Please Help...how Much To Commission Portraits For

[LGHumphrey]

Way to go, Todd, excellent advice.

[AmritS]

I know this is not exactly what you have said you want to do but I do agree with Lawrence on this one about the gallery. Think about it, producing a series of paintings and speaking with a gallery will dramatically increase your price of commissions from what it is now. It;s all about the hype. All about supply and demand. So it's now up to you to work on raising your demand.

If you look at Van Goph he struggled to sell his work (I'm just going by my memory from school here) but now look. So what's changed? The paintings are the same. The perception of people. That's what's changed. So increase and build that perception and you will increase your value.

Originally Posted by LGHumphrey

Mitch, I would say that the first one is a masterpiece, worth a LOT of money if it had a well-recognized name on it.

Perhaps someone from a gallery could advise you better than we can. In fact, if you can create more paintings of the quality of the first one maybe you can get INTO a gallery (though everyone says the situation is difficult at the moment.)

[prashant11]

I'm at a similar point. I started doing portraits of friends/family for fun and learning experience. Now that I'm getting better I have people asking me how much? I said $300 for an 11x14 and didn't hear back. Just recently a friend asked me to do a portrait of her newlywed friends and she's like I can only give you $150. I had a choice to make. Either I do this for what I considered a very low price or I paint something else that will sit in my basement. I said fine, I normally charge a lot more but I'll do it. She saw it and liked it so much she is giving me $200, which is still about half what I'd consider it's worth.

The way I look at it, in the beginning you may have to charge much less than the market because you are still building up your name and reputation. I would consider $300 for a 11x14 with a single face an ideal price for me. More for a couple.

[Tahloola]

What Coyote says!

[Tahloola]

What Coyote says!

[Ian Bruce]

I like your first portrait a lot! The other two are also good--and show that you have an individual personal style that is in the process of developing.

There is a danger with commissions that you will feel under such an obligation to get a likeness that the subject is happy with (and the subjects freinds and relatives)--that your paintings will turn out to be precise and labored and not in your own natural style.

If you ask a lot of money, the pressure may ruin your style. Your continuing development is the most important thing. Perhaps, you should charge a good healthy price--but tell the client that you will do the painting the way you see it--and that they are under no obligation to accept the finished painting. That way you are free to do your best--as you see it!

[michelle021]

Hi Fellow artists and friends... Great advice from everyone. I am so happy to have found WetCanvas, a place that seems to be abounding with terrific people willing to give thier time to others.
There does not seem to be alot of that out in the world but this community certainly makes one forget that. Thank you all for your time which is so precious.

[123harry]

I haven't much idea about pricing. I imagine you can ask for more as you become better known for portraiture, a question of having to prove yourself first?...
I like your portraits a lot. They all have a haunting quality. The girl on the pillows is very well composed.

[jules34]

I have done commissions for 100 dollars on up. The first ones I did of course were for friends so I told them I was giving them a huge discount and not to mention what they paid when showing it off because it wasnt typical. This way I could get my paintings into more homes. now that I am extremely busy, I have decided on a system that works for me. I have many paintings going at once and its hard to figure the amount of hours since I switch back and forth. I have decided to figure abbout 150 dollars for how many months it takes me. in other words a simple 8x10 would be 150.00 but a little larger and detailed 11x14 that takes 3 months would be 450.00. so far it has worked because I have about 6 going at a time and I generally work on them about 28 hours a week the rest of the time is spent on networking. I am planning on upping my price to about 250 a month when I am in the gallery that is asking me to join as well as being recognized better locally. Hope this helps.

[Mares Rex]

Thanks for sharing your process and your prices Jules. But if I understand you correctly you can spend months on a 14" portrait? I guess it involves some complicated glazing technique?

[jules34]

no, like I said I dont work solid on any one painting. a detailed 11X14 might take 3 months but I am not working solely on that painting. I like to do the layering method, not wet on wet. It works best for me.

[terrycafie]

Hi Michelle, Thanks for your question...Many of us who are unknown portrait artist and haven't had commissions yet are being attentive with the answers here....I was told to first get my name known and what I could do .I exhibited one of my portraits 11x18 at a charity auction.promising to paint a similar size and asking a minimum bid of 200....It did go just for that. The 200 went to the charity and now I am doing the portrait hoping to pick up interest in the friends who bid on the portrait, when it is done.. Todd's post makes good sense..... Terry....

[ArtistMelinda]

You need to decide if want to sell or you want to pretend to sell. Art, like football and music has 1/10th of a percent who succeed, the rest are just players. If you read the biographies of successfull artists (any genre) they say they spent years of hard work and developing a following - working free gigs - anything that got them in front of an audience.

So as an unknown portrait artist (excellent style tho - must say!) you can't go out and just command $5000 for a portrait. But you can do a lot of portraits for $300 and start to develop a following and reputation. Do some free ones if it furthers your cause (or is a heartfelt gift). Tell people you want a career as a portrait artist and could they help you find people who might want one for a friend or family member? Then the price slowly goes up. I know a lot of artists who have high prices on their work and dont sell anything, but think that have to protect their reputation. What reputation?
So I price my work to sell - the rest will come later. Hope this helps.

[AmritS]

That's good honest no nonsense advise here. And it sounds like experience.

My 9 year old son was trying to sell his painting yesterday for £50. In fact I'll start another thread on this rather than steal your thunder.

Originally Posted by ArtistMelinda

You need to decide if want to sell or you want to pretend to sell. Art, like football and music has 1/10th of a percent who succeed, the rest are just players. If you read the biographies of successfull artists (any genre) they say they spent years of hard work and developing a following - working free gigs - anything that got them in front of an audience.

So as an unknown portrait artist (excellent style tho - must say!) you can't go out and just command $5000 for a portrait. But you can do a lot of portraits for $300 and start to develop a following and reputation. Do some free ones if it furthers your cause (or is a heartfelt gift). Tell people you want a career as a portrait artist and could they help you find people who might want one for a friend or family member? Then the price slowly goes up. I know a lot of artists who have high prices on their work and dont sell anything, but think that have to protect their reputation. What reputation?
So I price my work to sell - the rest will come later. Hope this helps.