So @dreriart made a post about commission pricing and I thought since it is doin’ the rounds I’d copy-paste this thing I wrote on DA over to Tumblr because for some reason I … never … did that … before??
So one recurring thing I see a lot in the art community in many
different formats is ‘how much should I charge for my commissions?’
What
normally follows is a lot of bad advice. Terrible advice. So I’m here
to give you some good advice and tell you all about how to value your
skillset and price accordingly. This guide has been written with the
intended audience of folk who are just starting out with commissions,
but I hope it will encourage other artists to give themselves a fair
wage and, of course, a lot of this can be transposed over to other
creative professions as well.
So let’s answer the question of ‘how much should I be charging people for work?’
The answer to this is deceptively simple. Here are the questions you need to ask yourself to form an appropriate response:
Where do you live?
How old are you?
For obvious reasons I cannot assist you with these. But once you have these you go to Google and you type in the following:
‘minimum wage per hour in <location name>’
Which is more than likely going to bring up an official government page for your area. Here is the one for the UK since that is where I live.Now
what? Well. How old are you? Because some locations have different
rates for those in different age brackets. But essentially all you need
to do is get the following info:
How much is the minimum wage per hour for my age in my area?
Now
that you have this, how long does a piece take you? You do not need to
be exact. A rough guesstimation will do. This will form your base price
of:
Minimum Wage x Estimated Hours
Therefore if I take five hours to paint a portrait and my min wage is £7.83 then my base price for a painted portrait is £39.15.
That is the absolute minimum you should be charging for your work.
And please take into considerations the following:
Working outside your comfort zone will up times taken on a piece.
If you’re working with traditional materials, how much for paper/canvas/paint/pens/etc?
Minimum wage is quite often garbage anyway.
Whenever
I say this though, I often get a variety of responses in the negatory
for this method. I have answers for each of them. So, let’s run a
sort-of-FAQ on this method shall we?
I’m not good enough to price that high.
Yes you are. Who says? Your government, for starters. Also me. Here’s the thing. No matter the quality of your art, you deserve a fair living wage for your work.
There
are lots of people out there with no understanding of the time, effort
and tears that go into honing artistic skills. Digital art, making
comics, mastering musical composition, sculpting, or whatever it is all
takes time to learn and we are constantly growing and improving. And if
someone wants to hand you money for what you are producing guess what?
You ARE good enough. That is the proof right there. Another human being
wants to give you cold hard cash for something that only you can make.
If
it puts a different perspective on things for you, think of job roles
that would be traditionally minimum wage. Probably the one most people
will go to is ‘burger flipping at McDonalds’ as an example of a low
skill occupation that is stereotypically easy and for those who failed
in life etc. etc. (spoiler alert: it isn’t, but that’s a journal entry
for another day). Why should this theoretical failure of humanity earn
more than you doing a job that ‘anyone can do’? Because art is
absolutely more difficult than cleaning out a McFlurry machine (that’s a
legit fact by the way: I’ve cleaned one of those and art is way
harder).
Also, art is a luxury product my friend. No one needs to
be buying commissions of their MMO character. They want it? They can
play by our rules. And they will.
My family member/friend/random internet guy said that’s too expensive and I should lower my prices.
Your
family member/friend/random internet berk is a fucking idiot at best,
or intentionally trying to get you to undersell at worst. Firstly, I’d
be willing to bet that the person who said this to you is not an
artist. If so, what makes them more qualified than another actual artist
to tell YOU how to price yourself? Because you trust their opinion?
Yeah, but what if their opinion is formed on a factually incorrect
assumption of how much art costs/the time it takes to produce because
that is a HUGE deal in our community right now. And what if they just
want you to stay cheap because it threatens them? Or, as a consumer,
want you to stay cheaper for their own selfish purchasing habits? What
then? Tell them to fuck off.
But there is someone better than me charging less! Why should a client pick me over them?
Spoiler
alert: there will always be someone better than you charging less.
There are thousands of mega quality artists out there. I’m considered
expensive for what I produce, especially as I live in a country with a
currency that translates highly to other currencies. Yet people
constantly ask me for commission work. So what gives? Here are some
reasons why a prospective client might chose you over someone else:
You are nicer than they are.
You are faster than they are.
You’re working in a niche sector.
They know you personally.
They like your art style better.
You have lots of good feedback.
A friend recommended you.
They aren’t even open for commissions right now.
They had a bad experience with that artist in the past.
You’re easier to purchase from.
You have a larger following and purchasing from you exposes that audience to them by proxy.
There
are lots of other reasons but price isn’t necessarily often the
deciding factor for a lot of clients. Don’t spend your life being
concerned with how other people are better than you or you’ll never be
happy.
I’m nervous about pricing so highly! What if no one wants my art?If
a client doesn’t want to pay you a fair living wage for their luxury
item purchase then that’s a client you can probably do without to be
honest with you.Someone complained about my prices being so high! What do I do?
Refer them to this:
Something worth noting is that minimum wage is normally used for people who are employed (not self employed). So people who work contracted 16, 24, 37 or 40+ hours per week for an employer.
Anyone who is not guaranteed work for a set amount of hours per week is absolutely within their right to charge well over the minimum wage, to cover those hours that they are not guaranteed.
Ever wonder why the plumber is so expensive? Or the electrician? The pc repair guy (£60 to transfer my data? Really? All you do is plug it in and leave it for a few hours..)
That’s why. Because most traders/self employed people don’t have work lined up 9-5 mon-fri (though it’s great news if you do!). If my lovely pc repair tech only charged me £20 to transfer my data, or £5 labour (half an hour) +
>insert price of laptop screen here< to repair my screen, he’s never going to make enough money to stay open, because he doesn’t have people coming and going in his shop all day every day.
If you’re considering being a part or full time artist, then perhaps consider not just how many hours it takes you per piece, but how much of your time you want to spend on commissions. If you plan on spending 20 hours per week on it (not just the art itself, but consider things like liasing with customers and promoting yourself as well) then calculate the hours with the minimum wage (in the above instance, it would be 20 x £7.83 = £156.60). Then you figure in that week you can hopefully (and realistically) complete let’s say, 3 commissions. That would be £52.20 each. Already that’s more than the base price stated above (which I am not saying is wrong at all). But you’ve covered yourself for the additional work and downtime hours, and given yourself a real expectation that of what income you’ll be earning per week.
“Persephone climbed into her husband’s lap as if it were her throne, as if she never sat anywhere else. Hades, stiff and frightening to eyes of others, let the flower goddess run her fingers through his hair like any love drunk young man tasting the nectar of a woman’s love for the first time. To the world he was an unyielding and merciless king, but for her he was vulnerable and tender.”
Isn’t it weird how you can actually feel the pain in your chest and stomach when something really hurts your feelings
This is actually because it activates your vagus nerve! Basically your body goes “we are so upset! We must be injured! Where???? On the inside guts! Those are confusing and hard to differentiate!!! Confusing guts are hurt!”
Great! How do I uninstall it?
“great! how do i uninstall it?” carries the same vibe as “thanks! i hate it” but more ACTIONABLE bc we gettin our shit together in 2k18
Yet when someone tells me that they are going to pray for me, genuinely, with nothing but love in their hearts, I just smile and say thank you….
…because I’m not an insufferable jackass.
I’m an athiest, but I live in the south so there’s always religion being thrown in my face. For context of this story: I had surgery in July, the fifth in a row for a medical issue I’ve had for two years.
One weekend before my surgery I went and got a facial (let me tell you. if you’ve never had a facial, YOU NEED TO). This was the most relaxing experience I’ve ever had, tbh. But my esthetician and I had been talking sometime during my facial that I was having surgery soon. So, at the end, she asked, “Can I pray for you?”
This put me in a damn weird position because I don’t believe in the “power of prayer” as my aunt calls it. So I had two choices: say yes and just go with it, or say no and look like an ass.
So I told her “Yes” and I suppose I expected her to pray for me at a later date? But she prayed for me, with me, right then and there in the room. And honestly?
I bawled.
Look, I don’t believe in a god. I don’t believe that her attempting to contact an entity would have changed my outcome of my surgery at all. But the sheer fact that this woman, whom I’d known for all of an hour while she did my facial, was willing to take 5 minutes out of her day to sit down and use her faith to help me.
Shame on the people who put others down for their willingness to pray for and help them.
Okay so as those of you who use PayPal are probably aware, PayPal has this new credit card type thing that they’re DESPERATE for people to use.
So I was buying something with Paypal and suddenly mid check out i noticed something that said I was signing up for their credit card, like not asking me if I want to buy it, one click away as if I was about to finish a transaction for it. I scrolled down and saw a “cancel transaction” button, pressed it, and suddenly I was back to my checkout screen.
PayPal now has a pop up screen that looks almost identical to their normal checkout screen, which will pop up while you’re mid-transaction and try to trick you into signing up for their credit card. Keep an eye out.
In the West, plot is commonly thought to revolve around conflict: a confrontation between two or more elements, in which one ultimately dominates the other. The standard three- and five-act plot structures–which permeate Western media–have conflict written into their very foundations. A “problem” appears near the end of the first act; and, in the second act, the conflict generated by this problem takes center stage. Conflict is used to create reader involvement even by many post-modern writers, whose work otherwise defies traditional structure.
The necessity of conflict is preached as a kind of dogma by contemporary writers’ workshops and Internet “guides” to writing. A plot without conflict is considered dull; some even go so far as to call it impossible. This has influenced not only fiction, but writing in general–arguably even philosophy. Yet, is there any truth to this belief? Does plot necessarily hinge on conflict? No. Such claims are a product of the West’s insularity. For countless centuries, Chinese and Japanese writers have used a plot structure that does not have conflict “built in”, so to speak. Rather, it relies on exposition and contrast to generate interest. This structure is known as kishōtenketsu.
Probably one of the best things I’ve discovered trying to write. Actually, I’m going to go ahead and say this is the BEST things I’ve discovered when it comes to writing. This has freed my writing so much!! In fact, looking back some of the work I tried to write followed this formula before I was even aware of it. And I find that I write best this way.
Also adding other links to other articles on the subject for future reference:
weirdest thing about videogames is finding new clothing/armor for your character on dead NPCs like “its such a shame greg died but thank god his pants are just my size”
It’s such a shame this spider died. Good thing he was carrying pants, a helmet, and a sword.
It’s so weird to me that people label Fred the ‘Athlete’ of Mystery Inc. He came up with highly extravagant plans, was always the one reading the newspaper, wanted to be a mystery writer, and did acting at school. Fred is the Art Kid.
Shaggy, however, was a track star and top gymnast which is why he and Scooby were always used as bait and runners for Fred’s plans and potentially why he consumed so much food. Shaggy is the Athlete.
Fred probably worked on theater crew in high school and worked the rafters, which is probably where he got his fetish for ropes and nets
no offens but people being overworked to death in industries like animation and making video games is a huge issue… like holy shit i’d prefer my favorite anime being delayed or a video game’s release being a bit late if it means people don’t suffer under intense conditions and stress
Imagine being a kid in school. Your teacher comes up with an idea for class picture. Every student will draw pictures of their friends.
Everyone starts drawing enthusiasticly, and can’t wait to see what they look like in the drawings. When pictures are ready you notice that popular students have more pictures than rest, but nobody has done a drawing of you. The teacher notices that too, and asks if someone would do your picture. To your horror the class clown takes the job, and comes up with a caricature of you. Others are laughing, but you’re not. You feel awful. The teacher notices that. and asks again someone to do a drawing of you. One of the ‘good students’ starts drawing, but the result is forced. It’s just a drawing of a generic child wearing a shirt of same color as you a wearing. There’s no spirit, no soul in it. You start sensing that the class is geting frustrated with you. They want to be done with this. You ask quietly the teacher if you could do a drawing yourself.
After school your classmates confront you. Why did you have to make such a big deal out of it? The first picture was funny. The second picture was just fine! The drawing you did yourself wasn’t right, do you think you are that good-looking? There were other kids who got only one or two pictures of themselves. Who are you to demand special treatment? Maybe there would have been a picture of you if you weren’t such annoying baby, nobody likes you anyway, and nobody’s going to if you keep on being like that, you don’t deserve a drawing!
This could be story of bullying, but it’s also about how I see portraying LGBTQ+-people and PoC in mainstream entertainment.
Wow. First I want to say that I’m super proud of you.
Being a caretaker for people isn’t an easy thing, and that’s a lot of stress on your shoulders too. I hope–I hope the surgeries weren’t for anything too serious, and that they make a speedy recovery.
Maybe–Maybe they’re being like this because they hurt, and they’re really worried about you and don’t know the exact right way to express it? I mean I know what it’s like to have someone be hard on you, but they do it because they want the best for you, y’know?
Ah, I’m probably not making that part any better…I’m sorry. I’m just trying to see; or maybe bend it in a way, to say that they’re honestly worried about you, like I am. They want you to succeed and be happy and do well, and sometimes, words can come across much harsher than they meant them too…
I know it’s hard right now, but I’m pretty positive my choco-babe will pull through. I mean, you’re one of the toughest people I know. And besides, never forget that I have your back. Okay?
Not gonna lie I’m living for this Twilight Renaissance that’s been going on who’s with me with embracing their 13 year old selves that they were shamed into hating for years because of both external and internalized misogyny?
We want to see you healthy and happy in every aspect of your life. If you need someone to talk to right now, please reach out to any of these numbers/chat rooms below.
me replying to messages 10 days late and blaming it on my busy schedule to hide the fact that my depression has me thinking simple correspondence is an actual workload:
My kinds of ships are the ships where the men know their women are powerful forces of nature and that they could fuck up entire armies in a matter of seconds and THEY EMBRACE IT AND TAKE PRIDE IN IT???! “Oh… It’s not me you should be worried about… It’s my WIFE.“ *smirks* YAAASSSSSSSSSS GIVE ME MORE.
OoooooHO MY GOD! After 3 days, I finally did it! Thank you to @destiny-islanders for letting me draw their Hocus Pocus!Prompto!!!! ( which I hope I did right??? ) I was so excited to draw him with Tweek since I’m still on that witch!Tweek hype! (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))
I still have hope that Loki, prince of Asgard, Odinson, rightful king of Jotenheim, god of mischief, is still alive and if not that at least will appear in the next Avengers movie
Hello, world! I’m fat. I look good. That’s all, thank you.
Greetings, friends. If you are fat, you also look good. Okay, good bye.
Thin people, you are welcome to reblog this to let your fat friends know they are phenomenal
I am not fat, and I look good. My wife is fat and she is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known.
P.S. Thank you OP for starting this excellent, positive thread. 10/10 would reblog again.
Mmkay cool but if you’re about uplifting your wife then why did you start off making it about your not fat self when virtually everything is already about that?
My apologies, I see your point and that’s my bad.
I’ve observed a trend in our culture that some people are fine with body positivity towards people who are fat, as long as they are in relationships with other people who are fat. But they treat the idea of a fat person in a relationship with a thin person as a joke, or think that the thin person must be ugly or that they could do better or something, and that idea is total bullshit.
My intention wasn’t to draw attention to my thin self (though I can totally understand how it came across that way, and I’m sincerely sorry for it.) My intention was to say that people of mixed body types can be happy and confident in how they look, and still be happy and confident together.
1/ Control Your Breathing When we are anxious or feeling stressed, we tend to take quick, shallow breaths. This can further exasperate our chances to stay calm as fast, light breaths can make us feel light-headed, dizzy and panicky. The good news is that by practicing a simple technique to control your breathing you can lower your heart rate, reduce your blood pressure, reduce muscle tension and bring a sense of calm to your body and mind. Try slowly inhaling a normal breath through your nose filling your lower lungs, holding it for a second, and then slowly releasing it through your mouth. Continue this gentle breathing pattern in a relaxed, slow manner until you feel calmer.
2/ Avoid Caffeine The last thing you need when you feel you are losing control, overwhelmed or stressed is caffeine. Caffeine is great when you need a boost, giving you a quick burst of energy, but it is a central nervous system stimulant that can cause anxiousness and jitters, further stimulating an already over stimulated brain in a stressful situation. Instead of reaching for a cup of coffee when you are feeling stressed, try hydrating yourself with a glass of water.
3/ Stay Positive Having a negative attitude in a stressful situation is a sure fire way to enable the moment to completely overwhelm you. Your mind will start imagining the worst case scenarios, the more difficult it will be for you to remain calm, and your stress levels will soon be off the scale. Let go of negative thoughts, employ positive thinking and you’ll find the situation less stressful. Positive thoughts have the potential to shape who you are and your circumstances.
4/ Look At The Big Picture Probably the most powerful technique in learning how to stay calm under pressure… look at the big picture! The next time you find yourself in a stressful situation, take a step back and ask yourself: Is this going to matter to me tomorrow, next week, next month or a year from now? The answer is usually that it won’t! As Richard Carlson said: “Don’t sweat the small stuff!”.
5/ Focus On One Thing At A Time For me, trying to multi-task can lead to confusion, chaos and stress. Multi-tasking can certainly increase efficiency but it can also make life and tasks more complicated and often more stressful than necessary. Instead, try focusing on just one job at a time and finish it before moving onto your next task and watch as your stress levels reduce and life becomes easier.
6/ Get Enough Sleep Did you know that not getting sufficient or the right kind of sleep raises stress hormones even without a stressor? Factor in that sleep deprivation also reduces your ability to focus and stay attentive and we can understand why we feel more stressed after a bad night’s sleep. Making efforts to have a good night’s sleep means you’ll feel alert, refreshed and ready to face the day with less stress and a calmer attitude.
7/ Disconnect If you are getting nowhere with a project and can feel your stress levels rising, try walking away and disconnecting from the task for a few minutes, an hour or even longer. Maybe start another job or even better, do nothing at all. You’ll give yourself a chance to calm down, release any emotional attachments and face the task again with a fresh, clearer perspective.
Conclusion As the author Stephen Covey says, ‘While we cannot always choose what happens to us, we can choose our responses.’ Next time you are feeling stressed, try out a few of these tips and you’ll soon be feeling calmer and back in control.
How To Stay Calm In Stressful Situations?
Try these tips and you’ll soon be feeling calmer and back in control.
Want to have one really nice set of plates and silverware for company and Thanksgiving.
Want to be able to buy a new outfit and a good bra at least once a year.
Want to be able to give “just because” gifts.
Want to burn incense and candles in my home daily, and have nice soaps.
Want to be able to donate to charity frequently and without worry.
Want to buy hardcover books to read and put on a shelf for my kids to read someday.
Want to have candies in bowls for people who visit.
Want to be able to take my young siblings and cousins to a movie and let them get the big popcorn they won’t finish, because there’s magic in just having it.
Want to have a linen closet or at least a linen shelf.
Want to go see live local theater and music.
Want to have a bottle of wine or champagne in the house for when I suddenly need to celebrate.
Want to commission artists for what they’re worth.
Want to have an big wooden cutting board where I can cut up meats and cheeses for crackers when my friends are over.
Want to occasionally have a day where I can sit by a window in a big sweater and read a book and listen to the rain come down.
Want to treat myself to a fancy coffee on mornings when there’s no time to make my own.
Want to have a kitchen with basic baking supplies so I can make bread on the weekend, and pies for special occasions.
Want to have time in the morning to stretch and exercise without sacrificing too much sleep.
Want to make food out of cookbooks, but order a pizza on lazy Sundays.
I have a Demon Hunter/Monster Hunter fic in the works, an Undead McCree/Bride Sombra fic and a correlating pic…and just lots of stuff in general that I’d like to work on again, requests, mostly. I’d also really like to start updating and finish ‘Dulce’ again since that’s nearly done.
Right now I’m really tied for time – I’m in the middle of a massive cleaning and it takes up a lot of time and energy >< Soon, anon, soon!
I had such high hopes for this drawing—dramatic lighting, negative space, contrasting values—but it ended up turning into yet another Icarus moment for me. I didn’t even nail the prompt properly, because the pocket watch I originally wanted to include got lost in his black vest, so the wristwatch was a last-minute addition. Hopefully Ignis’ stupid sexy face will make up for it. D:
@missyunie, this one’s yours if you want it! I’ll be in touch to get your address from you shortly. For anyone else interested in getting in on my Inktober giveaway, click here.
I’m opening 2 selfship YCH commission slots with these 2 poses
They will be completed in full color. I’ll only be doing humanoid characters for these poses (so if they are inhuman but still human-like in proportions they still count )
these will be first come, first serve. If you are interested in getting a slot send me a PM with the Pose you’d like to purchase and please have visual references for your self insert/oc. I do not accept written descriptions.
These are PAYPAL only. If these do well I will be doing more YCHs like this in the future!
I am glad to hear that you are ok with how things are for you, but I am sad to hear that people are being condescending toward you. But then again, that’s something I know well too.
I am proud of you Jagiya.
Sometimes people think they are being helpful by offering advice that you do not want, or their tone can come across that they know what’s best for you when in fact they don’t. They are not you. I can only hope that in time, they will see you for who you are and not what you should be.
But, in the meantime…
You do know that my arms are open for you anytime right? That I’ll gladly hide you away from the world against my chest. Maybe you would like me to read you a story, or sing to you? I am glad to do either.
Even if it does nothing more than make you smile, just a little.
It pains me to hear that you are being told to give up on a goal…but you should know, and understand that life is worth it; every moment of it.
How are you to prove people wrong that you can get closer to your goal if you are not here to do such? And I do believe that getting people to swallow a bitter pill of they were wrong about you is much more fun than just giving up, is it not?
Please do not give up…if I may be so greedy as to ask you to not do so, for my sake–our sakes.
What Iggy said–
Hey. U-Uhmn…gods, I know it’s hard.
I know how hard it is to be told that you, that you can’t. That your goal is to far fetched…
But honestly, that just made me want to try harder. To prove that I could. Maybe–Maybe that’s what they were getting at? Maybe they wanted to challenge you?
…but please, don’t give up. F-For me–for us–if you need a reason…
Specs and Prom are right…we really like you being here.
I understand what it’s like though to live with so much pressure on your shoulders. To live up to what people want you to be…expect you to be.
Sometimes you do have to make sacrifices, small ones, to get further ahead in the future. Maybe that’s more what they meant…?
Just remember, we’re here anytime you need us. I promise.
Mark your Calendars! Tomorrow at 12:00 pm PST Preorders for Honor and Duty: a Gladio Amicitia fanzine will open! The URL is in the image so please visit us when we go live!
Does anyone else have that one fanfiction that they’re dying to to write but it’s like, mega long and basically a whole universe, and then you’ve got head-cannons to go with that fanfiction and like fanfiction to go with that fanfiction an back-stories for every character and you get frikin’ feels about that universe and it’d be the most coolest thing if you could just be bothered to frikin’ write it.
~My Tumblr Back-Up And Stuffs~ 
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