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Looking for a little bit of advice
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Posted
Yes Carrie, that is far too cheap! You’re working for next to nothing…
Experience does of course count for a lot, an amateur can’t demand the price of a recognised artist with RA after their name.
It’s a small work, and that does to a great extent make a difference. I would say that you should price this at between £95 - £125 range.
Thanks still cheap, but we have to be realistic.
Posted
A hard one if some artists put low prices on their work in a general exhibition such as your village hall. It tends to make a nonsense of higher priced works. The general public don’t really know prices and if they see two extremes they find it strange.
I have just put a pic in a gallery attached to a theatre so lots of footfall.
It’s 40cmx 40cm acrylic. It’s on canvas board . Materials £15.00 frame was £35.00 cost to put in £10 .00 if it sells they will take 30% of price .I am asking £150 . So IF it sells I will cover my costs and have about £40 .00 for me. I haven’t even counted painting time as I paint for me. That £40 will go towards more materials. It probably won’t sell but will be joyous if it does . I have LOT of paintings. Be warned. But enjoy the experience and hopefully sell.
Posted
I don’t work on an hourly rate myself, it starts to feel like a nine to five job and I’m done with all that!
Same applies to working out a price by the square inch/cm etc, it doesn’t really work.
It’s more a gut feeling I suppose, in my case most of my oil paintings are 40 x 50cm and I tend to price them around £350 or thereabouts, framed - I know that I can sell them for that, if I ask £650 they won’t sell, or are unlikely to.
I would generally spend around three or so hours on each one, but I work fast. So I suppose that equates to £100 an hour plus framing which I make my own.
Posted
I totally agree Sylvia and I totally take your point about not wanting to make my price low and therefore making other paintings look expensive as a result.
Thank you Alan that’s really useful. I may have a look too and see what other people are selling their work for. It’s all new to me so every day is a school day :)
Posted
I do have a 'price list' which I try to stick to - not cast in stone, but it helps me to quote a price to someone if they're enquiring about (for example) a pet portrait. It's a straightforward canvas size pricing structure.
I don't quote comissions framed (I leave that up to the buyer to choose, or add it as extra if they want me to frame it), so I price all types of canvas (even though they differ vastly in price) the same as a finished price/size ratio. (flat, stretch, or box canvas).
Something I've painted 'just because', I would price individually.
I would say I'm similar to Sylvia's price (maybe a few quid more, but not much), but only a few years ago it was half that.. which isn't sustainable if you want all or part of a living from it.
It's definitely experience and time that make the difference and other people's comments/input, to give you the assurance & confidence that your work is worth more than you thought.
And at the end of the day, if someone really likes your work, they will buy it. Even if there are 'cheaper' or more expensive offerings in the same exhibition.
Posted
I really like your painting Carrie. One of my favourites this one. Best of luck and I think your doing great. Tricky with the prices for sure. Interesting about the vanish and the time etc as I thought you vanish after a couple of weeks. I have also looked into a product called isolation coat before vanish?
Posted
Thanks Helen, I did think about doing it on a canvas size type basis, it was a YouTube video that I seen regarding how to price art where I got the hourly rate from. I didn’t take all of it or necessarily prescribe to everything that was said in the video but the materials and an hourly rate felt like something I could start with. Even the hourly rate tho I’m not sure about as I don’t necessarily track how long each painting takes me.
The painting a piece just because completely resonates with me in affecting the price as the painting the owners of the B&B asked to buy, well I wasn’t sure what to ask for that because I painted it as an experience of painting outside, whilst I was on a painting holiday and really I wasn’t sure what I would have done with it when I came home anyway. 😊
Thank you for the lovely comment Faye, my confidence is definitely growing due to the lovely support here on painters online. I tend to varnish my acrylic paintings after around a week. Which seems to work ok for me.
Edited
by Carrie Flinte
Posted
Regarding pricing Carrie, I am retired and paint for pleasure so don't feel the need to put a high price on my paintings when placing in an exhibition. Submission prices vary from 15% to almost 50% and is the mark by which I price my paintings. I'm sorry if this offends artists who paint for a living, but I just need to cover my material costs, submission costs plus a little more for further supplies and a few pounds for a meal out for two! If I get a Commission, that's a different story as I am pandering to the client and the painting will be literally a 'work' of art, so £200 minimum.
As far as varnishing goes, a successful and respected artist friend of mine said that he uses nothing other than touch-up varnish for his oil paintings, which protects an oil painting, can easily be removed if need be and can be applied sooner than regular varnish.
Posted
Touch-up varnish more usually described as retouching varnish. It is a bit useful for work needed for exhibitions, and yes, it can be removed. I wouldn't describe the process as especially easy, though - and the paint surface does need to be dry, or there's a strong risk of colour lifting if it is removed - using the weakest solvent you can find, e.g. not genuine Turpentine.
We used to be told that there was no need to remove it, you just varnished over it after six to eight months: I'm really not sure how sound that advice was; Gamblin, the makers of Gamvar, claim that their varnish can be applied when the painting is touch-dry - i.e. the paint won't give under the pressure of a thumb-nail. Again - I think this is dubious. There's a fair amount of controversy about this, but for myself - if a painting of mine is in need of a varnish in due course, my money's on the 'in due course' part of that: I don't use retouching varnish, and don't varnish before 8 months to a year have elapsed. But many do - you pays your money and takes your choice.
One thing you do need to bear in mind, though - retouching varnish never really dries bone hard: an artist discovered that the hard way, when he wrapped his paintings in newsprint having varnished them with it....... unfortunately, last week's headlines then appeared, stuck to the surface of his paintings. Guess who had sold him the retouching varnish....?
He had the devil's own job cleaning them, and of course he blamed me at first: but I had to respond 'A) you didn't tell me you were going to wrap your paintings with old newspapers, and b) you really do need to read the labels on these things.' Still not a happy boy, but I hope a lesson learned.