Clear Vision
Undervaluing your art seems to be a somewhat common mistake, and looking back at when I first started doing commissions some months ago, I think I might have set my initial prices a little bit on the cheap side and I’m definitely going to make a new sheet with new prices as soon as possible to reflect the current quality of my art. As for your art, I think $10 is too cheap; if you can do more pictures like the Pinkie Pie one, definitely don’t go lower than $20, even to start. If you continue to improve and refine that style, then IMO you possibly could even set your price at $30 in the future.
As for determining your price, try to find as many other artists with styles comparable in some way to yours to find a baseline. From there, increase your price when:
Out of the 6 completed commissions that I’ve done so far (two of them from a repeat customer), and the comms that I’m working on right now to catch up on, I’ve never been asked to hurry up on a commission, or even about a due date; in fact the clients have been quite supportive, understanding and even helpful. Of course, that could just be my luck of the draw, but I think as long as you talk to your clients on a regular basis and tell them what’s going on (or even just to have a friendly chat), you should be fine.
Also, if you think you’re a slow artist, I can guarantee that you will be shocked when you find out that some people have commissioned artists, and 6 months down the line they’re still waiting for their drawing and they haven’t heard from the artist in a while. The longest I’ve ever taken on any drawing (commission or otherwise) from the moment I started it to the moment I finished it was 3 months (working on it a little bit each day, or every now and then), but then again, my drawings tend to be quite detailed. One of my clients has told me about an artist that he had commissioned, and one whole year later they are still waiting for their commissioned piece.
As long as you keep in touch with your commissioners, and you’re not taking an absurd amount of time to do one piece, then once again you should be fine and there’s nothing to worry about. Just let your customers know that you aren’t the type of artist who can whip out a completed project in a matter of days or a week, but that you’ll do your best to keep them updated. And if it makes you feel more at ease, you can request to be paid once the sketch is ready; not many people would object to that.
Hope this helps!
Petrolhead Artist
Going to drop in and give my opinion seeing as no one else has replied so far. I’ll try my best to give a detailed and elaborate response :)
- based on my art, what should i price it? i got a couple of recent examples of what i can do, >>1909137 and this link. i have uploaded other stuff here before, but everything is from 3 years ago. it’s really simple artwork and i don’t want to charge too much for it, so i was thinking around the $10-$20 range, but at the same time i don’t want to underprice my art either.
Undervaluing your art seems to be a somewhat common mistake, and looking back at when I first started doing commissions some months ago, I think I might have set my initial prices a little bit on the cheap side and I’m definitely going to make a new sheet with new prices as soon as possible to reflect the current quality of my art. As for your art, I think $10 is too cheap; if you can do more pictures like the Pinkie Pie one, definitely don’t go lower than $20, even to start. If you continue to improve and refine that style, then IMO you possibly could even set your price at $30 in the future.
As for determining your price, try to find as many other artists with styles comparable in some way to yours to find a baseline. From there, increase your price when:
- There’s a noticeable change in your style that makes it look better than your previous art before
- There’s several people in your commission queue (proof of demand for your services)
- You become more consistent at doing good art quickly (you almost always can only have two qualities between fast, cheap, and good)
However, don’t rush your art.
- even though i am interested, i hardly have any confidence in actually delivering the commission to other people. i’ve been told by friends that my art is great for commissions, but i always worry if i get a commission request, but i don’t do anything about it and disappoint whoever is asking for one. i also am admittedly very slow at drawing, and i worry if i promise somebody a due date, but i deliver the drawing after that date instead. i sometimes see artists say they won’t accept money until they finish off a sketch, should i do something like that?
Out of the 6 completed commissions that I’ve done so far (two of them from a repeat customer), and the comms that I’m working on right now to catch up on, I’ve never been asked to hurry up on a commission, or even about a due date; in fact the clients have been quite supportive, understanding and even helpful. Of course, that could just be my luck of the draw, but I think as long as you talk to your clients on a regular basis and tell them what’s going on (or even just to have a friendly chat), you should be fine.
Also, if you think you’re a slow artist, I can guarantee that you will be shocked when you find out that some people have commissioned artists, and 6 months down the line they’re still waiting for their drawing and they haven’t heard from the artist in a while. The longest I’ve ever taken on any drawing (commission or otherwise) from the moment I started it to the moment I finished it was 3 months (working on it a little bit each day, or every now and then), but then again, my drawings tend to be quite detailed. One of my clients has told me about an artist that he had commissioned, and one whole year later they are still waiting for their commissioned piece.
As long as you keep in touch with your commissioners, and you’re not taking an absurd amount of time to do one piece, then once again you should be fine and there’s nothing to worry about. Just let your customers know that you aren’t the type of artist who can whip out a completed project in a matter of days or a week, but that you’ll do your best to keep them updated. And if it makes you feel more at ease, you can request to be paid once the sketch is ready; not many people would object to that.
Hope this helps!