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I feel like joining the art prices talk, so I guess I'll do a thread.
For reference, I charge $250 on average for a piece, and earn about $2000 a month doing commissions. This covers my expenses comfortably with stuff to spare. I have other sources of income, like patreon.
For reference, I charge $250 on average for a piece, and earn about $2000 a month doing commissions. This covers my expenses comfortably with stuff to spare. I have other sources of income, like patreon.
If you're afraid of raising your prices because you think people will stop getting commissions from you, consider this:
Do all your slots fill up when you open commissions? If yes, you can raise your prices comfortably, you have a clientele.
Do all your slots fill up when you open commissions? If yes, you can raise your prices comfortably, you have a clientele.
When raising prices, you don't have to hike them up immediately. You can add $10-$20 increase to your offered styles of commission each month/bimonthly.
You might see reduction in amount of clients, but don't be scared. If you have to take on 10-15 orders a month just to cover all the costs with like, $50 price for a full body, and then you get half of the clients when its at $100, you still earn the same but do less work.
A lot of smarter people talked about minimum wage, but it bears repeating.
Figure out the minimum wage in your area, there's plenty of calculators and you can google, and figure out how long it takes you to do a commission. Hourly wage * Hours spent = Base price.
Figure out the minimum wage in your area, there's plenty of calculators and you can google, and figure out how long it takes you to do a commission. Hourly wage * Hours spent = Base price.
Please don't charge less than minimum wage, for your own sake. Your stuff is worth more than you think it is, and ears of fandom-level commission prices skewed perception that charging $30 for a complete illustration is okay and a good deal.
It's not.
It's not.
A lot of this is not a rule or will 100% work for you. You might not have enough people buying commissions to warrant raising prices. You might just be starting out and commissions is an unnecessary stress while you still learn fundamentals.
You might already have a day job that pays and art is more of a hobby and you like to do commissions for fun, then raising prices or not is really up to you.
Ideally, pricing fairly will help out both you and artists that already charge $600 a piece or more. It will help dismantle that idea that personalized art is cheap, and clients will not be shocked when you or someone else charges more than $100 for a lineart.
Also, please do not charge just $10 more if there's two characters in the picture. You do twice the work and you're entitled to double the price for two characters.
Also, if you're doing commissions, especially full time, treat it like a job.
As in, have working hours, have days off, keep yourself accountable and organized.
As in, have working hours, have days off, keep yourself accountable and organized.
Working hours is not just the time you spend actually drawing/painting, but also promoting your work online, answering emails, and communicating with clients online. It is still part of what you have to do to sell your art and your service.
Idk what else to say so I'll just share what my friends/mutuals had to say on this. https://twitter.com/sixfoot_ant/status/1277395900738895872
To add in case you don't have a lot of clients and you think your art is good enough and you wanna do commissions anyway:
Post more often. Twitter and other platforms are fickle. If you drew a lot of art, stagger it over a few days. You don't have to post all the 6 WIPs in a day
Post more often. Twitter and other platforms are fickle. If you drew a lot of art, stagger it over a few days. You don't have to post all the 6 WIPs in a day
Unfortunately, these platforms are also more american-centric, so figure out the best times to post art so people see it. I don't know the times off the top of my head, but if you're somewhere in europe, post in the evenings/at night. Schedule posts if you have to.
Repost your old art. Chances are people that you gained only recently haven't seen your older work. If you're proud of it, show it again, and again. People will not be mad at seeing cool art, I promise you.
If you're slow at doing art, or insecure about posting, none of this really helps, i'm sorry. You'll have to find ways to like your art and develop a better relationship with it on your own.
Most importantly, don't put yourself or your art down. Or at least try. Be a bit proud.
Most importantly, don't put yourself or your art down. Or at least try. Be a bit proud.
If you're slow, this might mean you're still not 100% comfortable with your art or subject matters you want to depict. Don't chase the speed, develop familiarity, rake up the mileage. You'll get faster the more you draw naturally.
In any case, take all of the above with a grain of salt. Things might be more complicated for you, or else, but I am rooting for you anyway. But this topic is important, and it is important people start to recognize that art is worth more than what many of us still charge.
Something I just saw that bears mentioning:
Try to only offer types of art you're comfortable doing, and take on orders that you're comfortable fulfilling. If you think doing NSFW stuff will make you a quick buck, but you'll be miserable doing it, just don't.
Try to only offer types of art you're comfortable doing, and take on orders that you're comfortable fulfilling. If you think doing NSFW stuff will make you a quick buck, but you'll be miserable doing it, just don't.
Types of art you do will attract people that want to see more of this type. Curate the art you post if you wanna attract specific people and not attract others.
Also, if nobody buys a specific type of commission, just remove it. I completely axed the lineart options, for example
Also, if nobody buys a specific type of commission, just remove it. I completely axed the lineart options, for example
And as encouragement, and self-inspection, I don't think I charge enough for my art. I gradually raise my prices as well, to eventually get to the level of where I think I want to be. Also, I am constantly improving, so are you, probably, and so your services are worth it.
As, hopefully, last effort to convince you to raise prices, consider how much work and years you spent getting to where you are now. You are entitled to be paid for it, you developed this skill for a long while. Some of us spent decades already doing this.
Art IS work.
Art IS work.
