The Cost of Art from Commissioning to Completion

A friend of mine, being helpful, pointed me in the direction of a few different websites where I could sell my art.  It was very sweet of her, because if I had a bunch of paintings I wanted to unload, I would definitely consider Etsy or Artfire (even though the later is more problematic because they want a monthly fee).  I would also try to sell directly to clients, because that is how you make the most money.

When I was glancing around Artfire, I decided to check out the "Forge" page which is a search page where people can make requests for specific items.  Then they put up a price they are willing to pay.  The problem is, most people don't understand how much money it costs to create a custom item.  They don't understand the man hours required, or the investment in materials.  Most of the prices people say they are willing to pay, are way under even the low-ball bid of what an artist can afford to accept.  In the interest of helping out some artists, and some potential buyers, let me break down exactly what goes into making something...anything.  Because I am primarily a painter (who only dabbles in the occasional paper or jewelry craft) I will walk through this process from a painter's perspective.

Let's say that a person comes to me asking for a commissioned piece.  The first thing I ask (because I care about this sort of thing) is where the piece will hang. What is the mood of the room? The piece needs to fit with the room. Second, what type of art does the patron prefer? What colors and shapes?

Now, the price of the piece necessarily depends on the size of the work as the larger the piece, the more materials will be used. I will be honest, I am committed to making sure a piece fits a room.  So if the room requires a larger painting, then I tell the client so.  If it would be better to have a series of small paintings, likewise I recommend that.

A large painting, would probably start at 2x3 feet and go up.  The price of something like this is going to be at least $400 (if a person were to buy several paintings, there would likely be a discount per individual piece).  If you bought some work in a gallery, you might see a piece at the starting range for a large painting at 500 or 600.  1000 comes quickly.

Why is a painting so much money? Well, for starters, labor.  A good painting for most artists takes probably between 5-7 hours labor (again depending on size).  So, because you're paying for creative genius which has been honed by years of training, you're looking at some serious investment for hourly labor.  Then you're considering the cost of the materials.  The canvas itself, for a large piece, is likely going to cost the artist around 40-50$ minimum, especially if it is pre-stretched and primed.  If it is not, then it would take about an hour to prepare the canvas assuming the artist had a way of creating a frame easily.  Then you have the paint itself.  Good acrylic paint is around 7-10$ a tube.  For a basic set of colors you should have 10 or so tubes of different colors, not to mention any kind of mediums (which tend to go up in price) to adjust the quality of the paint.  Then you have the brushes, and the maintenance of those brushes.  Cleaner is about 5$ and by far the best thing for them.

So, just to be clear:

50$ canvas (minimum for a large piece)

5$ maintenance for tools per painting
25$ worth of paint (this is likely if the painting is large and abstract)

Total cost to artist in materials:  80$ for a low end large piece

Anything above that is for the labor and ideas of the artist, a good portion of which would likely be put towards painting some noncommissioned work in order to get their brand out. As you can see, the excess funds would be eaten up rather quickly.  This of course doesn't account for the fact that if the person is only an artist, they would probably be dead or living in a ditch.

Let's examine what would be the case for writing.  Writing an article or a story takes time and research.  There are quite a lot of companies out there that think it is fine to pay a writer a nominal fee, like 2 or 3$ for a story.  Again, the issue is a writer has a talent (creative genius) which has been honed by years of schooling and practice.  Their time is valuable - at least 30$ an hour (think of a writing tutor who would cost about that much per hour). A story or an article takes at the bare minimum (for something very short, like 300 to 500 words) an hour to actually write.  The research for an article would take at least another hour if not two (because you have to process the information as well as weed through different sources). Then it takes maybe 15 -20 minutes to proof. 

The total cost of labor for that short article would be 70 - 100$.  It ends up being cheaper to just hire someone to write for you consistently if you want anything of quality.  If you want the txt spk from sum McD's 15 yr old OMG! employee, then be my guest and ask for $2 for an article.

Art takes time.  It takes skill and talent and years of practice.  It is valuable.  Very few can actually do it remotely well.  We should honor those who can.