BLACK RAIN: Artists
Project Overview
BLACK RAIN — Artist Recruitment
PROJECT OVERVIEW
BLACK RAIN is an independent, non-union, story-driven animatic series inspired by the presentation style of EPIC: The Musical, utilizing illustrated animatics rather than full animation.
Black Rain: Origins follows Oliver, a former soldier turned mechanic, living a quiet life with his partner Rein after a brutal war left him reliant on advanced prosthetic limbs. Their peaceful routine is shattered when Rein is killed during a catastrophic gang conflict involving illegal plasma weaponry.
Consumed by grief and guilt, Oliver isolates himself until his former comrade Samuel pushes him toward action. Determined to uncover the truth and seek justice, Oliver descends into the city’s criminal underworld, acquiring dangerous black-market upgrades and adopting the vigilante identity “Black Rain.”
As he tracks those responsible—from low-level gang members to a mechanic known as Tex—Oliver discovers the attack was connected to something far larger. A powerful organization known as The Syndicate, armed with advanced plasma technology, emerges as the true threat.
Forced into uneasy alliances with former enemies, Oliver begins transforming from grieving survivor into relentless vigilante, setting the stage for a larger conflict against the Syndicate and the conspiracy surrounding Rein’s death.
BLACK RAIN is a story about loss, love, revenge, corruption, and rebuilding yourself—both physically and emotionally.
PROJECT INFORMATION
Format: Animatic Series (illustrated panels with limited motion; not full animation)
Genre/Tone: Dark • Cinematic • Emotional • Action-Heavy
Distribution Platform: YouTube & online platforms
Project Scope: Long-term independent series beginning with Volume 1
Production Status: In development
ARTIST ROLES CURRENTLY NEEDED
We’re currently looking for:
• Character Artists
• Background Artists
• Storyboard Artists
• Animatic Artists
• Concept Artists
• Thumbnail Artists
• Environment Designers
WHAT TO EXPECT
• Dark urban atmosphere
• Emotional storytelling
• Heavy worldbuilding
• Underground gang conflict
• Collaborative indie production
STYLE INSPIRATIONS
Arcane • Spider-Verse • EPIC: The Musical presentation style • Cyberpunk aesthetics
COMPENSATION NOTICE
At this time, BLACK RAIN is an unpaid, volunteer-based hobby and portfolio-building project.
By applying or contributing to this production, participants acknowledge that no monetary compensation, royalties, residuals, revenue sharing, or future employment are guaranteed.
However, should the project later receive funding, monetization, sponsorships, donations, or other forms of revenue, the production team intends to compensate contributors fairly where financially possible. Any future compensation arrangements would be handled separately through written agreement based on available project resources.
All contributors retain credit for their work unless otherwise agreed upon in writing.
REQUIREMENTS
• Must be 16+
• Minors must have parental/guardian permission
• Portfolio or examples of work required
• Teamwork & communication heavily valued
• Ability to communicate consistently with the team
• Comfortable receiving feedback and revisions
• Experience with cinematic composition, emotional scenes, action, or atmospheric artwork is appreciated but not required
IMPORTANT NOTES
• This is an independent original project
• Submission does not guarantee acceptance onto the team
• Contributors confirm they own the work they submit
• The production team reserves the right to reorganize roles or assignments if necessary for production purposes
• Contributors may be asked to sign additional contributor/release agreements if selected
PROJECT COMMUNICATION
Project updates, announcements, and production discussions primarily take place through the official Discord server.
https://discord.gg/fzbjtSgu96
Artists selected or shortlisted for the project will be required to join the server for production coordination.
For more of our work, please visit https://blackrain.carrd.co/
FINAL NOTE
BLACK RAIN is a passion-driven indie project built around collaboration, cinematic storytelling, and creative worldbuilding. We welcome artists of varying experience levels who are excited about helping bring this world to life.
Artist
CHARACTER ARTISTS
Create polished artwork of characters for promotional material, references, scenes, and visual development. Artists should be comfortable drawing expressive characters, emotional moments, action poses, and maintaining design consistency.
*Say something you think would fit*
Artist
BACKGROUND ARTISTS
Design and illustrate environments that help establish the dark urban atmosphere of BLACK RAIN. This includes city streets, interiors, alleyways, industrial areas, underground locations, and other cinematic settings.
*Say something you think would fit*
Artist
ANIMATIC SKETCH ARTISTS
Create rough visual sketches and scene layouts for animatic sequences. Responsibilities include blocking poses, expressions, camera framing, movement planning, and helping establish the visual flow of scenes before cleanup.
Basic cinematic understanding and strong posing/storytelling skills are highly valued.
Animation knowledge is required, as scenes may include limited low-FPS motion, moving parts, and frame-to-frame adjustments within the animatic format.
*Say something you think would fit*
Artist
ANIMATIC LINE ARTISTS
Refine rough animatic sketches into clean, readable linework while maintaining consistency with the project’s style and character designs.
Animation knowledge is required, as scenes may include limited low-FPS motion, moving parts, and frame-to-frame adjustments within the animatic format.
*Say something you think would fit*
Artist
Handle coloring, lighting, shading, and atmosphere for animatic scenes while helping maintain the dark cinematic tone of BLACK RAIN.
Animation knowledge is required, as some scenes include minimal low-FPS animated elements, lighting changes, effects, and moving components that must remain visually consistent across frames.
*Say something you think would fit*
