Cover Illustration and Design Pricing
Please Note
The pricing for cover work is a bit more complicated than character art, as there are a lot more elements that may go into it. I have tried to set out pricing here so that potential clients can have some ball-park figure to budget with. You can fill out my cover commission form to get a more thorough quote from me at any time.
There are also a lot of different elements that could be on a cover, and it’s not possible for me to list all of them here. If you have any ideas, please do not hesitate to contact me to see if it’s something I’d be interested in doing.
I am willing to work with a budget and payment plans, so please feel free to get in contact to discuss options. Payment to be made via PayPal. If you are based in South Africa and willing to pay via EFT, you can times Dollar price by 16 for the Rand price.
Different shading options:
Cel-shading: shading is done all over the image, but does not use any gradients.
Full shading: shading is done all over the image, using gradients in shadows and highlights.
Note:
Character details such as complicated outfits, scales, fur, tattoos, etc may cost more than the listed price. However, detail such as different hair textures, body hair, and disability aids (such as wheelchairs) do not cost extra.
All prices listed for character art are for half or full body. I don’t generally do portrait commissions but am open to them.
However, please feel free to ask about portrait, chibi, or pet commissions.
Different cover options:
Authors can commission the cover illustration and do the design elements themselves or hire someone else to do so.
Authors can get just the front cover drawn by me, or a full wrap around cover illustration, or a small illustration for the back or spine of the book.
I can do an extended square crop of the cover design for audiobook covers, but please be sure to specify that you want this option, as I have to keep it in mind while coming up with a cover.
Cover illustrations will also include a black and white line art version of the cover for you to use for the inner title page of the book, at no additional cost.
An example of a colour illustration and inner title illustration.
Cel-shading
cel-shading pricing:
Every cover starts with $100 for commercial rights.
$150 for 1 character, +$100 per additional character.
Background pricing starts at ($30+) for monotone flat colour or ($60+) full cel-shading. A wrap around cover illustration would include extra background cost.
design:
Title design (including the author’s name) on the front cover starts at $80+, and $150+ for a wrap-around cover design work.
If design work is to be done by someone else, the client must show the artist the final design to OK changes made.
Full Shading
full shading pricing:
Every cover starts with $100 for commercial rights.
$180 for 1 character, +$120 per additional character.
Background pricing starts at ($30+) for monotone flat colour or ($80+) full shading. A wrap around cover illustration would include extra background cost.
design:
Title design (including the author’s name) on the front cover starts at $80+, and $150+ for a wrap-around cover design work.
If design work is to be done by someone else, the client must show the artist the final design to OK changes made.
Will and Won’t Dos:
I am interested in drawing:
- I am particularly interested in working on romance books (especially queer romance)
- I am open to drawing covers for other genres outside of romance, but please note that my style might not work for all genres
- Queer, POC, disabled, fat, etc, characters
- Fantasy character designs (merpeople, monster romance)
- Animals and anthro art
- Detailed backgrounds, especially with plants or botanical art
I am not interested in:
- Highly realistic art
- Portraits (prefer waist-up or full body)
- Desaturated or greyscale art (though I am willing to just do line art with no colour)
- Dystopian settings and excessive gore
- Children’s picture books
Notes on the Process
I will only start on a commission after a deposit of eat least 50% has been made. Payment plans can be discussed if needed.
Your spot in my commission queue is only guaranteed once that first payment is made. Cover work usually takes at least a month to finish. It may take longer if the client takes a few days to reply to emails, or asks for multiple revisions. There is an option to skip the commission queue if the client has a strict deadline, which includes a large fee depending on how long the queue currently is, and when the client needs the work done by. It may be an addition of 50%-100% of the commission fee.
For cover illustrations, I try to send the client 2-4 rough composition sketches to chose from before a do a more detailed sketch.
After that, the client will get the opportunity to ask for edits and adjustments to their art in 3 phases: the first sketch stage, the line art and flat colour stage, and the final stage. Some changes (such changes that directly contradict/were not mentioned in the initial design brief) may add extra cost to the final piece.
Interested in commissioning me?
Please fill out the form linked below
Clients must agree to my commercial contract before artwork is started.