don't forget your costs commission rates

[karadinart]

Recently, in a discussion about costs of making art, many of my friends mentioned that as digital artists, they have fewer costs than traditional artists, on the contrary, once you figure in utilites, your internet hookup, your computer, your tablet, your scanner, your external harrdrive, the programs you use, and I'm certain I'm forgetting other things you pay for (your space/office/studio) the costs can be as much as traditional materials.

When you do not figure in all of your costs, you are not just giving away your work, you are paying someone to take it.

Comments

[lunarising.livejournal.com]

Well said and something I hadn't considered. One big thing is the cost of the computer itself and all the things that make it a good graphic art computer, like internal hard drive, better processor(s), RAM, etc.

[karadin.livejournal.com]

Yep, and someone said those are 'fixed costs' but think how much of a dent it makes if something breaks, so you have to figure out how long equipment might last, (say scanner 4 years) and work out per year what that costs.

[goodbyemyfancy.livejournal.com]

YES YES YES. I actually talk about this with my students who assume technology = free. I remind them that the so called free WiiFii they have at school is paid by their student fees and that everything has a cost. And digital art is definitely expensive to make - my fandom studies lecture talks about the economic costs, skills sets and personal energy involved in the creation of fan works.

[karadin.livejournal.com]

recently deviantart created a 'commission widget' in beta where artists can post and collect commissions, but the price begins at a DOLLAR and ends at twenty dollars, pluse Da takes a 20% chunk. What is distressing is young artists not thinking their work it worth anything, and driving the prices to rock-bottom, making it difficult for anyone to value artwork. These days my work doesn't go for anything less than $100.