Jlamons Paintings

The other day I was asked by a student artist about pricing their art. This has been a question often asked .My reply was width time height divided by two and as each year passes and popularity increases add 10% .This is in response to the area and location. I also told the artist that experience plays a role in pricing their art. How long have they been selling their art and if not long then don't set thoses prices high. Are you a well known artist in your area? Do you have clients already?  I know some think it depends on the quality of the artwork, but it has been my experience it has more to do with being known as a working artist . The main thing to remember is to be consistent, the price should stay the same regardless of the time spent in creating the art, and have no respect of persons

(meaning sell the same size painting at the same price to everyone) I recently read an article about this question and found it to be very informative. So I asked the author for permission to rewrite it here for my friends in art. You will see his link at the bottom of the article.

The Surefire Way To Price Your Paintings

Would you like to have a massive advantage over 90% of all the other artists currently trying to win gallery representation? This one simple tip is about to put you miles ahead of your fellow artists.This is a practical, fail safe, foolproof way of pricing your paintings. It was handed on to me by a gallery owner.There is a sensible, logical way to price your paintings. It?s a centimetre or inch rate. Let? say, for example that an artist decides his starting rate will be10 cents per square centimetre. That means if the artist paints a 40cm x50cm canvas, he has painted a total of 2000 square centimetres(40x50=2000) At 10 cents per square centimetre, his asking price for the painting is $200. This is regardless of how long the painting took to create. If it takes three days, three hours or three months, the asking price must be $200. .Suddenly your pricing structure makes sense... to everyone

From this point the gallery can suddenly make sense of the artist?s pricing,and that?s very important. It also means that every painting you now create will make pricing sense to your clients. A large painting should be priced in exact proportion to a small painting and this method makes it possible and automatic. There?s no emotion here. It?s black and white mathematics.Supposing a client comes into the gallery, sees your work, and decides to commission a painting from you. How much will you charge? How would the gallery possibly handle the client enquiry? ?Yes, of course he can paint your commission. I just don?t know how much he will charge this week. It depends on what mood he is in?? I' ll say it again. Galleries dont like dealing directly with artists, and this is one very, very good reason why. But if a client were to commission a painting from an artist who uses a centimetre rate, the gallery only needs to know what size painting the client wants to instantly be able to work out exactly what the price will be, how much commission to add, and therefore they can confidently quote the client a price. Simple! Selecting a starting rate is an entirely personal decision. Don?t make the mistake of overpricing your work unless you"re happy to starve. If you"d rather be earning an income from your art you"ll choose a starting price that makes your art competitive. And remember also that your price is just the beginning of the pricing process. In our example above the artists base price was $200. But once it reaches the hands of the gallery, the final sale price is usually doubled. Will anyone pay $400 for your 40x50 canvases?Think carefully before you decide.Once you have a base price, you then need to work hard on justifying a centimetre rate increase. The more exhibitions you hold,the more art prizes you win, the more publicity you receive will enable you to justify gradual centimetre rate increases.

http://tonymoffitt.blogspot.com