1. Yes, I time every drawing
2. Yes, I often hit my goal
3. I aim for an average. If I spend too much time on something, I just accept the "loss" as my responsibility, and if it becomes a trend, I adjust my prices.

I have it all tracked in a spreadsheet. I have all the refs I need for the drawing in a separate PSD, and in that PSD file, I write down each time that I start and stop drawing. I separate it into different steps of the process, such as sketch, lineart, etc. When I'm done with the drawing, I fill the data into my spreadsheet.

Between collecting data on my time spent vs income received, and comparing that to my monthly living expenses, I have calculated out how much I want to work, to make sure that I'm on track to make enough money. I try to be ahead, because some months are slower than others, so when that time comes around, I can relax more. Being ahead some months and behind others is okay, as long as it evens out in the end.

Time sheet: Link
Here's my spreadsheet for the month: Link
Here's the yearly overview: Link

huh, very diligent!
Impressive.... I also track things, but not quite in such detail.
Thanks for the elaborate answer!

It's good to have a goal of keeping a solid average wage, but at the end of the day you need to find customers who are willing to pay a reasonable amount for your work, and you need to find a way to complete that work in a reasonable amount of time to keep the money flowing in. As harsh as it may seem, customers are only paying you for the end result, not how much effort you put into it along the way.

Like if you need to make $4k a month in revenue to keep the lights on and you can complete 16 works in that time and you can find people willing to pay $250 each then you're breaking even. But if you can only complete 4 works a month and nobody's willing to pay $1000 each then you're boned, or same if you can complete 16 but too few people are willing to pay $250. On the other hand if you can complete let's say 20 works per month and can sell them for $300 each then it's smooth sailing and you'll even have a little slack to make up for slow months or varying expenses.

scary to think about all that...
its about time i did, i suppose...

Honestly I stopped trying, I was driving myself crazy trying to keep up with an hourly metric. I'd obsess on it.
Instead I decided I feel better charging either per-piece for specific styles/content where I have control, or working up an individual quote for anything non-standard.

A lot of the struggle for me has just been in growing and having the confidence in my abilities to spitball numbers at people.
I personally don't mind haggling, but I know I may have a unique viewpoint as I don't get consistent commission work and some months I'll get 4-5 comms, some months I'll get none.
I'm AuDHD and get distracted while working and don't feel it's fair to charge other people for my slowness and distractability, personally.

Also for context, I do not make a living from my work so that does affect my point of view as well, but still thought you may find value in my thoughts.
At the end of the day you have to do what feels natural to you and your workflow, while doesn't leave you feeling like you're working for peanuts.

yeah i dislike thinking about metrics too, i demetricate everything that i can in life....
accursed numbers.... thank you for sharing!
maybe it is best to stop overthinking it....

I use a base price due to the fact I don't know how long I will take on a given commission.
I guess it depends on how confident you are about your timing and hours.

hm...maybe it is best to just do that, yeah...
should probably just get started with it and not try to nail it...accept I'll make mistakes and over or underestimate workloads instead of trying to get a perfect estimate which im almost guaranteed to miss...

I time everything I do for money or for things that'll make me work for money later (accountancy, publications, goodies, studying). I know that my soft ink commissions take between 5 and 7 hours of work, and the full painting between 12 and 14 hours.
I often hit my desired hourly wage. Rest of the time, it's a little underpaid, and rarely overpaid (finally commission done faster than expected, and tips).
I check if I follow the average right. I tend to rise up my prices with years (inflation, not the fetish one ... getting better at things so more richer pictures, and not quite really living comfortably with my current furry commission prices)

hm...yeah, maybe i need to be willing to adjust my prices frequently.
Thanks for sharing!

I use Clip Studio, which shows how long I’ve worked on a file. I’ll usually add an extra hour or two for things like research or client communication, just to be safe - so yeah!

I’d say I hit a decent hourly wage. my main challenge right now is that I’d like to work more hours, but demand’s been a bit slower lately.

pricing-wise, I mostly base things on complexity. if I know something will take longer, I’ll adjust the price accordingly. that said, I generally feel well compensated for the time I put in!

(sorry for the late reply)
yeah I use CSP for that tracking too!
glad to hear at least someone here seems to be happy with their hourly earnings ^^;;
the amount of people saying theyre dipping into minimum wage is a bit disheartening...
sad when people feel forced to undercharge to stay competitive, I'm worried it may lead clients to get the wrong idea about the value of art and how much work it is...
I still have a hard time gauging how much work something will be, but...yeah...now that I'm actively doing comms again, I'll hopefully catch my bearings before too long...