Time And Material

July 1st, 2008 Daryle Dickens Posted in Business of Art |

This post is part of the discussion "How Do I Price My Art?" A common question for any new artist working in any medium. Often it is the last thought given to the idea of selling art. Here we are going to bring up some ideas and some ways on how an artist new to selling art can begin to price their art.

Contractors and tradesmen are familiar with the term "time and material." It is when a job is priced out based on the amount of time it took to complete along with the cost of materials involved. For many new artists this is a good place to start when thinking about pricing their art.

Let’s cover materials first. Because you always want to make sure your materials are covered. This applies even to artist who really don’t like the idea of making money with their art. (I know your out there.) Even if your not seeking a profit you want to make enough to buy more materials to continue in your work. This requires paying attention or recording your expenses and how much went into the work you want to sell. Think about how much that canvas, clay, or photo paper cost. That will give you a foundation for your pricing. It is the beginning of making your work sustainable.

Time is a bit more tricky. Because you must determine how much your time is worth. How much is an hour of your working time worth? The more experience you have the more valuable your time is. If you are just beginning as an artist, or have never sold art and you are new to a market, you have not built up value yet. So even though you may have spent hours working on a piece you will have a difficult time demanding a high price for it.

Think of it as your internship into the art world. Your gaining experience and your meeting people but your not getting paid very well. This can be hard for an artist that is stepping into the world of selling their art. You see the dollar amount other work has next to it and you want the same. When you starting it is more important to get the sale.

A sale will do so much for you as a new artist. First it begins to hush that little voice in your head that is telling you you have no business selling art. Second it just feels good. It is a nice feeling when someone likes something that you created enough to pay you for it. And practically it means you have money to buy more materials to create more art..

This is how it starts. Small. Like so many things in life. But as you start to sell you can also start to raise you prices. You can do this because you have more experience. And if you selling that means you have demand, and demand equals value.

Keep in mind these are not rules. These are ideas. No two artists are the same. And this discussion is not for artists working with a gallery. A good gallery will help you with your pricing.

I believe when your starting out it is important to cover the cost of your supplies and to get the sale. Everything else will grow from that.

What do you believe?