🐸 sorry for bothering you with a bit stupid question but how does one price their art? for example i do small drawings (not digital) sometimes with markers, sometimes with watercolours. nobody's been interested in getting any of them yet but if someone did i just wouldn't know how much to ask for. (i'm saving up for top surgery so i can't spend more on art supplies than what i gain from selling what i make but i also don't want my stuff to be too expensive so it can be accessible to everyone)
HI FROGGY OMG
I’m SO SORRY I MISSED THIS OOF.
Ahhhhh, this is a good question; I have a hell of a time trying to even get anyone to look at my art, let alone want to commission me. Basically, from my years of picking up tips and tricks AND from finally getting it knocked into my head in college: kind of guess how long you think it will take you to do, and decide how low hourly you are willing to work on something.
Say something takes you 8 hours to complete, and you only ask for 20$ for the commission. That’s $2.50 an hour. PLUS you need to factor in any additional costs, like supplies running dry and rent and food. You may as well be giving it away.
If people are serious about commissioning you, they WILL pay the price you want. That’s something I’ve learned in 20 years as a designer. I used to commission my full coloured with background work for 20$. No. It’s fine I suppose when you’re young, but you deserve a lot more: that’s what they preached to us in college if we decided to go into Freelancing. Professional illustrators don’t even want your business for under 100$ on a pencil drawing, so take that into account.
If someone is willing to spend 5$ on overpriced coffee, but won’t respect you enough to pay you something that is your job, then they’re not worth negotiating with. I’ve been to enough comic-cons now with traditional illustrators, and none of them sell below 75$ for custom pencil work.
I understand the desire to want to be accessible... which is why you offer additional, more affordable products, like lineart or stuff you KNOW takes you 10 minutes to do. 5 bucks for 10 minutes is reasonable. 5 bucks for 8 hours is NOT.
It’s all about the time management and supply cost, Lovely. Think about how long something will take you to do, and if you will need to purchase supplies to do the project. Things CAN be cheaper if you’ve already the supplies. But like, if someone came to me and wanted something in, say, acrylics rather than inks (which I have plenty of) well, I have to get in my car, drive to the nearest Michael’s, and buy some paints. Which aren’t cheap. So adding an additional 5 bucks for that is not unheard of.
If you’re curious: my art, for instance, I KNOW takes me a LONG time if I have to colour it. So I don’t sell below 50$ anymore for detailed coloured work. My lineart takes awhile (research, bluelines, and finals), so 20$ isn’t unheard of for an original. Most of the time I just... fumble around and toss up whatever price is fitting me on that day, but I try to keep them in the same range.
Since it sounds like you’re doing traditional work, which is a LOT of time and is expensive, I wouldn’t sell below 20$CAD personally. And if they’re getting the original, 25$.
But you could reduce that cost if you limit yourself to smaller sizes for non-original pieces (like do the work on smaller canvasses) so you save time and money.
Don’t undersell yourself, Lovely.
Actually, this whole convo reminds me of a Venn diagram my Layout professor showed us in college, and it applies to art too:
Because yeah, if you want something nice, ya gotta pay. That’s why Starbucks gets away with taking so long: Expensive and Good(? I don’t drink coffee). But Timmies is fast but cheap coffee, LOL. This diagram is very true.
So yeah. Sit on it and think about it. My college professors (I have a business diploma specializing in Graphic Design) always told us, charge what you want to or are willing to make hourly for your work. GRANTED that’s on a more professional level, but just starting out, asking 50$ for 8 hours is fine (6.25/hr).
Good luck, Lovely! <3
