So, for me, while I love your work, $200 as a start is already out of my price range, but as a bird being told my wings cost extra is something that's been a major sore spot over the past several years, wing-tax sucks when it's part of your design. I watch you because your art is beautiful but I will never be able to afford it lol

That's totally understandable and I appreciate the honest feedback! :)
I may have to revisit my prices considering the market these days and see what I can manage, balancing time spent and money earned.
I'll definitely keep this in mind though, thank you. ^^

Id absolutely adore a piece from you, its just too much out of my price range right now sadly :(

That's fair! I appreciate the kind message and will be definitely looking over how I have things set up and priced. ^^

Thank you!!! Ill look forward to getting a piece in the future then! :D

Solo Ych isn’t a bad idea per se
Just make sure you’re getting an adequate amount for the work you’re putting in
That’s how some get burnt out is by offering full details but only getting a fraction of the payment for said work
Maybe a system like tiering the amount being bid to a specific amount of work? (I.e. sb=sketch, 150$= colored sketch, and so on)
Not saying using that example exactly, but whatever you feel comfortable with for the price being offered
Just my two cents

I’m in the same boat as the others, struggles in life prevent me from affording luxuries sadly

Maybe consider a cheaper commission that isn’t too big of a strain on you, you can dish it out quickly and beautifully, but keep it constrained to a window opening like your sketch’ems?

Hope this wasn’t offensive

This is certainly some food for thought and I'm drawn to the idea of a tiered system for the final amount.
That way, it's not over-working me for the total the amount reaches and the client will be fully in-the-know on what their bid will get them. :)
Thank you for this very much! And no offense taken, quite the opposite! ^^

Could you reasonably do multi-slot Ychs?

As in, do a solo ych, but sell it cheap with the caveat that the lines will be reused for a certain amount of times (or unlimited). You could do tiers too, where x price is lines, y is colored, z includes background, etc.

What would a $100 sketch'em look like? A $50? Clearly they'd be less, but those will be more affordable.

A fursona design might be cool, but I fear the reality comes back to price in that the market is narrow.

The economy is atrocious, and most people don't have the luxury to buy art, and even those of us who do are cutting back.

https://www.furaffinity.net/user/littlebadwolf/ and https://www.furaffinity.net/user/sajophoe/ each have good models (in my opinion as a commissioner) where their art is more of a commodity, but they still deliver good work. They both reuse ychs and have a large bank to choose from. Saja has some multislot and some single, but they seem to understand that not every ych will sell immediately and they provide options. The important bit here is to price the minimum you must have and support tiering. The caveat is that I don't know if it's working for them.

I've seen other artists offer same day pieces in the forms of a warmup. Artistic freedom, cheap, and of good quality, but not polished.

It's sad to see that you're struggling. I'm happy to discuss more in private, although a better source is likely other artists.

Honestly, a good solo ych with reusable lines could maybe work! Though I see what you mean in that it's hard to tell how successful it is overall.
Funnily enough, Sketch'ems originally started as actual sketches, a loose sketch with monochrome details with one solid color for the image, and a single color box for a "background." Over time, I would get absorbed in each project and find myself indulging in more details, so I gradually raised the price. I think the first ever Sketch'ems were like $60 or so back in like 2013? But they had no inked or cleaned linework and rough shading at best. Perhaps I could return to something like this and call it "Sketch'em Lite" where it's the rough sketch, colored and loosely shaded maybe? Or just keep it flat color for work-flow's sake. Hmmm...

Definitely help to spark some ideas that could offer more affordable options in the future and as a plus, more folks who want to buy art will be open to such prices.
Thank you for this!

Essentially gonna double down on the price issue. I think all artists are worth their prices, but, its so unfeasible now. 200$ is one rx i need. (america is not so great again) I also get wing taxed like Bantam unfortunately even though the wings are tiny.

Realistically I think everyone is struggling to make ends meet all over.

Definitely seems like the more affordable options will be the way to go. $200 in a single piece these days is less likely for many and I want to be sure folks can have options from me that are far more affordable and still give a taste of my style, with just a bit of downscale on the details to preserve my workflow and not burnout. ^^

I've seen some artists implement an hourly rate. I always liked the transparency of that approach.

If your rate is, say, $30/hr., then a client with a budget of $150 could afford 5 hours of work on a custom commission. It's then up to you to consult with that client and communicate what could be achieved in those 5 hours. (If sketching the wings will take an extra 30 minutes, then you can be transparent that the final product might be less refined as a result!)

It requires running a timer while you work, and having a good estimate of your own work efficiency. But it's probably the most satisfying system I've yet encountered, as a client.

Honestly, a solid suggestion!
The one practice I do need to get better at is timing my art stages. There's definitely a flow-state I get into and an ultimate outcome I aim for with each piece, so becoming more aware of how long each stage takes will do wonders to set this kind of option up.
I really like this idea and appreciate the suggestion, thank you so much! ^^

Similar to what others have said, I've been interested in getting a sketch'em for literally years at this point, but $200 is a hell of a lot for me - through no fault of my own, my only income is disability, so I have to weigh these things up, especially when I have other costly interests like video games, digital music and 3D art, and Warhammer.

Not saying your work isn't worth that amount, and I'd definitely love to get something from you one day, but it's a big ask when I don't have a lot coming in to begin with, and many other things demanding financial attention.

For me personally, because of the way my money comes in, it would be a lot more feasible for me to afford (for example) four $50 pieces, at a rate of one every month or two, rather than one $200 piece in one go.

Obviously I can only speak from my own experience and I'm aware that my financial situation is perhaps not exactly typical. For what it's worth, you're one of a small number of artists on my "bucket list" that I'd love to get something from eventually :)

I know just what you mean and genuinely understand that it's a higher price than many are able to spend in a single piece. I definitely want to offer more options that are below the $100 mark as I've noticed icons (which I usually do around the $55 range) tend to have no problem finding buyers because of the more easily digestible price-point.

I guess I'm curious to learn what versions of art people are okay buying? Like if a person's price point was say $80 tops, would a refined sketch be enough? I guess I always assume everyone wants the most finished/polished final piece they can get. Since my Sketch'ems usually range around 5-6 hours each, that's roughly $30-35 per hour. A rough sketch can be achieved in about an hour and a half, sometimes 2 depending on design complexity. I guess I'm just wondering if people would spend $70-$80 even if it's just the sketch?

Bottom-line, it always makes me smile in the best way possible to hear that my art is considered part of someone's bucket-list or that they've always wanted to get something from me. I truly do want to aim for more affordable options so more long-time fans can get something at least! ^^

Honestly - and i really need to search a little in the back of my brain. It's been sooooo long since i saw your streams! - i think depending on the time you need a rough sketch could also be in the doable to offer for a lower price.

When i first got one of your sketch'em i actually expected just that and was mindblown as f*ck when you presented me with a fully fledged artpiece.

And yes. Your icons sell like hot fresh fries. Everyone needs icons. And your icons are definitely top tier. I just fear they actually take you a decent amount of worktime too otherwise swapping a sketch em slot for icon slots sounds like a great deal.

Honestly, I don't mind paying the $200, I just didn't have the funds set aside at the moment you advertised it. That said, most of your commissions are outside of my price range as I do have a hard limit I'll spend on any given commission. That said, for the same price I can get like 5 full body coloured commissions from some other artists, so you might need to adjust your prices.

But if you are open to advice then, I think you should first think what's the simplest and easiest to complete commission you can achieve in the shortest amount of time, and how many of them could you do a month (Based on your current pricing list on the Commission Tab, that would be Single Icon right?). From there figure out how much you need to live per month (rent, food, bills, etc) and then divide that by the amount of said commissions. Add say 10 USD on top of that amount and that should be what you charge for the simplest, and easiest commission you someone can get from you. To be clear I think this is the cheapest you should ever offer the easiest type of commission, as a way to keep yourself financially afloat, but your work is clearly worth more than that. I just think figuring out the cheapest amount you can charge for your simplest commission type to survive should help you navigate your pricing much better. After all when everyone starts they just pick a random amount they feel it's worth and just go from there, mathematically working out your required amount to live, gives you a good base to ensure you're okay, and don't end up in a bad situation.

This is such a sad thing to hear!

From the poor side of the corner (Love being your patreon! <3) I could allways decide to starve a month to get one your pieces haha.

Joking aside tho! I think something for people who have less money available per month (We can allways set aside 20 bucks aside each month to afford one of your pieces per year haha!) having an alternative would be great.
Something that causes you less ... spent time ... (Not gonna say effort, because i bet you put the same effort into all pieces you create!!!!!!!!) for less money. That way you kind of could get the same money for the same worktime, just split among more peoples. Like. If you have an alternative for 50 bucks that you actually only work 1/4 of the time on you work on a sketch em you could get 4 of them done in the same amount of time you take for a single sketch em but earned the same amount of rent-coverage. Filling those spots could be a hard time too but i think a lot of people would be willed to grab your art but just struggle to save up the money they'd need to.
At least from the perspective of someone who has to think twice before grabbing a spot anywhere.
It's like a food vs art thing.

I still hope you somehow magically get some applications - or did got some, since it's been two weeks (Sorry for the necromancing! Just really wanted to throw in opinions and perspectives)

Greetings from Shiro!

i saw you were looking for advice in the coments, so i hope you dont mind me adding some too!

i think the sketch lites would be a great idea! with YCHs, I've seen so many people useing them and i think it has high potential! Alot of people do a sketchy single color lineart/sketch for simple sketches (like blue or pink) with a simple shadeing in a similare shade of lighter color and those seem like a great middle ground for your style at a base rate. (adding $$ extra for spots and detail)

another idea could be multiple payments, but thats a slipery slope in that of itself. while I've been very fortunet in my area as an artist to be able to do that, I also understand its also something I due on rare ocasion because of that risk. I'll sometimes let them pay half up front for the sketch phase (covered in watermarks of course) and then make them pay the other half to start the lineart phase. -so if they need an extra paycheck we can wiggle room it. I also dont accept refunds once lineart has been started.

I also have seperate teir prices for headshots, busts, waist up, full body (extra for "anatomy"). But I do see you already do something similar

every artist is different, but you are AMAZEING! I've followed you for years and I have wanted to comission you for ages more, you've been on my bucket list sense before 2020. I'm hopeing to afford you one day soon ( just started puting money away for youre work now i have a better job, so hopefully itll be soon)