/ic/ - Artwork/Critique

[Anonymous No.3864159]

Help

>author wants commission for two pages of his novel turned into a comic (just a section)
>tells me the book is available on kindle so I buy it, thinking be probably wants me to read it
>pays over 100 per color page

Later
>comes back wanting a promo artwork and/or cover
>”did you read the book?”
>yes he expected me to read the book
>that’s okay I’ll just read it real quick over the weekend
>Jesus how long is this book, I can’t tell with the way kindle is set up, feels like I’ve been reading forever
>finally check online
>it’s over 500 pages

How the fuck can I tell authors I don’t want to read their book? I don’t care if it’s well written or even a genre I like, I honestly don’t read nonfiction anymore. And it takes me longer to read the book than to make the artwork.
Are illustrators expected to read the books they illustrate covers for?

[Anonymous No.3864163]

are you a douche?
they tell you charasterics and such and you goddamn draw
tfw op didnt get paid and readed someone's shit

[Anonymous No.3864165]

>>3864163
No dumbass I SAID they paid me over 100 dollars per page.

[Anonymous No.3864166]

>>3864165
>for two pages
>you readed some other shit besides that
so you readed it for free

[Anonymous No.3864177]

>>3864166
They’re back for promo workfor the whole novel and cover 2.

[Anonymous No.3864179]

>>3864166
>>3864163
It's "read"

[Anonymous No.3864182]

>>3864159
You kind of should read it, but not for that price you're charging. If you're in the four digits range it makes sense you'd have to read the book you're illustrating.

[Anonymous No.3864183]

No dont do it!
Are you gonna tell him to read loomis?
No, so just say you're a busy artist with deadlines, reading a 500 page book is not feasible. Tell them to either outline what specifically needs to be reflected in the piece or give you an excerpt of x amount of pages to read related to what they need.

Dont bend over for these fucks, they will break you if you let them. Just be polite.

[Anonymous No.3864219]

>>3864159
Explain your issue and ask for a summary of relevant characters and settings, or just skim it in an hour or two. For the price you're charging you really shouldn't be reading a fucking novel

[Anonymous No.3864381]

>>3864159
Read the relevant pages in detail, then skim through the rest. Then take a few notes on the plot and characters and stuff to ask the author later, to make it sound like you actually read it and were invested.

[Anonymous No.3864392]

>>3864163
>>3864166
>readed
Maybe you should read more

[Anonymous No.3864404]

>>3864166
>>3864163
y;eppm mi smahrt
mi readeded dead books so fasst brainnn go qUICK CWClky

[Anonymous No.3864411]

Haha I remember this happening to me. I was so grateful to be commissioned and paid somewhat decently that I felt indebted to read the story. Of course I never did, awesome as it might have been I honestly done have time for that. Neither do you op. Do not feel like you owe writers. They pay for your art, not for you to read their story and compliment them on how awesome it was. You can always just read a random passage, then say something like 'oh I didn't have time to read all of it but I've read a bit here and there and I really liked the part where yada yada happens' and then reference that passage. That's basically what I do now but the writers that commission me now are experienced enough to give me all the info I need in the brief and not expect me to read anything.

[Anonymous No.3864415]

>>3864159
>Doing your homework by reading a book to familiarize yourself with what type of concept your illustration will be involved with
>Getting paid to do so
BOO FUCKING HOO.

[Anonymous No.3864517]

>>3864183
>Are you gonna tell him to read loomis?
Made me chuckle

[Anonymous No.3865817]

>>3864159
I dunno send us a book and we can read it for you, that's the only solution I have.
>Yeah, on that page Tupac is crawling through a giantess's asshole
>her hair is green, don't forget that detail

[Anonymous No.3865823]

>>3864159
>get work to turn a novel into a comic
>wow he pays good so I guess I will just nod at whatever he's saying and pay zero attention to his needs
>"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I HAVE TO READ THE MATERIAL"

I hope you never get any real work after this gig, it's people like you who are giving artist a bad name.

[Anonymous No.3865863]

>>3865823
>reading a whole book for 200 burgers
Just lol

[Anonymous No.3865984]

>>3865863
>can't skim read the bits that you need to draw
>doing adaption without even touching the source

at least do something like >>3864381, if you think the price is too low then negotiate with him rather than just doing a half-assed job.

[Anonymous No.3866218]

>reading a 500 page book
>hard

Jesus christ you guys are worthless

[Anonymous No.3866230]

>>3866218
of all the boards I’ve frequently visited /ic/ has to be the most retarded. literally every other reply is “what does that mean?” even if you take into account non-native English speakers it’s still insanely high for that to always be the case.

[Anonymous No.3866233]

>>3866218
It’s not hard it’s time consuming.
>>3865823
I read 140 pages, thinking it was going to be about the average length of a novel, and saw no end in sight, which prompted me to check the page length.

At this point I don’t think he needs me to read the whole book but I feel like I’m being rude if not and it could bite me in the ass later.


My logic about this:
I’m paid about 15 dollars an hour to draw. But that doesn’t include all the time it takes me to talk to clients and do research. So, when you account for all that work it’s like I’m being paid 12 dollars an hour or something. If I’m doing research of reading a 500 page book that will take me probably take me 12 hours to read + take me 12 hours to draw + communication time I’m getting paid like 8 dollars an hour.
Fuck you if you think that’s enough.
You’re probably living with your parents and not older than 26 and still under their health insurance.

[Anonymous No.3866238]

>>3864159
do you really thing professional book illustrators read all the books they illustrate for? whos going to pay for 20 h to read a book so they can do a 4 h long illustration?

[Anonymous No.3866241]

>>3866233
explain that to him and charge him more then, faggot. or just don’t read the book.

[Anonymous No.3866245]

>>3866218
I swear this board is either populated with shitposters or everyone in here has negative IQ
Why the fuck would you read a BOOK to make ONE cover illo
The author should describe a scene to you and you draw it, holy fucking shit I can't believe people are arguing about this
Why the fuck do I come here? This board is retarded

[Anonymous No.3866250]

>>3866218
>reading when you could be drawing

[Anonymous No.3866280]

>>3866233
read >>3864381, if you think you are having a bad deal here then talk to the guy himself

also
>You’re probably living with your parents and not older than 26 and still under their health insurance.

really loving it when Americans think the entire world is their country.

[Anonymous No.3866312]

The guy isn't forcing me to read it, he didn't ask me to. He just kind of passively told me its available to read then asked me later if I read it....Maybe I am looking into things too hard and need to chill.
>>3866241
Well shit man yeah that's all I'm asking, I'm not going to read it.

>>3866280
I could have easily added to that sentence "or you live in another country where 8 dollars an hour is enough"

[Anonymous No.3866720]

FML
Op here.

My god I just tried to ignore him and brush past it but I get this today after we were messaging about the details:

>Btw, I take it you enjoyed the first book then?

Should I lie and say
"Yes it was great! But I haven't read it in a while so I don't really remember everything."

or

"Sorry, I haven't quite finished it yet. I don't normally have time to read books etc. etc."

help

[Anonymous No.3866726]

>>3866720
"I'm sorry, I've been really busy with work and it's hard for me to find the time to read. It's not clear to me what scene specifically you want represented on the cover of the book, care to describe it to me so I can get to work without further delay? Thanks."

[Anonymous No.3866743]

>>3866726
this

[Anonymous No.3866830]

>>3866720
>the first book

[Anonymous No.3866835]

>>3866830
>y-yes I read it it was very go-
>OH NICE
>*SLAM*
>HERE'S THE PREQUEL

[Anonymous No.3866839]

>>3866835
>BTW since you liked the first book can I get a little discount?

[Anonymous No.3866844]

>>3866839
>I can pay you by sending you back a print of your cover artwork, signed by me!
>It's going to be worth a lot!

[Anonymous No.3867740]

>>3866726
Alright, this is the way to go. I need to set boundaries with these people...

[Anonymous No.3867779]

>>3867740
Treat it as if you're a furry porn artist and this guy wants to tell you about his fursona's backstory of how he got a barbed dragon penis that glows in 3 different colors. You have to be curt, say no thanks, decline offers to RP, and get to work on your porn.

[Anonymous No.3867815]

>>3866230
Partially cuz /ic/ has a lot of slang and art terms
Also newbies everywhere

[Anonymous No.3868206]

See how all these posts are very poorly written?
/ic/ can't read to save their lives, OP. That's why you always get the "don't read this fundamentals book, just copy the pictures" advice.

I suggest you ask this on /lit/, which is insufferable but at least contains people who have opened some books in their lives. Find some author threads and ask them how they'd feel and how you can better communicate this to your client.

Also this >>3864183 is the best advice (I didn't read the whole thread because the posts are very low quality).