Advice: Commission Prices

[paradedemon.livejournal.com]

EDIT: Please note, I'm under the age of 18, so I can't take money commissions yet.

I've been getting people seeming to call me "greedy" or "crazy for having commissions for 400 points and more.

are people getting greedy right now and want more for less?
i think my art is really quite good so I take points commissions on DA for points all 10 $ worth or less.

yet people ask to take that and such to 100 points?
It bother me that people call me greedy for wanting a decen money for commissions? It's not even money, only virtual currency that's purchased for money but cannot be sold for money P:

I've only had people "satisfied with my prices" when I sold things for less than 40 points a year ago pretty much P:

Comments

[grandioze.livejournal.com]

For people who aren't familiar with DA's point conversion system, here it is:
1 DApoint = 1.25 cents
80 DApoints = 1 dollar

So 400 points = 500 cents ($5)

Really, I wish that DA had made a DApoint worth $1 or 1¢ just to keep the math simple, but noooooo. However, it looks like they might have done that intentionally to account for their own "send to Paypal" fees (DA charges 20% if you send the points over to Paypal, so 100points = $1).

But back on topic, you should ignore the people who say "That's too much money!!! *whine whine whine*" In the art world there are ALWAYS people who think that art should be free or incredibly cheap because "art is fun" (ugh). If you plan on becoming a professional artist, it's very important that you learn how to ignore or decline these people early on.

My advice: maybe you should try doing life studies to improve your artwork before you try to sell it. Someone mentioned that you're underage too. If I were in your shoes, I'd wait until I was 18 so that I could take PayPal commissions instead, but that's just me.

Here are a few advice posts from Noah Bradley that I recommend you check out:
http://www.noahbradley.com/blog/2012/charge-more/
http://www.noahbradley.com/blog/2012/savor-the-freedom/
http://www.noahbradley.com/blog/2011/when-in-doubt-return-to-the-basics/

And this video:
http://www.theartoffreelancing.com/
(Note: it isn't super exciting but the information is GREAT. It starts at ~3 minutes in. I really recommend that anyone seriously considering an art career go listen to it.)

[otherscape.livejournal.com]

I love Noah Bradley. That guy is a wonderful fountain of advice.

[grandioze.livejournal.com]

He really is. :D I love that he has wonderful, kick ass work to back it up too.

[paradedemon.livejournal.com]

I've heard about him before actually o:
It's nice having so many people here on AB to help out as well!

[wolf-nymph.livejournal.com]

Great links and great advice. Just chiming in to second what Grandioze says here.

[paradedemon.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this!

I'll be sure to check out all those links <3
Also; I really would like Paypal commissions when I can, but it's nice getting point commissions until I become 18 (4 years to go sadly Dx) as they can be used to purchase DA items (Particularly things such as the bags and such).

[grandioze.livejournal.com]

Waiting for four years might sound kind of bad at first, but you have to keep in mind that it takes about 5-10 years for an artist to become established in the art world (and this is AFTER they're at a professional level). Simply put - art is a slow, slow field that takes a bunch of time and effort to get into.

Not sure if you saw my other comment, but Noah talks specifically about your question at ~23:30 minutes in.

[paradedemon.livejournal.com]

I've noticed it's really slow.
Luckily those 4 years will give me LOTS of improvement time!
(I've improved drastically even in the past year o:)

And Alright! I'll be checking out all his stuff soon.

[grandioze.livejournal.com]

Another thing to keep in mind in regards to artwork -

You have 3 options: fast, great, and cheap. Pick two of them and forget about the third. Which two do you want to target?

1. Do you want to be a cheap artist who's also fast? (This is good if you're someone who can work quickly, but it can easily lead to rushed pictures that won't get you better prices/clients)

2. Do you want to be a cheap artist who's also good? (Your artwork is nice, but it can take you years and years to finish just a single picture)

3. OR do you want to be a good AND fast artist? (This is where you'll get the most money, but it's also the hardest to obtain)

What you want to do really comes down to your personality and how you like to work.

[paradedemon.livejournal.com]

This is a really interesting thing I've never thought of!

I think currently I work as fast as I can with school, but also with keeping art good, which takes maybe a 2-5 hours on a piece depending on what it is, which is a decent timing I'm assuming?

[grandioze.livejournal.com]

I don't know. I'm super slow myself (wooo... details) so I'm probably not the best person to ask on times. To me, as long as you aren't taking, like, 400 hours to make a picture, I don't see the problem. Speed is something you shouldn't really focus on by itself because it comes with experience (I can already tell that I'm faster now than I was last year).

[paradedemon.livejournal.com]

Slownesssssssssss. <3

And Indeed! I've definetly not only improved in ability, but speed as well! I like to do quick sketches, only up to 10 minutes per sketch, to practice.

I'll have to think over all pricing and such, and then have a major repricing. c:

[otherscape.livejournal.com]

I'd actually slow down and work on the fundamentals more. You may be fast now, but you also have to think about what you are doing in order to improve. Once you've gotten the hang of those fundamentals, you can increase your speed without loss of quality, since it would become natural to you.

Looking at your gallery, I got to say, you have some great potential, especially for a 13 year old. If you seriously started studying now, you could have some amazing art, if not professional quality, by the time you're 18 or 19 (it doesn't take that long to improve if you do it correctly, actually). If you wanted to have a career in art anyway.

[ljmydayaway.livejournal.com]

Actually, speedpaints and gesture drawings are two things that help artists the most, especially artists who are just getting started and just learning about anatomy/color theory. I think this artist is learning just fine, in a way that's obviously working well for them.

It wouldn't hurt to do some in-depth anatomy studies, but being quick doesn't mean they aren't learning.

[paradedemon.livejournal.com]

I currently have an anatomy book I found on the bookshelf in the depths of downstairs, and simply pondering through it and drawing some of the things in there can give a much different look on how to draw things such as bodies, not just as squares.

And thank you ^3^

[otherscape.livejournal.com]

Meh, I guess it depends on the person. I've found I don't learn anything from speed paints when it comes to color theory, though gesture drawing is very useful.