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Even though drawing materials are cheap, you should still charge a MINIMUM of $100 because people are coming to you for a TALENT that few people possess and you are a SKILLED ARTIST, therefore your prices shouldn't be cheap! If you look online, you will see that alot of drawing artists are charging MORE than $100 for their artwork!

How To Calculate Cost For Artwork:

1. The customer has to pay for ALL art materials (paint/pencils, paper/canvas, spray fixative/varnish, frame, etc.) that was used in creating the artwork. When you buy art supplies, keep your receipts, so you will know how much they cost. Or buy a notebook and keep a log of how much art materials cost. (Note: If the tube of paint cost, Example: $2.50, you would still charge the full amount of $2.50 even if you used a small amount of paint from the tube. So example, $2.50 x 4 tubes of paint used = $10.00. This would also apply to each pencil used).

2. The customer has to pay for labor - the time you spent in creating the artwork. There are two ways to calculate labor:

A) Give an ESTIMATE as the final cost, Example: Charge $8.00 (approximate minimum wage) every hour. Estimate how many hours you think it will take to create artwork, Example: $8.00 x 2 hours = $16.00. Giving an estimate is the better choice when doing commissions and writing up contracts because the customer will know the final price you will be charging for the artwork.

B) Charge the EXACT price, Example: Charge $8.00 every hour. Everytime you work on the piece of artwork, write down the time. When the art is completed, add up the times to get the exact hours you worked on creating the artwork, Example: 2 hours 25 minutes. Round Up or Round Down the minutes to get total. In this example, you would round up to 30 minutes which would be 0.50, Example: $8.00 x 2.50 hours = $20.00

0.25 = 15 minutes (Example: 2.25 = 2hrs 15min)

0.50 = 30 minutes (Example: 2.50 = 2hrs 30min)

0.75 = 45 minutes (Example: 2.75 = 2hrs 45min)

3. Make a profit: Add the cost of materials (#1 above) and labor (#2 above), Example: $10 + $20 = $30. Then you double, triple, quadruple, etc. that amount to get your profit, Example: $30x2=$60 or $30x3=$90 or $30x4=$120 and etc. You will have to decide how much "PROFIT" you want to make.

4. Add up amounts to get your grand total, Example:

$10.00 Materials

$20.00 Labor ($8 x 2.50 hours)

$30.00 SUB TOTAL

$60.00 GRAND TOTAL ($30 Subtotal x 2 Profit)

EXTRA TIP: Many longtime good friendships have been ruined when MONEY is involved, so always have a contract for all the commissions you do for friends and non-friends/associates/other people.

You need to have a written contract. A verbal contract is hard to prove in court! You and the customer should both have a copy of the SIGNED and DATED contract.

Things to include on the contract:

1. Your name & customer's name - print & signature

2. Date of signing contract

3. Size & type of artwork, Example: 18x24 inch Graphite Pencil Portrait Drawing Of John Doe, Done On Paper

4. When the artwork will be completed

5. How the artwork will be delivered (hand delivery or mailed)

6. Price of the artwork (grand total only)

7. How you are to be paid (cash, money order, check)

8. When the money is due (100% due before or after the artwork is completed or 50% due before you start artwork and the final 50% due when artwork is finished)

9. Also include if the customer doesn't like the artwork they will still have to pay the 100% or only 50%.

Personally, I would not accept cash nor checks. Cash is not trackable (unless you write a receipt) and checks can bounce! A money order is extremely trackable and it will not bounce! You can make a copy of the money order before cashing it for your records. If a person complains, I have a check, why can't I use it? Don't let that intimidate you. They can easily get a money order from their bank! Banks and the U.S. Postal Office sells reputable money orders!

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Price it on how much you value it. If you want to sell it to make a quick buck then keep the price low but if you really treasure it then put more on the value. Think how much you would pay for a picture would be a good start. A friend of mine had two pictures at an art display for sale but one was excessively priced compared to the other. I quizzed her about this and she told me that it was valuable to her because of the subject.

Start selling them and you can always alter the price as you go. A lot of artists increase their prices when they get a name for themselves and become more popular.

base the price on size, quality, amount of subjects, complexity of the background, etc; Get an estimate for the pricing, ask what they're willing to pay, and negotiate with your 'customer' (so to speak) to find a price you can both agree on.

You should charge whatever people are willing to pay! Start small and work your way up, if people start refusing because of the price, you know you are charging too much.