Commission prices

[The Doctor]

Anyone experienced or buys a lot of commissioned work? Guy was doing free works for FCBD and sold one of his pieces for $10 (like stuff he brought that was done) so I asked him about commissioned work it was between $75-$100. I guess whatever he sold was just something he did himself no one asked for it so it was cheaper lol.


What prices y'all see?


Not that I think he's ridiculous I just don't know anything about commissions except my old pastor does great paintings and I can get a nice one of those for $200 lol

[pro]

It all depends on what you get. Full color exclusive art is not cheap. Like any type of work if it is a professional you have to assume 75 to 100 dollars an hour isn't a lot to ask. You pay a plumber the same amount of money per hour and you don't get something exlcusive for it in return. people often forget the costs of making art and assume that since someone can draw and likes to draw they can get away with paying petty cash.

Here are some of the costs a professional artist makes:
*Art school: Studying costs money that in most cases is loaned and needs to be repaid.
*Material costs: Pencils, pens, paper, paint, computers, tablets, internet, phone bills, electricity.
*Living costs: An artist needs food, water and a roof over his head like anyone else.
*Assigned artwork: If an artist works for a specific company or person they tend to ask more than art that can be sold to a large audience. Part of this is because most companies want to buy the copyright as well, part of this is because the work tends to be unsellable to anyone else but the one offering the job.
*Exclusivity: Unique art comes at a price. This price relies on varied factors. A one-of-a-kind painting costs more than 1 of 10000 copies. A famous artist can get away with asking more for his time than someone working from his parent's basement. Quality plays a role as well.

It's hard to quote exact numbers since they differ greatly.

$75-$100 sounds pretty reasonable for one to two hours of work.

[Ghost]

It may seem a little pricey, but remember you will be potentially profiting off of his work. Think of it this way: the paintings your pastor does arent reprinted hundreds of thousands of times and sold worldwide for a large profit on the initial $200. I think thats the main difference. With comics you expect to make your money back (hopefully) and then some.

Sometimes people will do art for free at first, but split the profits with the writer. Normally thats too risky for most because if they arent well-known or published by one of the big companies theres no guarantee you will make a profit. I think in the profit breakdown the penciller normally earns the most unless the writer is a big name pro working with an indie guy. And then theres also the inker, colorist, letterer and editor to consider. Unless the penciller works digitally and does his own inking and coloring as well.

I dont know the exact fees that are charged by guys for hourly commissions. Some of them will also charge by the page instead. If you dont have much money to spend maybe try working with a friend that can draw well, or look for an amateur thats just starting out. They will normally be more flexible and possibly work with you on payment.

[The Doctor]

It may seem a little pricey, but remember you will be potentially profiting off of his work. Think of it this way: the paintings your pastor does arent reprinted hundreds of thousands of times and sold worldwide for a large profit on the initial $200. I think thats the main difference. With comics you expect to make your money back (hopefully) and then some.

Sometimes people will do art for free at first, but split the profits with the writer. Normally thats too risky for most because if they arent well-known or published by one of the big companies theres no guarantee you will make a profit. I think in the profit breakdown the penciller normally earns the most unless the writer is a big name pro working with an indie guy. And then theres also the inker, colorist, letterer and editor to consider. Unless the penciller works digitally and does his own inking and coloring as well.

I dont know the exact fees that are charged by guys for hourly commissions. Some of them will also charge by the page instead. If you dont have much money to spend maybe try working with a friend that can draw well, or look for an amateur thats just starting out. They will normally be more flexible and possibly work with you on payment.

Actually I get what you're saying but that sucks for me because I don't really sell anything although I suppose way on down the line if I got to get rid of something I possibly would lol

Yeah it seemed high at first, but I guess it's about right.

[clayholio]

Actually I get what you're saying but that sucks for me because I don't really sell anything although I suppose way on down the line if I got to get rid of something I possibly would lol

Yeah it seemed high at first, but I guess it's about right.

It also depends what you're trying to get. I mean, if you hit an artist alley at a convention, you could always start by getting small sketches, or artist trading cards, and that's probably going to be a lot less expensive than getting a full-color, giant, fully rendered piece of artwork.

I will say, the sketch thing sucks for artists, who have to charge for stuff upfront because people are immediately flipping their hard work on eBay, and treating artists like ATMs. It seems to go in cycles, where people will charge less or do quick sketches for free, only to find that work on an auction before they even get home. I know everyone doesn't do that, but enough people do that it's ruined it for everyone.

[Ghost]

Actually I get what you're saying but that sucks for me because I don't really sell anything although I suppose way on down the line if I got to get rid of something I possibly would lol

Yeah it seemed high at first, but I guess it's about right.

Have you thought of maybe doing your own art instead? Would be free and if you ever did decide to sell anything you own the rights to your own stuff.