Mithmeoi

Title contradicts don’t it? :B
Well I’m going to cover two things that really irk me about the small time art world on the interwebz. I find A LOT of artists online are way underpaid. Granted they undercharge, but that’s to keep up with the competition. They have to keep their prices lower than a sandwich at subway just to try and make a buck. Nobody wants to pay for the actual worth of the art. Regardless of whether it’s digital or not, it takes just as long to do it. I’ve had people quibble over a measly five dollars. That will not even buy me a full lunch for a day. At least not where I live. I wish it did!

Now I do realize that most people cannot pay “professional” prices. No worries, but my gosh don’t get your panties in a wad that your favorite artist charges $30 for a color image. This is really rather reasonable compare to what they would be getting in the professional realm for something of the same quality. Consider yourself lucky that they might even be open for small private commissions like that. They take the time to work at such a low price just for you, when they could be making much much more commercially, or maybe they do and they just do this for fun. Who knows!

A lot of people like “badges” that display their character and its name. They wear these things to conventions etc, a lot of artists will laminate, mail, put clips etc on these things, if digital print them out but most of those artists will charge $30+. I find that quite reasonable considering all the time, effort and materials that go into making one of those. That’s why it irritates me beyond all reason when someone whines that I’m selling a badge for $10 because I cannot print it out or laminate them due to not having the right equipment. I don’t make a living from badges, nor do I sell enough to actually require purchasing these and my pricing certainly doesn’t cover the cost of gas to get to a store that does. I get a lot of nose turn ups because I won’t do that, but you pay for what you get. I find $10 really reasonable for anything that’s drawn, fully colored and shaded to your specifications.

Most people want something for nothing. As someone once put it, and they said it rather well, it’s basically like you going to work, working for a few hours, then having your employer say you don’t get any pay for that day. Regardless of if this person you are working with draws for a living or not. It’s still work. I’m sure any of them would enjoy drawing something for themselves rather than drawing something requested, I know I do. Yes I’ll admit it, but it’s true.

Another that kills me, are people wanting movie quality animations for under $20. Regardless of whether it’s an icon or not, it’s not worth spending a week of work on an animated commission for $20. That is less than minimum wage, not cool. If you pay that little for an animation, definitely don’t expect it to be the world’s smoothest most astounding animation. Unless that person is really quick at animating or doesn’t mind almost giving away their skills for peanuts.

A lot of people complain an artist is overpriced, well they charge what they think they’re worth, or as I said earlier undercharge. The only time I find that a person might not be worth the money is if you can see a LARGE gap in quality between what they produce for themselves versus what they make for others and are trying to squeeze $50 out of a quick sketch. And by the gap in quality I mean “half-assing” art drawn for others just because they don’t enjoy it and just want the money. Though! Also consider what it was that someone paid for, if it’s a $5 flat image, it’s going to naturally look different from a fully colored image with shading and a background. You also get what you pay for, the higher the price, the better the image. That goes for most everything. You buy $10 shoes, those shoes will be less quality than some you spent $50 on, typically.

When you commission someone, it’s only fair to pay what they ask. After all they’re taking time out of their day to work for something you want, not something they want. Don’t haggle over the price. Maybe this is their only source of income at the moment, or maybe it’s helping alongside another job. Some do it for fun, but most I know do it because they have to or they’d be in trouble financially or already are. When you get annoyed at the pricing of private art commissions, keep all this in mind.