Pencil Portraits Drawn From Photos - Pencil Portrait Artist Darla Dixon

How Do I Price My Art?

Dear Darla,

I've been working on art all through high school, and have been hired a couple of times by family friends, my principal, teachers, etc. to do portraits, so I figured that it would be worth a try to earn some money this summer by doing art. I'm hoping it'll work out, but we'll see. Do you have any tips or suggestions for doing this sort of thing? Also, how do you price your pieces?

-J.M.

Dear J.M.,

Pricing your pencil portraits is a tricky thing...there is some kind of an equation for figuring how to price, based on your expenses, what you want to get paid per hour, etc....but it doesn't take into account what the market will bear, plus all the time and possibly training it took you to get your art skills to a high level.

If you price too low, then people think you're no good...if you price too high, then people think we are full of ourselves...however, there are a lot of people who equate price with quality. I started out charging $60, then I went to $75, then $150, and now I charge $250 as a base.
If someone wants me to illustrate a book or something that will be published, I figure that it has advertising value for me, so I discount...a lot. It depends on the situation.

The Graphic Artist's Guild also has a book available for pricing: Graphic Artist Guild Pricing & Ethical Guidelines book

Anyway, I wish there was an easy explanation about how to price your portraits...but I haven't figured that all out myself! The best advice I guess I can give is to look at portrait artists on the Internet...find some whose ability and skill are close to your own...find several of those in different areas of the country, and average them to figure out what you should charge.

Hope this helps!!!

Darla
Graphite Pencil Portraits and Illustrations
www.darladixon.com

RELATED LINKS:


Graphic Artist Guild Guide to Pricing and Ethical Guidelines

Art Marketing 101

How to Survive and Prosper as an Artist

Starting Your Career as a Freelance Illustrator or Graphic Designer

Graphic Designer's Guide to Pricing

No Mathematical Formula will ever Calculate Art Prices