Help, how to price your painting

Ravensnme · #1 06-13-2009, 08:10 PM

Hi,

I think there was a thread on pricing your painting just a few months ago, and yet I cannot find it.
Any hints on how to search for it? I tried the search box and all the watercolor stickys.
Thank you in advance.
Dawn

juneto · #2 06-14-2009, 01:53 AM

Some people charge by the Inch . For me ,it is how I rate the painting Myself . How did I do wih the problem set before me ?
Is it ,Okay ,Moderately Good ,Just Passable ,Lousy .Awful , Pathetic or Terrific, or "Did I Do That " !?

Now ,If I get one that someone wants to buy and I think it is Terrific and Cry about it , then I have to charge a lot ! I only cried once in my whole life , at an Auction ,where it was given away for almost nothing and was one of my Favorites and I had worked Hours on it .I have a Tear just thinking about that one .Now!

June

juneto · #3 06-14-2009, 01:56 AM

Where's Sylvia ,when you need her ? Painting again I'll bet !

Sylvia ??????????
J

Magali Lenarczak · #4 06-14-2009, 02:54 AM

I heard of $1.00 per square inch....

JustinM · #5 06-14-2009, 03:38 AM

ask 100 artists, you'll get 100 answers...

I'll give you my way of looking at things as there really are no "right and wrong" answers to this question.

When I price my work, I first of all take into account materials (roughly) including matting & framing & usually come up with a number around $50 (depending upon size)...this number should be doubled. Thats your "cost"

Everything else is your time - not just the time it took you to paint it, but also the time it took you to learn how to paint to the point where you are at now. Not to mention the time it took you to experience life & understand how to communicate that visually. And that is a difficult thing to price.

A story I always tell my students when the topic of pricing comes up is a possibly ficticious (never found an actual source for it, although I did have at least 2 teachers in art school relay it to me) story about Picasso.

The rumor goes like this:

A man walks into a small cafe in the late 60s. He orders a coffee & looks around the room. He sees a person who looks familiar - but he cant quite place him...then he notices the man is doodling on a piece of scrap paper or napkin. This jogs his memory & he says "aha! its Pablo Picasso!"

A fan, the man approaches the master artist. The conversation ensues:

Man "oh sir, are you THE picasso?"
Picasso "yes"
Man "oh Im such a fan - i just had to say hello"
Picasso "thank you"
Man "Uh...I see you were doodling there - can I buy that sketch?"
Picasso - picking up the doodle and handing it to him "here, sure - a gift"
Man "oh no no - i must pay!"
Picasso "no, its a gift - take it"
Man "no no! I insist" The man then reaches into his pocket for a small bill...
Picasso "alright...$2000"
Man "WHAT?? Thats crazy $2000? It only took you a minute!"
Picasso "No sir, it did not"
Man "sure it did - i watched you draw it"
Picasson "My dear sir, it took me 80 years to draw this sketch"

How do you put a price on that?

As for yourself, the common mistake amongst artists is to undervalue their work. Your best bet is to look around your area, see what paintings similar to yours are listed at (and selling for) and then see if that number jives with what you wish to get out of the work. Ultimately you have to be comfortable with the number. Just dont underprice - its not doing you or your fellow artists any favors.

mobius49 · #6 06-14-2009, 05:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustinM

ask 100 artists, you'll get 100 answers...

I'll give you my way of looking at things as there really are no "right and wrong" answers to this question.

When I price my work, I first of all take into account materials (roughly) including matting & framing & usually come up with a number around $50 (depending upon size)...this number should be doubled. Thats your "cost"

Everything else is your time - not just the time it took you to paint it, but also the time it took you to learn how to paint to the point where you are at now. Not to mention the time it took you to experience life & understand how to communicate that visually. And that is a difficult thing to price.

A story I always tell my students when the topic of pricing comes up is a possibly ficticious (never found an actual source for it, although I did have at least 2 teachers in art school relay it to me) story about Picasso.

The rumor goes like this:

A man walks into a small cafe in the late 60s. He orders a coffee & looks around the room. He sees a person who looks familiar - but he cant quite place him...then he notices the man is doodling on a piece of scrap paper or napkin. This jogs his memory & he says "aha! its Pablo Picasso!"

A fan, the man approaches the master artist. The conversation ensues:

Man "oh sir, are you THE picasso?"
Picasso "yes"
Man "oh Im such a fan - i just had to say hello"
Picasso "thank you"
Man "Uh...I see you were doodling there - can I buy that sketch?"
Picasso - picking up the doodle and handing it to him "here, sure - a gift"
Man "oh no no - i must pay!"
Picasso "no, its a gift - take it"
Man "no no! I insist" The man then reaches into his pocket for a small bill...
Picasso "alright...$2000"
Man "WHAT?? Thats crazy $2000? It only took you a minute!"
Picasso "No sir, it did not"
Man "sure it did - i watched you draw it"
Picasson "My dear sir, it took me 80 years to draw this sketch"

How do you put a price on that?

As for yourself, the common mistake amongst artists is to undervalue their work. Your best bet is to look around your area, see what paintings similar to yours are listed at (and selling for) and then see if that number jives with what you wish to get out of the work. Ultimately you have to be comfortable with the number. Just dont underprice - its not doing you or your fellow artists any favors.

I agree 100% with the above, .....I have come up with 4 sizes and 4 prices, unless something took painfully long or something else cropped up that made me feel if was "worth" more.

Matt

kaypainter · #7 06-14-2009, 11:49 AM

Matt's reply made me think of the other part of the equation and that is what the consumer will go for (what the market will bear). It's interesting that we use size as an arbiter of price, but it is true that we think as consumers that something larger should go for more money than a something smaller, whether it's televisions sets, sofas, cars, pots, or art. That aspect of pricing takes into account the psychology of the audience. Even though it may have taken you ten times as long to execute the 9" x 12" as it took you to do the 16" x 20" and you feel the smaller one is by far the better work, most people will expect to pay more for the larger work. I suppose the only answer to that is to paint all the same size paintings, but what are we, robots or artists?

Kay

**painterbear** · #8 06-14-2009, 05:22 AM

Hi Raven,

The best way to search for a thread here is to use the Google Advanced search. For example, I just typed in "Pricing paintings". Then when that came up, I hit the Advanced link. In the box that appeared, I scrolled down to the last line that says "Search within a site or domain:" and there I entered "wetcanvas.com". There are lots of threads about pricing paintings, but I didn't find one in the Watercolor Forum.

I think Justin and June's advice is very good. Each area of the country will be different, so that needs to be taken into consideration when setting your price unless you plan to sell on line where the painting will be seen nationwide.

Sylvia

JustinM · #9 06-14-2009, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by painterbear

Hi Raven,

The best way to search for a thread here is to use the Google Advanced search. For example, I just typed in "Pricing paintings". Then when that came up, I hit the Advanced link. In the box that appeared, I scrolled down to the last line that says "Search within a site or domain:" and there I entered "wetcanvas.com".

A little off topic, but if you want to save yourself some time, just google right off the main page (without having to go advanced) and type:

site:wetcanvas.com

and your search. The "site:" (with no www. and no space) will give you only results from that domain

**painterbear** · #10 06-14-2009, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustinM

A little off topic, but if you want to save yourself some time, just google right off the main page (without having to go advanced) and type:

site:wetcanvas.com

and your search. The "site:" (with no www. and no space) will give you only results from that domain

Justin,
I'm a little confused by this — I understand that you can google wetcanvas.com, but once here, how do you do the specific search for an item as I mentioned in my post?

By doing the search on the term first, then entering wetcanvas.com in the site box at the bottom of the advanced search, it brings up the item you are looking for, not just the site.

Sylvia

JustinM · #11 06-14-2009, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by painterbear

Justin,
I'm a little confused by this — I understand that you can google wetcanvas.com, but once here, how do you do the specific search for an item as I mentioned in my post?

By doing the search on the term first, then entering wetcanvas.com in the site box at the bottom of the advanced search, it brings up the item you are looking for, not just the site.

Sylvia

When you go to google you type:

site:wetcanvas.com - followed by whatever term you are looking for. Google will only bring back results from wetcanvas (this works with any site) - so its the same as doing the "advanced search as mentioned" but it saves you a few steps.

Ravensnme · #12 06-14-2009, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by painterbear

Hi Raven,

I think Justin and June's advice is very good. Each area of the country will be different, so that needs to be taken into consideration when setting your price unless you plan to sell on line where the painting will be seen nationwide.

Sylvia

thanks everyone for your input! a great resource you all are, priceless really.
So my next question to Sylvia is I do plan to sell on line, this is for a charity. So what is the difference there?

Faafil · #13 06-14-2009, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ravensnme

thanks everyone for your input! a great resource you all are, priceless really.
So my next question to Sylvia is I do plan to sell on line, this is for a charity. So what is the difference there?

I don't think there should be a difference. The price should be the same, whether through a gallery or selling it directly.

kaypainter · #14 06-14-2009, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ravensnme

thanks everyone for your input! a great resource you all are, priceless really.
So my next question to Sylvia is I do plan to sell on line, this is for a charity. So what is the difference there?

Be careful of the tax implications when selling or donating a work for charity. Find out what the rules are for your state. I ran into a woman at Aaron Bros. (this would be in California) who told me she donated an artwork for a charity auction. The piece sold for a good price and because of that the government came to her for the taxes on the piece even though she donated it to them without taking money for it. She said next time she would sell it to them for a minimal price, so that when they sold it for more she would only be responsible for the taxes on the price she sold it to the charity for.

Kay

**painterbear** · #15 06-14-2009, 11:57 AM

Kay,

I've noticed that same effect when it comes to art shows as well — at least the ones I've participated in here in the Dayton area. ALL the big prize winners are large size paintings. There are awards given for smaller paintings, but they are never the top ones.

Even though they may be show stoppers, I often wonder who has room on their walls for these full sheet paintings — other than some corporation or hospital or other commercial establishment. Most homes don't have that kind of space for showcasing these large paintings IMHO.

Sylvia

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