I feel guilty about my price for my art and I need advice

hoovydoobydoo

Friend PM Trade

Hello. So uh, I don't know why I'm so afraid to ask around for advice here but yeah, I spent an hour wondering whether I should do so after venting in The Undercurrent. (I don't think this is serious enough to be put under Serious Talk, but if I got it wrong I'm so sorry)

So anyway last year I tried out freelancing and when I got an offer from the same company I used to work regularly for, I jumped at it. At that time I had no contract or anything, and I was not confident at all with pricing my own art (before that I just went with whatever was stated on the contract and it was an hourly rate). I didn't even think about how long the company was gonna hire me for, I was just happy to get an offer so I just went ahead and said yes, quickly threw together a sample sheet with prices that wouldn't scare them away, which was this:

Simple illustration (black and white) 50 x$10 $500
Complex illustration (black and white) 44 x$15 $660

Simple illustration (coloured) 25 x$12 $300
Complex illustration (coloured) 13 x$20 $260

Colouring only (simple lines) 21 x$2 $42
Colouring only (complex lines) 4 x$5 $20

What I didn't realize was how the company was gonna stretch out the project for MONTHS instead of giving me the list of what they wanted drawn. During those months I received no pay; I foolishly agreed with them that I'll only get the full payment after EVERYTHING has been drawn and given to them. I got the job but thinking about it now it probably wasn't worth it? During that stretch of time I've had a few breakdowns. Existential crisis in the middle of working for now pay for months is great, ain'tt it? It started on late Aug 2020, and I only received the payment this year, around Feb/early March.

This makes me extra guilty because this year I wanted to give it a go at doing commissions on Twitter, but with a slightly higher price. I still don't know if me charging $15/$16-$20 USD per bustshot is a fucking ripoff, since I charged much lower before that for the previous company I drew for. It's extra discouraging to see people stop responding after I tell them that price amount, hrhhrkjah... I'm sorry if I'm annoying anyone with my shit. I don't know how else or where else to ask advice from and I'm too embarrassed to ask from my irl friends, still mustering the courage to ask them that and show my art.

Anyway here's the bustshots I charged $15-$20 USD for (from Dec 2020): 1 2

RIght now I'm trying to work on improving my stuff, so I believe these ones (most recent this year, 2021).

How do you guys price your commissions? Is there a recommended price? If so what is it? Please help advice!

Glume

Friend PM Trade

Artists notoriously undervalue themselves. You are not anywhere near charging enough for the quality you produce. I think this is a great guide: https://www.selfemployedartist.com/blog/how-to-price-digital-art-commissions-a-beginners-guide but where it says to start at $10 minimum... I'd make that at least $15 per hour minimum because thats what minimum wage should be. Don't let commissioners tell you what to price your art at.

Ping me, Devil Daddy, ping me.

Pixel Art Extravaganza

hoovydoobydoo

Friend PM Trade

Glume:

Totalanimefan:

Thanks guys. Holy hell I wasn't aware of the existence of that website, where have you been all my life??

I thought it'd be a good idea to ask them right on twitter, guess I messed up there...yikes....

hoovydoobydoo

Friend PM Trade

@Totalanimefan: Yeah you're right. I could probably also use what you said as a response to those types of people,! (if that's okay with you and all)

Araikou

Friend PM Trade

I feel weird that this company hadn't paid you for so long. As a commission based artist myself, I take payments upfront since it's very easy for people to just take the art and run, or decide to change their mind and not pay.

But since it's a company, you should be paid per hour you work and it seems like you've been doing stuff for them for no pay for months. If you ever get approached by a company again I'd suggest asking for pay per hour D:

You seem to definitely be undervaluing your art but folks have chimed in with helpful links already. Keep up the quality work!

Count Trashula

Friend PM Trade

Yeah, you're definitely undervaluing your work!

Whenever I open for commissions, I use other artists' prices as a model and adjust based on the style and quality I think I can offer. That may not be the best system, but the more I look at other artists' prices, especially those who do use art as a main source of income, the better an idea of value I can get for my own work and for art in general. If nothing else, it helps in determining what kind of prices would usually be expected for something similar to what I'm offering.

But especially if you're a freelancer looking to make a living (or even just a substantial amount of extra income) from your art, I think the by-the-hour model in that link is a handy thing to keep in mind and use when determining your prices.

Sorry to hear people stopped responding to your commissions after you gave your prices; that's sadly a thing many if not most artists will experience. People do not understand how much time, effort, and skill go into making art--even when they know they couldn't do it, themselves. Art, especially digital, is highly undervalued by society as a whole, and the fact that there are so many artists out there selling (and undercharging) makes things harder.

You have a skill that takes years to develop, and you create a product that takes hours of your time and effort to make, using that specialized skill. Don't feel bad about valuing your work (and your time) more highly and charging accordingly. The less you value your art, the less potential customers will value it, and that just feeds the cycle.

It's also true that a lot of people just don't have much money right now. Times are tough! I know there are a lot of artists I'd love to commission right now, but I've been holding off since I lost my job. So at least in some cases, it may not be that people think your art isn't worth the price; it could just be that your followers/potential clients don't have enough for art right now, period. Hang in there, keep networking and advertising, and look/ask around to see who's buying.

I don't think it's unusual to see a stall in commissions when you change prices, but that doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong or overcharging.

ALWAYS PING ME

hoovydoobydoo

Friend PM Trade

@Araikou: Me too! And guess what, the same company contacted me quite recently asking for a quotation of my work and I'm having super mixed feelings about this...I do see some improvement in the way they asked this time though, like..this time they actually put in an estimated time for how long this project will take, so I think they've taken my feedback from last year into consideration! I'm definitely gonna use the pay-by-the-hour format, still calculating as I'm typing this hahaha. Thank you for your input!

@Count trashula: I actually started doing what you mentioned in your post, about looking at other people's commissions and gauging where my work can be priced at. Thank you for your words, you and the others helped steel my resolve to stop underpricing myself to death!