AM101, Assignment 5

[jolie]

Read pages 74-80. The chapter is short, however, the work from it might take a good bit of time. We'll be talking about pricing this week. How much is our art worth?...always a hard question to answer. Smith talks about some pricing strategies that should make deciding a bit easier.

1. There are two types of pricing: time and overhead pricing or market value pricing. Time and overhead pricing is a formula that involves tracking expenses, average paintings completed per month, an hourly salary, and a few other factors. The system that Smith uses is simple and easy to follow (you'll find it in the book). I'm terrible about keeping track of the amount of hours or amount of pieces I complete, so it won't work for me unless I improve that. Market value pricing is basically just doing research on sold paintings. Compare work of artists who might have a similar reputation to you, as well as similar style, medium, etc. If they are able to sell in a particular range, then you should be able to also. I personally like this method better, but you could even use a combination of the two. Perhaps you could use the time and overhead pricing to decide what you THINK you should charge, then use market value pricing to decide if your expectations are realistic.

2. Thoroughly review and become familiar with the pricing tips section. I recently had a show to prepare for and was clueless about how to be comfortable with my prices. Many of the points Smith brings up proved to be very important, especially the tip about never underselling work. I may or may not sell in the venue that my paintings are currently in, but one thing I know I won't do is regret selling for too cheap.

3. Document your work. Develop a system that records date, title, inventory number, etc. This process is preparing us for our future career and will help our work gain value. Part of this process should also be titling and signing our work. In reading this chapter, I discovered that I was making a major mistake when signing my work. It should have been obvious to me, yet I never realized that by not signing my name the same every time, I was making it difficult to to establish authenticity of my work. How will someone ever be able to tell a forgery (when I become collectible) if I sign my name differently every time?

I expect these tasks to be a bit time-consuming if we go back and apply them to all of our current inventory, as well as future work, but we'll be glad we did it! If you have any additional tips to add on establishing price, coming up with interesting titles, or an easy documentation system, please share them.

[Irene Prior]

I've read the chapter and as usual some good information.

When I price my art work, which is framed watercolors, I usually figure the cost of matting and framing. I take that number let's say it cost me $50 to frame and mat my painting I'd calculate 3 x $50= $150.00 and that is what I'd charge for my painting. If I'm hanging in a gallery or art association, I'd factor in the hanging fee too. To keep my cost down, I cut my own mats, and use a standard size frame that I can buy at Michaels, or an art store. I even found nice frames at Cost Plus. I do have all the equipment to make my own frames and do for my bigger full sheet pieces. The last time I framed a full sheet watercolor 22 x 30, I purchased the wood which was 4" wide for about $80. By the time I had it all assembled it cost me a total of $110 to mat and frame a full sheet. If I'd gone to a framing store they'd of charged me about $500.

As for pricing, my mentor has told me that you never can get the amount of money it takes you to complete a piece. So she suggested the 3x the cost of framing and matting. If I enter shows and win prizes then I should up my prices. As I build my reputation and get more sales, this will allow me to raise my prices.

Irene

[arsinoé]

1.For the time being I try to use market pricing. I think these years as being my apprentice years, so that I don't really count the time I spend. When I'm producing 5 work a month on a steady basis, I'll check with the time and overhead pricing to reajust things.
One advantage of market pricing is that you tend not to undersell yourself, as you may when you begin and have not a good self estime as a painter. The drawback is that you end not selling as people do not know you. But seeing your work at consistent prices will give them an idea of your worth.
Ebay is an exception as I want to use auctions for selling studies or non-consistent style work only.
2.I like very much the idea of having different prices on the same show, with a rationale for it ( size ... ).
3.I manage all my work through spreadsheets and pictures. I'm an organized girl!
I have difficulties in finding attractive titles for my work. I need to work more on that.