Artist wanted

I have found an artist, do no longer apply!

I’m Oliver Knörzer (Novil), the author of the successful webcomics Sandra and Woo (on hiatus after 1340 strips) and Gaia (finished after 950 pages). I’m looking for a professional comic artist who can draw my new science fantasy comic The Adventurous Scarlet Carolus and the Machine of Eternal Summer. I’m very excited about my new comic and believe that it has the potential to become a seminal work of the genre.

Table of contents

  1. Content
  2. Drawing style
  3. Plot
  4. Setting
  5. Writing style
  6. Drawing process
  7. Update schedule
  8. Payment and copyright
  9. Apply!

Content

All major plot points of the comic are already clear. The comic will be shorter than my previous fantasy comic Gaia with its 950 pages. I have written the dialog for 220 pages already (no panel descriptions yet). I currently expect the comic to be ca. 500 pages long, but anything between 450 and 550 pages is possible.

The comic will be published in English and German, which sometimes makes it necessary to provide additional word bubbles for the German version since German text can be much longer.

Drawing style

I’m looking for an artist with a professional drawing style that allows publishing 2 colored comic pages with ca. 6 panels per week.

I’m looking for a semi-realistic or manga-inspired drawing style with expressive facial expressions and dynamic character poses. You must be able to draw anthropomorphic animals (“furries”), people of any age, weapons, machines, cities, landscapes and visual effects.

Styles that would work

A good number of manga styles, from Studio Ghibli style over KonoSuba style to Attack on Titan style:



In particular, manga styles with western influences:

Other semi-realistic drawing styles:

 

Styles that would not work

American superhero style or other very realistic drawing styles:

Very cartoony styles:

“Romance” manga style:

And other “extreme” styles not suitable for a science fantasy story taking place in an apocalyptic setting.

Plot

The inhabitants of the planet Lavarel are doomed. With each passing year, temperatures continue to drop. Soon, even the last remaining crops will perish.

But deep inside Lavarel there is a giant machine. A machine that, once put back into operation, will finally bring warm weather to Lavarel again. At least that’s what war refugee Scarlet Carolus believes. Join the brave girl on her long and dangerous quest to find the Machine of Eternal Summer!

The comic tells the life story of Scarlet Carolus. As a five year old girl, she discovers the legendary Machine after walking through a secret passageway in the cellar of her parent’s house. But immediately after her discovery, her home town gets attacked by a foreign army. The rest of the comic is about Scarlet’s attempts to return to the machine and uncover the secrets of her ancient world.

You would be able to provide input for some open parts of the story, if that’s something that interests you.

Setting

Lavarel is a dying, cold planet. People constantly struggle for survival in the last decades before the total collapse of the biosphere. The world is as somber and melancholic as it’s violent. But Lavarel is not without beauty, rich in both breathtaking landscapes and mysterious magical artifacts.

Apart from humans, there are two other humanoid races: anthropomorphic foxes and wolves. Foxes are integrated into human society. Wolves, however, have mostly fallen back to a predominantly nomadic lifestyle. Scarlet is accompanied by the fox Tibor Frey, her mentor and companion.

One of the main inspirations for the comic was Numenera, a science fantasy role-playing game set in the far distant future of Earth where technological artifacts have effects that are indistinguishable from magic.

If you’re interested, you can find more info on the Setting page.

You would be able to provide input for some parts of the worldbuilding, if that’s something that interests you.

Writing style

The writing style will be similar to that of Gaia. You can expect the following:

  • Tone: Mostly serious, with themes of murder, suicide and war, but not as violent and bleak as most other (post-)apocalyptic settings. There’s also a good amount of humor.
  • Graphic violence: Yes, but no gore.
  • Sexual content: None.
  • Adult language: Low.

Drawing process

You will get a detailed description for every panel of each comic page, consisting of the following:

  • Description of the panel content
  • Sometimes reference image(s)
  • English and German dialog

As an example, the linked Word document contains the script for four pages taken from various chapters of the comic. Some of the panel description are longer than normally necessary so that you get a better understanding of what’s going on.

All pages will have the same A4-like format.

I could do the final lettering with a comic font myself (in English and German). So you only have to provide the word bubbles in a sufficient size.

An internal phpBB forum exists which will be used for all discussions about individual pages and other topics.

Update schedule

As said above, Scarlet is supposed to be updated at least twice per week. It’s okay to start with only 1 page per week. But eventually, you should be able to produce 2 pages per week most of the time.

Please be aware that this is a long-term commitment! You should be able to work on the comic until its end in a couple of years.

On the other hand, I would be flexible to some extend with the start date. For example, if you’re still busy until the end of November that would be no problem.

It’s also expected that you show at least some interest in the success of the comic, for example by occasionally drawing artwork which can be used for wallpapers or advertising banners.

The negotiable rate goes up to $250 per comic page for the desired top quality.

You could also offer options and say e.g. “For $150/page, you’ll get this [link] quality, and for $250/page, you’ll get this [link] quality.”

I will then select the artist from all applicants based on the following criteria:

  • Quality of the portfolio
  • Versatility of the portfolio
    • Adults, children, animals, furries, devices, houses, landscapes, visual effects, etc.
  • Suitability of the drawing style
  • Track record of similar work
    • If you have a couple of good comic pages in your portfolio, that’s a massive plus!
  • Requested rate

I will pay in advance for the next couple of pages each time. At the beginning, only for the next 1 or 2. After some time, this number will increase to reduce the number of payments.

You will have to transfer all exploitation rights of your artwork produced for the comic. However, you will be allowed to sell commissions and originals featuring characters from the comic during your tenure.

Apply!

Still interested? Great! Write me an e-mail with (links to) your portfolio and other interesting information about yourself to novil@gmx.de with the subject “Artist for Scarlet”.