The price is right ... maybe

Other than actually executing the artwork, the next most difficult thing artists have to do is pricing their own finished works.

Rarely do I see so much hand-wringing as when artists are discussing how should they put a price on their artwork.

Most of the time, we let our emotions get involved in the process. If the artist is particularly attached to the work, they have a tendency to overprice the piece. Then there's the lack of self-confidence issue where the artist thinks, "Well, why would they buy that from me?!" Subsequently, they price the piece too low.

If I price it too high, does the buyer think I'm an egomaniac? Or am I trying to impress a collector with the high price in order to create a false impression? If I price it too low, does the buyer think I am not proud of the piece, so why should they invest their money? Some artists underprice their work because they feel sorry that the buyer should spend that much money.

A few years back, I read a piece on the internet that made a lot of sense to me -- establish a formula and try to stick to it. I have used that as a guide and have adjusted it according to situations. Which sounds like I'm being wishy-washy, but I'm really not because there actually is a formula involved.

Marin (Unframed)

The formula should be $$$ x square inches of the painting. I usually set $5 or $6/square inch as my guide. Therefore, if the painting rendered is 14 x 18 (252 square inches), the price should be somewhere in the neighborhood of between $1,260-to-$1,512. This should be the unframed price of the artist's work.

Framing is an unknown cost for many artists. Some of us are fortunate enough to be able to frame their own work and that reduces the cost considerably. I am not one of those. In fact, the hardest thing for me to do is selecting a mat color for my drawings. Selecting the frame is another mind-numbing experience for me. 

I try to avoid specially made frames because that really rockets up the price of the framing. Thus, I find myself drawing pieces to fit pre-made frames. Or, I select a pre-made frame that works after the mat is cut to fit.

Framing has to be worked in to the formula of pricing.

Again, as a rule of thumb, I double the cost of the frame per painting. That truly helps in defraying the cost of frames. Artists have a great deal of money tied up in frames around paintings that haven't been sold. In many cases, the collector buys the piece then puts their own frame around the artwork anyway.

Marin (Framed hanging at Exhibition)

And don't forget the glass! Most artists use UV resistant glass, especially on drawings, in order to prevent the image and/or the colors from fading. That glass costs more than regular glass.


That being said, the formula looks like this:

$5/$6 per square inch + 2x Framing = Final total

Or, using the above example

$1,260 + $250 Frame = $1,510

Another factor that some times comes in to play, at least for me, is time invested in creating the artwork. If I am doing a colored pencil piece or a scratchboard piece, I will raise the price accordingly because the time invested in so much greater. (I hate to think I'm "working" for less than minimum wage, but we always do.) I believe colored-pencil artists, in particular, price their work far too low for the time invested and the final product rendered.

How much of an impact "time invested" has on the final price will vary according to the artist. Nonetheless, I believe the formula is a valuable guide to the final price.

In the example of the artwork I have in this article -- Marin -- the formula looks something like this: 10.25 inches x 12 inches x $6 = 738 + $200 Framing = $938. I actually added an additional $900 because there was close to six months work invested in that drawing which was executed in colored pencil. That was an unusual amount of time for me to put in to a piece. Thus, my final price is $1,800. 


Conversely, if there is less time put in to a piece, I deduct according from the formula price. 
The Cardinal oil painting took less than a week to do. At 6 x 8, it would be about $240 unframed. I priced it at $125.

For me, at least, time invested plays a role in my bottom line price. But it's the formula from which all the pricing revolves around. 

Last, but not least, once you set a price, don't change the price -- at least not in front of a perspective customer. Never say "Well, it's $1,500, but I will sell it for $1,200." And the collector is thinking, "Well, maybe that piece isn't worth as much as I thought it was; maybe I shouldn't invest my money since the artist doesn't think as much of it." As an artist, you can't fall in to that easy trap.

Next blog preview: The importance of composition.