It's been a while since I've heard from ya, man, how've you been? And I agree to an extent. Artists have to make money off their work somehow, and some artists do nothing else except art so that's their main source of income, while others do it as mainly a hobby so can afford to charge a lot less. I guess what I'm saying is, it depends on who the artist is and what their reason is for drawing (or writing). For example, an artist that has no other means of support will get my money easier than an artist that's only doing it as a hobby. If they're also close friends, then that pretty much cinches it.

Been pretty good, completely dry on the art department though. Instead been working doing chinese to english scanlations of some pony 4komas.

Well, there's some artists that can charge hundreds of dollars and get away with it, artists that have been in the business since the late 90s and have nourished their fame -- I could think of several that fall in this category.

But I've seen artists that really have no leg to stand on and charge more than I'd be willing to pay -- they're not bad per se, but I know that if I look around, I'll find someone else who matches what I want for the price I want.

I guess what I'm saying, is, if you're starting out, don't aim for the stars right off the bat or you'll never leave off the ground.

I understand what you're saying. On the other hand, I know some artists that I feel are selling themselves short; but I guess that's a matter of personal opinion. In this economy it's really difficult to be an artist and actually make any money, unless you're working for a big-name company and get paid on a professional pay-scale or you're famous enough to work freelance. It's a tie between wanting to make enough money to warrant the effort/materials and not wanting to charge so much that you drive off potential customers.

How are the translations coming along?

you can always check them out on retiredpyramidhead.tumblr.com -- me and my team normally has them out in less than 24 hrs from being released, and the chinese artist that does the comic likes our work so much he uses our english version on his deviantart page for his american audience =D

That's so awesome, man! Congrats on the success!