I just recently started producing art again, took a break for a while. This time, people come to me with animal pics, portraits, landscapes, or whatever. I use a variety of mediums. As of now, I leave it up to the buyer on the price. The stipple portrait, that I enclosed, took me a long time to do. The lady paid me 40 dollars. I feel that 40 dollars was extremely low. I'm really uncertain on what I should ask for the quality; however, keeping in mind that I'm not established. Suggestions Please!
I stuggled with the same question my self. i looked into it and i read this article by an artist who said when he was first starting out he would charge ppl by the hour. he said that what he made at his daily job was the amount he charged ppl per hour. like if you make 10.00 an hour at work, then charge that. that way you at least feel like your getting some compensation. and maybe every couple of months you could give yourself a raise!
Some people also charge by medium and size. I heard one artist charged by square inch. I would suggest listening to the podcast "artists helping artists" check with utube. Google Maria Brophy and check out artbiz blog. Keep in mind, time consuming processes like pen and ink may be better if they are reproduced rather than selling the original since you will likely not be compensated for the time you put into your work.
There isn't a quick one-sentance answer to the pricing dilemma -- there too many variables to consider. However, I wrote an article about it a while back that includes a formula and variations that can help artsits find a reasonable starting point for determining their prices. https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1jW-aPvIEgJvhE2bWTeqmy4sqtD2afNjK6joJEvHiuBU
Annie
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