Pricing your art

[Michele Rushworth]

Once, many years ago, I priced portraits only by size. The first client I got asked me to create their portrait at a quarter of the size I would have normally used and therefore paid only a quarter of my normal fee. (A tiny head and shoulders can often be MORE work than a life size head and shoulders, since there's much less room for error. A discrepancy of a millimeter in the positioning of an eye can look way off when the portrait is too small.) I also would rather not be asked to try and cram four full length figures of a client's family into a 24x30" canvas. That's why I price by complexity now.

Some portrait artists who want to give clients an idea of the size that their canvas might be sometimes show both factors on their websites. For example, they might say that a head and shoulders portrait is $4,000 and would typically be around 16x20" in size.

I think Richard's numbers are still very useful, though. I look at the size of canvas I would normally use for a typical 3/4 portrait and can see where my prices stand compared to his figures.

Enzie, you mentioned that people are often surprised at how "high" your prices are. This can happen sometimes with clients who have no experience buying original fine art and may be comparing a painted portrait to a studio photograph.

There was a recent post by the very experienced professional, Joy Thomas, on this subject. She said she would often start off by showing examples of the work of other artists whose work she felt was similar in quality to her own, along with their prices. Then she would show the client her more modest prices as a point of comparison. Doing something like that might help you.

You can also explain how a painted portrait is made to last for centuries, becomes a treasured family heirloom and (in the case of slow artists like me!) can take over a hundred hours to create.

[Tom Edgerton]

Richard--

This is very useful information. Thanks for it. Even though there are many complicating factors in portrait work, as Michele said, it's not a bad benchmark just to help artists see how paintings need to be priced to have a decent return on the effort.

I've always felt that artists are their own worst enemy when it comes to pricing, and they nearly always underprice. Also, pricing seemed for many years to be the domain of agents and gallery owners, and any information that we can share among ourselves to help level the playing field is to our mutual advantage.

I charged as much as I could stand starting out, and still look at myself in the mirror. The unexpected benefit was that I worked really hard at first to get good enough to justify my price. A little fear is a great motivator.

Thanks again--TE

[Enzie Shahmiri]

The haggling that goes on over price makes it seem like we are vendors in a bazaars. I think this is more so an issue, when one's work is not well known and I hope that established artists run less into this problem, especially if they are represented by a gallery.

Garth, I agree, the pricing for miniatures definitely does not fit into this pricing structure and has to have it's own.

Michele you are right to say that people must not have experience in buying fine art. I am just amazed how easily people spend their money on anything but art, without even flinching, yet when it comes to a painting, it's like the drawstrings to the purse tighten up.

A while back I saved an Arts and Antiques Article "Face Value", which speaks about the portrait commission process and what clients can expect, when they decide to commission a portrait. It also lists some prices of what professional portrait artist charge. I thought this would be an unbiased source that can act as a comparison for justifying one's fees and I keep it in the back of my portfolio.

I find Richards prices useful and I have come to understand that pricing is a matter of attitude of the artist. Those of us, who under price ourselves still have not learned to value our art for what it is worth. We are still influenced by people's opinions what it should be. I found that being a push over does not help one's objective and just like learning to say "no" one has to learn to say:" If you want cheap, then I know this great photographer down the street who can do it for less." I just haven't learned how to say it with a smile yet!

I just like to see an easy across the board pricing structure, that is fair to both the artist and the client and allows for a little flexibility in the case of exceptions to the norm. I would say Richard's little formula is a good step into that direction, because it offers a parameter of what is considered cheap, midrange or high end. Where we place our work within those ranges should then be determined by the quality of work being produced.

[Michele Rushworth]

Tom, you wrote:

Also, pricing seemed for many years to be the domain of agents and gallery owners

It seems as if many agents/galleries would prefer that their artists price their work on the low side. This seems confusing to me. Isn't it also in the interests of the seller to get a high price for the work, if it's warranted?

Enzie, you wrote:

The haggling that goes on over price makes it seem like we are vendors in a bazaars. I think this is more so an issue, when one's work is not well known and I hope that established artists run less into this problem, especially if they are represented by a gallery.

My prices are firm and I don't renegotiate them. I have once in a while offered an "opportunity" for a client to get a different price in exchange for something else of value to me (an unveiling party, barter for other goods or services, etc) but not a reduction in price just because someone requests it.

Enzie, you also wrote:

A while back I saved an Arts and Antiques Article "Face Value", which speaks about the portrait commission process and what clients can expect, when they decide to commission a portrait. It also lists some prices of what professional portrait artist charge. I thought this would be an unbiased source that can act as a comparison for justifying one's fees and I keep it in the back of my portfolio.

Great idea!

[Claudemir Bonfim]

Originally Posted by Enzie Shahmiri

A while back I saved an Arts and Antiques Article "Face Value".

I'm curious about this article, I don't know if you can post it here, if so, it would be very useful.

[Enzie Shahmiri]

I can't post it (copyright law), but I can Email it to you later today.

[Claudemir Bonfim]

Thanks a lot.

[Richard Monro]

Garth,
I hate to say it, but complexity and number of figures at best only make up to a plus 30% change in the per square in price.

Miniatures tend to fall in the third quartile with a median price of $17 per square inch. That is only 40% above the median for all type of paintings. Most of the miniatures I saw were as complex or more so than the larger works. Unfortunately Per Square Inch rules as king.

Michele,
You are absolutely on the mark with sticking to your price. My 40 plus years of business experience is that customers that insist on lower prices are continual problems to work with. Better to walk away.

Enzie,
Joy Thomas's approach is the smart way to go. One of my business colleges calls this approach "letting the customer see the bullet coming." By the time you get to your price they are mentally prepared to accept it.

Could you also include me in the e-mailing of that copyrighted piece?

[Enzie Shahmiri]

Richard and Claudemir,

Check your Emails, I have sent the article to both of you.