In an earlier post, I talked about how long it takes to do a piece of art. The conclusion was, “Who cares, as long as I meet the deadline?” But since time supposedly is money, let’s talk about money.If I kept track of my time in order to price artwork by the hour, many different things could happen. The customer could think I was overcharging. The customer could think I was undercharging. My students could be discouraged that I draw 3x as fast as they do. I could get discouraged that the work was taking FOREVER and I was only making. . . waaa, waaa, waaa. I could get a big fat head and start calculating just how much I could earn if I would just keep cranking them out. My accountant could have a heart attack. (Actually, he doesn’t know or care. I just said that to appear as if I have a team of people monitoring my large and prosperous business. tee hee hee.) So, I calculate my prices based on the size of the piece rather than by the hour. This makes it much easier on the customers, who then know what to expect. Sometimes I make a ton of money per hour, and other times it would make you (or my accountant) weep. Usually it just averages out. Some people say “Wow, that’s a lot of money!” Other people say, “Why don’t you raise your prices? You aren’t charging enough!” (Often those are other artists, ones who have a “real” job on the side and don’t mind toting the same pieces to show after show.) 

Mug Shot, colored pencil, 9×10″, $125 framed