I want to share with you how I price my art because I have experienced a wide variety of reactions to my prices.
Some have said I am not pricing them high enough.
Some have whispered to their group, "Her art is too expensive."
I am fine with either reaction because I fully understand that we all value things differently. Some would rather pay high prices for fine cuisine or couture, luxury fashion. Some want to support the arts and pay for great art.
Those of you who want great art, I am trying to find a balance between making it in a price range for everyone and giving it the value I believe my skill, time, and effort warrants.
When pricing my art I consider three main factors - my expense, my training and experience, and how much I need to make.
1. My expense is the physical cost it takes to create the original. This includes supplies like paper, colored pencils, watercolor, and anything I need in order to create a finished product. This also includes my time. How much time does it take me to complete a piece of art?
2. My training and experience. The time I have spent learning how to create art. I have taken 4 college art classes as well as a handful of online classes. My college classes were 12 hours a week plus anywhere from 5-10 outside of class hours for each class per week. That is a lot of learning and practice. The online classes did not require as much commitment, however, I continued to practice what I learned after the class was over.
I have been creating art for over 20 years in some form or another. I have spent 10s of thousands of hours drawing as well as learning how to use colored pencils, watercolors, pastels, and ink. I have practiced drawing and creating on different types of paper in order to find the one that works best with my ability and style.
Every hour I spent learning and practicing was on my time. No one paid me to do it. Just like with any skilled profession that is a lot of unpaid time.
3. How much I need to make. We all have bills to pay. We all want insurance and some money to retire on. If I priced my art for those who think its too expensive, I would not make it as an artist. That would make my heart hurt because this is what I am meant to do.