KICH's Pixel Art Commission Shop (2024)
I'm an artist and animator based in Brazil who works professionally with pixel art since 2009. Over the years, I made pixel art for a wide variety of indie games in various different styles. I've done face-to-face work for two game studios, spent several years doing freelance and created pixel art for my own business. In 2016, I soft launched my first pixel art mobile game called "Road to the Academy" and I got selected as an expositor on Brazil's Independent Game Festival, the biggest indie game dev event in Latin America. I fell for pixel art when I started editing RPG Maker sprites and tilesets over a decade ago, by mid 2006. Game making started even earlier, with Multimedia Fusion, Click & Play, Flash, The Games Factory and so on. I owned the largest RPG Maker community in Brazil, which was closed by its latest administrators a few years ago. I've also started two majors in digital games but after a while I decided to learn on my own. Today I work for hire creating pixel art assets for games and other projects.
1. How much will my commission cost?
Price depends on the visual complexity — style, canvas size, amount of frames, texture type, level of detail and whatnot. As a general rule, original content demands more work (therefore costs more) and resource edits are often less time-consuming (therefore costs less).
I'm working strictly per hour. My hourly fee is US$ 30.00.
We can discuss a different rate for long term contract work.
For reference: big tilesets, moving autotiles, background pieces, GUI/HUD design and complex animations are strong candidates for more time-consuming work. Character spritesheets and certain kinds of animation might have segments or frames with reusability potential, which reduces labor time. Single 32x32/48x48 (...) tiles, icons, simple busts and small objects tend to have lower costs given the simplicity. Regardless of the asset, I can roughly estimate the length of service so you get a sense of budget. Still it's only an estimate, don't expect 100% accuracy — sometimes artworks can be trickier than first anticipated.
2. How's your payment arrangement?
(for individuals)
1. Budget: 1 hour of work = US$ 30.00.
3. Fees: If using PayPal, there's a 6.53% fee to add on top of every payment. If using Wise, fees are calculated for the sender in the moment of payment (the fee costs are shown only to you on their transfer page).
As for 2024, this is my typical payment arrangement:
Time budget
You pay for a set number of hours of my services up front. If still needed, you hire more time accordingly.
This is my preferred method because it makes commission inquiries come to terms a lot quicker. Having simpler settlements enables me to never count communication as active working time. Let's say you want me to do a list of assets for your game and we agree on you hiring X hours of my services to start. As I don't charge for message exchanges, the workload of X hired hours means X hours of actual work properly tracked.
Here's how it works:
Here's how it works:
■ You pick a number of hours you'd like to hire at the time and multiply by 30. If using PayPal, add 6.53% to the result. If using Wise, it will automatically add the fees on top of the transfer amount, so there's no need to add any percentage manually.
■ Within the given hours, I'll work on your request as efficiently as I can. When the hired time is up, I'll deliver what's done and it's your call if you need to hire extra time or not. Again, if your request can't be entirely completed under the hired-and-worked hours, you have two options: receive the file(s) as is or hire extra time for me to finish anything that might've been left out.
■ If it comes to my understanding that there's little left for your commission to be finished and you still need me to do it, I'll most likely ask you for the last payment only at the final delivery. This is to prevent overtime refunds. That being said, all payments are up front except the last one.
■ If you ask, I'll probably be able to estimate how much more time it will take to finish a commission, but the final payment will always reflect the total hours worked, not the estimate. I'll not work excess hours for free. For instance, if I estimate the extra time as being 1h but the work actually takes 1.5h, the last payment will be US$ 45.00 (1.5h) + US$ 2.94 (6.53% fee) = US$ 47.94.
■ In case I finish a request before the hired hours run out, I can refund the equivalent unused time or you can use it for something else (as in revisions, a tip or remnant time to be added to the next commission).
Here's two hypothetical scenarios, one for a client who chose to use PayPal and the other, Wise:
Hours hired: 5h = US$ 150.00
First payment: Hours hired + PayPal fees (US$ 150.00 + US$ 9.79) = US$ 159.79
Extra hours hired: 2h = US$ 60.00
Second payment: Extra hours hired + PayPal fees (US$ 60.00 + US$ 3.92) = US$ 63.92
Unused time: 20min = US$ 10.00 — client chooses refund
Total worked time: 6h 40min = US$ 200.00 | Total fees: US$ 13.71 | Refund: US$ 10.00 | Net cost: US$ 213.71
First payment: Hours hired + PayPal fees (US$ 150.00 + US$ 9.79) = US$ 159.79
Extra hours hired: 2h = US$ 60.00
Second payment: Extra hours hired + PayPal fees (US$ 60.00 + US$ 3.92) = US$ 63.92
Unused time: 20min = US$ 10.00 — client chooses refund
Total worked time: 6h 40min = US$ 200.00 | Total fees: US$ 13.71 | Refund: US$ 10.00 | Net cost: US$ 213.71
Hours hired: 15h = US$ 450.00
First payment: Hours hired + Wise fees (US$ 450.00 + US$ 12.37) = US$ 462.37
Extra hours hired: 3h = US$ 90.00
Second payment: Extra hours hired + Wise fees (US$ 90.00 + US$ 2.47) = US$ 92.47
Unused time: 35min = US$ 17.50 — client chooses tip
Total worked time: 17h 25min = US$ 554.84 | Total fees: US$ 14.84 | Tip: US$ 17.50 | Net cost: US$ 587.18
First payment: Hours hired + Wise fees (US$ 450.00 + US$ 12.37) = US$ 462.37
Extra hours hired: 3h = US$ 90.00
Second payment: Extra hours hired + Wise fees (US$ 90.00 + US$ 2.47) = US$ 92.47
Unused time: 35min = US$ 17.50 — client chooses tip
Total worked time: 17h 25min = US$ 554.84 | Total fees: US$ 14.84 | Tip: US$ 17.50 | Net cost: US$ 587.18
3. What are your terms and conditions?
Availability
■ Whenever this project has a "commissions open" ribbon at the top and on the cover, I'm taking new jobs.
■ If this shop is not open at the time you need a commission, you can still message me asking for a slot. I may or may not reserve a slot for you, depending on my current work schedule.
■ I'm not obliged to take your commission only because I'm available. Sometimes a job is just not what I'm looking for. At other times it's too big for that moment. The same goes for paid revisions.
■ Please, don't take it personal if I don't answer your request. Just assume I'm not interested at the time being. I get a lot of inquiries and I really can't reply to every single one.
Timeframe
■ The timetable depends on my current work schedule and the request difficulty. If you need priority, we can work out a reasonable deadline, but have in mind it's not 100% guaranteed (especially when I'm working with other clients simultaneously).
■ I do not work on weekends and holidays. It includes emails and commission related responses. Notice that I live in Brazil and my country may have some national holidays your country doesn't.
■ The planned deadline is subject to change due to the amount of commissions or unforseeable events.
Edits and revisions
■ I'm not accepting free edits and revisions. If you need any, they'll be charged within my hourly rate.
Commission request
■ When sending your commission request, please provide me with detailed descriptions of what you need and/or visual references (a similar game, sketches, concept art or images you've found online).
■ Don't forget to mention for what engine it is (if any).
■ If you need a character, object or whatsoever to be as accurate as possible to a reference, please be crystal clear about it. Otherwise I'll assume I was given creative freedom.
■ I don't draw explicit nudity or pornography. Shocking content such as blood and gore is mostly fine.
Deliverables
■ You'll receive your graphics as lossless quality .PNG images and .PSD files (if applicable).
Compatibility
■ If you specify the engine you're working with, I'll use the best of my skills to match the graphics with its size limits and standard templates (if applicable). However, keep in mind that my main role is making pixel art rather than dealing with engine graphic arrangements, such as spritesheet positioning and special file names. That being said, I'll primarily use the hired time to get the actual art done, despite all engine technicalities.
■ I'm not responsible for compatibility errors that may occur with the delivered artwork and the plugins/scripts you're using (or should be using). For instance, if you hire me to make a character that has a 6-frame walk-cycle split into upper body and lower body to enable weapon usage without breaking the walk-cycle, you must understand how to implement it or find someone who does.
Copyright
■ Unless differently specified on a contract, I hold the copyright of my own artwork. I am free to display it on my portfolios, edit it, resell it, make derivative works and create by-products with it included.¹
■ You may use and edit the artwork delivered to you as long as it only features your game projects and/or the promotion material related to them, whether they're commercial or not.²
■ You are not allowed to sell any of my copyrighted artwork as individual products nor create by-products with it, such as asset packs, art materials and downloadable contents (DLCs) with it included.³
■ ¹ ² ³ You may buy limited or full copyright. Both reserve you all rights regarding the content — limited copyright yields you 6 months to 2 years of ownership and full copyright yields lifetime ownership. Prices shall be consulted on a case-by-case basis.
Legal
■ I can't guarantee that my work will be completely error-free and so I can't be liable to you or any third-party for damages, including lost profits, lost savings or other incidental, consequential or special damages, even if you've advised me of them. If any provision of these terms shall be unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from these terms and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.
■ By hiring me you agree with all the terms and conditions presented throughout this page.
4. May I see some examples of your art?
Sure, but these are personal or commissioned artworks I made for people who hired me, so bear in mind they're here as preview only. They're not free resources, so don't use or individually share them anywhere. Some images are zoomed in 200% for better view. You can also check all projects on my Behance profile.
Road to the Academy, 2016 — Project on Behance
Corpse Mansion, 2017-2021 — Project on Behance
Frostbit, 2014-2015 — Project on Behance
Untitled Chicken Game, 2019 — Project on Behance
Válidos Frutos, 2015 — Project on Behance
Loads of other personal arts and commissioned works will be displayed on my Behance as soon as possible.
5. Do you make assets for all engines?
Yes. It doesn't have to be for a game, too. It's your call.
6. How do I request your services?
Send me a private message. You can also reach me on Twitter or via email: lucaskich@lucaskich.com
