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What Should I Charge for this Commission
8 years ago
The Dilemma:
I'm looking for opinions on what to charge for a specific commission. It's an unusual situation, since I don't normally get commissions for more than a single character.
Can anyone give me some insight?
In a Nutshell:
- 6 character group picture, full body
- 5 of 6 are new characters that need designs
- Most likely flat-color
- Probably simple or single color background
The Story:
The commissioner is the owner of a small sign shop. My roommate works at the shop, and I've done odd jobs (non-art related) for them before. The owner wants a color drawing of the 6 employees of the shop, as anthro characters, to display on the shop's website. And while I have an existing character for my roomie, I would have to design the other 5 characters.
Other Factors:
The owner has invited me to the office Christmas party at a fairly nice restaurant, where he will pay for food and drinks. I don't want to seem mean or ungrateful by charging a high price for my work, after he's paid for my meal and drink(s). He invited me weeks before asking about the commission, but I can't help but factor this in.
Thoughts?
I'm looking for opinions on what to charge for a specific commission. It's an unusual situation, since I don't normally get commissions for more than a single character.
Can anyone give me some insight?
In a Nutshell:
- 6 character group picture, full body
- 5 of 6 are new characters that need designs
- Most likely flat-color
- Probably simple or single color background
The Story:
The commissioner is the owner of a small sign shop. My roommate works at the shop, and I've done odd jobs (non-art related) for them before. The owner wants a color drawing of the 6 employees of the shop, as anthro characters, to display on the shop's website. And while I have an existing character for my roomie, I would have to design the other 5 characters.
Other Factors:
The owner has invited me to the office Christmas party at a fairly nice restaurant, where he will pay for food and drinks. I don't want to seem mean or ungrateful by charging a high price for my work, after he's paid for my meal and drink(s). He invited me weeks before asking about the commission, but I can't help but factor this in.
Thoughts?
What do you normally charge for one character? Start from there and times 5. Lower price as needed.
All that said, I know the applying an hourly rate to work time doesn't work for all artists and situations.
I know I should time myself to figure out how long these things will take, but at this point I haven't. And as for the shop owner (not that you had any way of knowing this, of course), he's still kind of a novice, and often doesn't understand the cost of doing business. Luckily, his employees collectively help him out (or put him in his place) when needed.
The office Christmas party is at the end of the week, so I should have a chance to sit down an discuss the project with him, and the other employees. Hopefully, we can talk it out and reach an agreement.
Thanks for your input!