Question regarding Concept Art etiquette

Artist_in_a_box

I did a search for this but I think the question was too general to really find good results.

This question is regarding the etiquette when wanting to work from someone elses concept. I see a lot of people on here working on pieces inspired by or taken from concept art done by other artists and I was wondering what was the protocol for doing this.

Is it generally considered rude to work from someones concept without asking permission?

I dont wanna work on something only to be told i dont have permission afterwards but on the flip side as a new artist I would also be a little retiscent to approach artists way above my league and get shot down point blank.

what do you guys think?

Saman

It's considered rude not to ask first, yes, but if you can't get a hold of the concept artist then make sure you credit him/her if you used it. Many concept artists get happy when somebody wants to make a 3d model of one of their concepts so if anything it's a way to notify them of that.

Joseph Silverman

Ask! Few people are gonna say no -- if they do, they have a good reason, so it'd be super rude to use it without permission.

Snacuum

Always good to get permission first. Also specify in the permission email and/or credits that you will supply with the model the intended use of the model. The concept artist wouldn't want to see his concept showing up in a paid product when he agreed to let the modeller use it for free.

haiddasalami

I've been working off a concept from Atomhawk and just sent them an email and the director allowed me to use it as long as I didn't use the original image as a matte or as textures. They usually don't say no as long as you say its for portfolio and that they will be credited.

Artist_in_a_box

cheers guys. Just wanted to make sure lol.

Anarkist

Sorry for reviving a long dead thread, but I've only just registered and don't yet have the privilege to post a new thread of my own. This one was the closest one I could find to my topic which I found on the forum search function.

I'm not an artist myself, just an aspiring modder, who is seeking a contract artist and willing to pay for the assets he or she produces. I'm happy to include stock art assets in the mod when appropriate in order to save money, but I also wish to commission unique and novel pieces not on offer elsewhere, which is where Polycount comes in. There appears to be many talented artists seeking paid work here and deservedly so.

As a disclaimer I've never undertaken a project like this before nor entered into a "relationship" required by a such an endeavour, which is why I'm posting in a message about the etiquette of art production.

What are the expectations of an artist? How would he/she react to being approached by an aspiring modder without any experience or even a connection to an indie game studio let alone a publisher?

Is it appropriate asking to make an offer on a piece rate basis? e.g. being paid per asset and not a fixed contract? I would be happy to agree that the ownership of the asset remains with the artist to avoid concern about asset farming.

Whats the typical practice regarding payment? Do artists regularly demand payment prior to production? Is it appropriate to pay in installments at various stages of production?

Would you recommend commissioning an artist from another country? I'm from New Zealand and think it would be difficult to find computer graphics artists here. I remember there being a community similar to Polycount, here, but I can no longer find it online.

I would appreciate it if folks would answer any or all of the above questions. It would be very helpful.