hello GD, eventually, in my life i would like to start my own video game company and be the lead game designer. but, for now, i just like to design games for a hobby and want my ideas to be put into a game. so, i am wanting to start a game design and make a website for it but, i want to work with an artist to really make my game "come to life." so, what would be good pay for an artist? i want a great artist; possibly professional. but, i dont know what is good pay; for a "hobby job." the game may get published some day but, for now its just a hobby. so: good pay for an artist? hopefully professional or close to it. if you GD has any questions, comments, advice, needs any clarification: just ask. ALSO: if you know of anyone who meets the "criteria" and is willing to do it for a little bit of money. let me know, please. thank you. -Z-Man

Are you asking how much money per hour? How much for all the game? Is your game 2D? 3D? Will you need more than one artist? What's the scope? What's the style you are going for? How fast do you need it done?

No one can give you numbers without knowing all the variables, and there are many variables that I havn't listed.

Maybe if you post a description in the help wanted section, you could ask artists to come up with a quote.

Based on your previous posts, by the time you're actually ready to begin development of the game, salaries will be wildly different due to inflation and market demand.

pro 3d character artist producing a single, what most would call, "next-gen" character, maybe $1,000-$2,000. this price is mainly due to the large amount of time and effort it takes in each stage of the process. looking through your history you're going for mmorpg specs, which can range from 800-2,000 polys, combine this with an artist who uses zrbush/mudbox and you can expect to pay an average of $1,200 per character. if the artist is constantly working for you then that price may be lowered to $900-$1,000 per character, prices get lowered is the artist is constantly getting work and pay from you.
for an environment artist, who sadly, get paid less than character artist you should expect anywhere from $50-$300 per environment prop depending highly on its complexity. however if the artist is constantly hired by you and you're just paying monthly, maybe $2,300 monthly. which comes out to $27,000 a year, which is about right for semi-pro cost, true professionals would be more obviously.
i am only giving these figures because you stated, "i want a great artist; possibly professional.". if you want someone who is also only working on this as a hobby with you but still wants pay then it would be around $500 or so per quality character, or maybe $900 per month for a constant quality environment artist.
these figures may be wrong, its just from what i've heard around from pros and from what i would expect.
as you read this you're probably just realising that making games is expensive ;-) hence why most around here just pray for a good artist to join their team for free. my best advice if you want this to happen is to type up a design doc, a detailed one that descibes all gameplay elements, game setting, characters... everything. since you wish to be the lead game designer this will also be good experience for you. along with this, since you're starting out small you should learn some skill to put forth to the project, and game design can not be one of them. learn to do some art, textures, programming, something.
at the end when you finally start recruiting hopefully your project will be planned out well and seem like a promising project to attract artist.
or if you're somehow rich just throw around all the money you can and i am sure you will get some quality art assets.

p.s. if you're reading this and think i am greedy by the amount i posted, keep in mind i am currently working on a project for free.

For comparison to the above rates, I'll list my own, which since I am an amateur are at the lowest end of the spectrum. They equate to less than minimum wage which is only tolerable because if I can't find anything that pays I end up doing the same sort of work as a hobby anyway. Basically the pay is just enough to convince me to work on someone else's project instead of my own. In all cases I retain the right to use the images for my own purposes (excluding selling or giving them to a competitor but including producing and selling fan products for your game); if you want all the rights in perpetuity you have to pay a licensing fee.

1 race or character concept, or avatar base, pencil lineart only: $10
- second gender of the same race: $8
- quickie coloring of this with marker/pen: $2
- careful CGing of this or someone else's lineart, usable as in-game 2D art (not pixel art) $10

1 clothing, hairstyle, prop, monster, building, plant, logo, or GUI element, pencil linear only: $8
- quickie coloring of this with marker/pen: $1
- careful CGing of this or someone else's lineart, usable as in-game 2D art (not pixel art) $4
- the same art with colors rotated to create a second version: $1

2D animation - multiply the above per frame. E.g. a 12-frame run cycle for a carefully-CGed avatar base = 12*(10+10) = $240

CGed skin for an existing 3D model...
- detailed humanoid nude or animal skin: $15
- - flatcolored or simple model: $8
- detailed clothing (excluding skin): $20
- - flatcolored or simple model: $10
- the same art with colors rotated to create a second version: +$1 or +$2 if I have to rework the shading.

Creation of a unique vector or bitmap font...
- $50 for an all-caps lines-only or single color alphabet, you are responsible for converting the graphics set into a useable font.
- $100 for capitals and lowercase, you are responsible for converting the graphics set into a useable font.
- $150 for a complete font set including all numbers and special characters, you are responsible for converting the graphics set into a useable font.
- double that if you want them colored in a complicated way

And this isn't art, but I also provide the following services:
- Consult on a game design or story idea/outline: $20
- Ghostwriting a document translated into English: $1 per 250 words
- Concept editing of a script or novel: $1 per 250 words
- Grammatical and spelling editing of a script, novel, or technical document: $1 per 250 words
- Creation of an original piece of prose, script, or technical documentation: negotiate

well, sunandshadow, i guess if you get enough of those jobs you probably make enough, but that is still little. but its not bad if you still retain the copyright. i do that too when giving away work for free or selling it dirt cheap, i may be generous, but if you don't pay or pay much you don't get exclusive rights, that way it can still be of some use to me.

Well if you're looking for a professional artist or someone close to it, expect to pay a lot. I make about $33/hour right now and 1.5 times that much for overtime, which I've been getting a lot of recently. For me, money is not a factor when considering an Indie project. It has to be something that is captivating for me to even take notice or consider it since I expect that most indie teams can't pay me what I'm making professionally.