For those of you who do commission work - I have some questions about how you do things.

What do you charge for each size of work you do? ie..18x24, 11x13, etc.

What did you charge when you were first starting out with your commission work?

Do you frame your work or allow your client to do that?

Do you make a print of each piece of work for your own portfolio or do you just take photographs?

What else do you think is important for someone just starting out to know about commission work?

Well, I have actually just started out myself will doing commissioned work. My prices are based on the size, time put in and number of subjects that will be in the drawing. I charge the most for graphite because it takes me the longest and I can get more detail. Charcoal and watercolor pencil I charge less for.

I have two sizes of paper, 9 x 12 and 14 x 17. I have a scanner that I will scan my 9 x 12 and smaller drawings with. The larger ones I have to photograph. I will sell prints of my originals for a lesser price. I have prints done at a professional printing business.

I never frame my work. I feel that is a personal choice of the buyer to fit in with decor of their home. I would mat a drawing if someone requested it, though.

Something else I do is scan/photograph the progress of my work and email them to the buyer. That way if something doesn't look right to them it's easier to modify in stages than if it was completely done. I also spray my finished pieces with a sealer.

Hope that helps!

Thanks! I am a long ways off from taking real commission work but it's a good idea to see what others are doing before you decide to do it on your own and it might be helpful to some others here who are thinking about it.

HI

I have done a number of commissions and it really depends on what my client is looking for, quite a few of mine have been presents so I have framed these (usually a basic frame easily changed but usually suits most rooms), when pricing I make sure that i know roughtly how long the painting will take me, and I charge a sensible amount for each hour, then add on the frame and matt cost (if applicable) this does sometimes work out badly (with paintings taking a couple of hours longer) but sometimes it works out well for me.

I always photograph my work and I also keep a copy of the certificate aswell. (I do not have the room to keep full size prints)

Hope this helps - jo

To me... the frame is too important to leave up to the clients decor. An ugly, or clashing frame???


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