Something I am pretty excited about for Battle For Souls is the plethora of public domain art that fits the theme of the game perfectly. Masterworks of religious art will give a very special feel to the game that will also let it double as a religious art history class!
Goya, Bosch, Michelangelo, Raphael, Memling, Da Vinci -- the possibilities are endless. I am also contacting some classically trained artists who can fill in the gaps.
One concern is different copyright laws in different countries and although a painting made before 1923 is automatically in the public domain a photograph of the painting may have a copyright. Researching this will be difficult as I will need to have hi-res copyright free photos of the originals. An other option if I cannot confirm copyrights on images is to pay an artist to modify them, or even repaint them which will be cheaper than paying for all original artwork.
Art is something no game project should ever skimp on in my opinion, and so I am determined to make something stunning. Graphic design by Luis Francisco will also make a huge difference in the wow factor. If anyone has any experience or knowledge on using public domain images in games I would really love to hear from you!
Artwork is in the public domain:
"Witches' Sabbath" by Francisco Goya - 1798