How Do I Price My Work.

Here’s a question I am asked at least once a week in my Framing Business by local Emerging Artists.

I have a very simple formula to follow which will assure you of getting your outlay to make the work back plus pay your commissions and make a profit.

The formula is: Your outlay to make the work (paint, pencils, canvas, paper, framing etc) x 3.

The first third of the price pays for all your materials and returns your outlay, the 2^nd third pays for your Commissions if you’re selling through a Gallery or an “On Commission” outlet and the last third is clear profit, which allows you to continue to make new work and have a some money left over. Alternately, on occasion you may deem it necessary to forego a little of the profit component to make a sale if you particularly want that work sold.

Of course, as you sell more work and your art becomes more popular and people are getting to know who you are as an Artist, then you can make adjustments to the “profit” part you apply to your pricing. But really, in the beginning, it’s much better to get the work sold and off to it’s new home than have it lying around your studio.

Stick to this formula as you start off and you’ll find that you’ll outlive the “poor starving artist” tag and actually make a little a money from your labours.

Don’t forget to join us in our Facebook Group called Artists Together to keep informed with all the latest Art Prizes, happenings and share your work with us in a supportive forum.

Keep Creating.

About the Author: rhonda

Rhonda Armistead is a contemporary Artist from Lismore in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, Australia. Mediums include, Oils and Acrylics on Canvas, Reduction Plate Lino Prints, Etchings on Acrylic Plates, Drawings, Sketches in Pencil and Charcoal and Fine Line Pen. Her paintings include Portraits, Landscapes and Contemporary Abstract pieces. Commonly, she explores the intrinsic biodiversity and nature studies of the Region along with expressive portraiture and dramatic combinations of both, usually with an underlying message encapsulated within the symbolism and aesthetic of the work. Rhonda also produces a range of hand crafted jewelry under the name of "Web of Life Designs" All her works are an intimate conversation between head, heart and hand.