Zulusplitter - Working with an illustrator

Dear gamers and developers, 

I've put together yet another post where I talk about one of the illustrators I've been so fortunate to work with for the last many months. 

Tony Andreas Rudolph, also known as Zulusplitter when being creative with Photoshop, is a German artist currently working as a concept artist for Trixter in Munich. 
I was lucky to get him involved in Burning Suns when I had settled upon some of the more significant changes in the game. He turned out to be the perfect match for the many planets, alien worlds and asteroids I was in desperate need of at the time. 

Enjoy even more of Zulusplitter's work here: www.zulusplitter.de

---

Recommendations
Tony was actually recommended by one of my other illustrators, which is always a good sign! I waited to contact him until I had enough work for him, so that he actually got something out of choosing me as a client. Remember, the deal and proposal goes both ways ;)

Going to DeviantArt and searching for illustrators can be quite challenging, surely there are enough talented people there, but you need to consider the following things. 

• What style am I looking for? (sketches, full scenes, portraits etc.)
  
• How much work do I have for the person? 
  
• Can the illustrator do any other work on the side?
  
• How much does the illustrator earn now, what can you afford?
  
• Are the illustrator allowed to show the work done for you?
• Copyrights goes to who?
• How much experience does the illustrator have in this field of work? (e.g. game production)

Make sure to have the answers for these questions before hand (Read my other post about freelancers here)

It truly was a no-brainer when I got a recommendation from my illustrator which had been on the project from the very beginning. After a quick look at Tony's work - I knew I had to get him on the team :)

You can see Tony's cool illustrations here: http://zulusplitter.deviantart.com/

---

Locating the forces of an illustrator
It's easy to see where Tony's forces lies, when you look in his gallery - It's filled with nice landscapes, beautiful backgrounds and lots of scenery. 

But even so, I wasn't going to assign him anything before he had been let loose with a completely blank canvas. 
As with every illustrator that has ever working on my projects, I need to experience what drives them to the decisions in their work, in order for me to be able to give them the exact tasks for them. 

This is both to determine flow of work, amount of details in work descriptions, the drive in the person, imagination, and communication skills. 

Tony is certainly not in lack of any imagination or drive and as it turned out - he also knows how to create great sci-fi stuff like digital gadgets and ships! :) 

---

Working with Tony
Tony is an easy going guy who has been a great asset to the team. When Tony was added to the team as the last illustrator, the circle felt complete and Burning Suns has never looked this great. 

Tony has earned a permanent place in the team - and I hope to be able to work with Tony in many months to come. 

Like my other illustrators I can only give Tony my best recommendations - you won't be disappointed with his sense for scenery, environment and atmosphere! 

Emil Larsen, SunTzuGames

---