If your team is searching for a 2D artist, it might help to look at groups that have experience supporting full game pipelines rather than just individual freelancers. Studios that work across multiple art disciplines — including teams like Juego Studios — often collaborate with developers who need consistent style, production-ready assets, or long-term support without the usual gaps you get when working solo-to-solo.
Not suggesting a hard sell here, but sometimes browsing portfolios or workflows from established game companies can give you a good benchmark for the kind of quality and structure to look for when evaluating potential 2D artists. It also helps clarify what style, scope, and timeline you want before reaching out to individual candidates.
Whichever direction you go, making your style guides or sample references clear upfront usually attracts the right artists faster and reduces back-and-forth later.