Commissions

~diddleh Jun 19, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

I was thinking about starting to do commissions but I've no idea where to start!

I've set up a PayPal account and everything but I don't know what to price things at. I'm probably going to sell a sort of "full body" type thing (like [link]) or just the head (like [link]) and with/without a background. How much would you pay for each of those?

Also, is there anything else I need to do or anything I need to know before I start taking commissions?

Thank you!

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Devious Comments

~purembc Jun 19, 2012 Hobbyist Photographer

I'm not sure of pricing or any of this, but I would say be careful of people that may try to rip you off. Keep prominent watermarks on any images you show them so they don't just rip them off, and be careful of people who will pay you, receive the art, then dispute the transaction thereby charging back their money. To avoid these problems make sure your client is Paypal Verified, and as an extra failsafe you could also have them send you the payment as a gift (non-taxed) with a message saying they've received your product.

That said, I would say start cheap on commissions, so you can at least get some examples and satisfied clients that will vouch for you. You can always raise the prices later, and as a developing artist any payment for your work is good.

The rough idea of $10/hour seems good to me. Just keep in mind you'll have to have a set price before someone places an order, so you'll need a solid gauge of how long it takes you to do certain things.

~diddleh Jun 19, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Thank you! This is really helpful, I hadn't thought of some these things

Yeah, I'll probably do £10 an hour and hopefully that should be okay. I think most paintings take me about 2-3 hours. I don't know though, I'm not sure I would pay £20-£30 for a digital painting. I mean it's not like I would be getting a hard copy or anything..

~draze Jun 19, 2012 Traditional Artist

search the forums for this and youll find dozens of topics with the same exact advice.

if youre serious about earning money from your art, be serious in your ability to research the idea. Dont depend on other people for information or guidance. If you do, you will never earn the money you may have otherwise been able to acquire.

Also, do not depend on dA for customers/income.

~diddleh Jun 19, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

I wanted to ask about myself in particular. People who are more talented than me would obviously charge more and I was wondering how much people would be willing to pay for my paintings. Like I said, I haven't done this before and I wanted to avoid making mistakes.
And I'm not depending on deviantart for my income, I just wanted to make a little extra money; I'm still at school at the moment.

~coulddobetter0 Jun 19, 2012

Go for it!

~diddleh Jun 19, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Helpful, Maz -.-
I was asking about pricing!

~coulddobetter0 Jun 19, 2012

oh, whoops sorry, I thought you wanted encouragement

ignore me, I'm not the person to ask about pricing

ONE MILLION POUNDS PER SQUARE CENTIMETRE!

~diddleh Jun 19, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Yes, Mary. They will sell like hotcakes then!

~coulddobetter0 Jun 19, 2012

oui

~FriendlyHand Jun 19, 2012

Hi,
Pricing can be a tricky subject, but a good way to start is figure out how long a drawing will take you and decide on a price per hour then calculate the price of the piece. As an artist, you are a skilled worker, so ideally you should charge more than minimum wage per hour. You'll find various artists suggesting $10, $15, $20 or more per hour.

Don't be discouraged if you don't sell a lot of work at first. If your head portraits take 2 hours, it's better to sell just one for $20 than to sell 10 of them at $2 each. Keep in mind that DA is not the best place to sell art at a reasonable price. Many members here are young people without jobs and many are artists who don't necessarily care to buy art from other artists. However you will sometimes find paying clients in the Job offers section. Also here is a list of other web sites, some of which have job ads and some of which are full blown freelancing sites: [link]

Also here are more tips on freelancing and commissions: [link]

-FH

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