Greetings! Well, as the title of the thread suggest, I’m searching for a skilled manga artist to assist me in producing the first chapter of the manga project I’ve been writing for a few years now (there is a synopsis below under “What You Should Know”). The job itself is for the illustrator I select to draw the chapter and its 43 pages of screenplay styled script, which could equate to roughly the same amount of pages unless you can condense it in some fashion which is very likely. This would also entail lining/inking the pages, though if you have the know-how to authentically grayscale it (Manga Studio, etc…) that would also work beautifully. For simplicity’s sake, let’s say that the maximum amount of pages you’d be drawing will be 60. Any more than that and I will find a way to cut down the content so it’s less.

There are two goals in doing this: the first is to have a concept chapter that I can use to potentially garner interest from publishers. The second is to have something tangible which I can use to potentially start a Kickstarter to get this published, so the end goal is the same but the methods to do it may both coincide or possibly be an “if not X then Y” scenario. Although it’s technically quite early to discuss this, this would mean that should any grants or publishing deals go down, the artist I choose to work with me will get full credit, and if they were interested, could be the lead artist for the project if it does take flight, and would become a business partner and therefore would receive everything that would entail This is of course all hypothetical ; for now, let’s focus on the actual job offer I’m putting up.

This is of course a paid employment opportunity, though we’ll discuss payment after I select an artist as I’d like to go over what they feel would be a fair price and such. Money isn’t an issue, I can pay almost anything so it should be something we agree upon together after I get to talking with some of you talented folks!

Here’s What I’m Looking For:
- A manga artist who is passionate about illustrating and not just someone who is doing it for the money. I’d preferably like to work with someone who has a keen interest in manga in general and is willing to give my story a chance. I’m making no claims that it’s anything great, it’s just a story I’d like to tell and hopefully get some people interested in with the help of a great artist
- Must be able to follow directions and take criticisms. I’m generally pretty laid back so this shouldn’t be too much of an issue, just a warning that you may have to redraw something if it’s not done to specification
- Must be able to draw backgrounds/inanimate objects. Nothing too complex, things like buildings, school classrooms, house interiors, etc…though abstract backgrounds will work as well. There is also a very minimal amount of cars and motorcycles, and there are some weapons as well (swords, clubs, etc…)
- Must have experience drawing fight scenes (I write them rather descriptively, and I can provide my reference sketches if need be in case it isn’t clear)
- Must be able to draw muscular body shapes both male and female. Not hulking American superhero style, but more the lean athletic types. There are some characters that lean more towards bodybuilder styles, but there aren’t too many and most of the time they aren’t nude, but it will come up at some point
- Must be able to draw human-like figures as well. A large part of the story deals with yokai (traditional Japanese demons) and spirits
- Must be able to get pages to me in a timely manner. Let me be clear that I don’t expect this to be done in a week’s time or anything like that, but I also expect that whomever I hire doesn’t put it off to take on more commissions or go on month long hiatuses every other page. I’m no slave-driver, but I do want this to come at a steady pace Of course, if there are things beyond your control just let me know and we’ll talk about it. Like I said, I’m very easy going!
- Must be able to design a fair amount of things. I’ll address this further below
Here’s What You Should Know:
- The main characters have all been designed already. Their clothing style, hair styles, colors, unique features etc...are all accounted for. I have reference illustrations of them available in my gallery, and I’ll also send them to you upon hire
- There are secondary and tertiary characters that you will have to design (there are descriptions of them but I don’t have any reference sketches). The tertiary characters would be something like background characters you see in a panel here or there, so they can be very quickly without any real thought being put into them
- I have ideas for the locations in my head already, so some layouts have been designed and I can quickly explain them should the need arise
- The school uniforms have been designed already, though there is no emblem that has been created. This may be something you can design, but it’s not completely required, more like an added touch
- I have up to the fifteenth chapter written as of now, but should anything seem off to the artist, I’m quite open to working with them to adjust the script
- I CONSTANTLY check my email so if you do have any questions or anything I can answer them very quickly
- Why yes, I do have an instant transfer PayPal, and I’m always timely with my payments!
- I am deeply committed to getting this first chapter off the ground, and I am willing to work very closely with the artist to the most of my abilities. I cannot draw in the slightest, I can only write and design things in my mind and use my words to describe them, but I will try my hardest to accommodate any concerns that may arise. Conversely, if the artist would rather work without my interference, that’s quite alright as well
- A quick synopsis of what it’s about: “We as humans are aware of everything that our eyes can see, everything that we can hear, taste, touch…We rely entirely on what we can interact with, what we can manipulate in some fashion. The truth is much more complicated than that. Beyond our own world, there is another that exists. One that belongs to beings that are not “humans” by definition. A very long time ago, there was a war between both worlds. It was ended with a truce between the rulers of both worlds, after seeing the enormous loss of life the war caused. But now over 400 years later there is a mysterious group of shadowy figures who wish to tear the truce apart and cause a second war. Caught in the middle of this struggle is 20 year old Ken Suzumoto and his friends, members of an elusive organization known as "Evergreen". Charged with the task of protecting the delicate balance of both worlds, Ken and his friends must deal with spirits, yokai, growing up and protecting not one but two worlds”.

I think that’s everything…once again, a lot of this will be discussed once I start to hear from artists. I’ll talk to you all individually so if there’s anything unclear, feel free to ask me in a message or in a reply here in this thread and I’ll address it as quickly as I can. All I ask is that if you are going to reply, that you be serious about the application  I’d also like to see some sample work from you, preferably if you have anything that is grayscale manga so I can get an idea of what to expect, though if you don’t have anything like that, that’s fine. If you’re interested in this job, please reply here, send me a note on deviantart, or you can shoot me an email at dcenerini@gmail.com (just put something like “Manga Job Offer” in the subject field so I don’t accidentally junk your message, please). I hope to hear from some of you, and thank you for reading my wall of text

Sincerely,
Darren “DJ MesoPhunk” Cenerini