Asking an artist to REDO a page.

[Night Robin]

I'm an aspiring writer. I hope to one day have a book that I can collaborate with an artist on. And while I currently have no project ready for such a partnership, I do have a question for curiosity's sake.

Say I pay an artist a page rate to draw a comic. He does a good job on the majority of the book, but a few pages are less than stellar and fail to live up to my vision for the book. Obviously, I need the artist to redraw the pages. Would I be expected to pay the artist additional page rates for the pages he is redoing? Or does the fact that he has already been paid for the unsatisfactory pages trump this? Just curious for future reference.

[Symson]

If the page rate is industry standard,the you can ask for a redo without expectation of paying more.

If the page rate is below industry standard, which would be under $100, then you get what you pay for and should expect to pay again.

[cbikle]

If you as the writer, clearly communicated what you wanted to see and the artist failed to meet that or did a half-assed job on it, I don't think it's unreasonable to ask him to re-draw pages, no matter what the agreed upon page rate was. Just don't be a pain-in-the-ass about it.

Look, at the end of the day, you're looking to get your book published and the artist's name will be on that thing too; it's in his/her best interest to put out their best effort on the book because, if nothing else, having quality work printed in an actual book is a great portfolio piece.

Having said that, it is absolutely crucial that the writer has his crap together and makes the effort to articulate what he wants or doesn't want.

If your panel descriptions are vague or badly communicated, then it's your fault and you should pay for any redrawn pages or just deal with the quality of the given pages.

[Symson]

cbikle is correct

^ Yeah! What he said!

[Jim Gourley]

The key term here is professionalism. In my relationships with artists, there are two sides to professionalism-- the "business" side and the "creative" side.

On the business side is a contract. I tell him or her what I'm going to pay them, which is a rate we've negotiated. I lay out that I own the rights to the story, the characters, and the likenesses and situations that the artist is going to draw. The artist owns the art. I can't photoshop art (without his permission, a caveat that you need to have so I can execute some advertising and marketing) and he can't go shop the script. We also establish a kind of flowchart for how the art is developed.

He gets a script.

I get a thumbnail sketch of the page.

He gets an e-mail with comments.

I get a view of the pencils.

He gets notes, as well as a draft copy of how I'm going to letter it.

I get the flats, and his notes on how he thinks I did with the letters (because it impacts his art).

He gets another e-mail (and adjusted letters, if necessary).

I get a final product.

He gets paid.

Symson can attest that, at times, I'm willing to cut three whole panels out of a page based on an artist's recommendation (), and with good reason. You have to look at your artist as a storyteller. Sure, you're the director of this movie, but he's the cinematographer, groundskeeper, costume designer, and lighting specialist-- an essential player. A director has to trust his creative staff to share his creative vision if it's to have any hope of coming to life.

That said, make your artist understand that. I always tell my artists that "now that the contract is done, we can start having real fun." That's key. They need to know that your contract doesn't make them your slave, it merely outlines the terms of your partnership. Make them a creative partner (has nothing to do with ownership of the "property") and they'll feel more spiritually invested in the project. And, since we're talking about ART here, that's really the panacea of success.

Make the development of each page a discussion-- a jam session. Crank up this panel, tone down that one. If he asks to slide a panel over to the next page, consider the idea. If he wants to break a sequence up into three panels instead of two because it will be "more powerful", don't get offended or think he's trying to re-write your book. He's trying to move that camera around to make your vision come to life. Take advantage of it, work the e-mails and short notes, and I think you'll get great results-- without having to ask for redos.

[Symson]

I attest! I attest! Now please release Pooky like you promised Jim.

[Jim Gourley]

Right after I ship Nermal to Abu Dhabi.

[Night Robin]

Thank you to everyone who replied to this and answered my question in a very detailed manner. I really appreciate the willingness people on this site have to help others.