There are hundreds, if not thousands, of places to go online to get help with a project. I've tried Freelancer.com, oDesk.com, and RentACoder.com in an effort to shore up either my development or artistic needs but with each new game project I embark on I find that tracking down a good artist can be hard to do.

This time, I think I've hit the jackpot...

Many people start their Flash game projects thinking, "I can do it all!" In some cases they can, but in many cases this can lead to disappointment and extra frustration. I have abandoned many game prototypes because I knew I wouldn't be able to put together art that would compliment the project. In other cases I have started a project and had artists quit part way through, leaving me in a bit of a lurch. In fact, most of the games I have done recently were done for clients who approached me with art assets already in hand. I find it much easier to build a game once I have most of the art in place, this way I don't have to fiddle with scaling items that come in late or messing with placeholder graphics.

That's why I decided that the next game I build will be built using professional graphics right from square one.

This still didn't solve the problem of what I was going to do about GETTING that art. One of the sites I have been following with interest over the last few years is Flash Game License. They started out fairly small but have building an empire ever since and now provide a number of excellent services to Flash game developers. The one that most recently caught my eye was Flash Game Art, a site dedicated to art for Flash games.

On the Flash Game Art site developers can post projects with either fixed dollar amounts or offer a percentage of a game's profits and artists can bid to fulfill those projects. Each artist can create a profile with example galleries of their work, and those help to decide who you are going to pick for your project. Is it the best freelancing site in the world? Nope. But it fills the niche that I was looking for. With many of the other freelancing sites I found that I ended up with dozens of people bidding on my projects that had never worked on a game before, and game art can have very specific limitations.

So I posted my latest project on Flash Game Art so I could have art to work with as soon as I got out of the planning stage.

Tips for Art Buyers

If you are contracting out for art here are a couple tips I have found helpful:

• Don't be afraid to ask questions when people bid on your project. How many other games have they worked on, are they comfortable working with both vector and bitmap art?
• Google the artist as soon as they bid on the project. Let's face it, every prospective employer does the same thing when you apply for a job, now that your money is on the line feel free to stalk your potential artists for ten or fifteen minutes. Read their tweets, if they complain about their other employers and never finish projects, that's a good thing to know.
• When you pick an artist, be aware that you are hiring this person for their expertise. Don't send everything back for ten revisions, you are better off with a full set of artwork that is good than one piece that is perfect. Trust their artistic vision, that's why you are paying them.
• If you are hiring multiple artists, make sure you have a good way of keeping your tasks organized. Few things are worse than paying for two versions of the same asset. I use Producteev, it's new but has a lot of good features for online collaboration.
• Be very specific about the work you want. Don't just say, "I need the main character created," - say, "I need a side scrolling action character who looks like a sasquatch wearing an army helmet. He should have three different animations: attack, jump, and run."

Tips for Artists

At some point in your freelancing career you are going to hear the line, "the customer is always right". This saying applies to retail sales and restaurants. With brain surgery the customer is rarely right, the same can be said for anything that requires a degree or years of experience to master - including art. Here are some tips that will help:

• During the bidding process make sure you target your pitch to that specific client. Almost every project I have ever awarded was because someone took the time to read and respond to my project write up.
• Make your bid sound professional. Keep it short - but not Twitter short. Explain why you are suited to the project. Be sure to include similar projects you have worked on in the past, with links if possible.
• If you are bidding on a project in another language (like if I were to bid on a project in French), explain what you can do to make up for the potential language hurdles. Either bid lower, dazzle the buyer with examples, or even email the buyer to ask for clarification on the project. Emailing the buyer is a good opportunity to sooth any fears they may have about there being a communication barrier.
• Before you accept the project, make sure you set guidelines on revisions. If a client knows up front there is a price tag associated with changing the main character's hair colour 100 times, it will free them to focus on the big picture.
• If there are multiple pieces of art of the same type (i.e. 10 different trees) make sure you get approval on a concept for 1 of them before doing all 10 drafts.
• Asking questions early will help save headaches later. Hopefully the buyer hired you because they like your style, but sometimes you will be hired because they think you are able to copy someone else's style. It isn't meant as an insult, the buyer just knows what they want. It's best to know these sorts of things up front.
• Upsell! If the buyer wants certain things done and the project is going well, be sure to ask if there is anything else they would like. If you can modify your artwork easily to create a few different versions, feel free to ask if the client would like to buy a few extras. Female versions of all the characters? Sure, I could use those!

Most of all, and this is incredibly important, remember you are making a game. This is supposed to be fun. Laying down a few compliments (both for the artist and the buyer) can go a long way towards keeping the artist / buyer relationship alive.