and readability of a story. If you can do it before monday the 30th so within a week max. What is your primary source of income within the comic book industry. The goal of this survey is to build a resource that allows creators to have more information about standard rates in the comics industry. Its also not unknown for an illustrator to be commissioned for a comic book, but retain the rights to the artwork for other merchandising opportunities such as prints, coasters and tshirts. All of these people need to be paid depending on their personal rates. It can still be negotiated tho i would have to adjust my style. Greetings my name is hal laren and welcome to my comic art commissions page.
If you happen to be a writer looking to hire an artist, or perhaps you are an artist whos been approached by someone looking to hire, its good to know what the sort of baseline is when you are deciding on how much to charge, or conversely, how much you can expect to. Marvel and dc would adopt a similar policy, paving the way for more creator owned titles. If you happen to be a writer looking to hire an artist, or perhaps you are an artist whos been approached by someone looking to hire, its good to know what the sort of baseline is when you are deciding on how much to charge, or conversely, how much you can expect to pay. Again, i am looking for comic pages sequential art. At creator resource, we believe the information that fair page rates provided was invaluable to the community and to helping open up the floor to discussion in terms of what creators are being paid. How much you can earn in the comic book industry money. The survey responses are gathered from comics professionals who choose to take the survey.
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