A good question to ask is are you doing this as a job or as something off to the side?

Is it money that you need or is this extra spending money that you're getting in?

At the moment, it's actually kind of off to the side, but I'd actually love to take it a bit more seriously, and turn it into a job! I've been thinking I want to make art more of a career than a hobby.

Then set base prices. Take the time you spend in hours and take a look at the minimum wage per hour and count that into the base minimum of what you'll have your clients pay. Base minimum prices are essential if you want to avoid being walked on, although it is recommended to keep yourself affordable so as not to spit in the face of people who want to do business with you. It's the people who will want to take advantage of you that you have to look out for.

However, if it's just more spending money it's fine to have a Pay What You Want model. I know there was a few to a dozen games over the last few years that experimented with this. That's great because it's one product that at least a few thousand people will look into. Well, that is, if your game gets the attention needed to turn up said numbers. But for those that do garner the attention, they'll still get at least a dollar per person for their work.

However, you're working on one piece for one person. It's okay to want to cut them some slack. The economy's hard and everyone is suffering. However, you also need to value yourself as a person as well and ask if you want to live.

Since you're currently doing them for extra spending money it's okay to accept any payment. But as a profession, I'd prefer setting base prices. Some people don't value art. They treat it as a throwaway hobby. Do not let these kind of people walk on you.

Wow, I really appreciate the lengthy response, it's really helped me out in this decision, actually.

I'm definitely going to put all of this into account and treating it more seriously, and more like a job. I've had a few people try to take advantage of me in the past, but kept firm and said I'm running a business.

Thanks again, this was really insightful for me. I'll be taking things more seriously in the future!

My advice? Draw. Like its a job. People are curious creatures. We put hours into doing tedious tasks for pay and get quite good. At them. But we dont. Do that with the skills we want to because...lazy.

So if you wanna make this a career draw, draw lots.

Thanks a lot for your insight! I haven't been drawing as much, but your comment made me realize that if I'm going to continue to get business, I need to be drawing constantly.

Thanks again!

Sorry for the bad typing. Using a mobile device.

What I suggest is hosting free* sketch streams during your drawing block times to keep yourself intrigued and constantly improving. *free, 5$ sketch drawings what have you

Televising your skills gives you exposure quickly and you also can get dynamic drawing critique.

The con is stage-fright.

I'd say keep the set prices. You can always run pay what you want specials to see how you go, but people tend to be pretty cheap. A few will pay more than expected but it tends to not make up. However.. if you just want to DRAW stuff, it's a good way to do it.