Hi r/HungryArtists,
I’m Mike, founder of Burnt Mast Studio— a new tabletop game studio based in Connecticut. We’re building a grimdark sin-themed skirmish TCG and we’re looking for an anchor illustrator to define our visual identity.
The work
• \~50 commissioned pieces over the next 12 months for our launch
• Mix of card art (units, spells, leaders, gods), rulebook illustrations, and web/marketing pieces
• If our Kickstarter is successful, we expand to 5 more warbands — long-term partnership potential
Style we’re after
• THEARCHIVEINBETWEEN on instagram is our bible for tone. We’re thinking painterly, atmospheric, hand-illustrated. Think the contemplative end of Magic: The Gathering’s card art (Magali Villeneuve, Rebecca Guay, Howard Lyon) crossed with folk-horror illustration (Greg Ruth, John Jude Palencar)
• Muted palette: cold greys, dusty blues, bone whites, with warm candlelight as the only heat
• Mood is reverent, mysterious, quiet — not high-action combat poses
• Subjects often hooded, partially obscured. Candlelit interiors, fog, ruins
• Visible brushwork, atmospheric haze, hand-painted feel — not crisp digital line art
Budget (per-piece, paid on delivery)
• Standard pieces: $120 each (commons, uncommons, rares, spells, supporting illustrations)
• Hero pieces: $200 each (Leaders, Gods, box art — \~6 pieces total)
• Paid via PayPal/Wise on milestone delivery
Important: All work must be 100% human-made. No AI tools at any stage of the process. This is a hard requirement and will be written into the contract. We’re transparent with our backers that our art is human-made, and we’ll need to be able to verify process if asked (WIP sketches, etc.).
Rights
• Work-for-hire, full commercial rights assigned to Burnt Mast Studio
• You retain the right to post your work in your portfolio with credit to Burnt Mast Studio after our Kickstarter goes live
Timeline
• First commissions go out June 2026
• Steady delivery cadence over 12 months
• Kickstarter launch targeted late 2026 / Q1 2027
To apply, DM me with:
1. Portfolio link (please include any work in a similar tone)
2. Your typical turnaround time per piece
3. Confirmation that you do not use AI tools
If it looks like a fit, we’ll do a quick informal meet and greet, then we’ll commission a single paid test piece before committing to the full run. That way both of us know we’re a match before signing on for 12 months of work.
Thanks for reading. Excited to see your work.
— Mike Karnes
Founder, Burnt Mast Studio