The Crayon Box / What do I charge? / Viriu 20 years ago

What do I charge?

Hi,
I am just wondering how do I charge for drawings? I recently had a gal at work give me a photo of her cat that she asked me to do a portrait of. It is a black and white picture done with an Ebony pencil, on about 8 by11 paper, took me a couple hours to do.

I like to draw and I also do water color pictures, but they were always gifts, now people are giving me requests and want to pay me! So, I remember perusing some of the online artists, and noticed that some charge by the hour, and a few charge by the work/detail of work....
I don't want to feel like I am taking people's money, but at the same time I'd like to know I am charging a fair amount.

Any help appreciated.....oh before you all ask, my scanner is not up, and I don't know how to scan something that big properly...when I get that up and running properly, I will try to participate more :)

Thank you in advance,
Viriu

Rikr 20 years ago

I would say charge by the piece not by the hour and also by size. This is a tough question, as you should charge what you feel you are worth. Never sell yourself too short.

ROzbeans 20 years ago

I asked this question for myself early on as well and it didnt take me too long to scale my prices. Here's an example of what I charge:

$25 sig (1 person, no pets)
$60 sig (1 person, no pets), magelo, desktop, avatar
$30 magelo
$30 desktop
$50 magelo/desktop
$5 avatar

I host them all on my site.

I've seen people charge as little as $10 for a sig up to 100+. Freehand is different but the amount of time involved is similar. Some people wouldnt think twice about paying 100 for a freehand sig, depending on quality. I know as a screen manip'er, that's a stretch for me unless there's substantial repainting.

If you have a set price and people scoff at it...tell them to make one for themselves. Dont ever make exceptions for your work. There will be no selling of yourself short in the EQ sig game. People are vain and if they want quality work, then they'll pay you for it.

Also, ALWAYS GET MONEY UP FRONT. Again, there are some shitballs out there, there is nothing wrong with asking for at least half up front, if not ALL from someone you dont personally know or are friends with. One of the staff members here got dicked by someone we thought was a friend though so GET YOUR MONEY UP FRONT. /hug

Guest 20 years ago

Consider the materials you're using too. What type of paper will you use? Is it expensive per sheet? Pencils, charcoal, ink, crayons, paint, etc. all cost money too. Definitely consider the size of the work, amount of detail, and amount of time you expect to work on it. If you are getting a lot of commissions, will working on this request cause you to delay others and take up a significant amount of your time?

It's hard to tell you what you're own work is worth. Maybe try looking at what other artists who do similar work charge. Figure out a median price for an average size, average amount of detail and then work out the rest of your pricing from there.

Sorry, I know that's a pretty vague answer, but it really is a tough question.

(And Mae sells herself short for the amount of time she puts in her work!)