I know artists often make art to try to get by, but you have to admit how high the prices would sound to outsiders, which is why I see people arguing over art pricing ethics all the time.
The arguments against pricey art: It is offensive to societal necessities to price art higher than that, and there comes a point in an art’s price where it doesn’t make sense to raise the price more based on what relative little went into making it.
The arguments in favor of pricey art: They help the artist and it’s up to the person buying the art how much they’re willing to pay.
Based on the arguments in favor of pricey art, what’s the highest you’ve ever priced art (both with haggling intended/involved and without haggling intended/involved) and were able to sell it for that amount?
I’m a graphic designer so technically not an artist, but sometimes people ask how much they should charge for their design services, it’s a great question because there are many ways to go about it.
What i usually recommend, though, is
local minimum wage per hour worked on the project times 2; it’s straightforward and usually fair to both the designer and the client, the former just needs to adjust the final price to take into account the cost of operating their business.I’m saying this because it puts into perspective the cost of (design) art. For example, when I was a student, I drew a really nice shark, it took me about 40 hours. With my maths, it would cost around 500€.
I’m certain my drawing isnt worth half a thousand, no matter how proud I am of it, and how beautiful it could be for a potential buyer. But thinking about art prices in terms of remuneration per time spent sometimes help understanding why a certain piece is expensive.
The problem with this, is that it does not take into account the effort spent on that piece, among other things. In the end, an art piece value remains deeply personal and it reflects on the price a person is willing to pay.
I once charged 2k for a week worth of work on a boring corporate 60 page report/document, that’s way overpriced, but that company was in a rush because it was in summer and all their designers were in vacations, so they were willing to pay that much for my urgent help.
You should charge more. If you look up renumeration for contract Engineers by province or state the list for contract work typically starts around $100 per hour and scales with autonomy and responsibility to the $300+ per hour mark.
Consider your skills contract art. Don’t sell your work short. :)
Why are you comparing engineering with art rates? Not even engineering is a level playing field, same as art. Imagine charging the same for a colored pencil drawing vs metal sculpture.