Artings
There has been several discussions recently about artists and the amount they get paid. Since I've been getting a lot of commissions lately, I thought I'd weigh in with my opinion.
This has turned out to be a lot longer than I thought, so I'll hide it under a cut
Firstly, I hate the pay-what-you-want style of commissions. I don't want to pay a lot, that's why I like things like sales, it's my money, I try to hold onto it. I avoid them on principle. I much prefer either auctions or set pricing.
Secondly, arting is a business. They create a products which other people pay money for, a lot of artists don't seem to think that way. They want money sure, but they don't have the business sense. Something like 75% of all new businesses fail, artists are not going to be any different. Walk down the street, you won't see a lot of people making a living purely from art.
One of the common complaints I see is artists complaining that they're not being paid enough. They're the ones setting the price. They then argue if they set their prices higher they won't get any work. Welcome to the world of economics. People will pay more if they think they're getting a superior skill. This leads to the question of what can the artist offer to justify their prices?
I know some professional illustrators and graphic designers. They have the experience and portfolios to back up their prices and they're not cheap, but they are also amazingly professional. If they say they'll get a concept sketch to you in two days with a final version three days after that, you get it. They also know that this week they might have three projects on the go, but might not have anything for the next two months.
There was someone recently complaining that they only had 15 hours of work a week doing art and they were finding it hard to make a living. I hate to tell them, 15 hours a week is not a full time job, either they get more art to do or they find another way of making money. If I had a job that was employing me for 15 hours a week, I'd be finding something else because I can't survive on that.
Despite what you see on various art sites, there is not a huge demand. Specifically talking about the furry community now, look at the comments when someone is open for commissions, half of them will be people complaining about a lack of money. A lot of furries don't have a large amount of disposable income, that makes the potential market small, although there is a large audience to view your work.
So, what should be done?
I think a lot of people should take a reality check. Just because you can draw, does not mean you're going to be waltzing along as an artist. It takes a lot of time and effort. Big money is not going to be in drawing commissions for the furry fandom. Sure one or two people can command amazing prices that everyone else will quote and aspire to, but look at the number of artists on FA/Inkbunny/Weazly or even DA, the vast majority of them don't make much, if anything.
The next thing is don't sell yourself short. Figure out an hourly price that you want to get paid. Make it realistic. Look up some hourly prices of how much other industries pay, you might be surprised. Look at how long a drawing takes you, multiply that by the hourly price and you have a good starting point. You want to make $20/hr and it takes you 3 hours to do a picture, then its $60 a commission. If you're only charging $20, get yourself a job at your local fast food place, the pay will be better.
Find yourself a market. Look at what is out there. Some artists jump around and try to jump onto whatever is trending, maybe that works. Others specialise, I know some who excel at drawing feathers, some who like drawing bondage, others who like pencil and some who only draw toons. If there are 100 people drawing realistic figures and a single person drawing in an anime style, who do you think has the least competition for their skills?
Branch out. One of my friends gets some commissions, but they make most of their money now doing badges, that's something they never considered. Look at different avenues, comics are always popular. Try different poses, there are a few artists who basically recycle almost the same figure in one of about three poses over and over. Be different, make yourself stand out.
Realise you are never going to compete with some people. I know a few artists who have day jobs, doing art is just a way for them to make pocket money or relieve stress and unwind. You're never going to compete with someone, consider it similar to opening up a new store across from a Walmart; don't try and target the Walmart customers, aim to be the bouquet.
And now my little rant - There was a discussion about tips on one of the forums. Don't expect a tip and don't factor it into your prices. If you want $50 for a picture, price it at $50, don't price it at $45 and hope it gets rounded up. I'm from Australia, we don't do tips. Someone presents a price and that is what we pay. I'm not going to tip you because you provided good service or did a good job, that is what I expect from you as a professional which is why I'm paying you the money in the first place. If you tell me you want $x for your work, that is what you're going to get. In the world of business very few people say things like, "Wow, this product is amazing, you're selling it at $x, but I'll give you $x+10% because I like it so much"
Ok, rant over. I'm sure I'll probably offend some starving artists with this, but eh, we'll see.
This has turned out to be a lot longer than I thought, so I'll hide it under a cut
Firstly, I hate the pay-what-you-want style of commissions. I don't want to pay a lot, that's why I like things like sales, it's my money, I try to hold onto it. I avoid them on principle. I much prefer either auctions or set pricing.
Secondly, arting is a business. They create a products which other people pay money for, a lot of artists don't seem to think that way. They want money sure, but they don't have the business sense. Something like 75% of all new businesses fail, artists are not going to be any different. Walk down the street, you won't see a lot of people making a living purely from art.
One of the common complaints I see is artists complaining that they're not being paid enough. They're the ones setting the price. They then argue if they set their prices higher they won't get any work. Welcome to the world of economics. People will pay more if they think they're getting a superior skill. This leads to the question of what can the artist offer to justify their prices?
I know some professional illustrators and graphic designers. They have the experience and portfolios to back up their prices and they're not cheap, but they are also amazingly professional. If they say they'll get a concept sketch to you in two days with a final version three days after that, you get it. They also know that this week they might have three projects on the go, but might not have anything for the next two months.
There was someone recently complaining that they only had 15 hours of work a week doing art and they were finding it hard to make a living. I hate to tell them, 15 hours a week is not a full time job, either they get more art to do or they find another way of making money. If I had a job that was employing me for 15 hours a week, I'd be finding something else because I can't survive on that.
Despite what you see on various art sites, there is not a huge demand. Specifically talking about the furry community now, look at the comments when someone is open for commissions, half of them will be people complaining about a lack of money. A lot of furries don't have a large amount of disposable income, that makes the potential market small, although there is a large audience to view your work.
So, what should be done?
I think a lot of people should take a reality check. Just because you can draw, does not mean you're going to be waltzing along as an artist. It takes a lot of time and effort. Big money is not going to be in drawing commissions for the furry fandom. Sure one or two people can command amazing prices that everyone else will quote and aspire to, but look at the number of artists on FA/Inkbunny/Weazly or even DA, the vast majority of them don't make much, if anything.
The next thing is don't sell yourself short. Figure out an hourly price that you want to get paid. Make it realistic. Look up some hourly prices of how much other industries pay, you might be surprised. Look at how long a drawing takes you, multiply that by the hourly price and you have a good starting point. You want to make $20/hr and it takes you 3 hours to do a picture, then its $60 a commission. If you're only charging $20, get yourself a job at your local fast food place, the pay will be better.
Find yourself a market. Look at what is out there. Some artists jump around and try to jump onto whatever is trending, maybe that works. Others specialise, I know some who excel at drawing feathers, some who like drawing bondage, others who like pencil and some who only draw toons. If there are 100 people drawing realistic figures and a single person drawing in an anime style, who do you think has the least competition for their skills?
Branch out. One of my friends gets some commissions, but they make most of their money now doing badges, that's something they never considered. Look at different avenues, comics are always popular. Try different poses, there are a few artists who basically recycle almost the same figure in one of about three poses over and over. Be different, make yourself stand out.
Realise you are never going to compete with some people. I know a few artists who have day jobs, doing art is just a way for them to make pocket money or relieve stress and unwind. You're never going to compete with someone, consider it similar to opening up a new store across from a Walmart; don't try and target the Walmart customers, aim to be the bouquet.
And now my little rant - There was a discussion about tips on one of the forums. Don't expect a tip and don't factor it into your prices. If you want $50 for a picture, price it at $50, don't price it at $45 and hope it gets rounded up. I'm from Australia, we don't do tips. Someone presents a price and that is what we pay. I'm not going to tip you because you provided good service or did a good job, that is what I expect from you as a professional which is why I'm paying you the money in the first place. If you tell me you want $x for your work, that is what you're going to get. In the world of business very few people say things like, "Wow, this product is amazing, you're selling it at $x, but I'll give you $x+10% because I like it so much"
Ok, rant over. I'm sure I'll probably offend some starving artists with this, but eh, we'll see.