IMAGES

CREATING YOUR OWN

One option is to design your own images. There are a few different programs you can use (some are listed here) to make your own maps and images. There are some online tools that allow you to create maps for your adventures. Always be sure to check the licensing information of resources you use.

COMMISSIONING WORK

If you are like me and not the most visual creative oriented, luckily there is a robust group of talented designers and artists out there. Often you will see them advertising that their commissions are open. Have a clear concept in mind as well as your budget range. Understand that commissioning work is a collaborative process between professionals and requires respect and clear communication.

COMMERCIALLY LICENSED ART

There are many artists that provide options to commerically license their art. Some use a flat purchase (on itch or another platform) while others provide licensing to those who subscribe to their patreon. Here are few that I have found:

  • Amanda Lee Franck’s Comradery page puts out monthly access to amazing spot art.
  • Emo Sludge Royalty Free Spot Art Pack by Zach Hazard Vaupen is a pack of Royalty Free Spot Art for your game or zine
  • The Cursed Art Pack by Francisco Lemos is a collection of eerie images featuring otherworldly creatures suitable for TTRPGs, zines, books.
  • CCLA Library by Strega Design is a collection of stellar horror art.
  • Creative Comrades Licensed Art by JN Butler Art is a collection of art that is able to be licensed for commercial use under the stipulations of the Creative Comrades License.
  • Goran Gligović posts personal work that in his words: “I want to reiterate tht all personal pieces I post are free to use. Client work is a no-go for obvious reasons but everything else is fair game.” (May 20th, 2024)
  • Evelyn Moreu has a Patreon that contains some of the best art that she allows you to use commercially in your zines (if you subscribe).
  • Perplexing Ruins also has a patreon that provides access to images that can be commercially licensed through a subscription.
  • Andy’s Inventory Art Pak #1 by Andrew White is a collection of 81 random inventory items that can purchased to use uder a CC BY 4.0.
  • Tiny Zine of Faces #1 as well as Tiny Zine of Faces #2 by Chema (Punkpadour) contain some fantastic portraits and images that can be purchased to be used commercally.
  • Skulls by Punkpadour (Chema González) is a collection of stock art skulls for personal and commercial use.
  • Weird Horror Art Pack 1 by Roque Romero is a collection of weird images for your free use.
  • Weird Horror Art Pack 2 by Roque Romero is a pack of free images for your odd projects.
  • Old School Revisited by Roque Romero is a collection of 28+ art pieces for your ttrpgs (or whatever).
  • FACES 001 by FantasticJean is a Horrific art pack.
  • Feral Indie Studio sells themed art packs that can be used commerically.
  • Fantasy Art 01 by Hairic Lilred is a collection of fantasy art assets that can be used commerically.
  • Map Pieces by Map Crow includes different pieces that can be used to make maps (and are Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licesed).

Maps

Here are some great resources to help you create maps for your games.

PUBLIC DOMAIN IMAGES

For those of us who are not artists, or don’t have a budget to commission art for our work, public domain images are what we use to add artwork to our games. These are images that are able to be used in commercial work (either because their copyright has lapsed, they are not copyrightable, or they were released under an open license from the start). Here are some places you can find art for your games.

  • Getty.edu CC0 Collection currated by Brandon Yu (Chaoclypse) is a collection of 4.5k+ images recently made CC0 by Getty.edu. Brandon has downloaded, compilied, and annotated them with metadata (title, author, etc) for easy searching.They can be found in a folder or as a zip file.
  • Public Domain Art List by Yochai Gal is an extensive list of public domain images and the different places you find public domain art.
  • A flickr collection of curated Public Domain Images by Guilherme Gontijo.
  • Flickr Creative Commons compiles all the images on Flickr that are Creative Commons license.
  • Artvee - Discover the best in Classical & Modern Art Browse and download high-resolution, public domain paintings, posters and illustrations
  • Heritage Library Free Vintage Illustrations for your creative projects.
  • unsplash is a collection of freely usable photos.
  • pixabay is a collection of freely usable images. While it includes photos like unsplash, it is better known for its vectors and illustrations.
  • Public Domain Review showcases interesting ad unusual out-of copyright works.
  • Artvee collection that has high-resolution public domain art.
  • Openverse A Creative Commons search engine that contains CC licensed and Public Domain licenses.
  • The World Factbook By The CIA – A collection (with public domain photos) forcused on the history, people, government, economy, energy, geography, environment, communications, transportation, military, terrorism, and transnational issues for 265 world entities.
  • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Digital Library – Nature images.
  • USDA Agricultural Research Service Image Gallery– Photos from Agricultural Research Service Office of Communications.

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Liminal Horror is developed by Gobin Archives, Josh Domanski, and Zach Hazard Vaupen