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Why am I so critical of artists?
7 years ago
http://oi64.tinypic.com/zj9xr4.jpg
"Price: $275"
Yeah...I'm gonna pay you $225 for your prepose when a decent full colour commission, made to the commissioner's specifications, averages $60-80. No wonder comments are disabled! Look, I get you've got bills to pay. I get you've gotta eat. You know who else does? Everybody. I'm not heartless, but maybe, just maybe, the reason that you're struggling to make ends meet is because you're charging more for a single picture than a lot of people (like me) spend in a month on groceries. Seriously, I'm not going to name names, but when your commission info is listing $250 for colours, $700 with a background (and this person already has a Patreon, btb), don't wonder why you're not making much money. You might get more steady work if you were willing to learn some basic economics and price your work competitively. It takes you a full week to make a piece, and you deserve a full week's pay for it? No offense, but maybe this isn't a skill you can support yourself on, then. Just because some people will pay the higher price doesn't mean that most people are willing, nor even able to. If the choice was between having some nice porn, and eating for a month, or between having some nicer porn, or paying rent, which would you prioritize?
Furry porn isn't just a luxury item. It's a niche luxury item that you can't even show off to most people in an over-saturated market. Not only that, but as the frequency of art theft ought to prove, if there was any doubt, many people don't need the perfect piece to be satisfied, just something close enough, and there's a lot of porn on the internet. Even if every artist decided to delete their gallery tomorrow, you're not putting that particular genie back in the bottle. From the most pragmatic of standpoints, nobody's really going to have to do without if they can't get a commission. In terms of supply and demand, supply is high, and demand is middling at best. It's just not a market where you can justify premium prices.
Oh, but you "work full time" as an artist? Well, I hate to break it to you, but you don't. You work on commission. You get contracted, work on the contract, and when you don't have a contract, you don't work. Yes, I know, I'm stating the obvious. I want it to sink in. If you don't have a contract, you don't work. Welcome to life as an independent contractor. You are not guaranteed an income, and society does not owe you one. In exchange for being able to set your own hours and choose what jobs you take (and let's be honest, not paying taxes for some of you), you take on the responsibility of pricing, marketing, and scheduling. You have to get enough work to put food on the table and pay the bills...and you can't just charge "one of these and I'm set for the month" as your price and hope for the best. You have to charge a price that people are willing to pay, or you don't get work. You have to be able to reliably get customers at regular enough intervals to pay your bills. Those first two basically mean you have to aim low. Not the lowest, but it has to be enough that there are enough potential buyers in your price range that even if some of your regulars aren't interested, you're sure to make your target number. Not just some of the time, not most of the time, but all of the time. Yes, this is going to be a balancing act. You need to figure out how much work you can get done, how fast, how much time you're willing to spend doing it each month, or week, or whatever, and price accordingly. You're also going to have to accept that you may have to work a little harder than you want. Maybe a lot. You don't get to take a vacation unless you've saved up enough to cover more than the time you're away, because there is a very real possibility that demand has gone down in the absence of a steady stream of product...and yes, you have to produce at a steady rate. Otherwise, it's not a job, it's a hobby that sometimes makes you money.
You just want people to recognize how awesome you are and throw money at you to cover your needs? Open a gofundme.
"Price: $275"
Yeah...I'm gonna pay you $225 for your prepose when a decent full colour commission, made to the commissioner's specifications, averages $60-80. No wonder comments are disabled! Look, I get you've got bills to pay. I get you've gotta eat. You know who else does? Everybody. I'm not heartless, but maybe, just maybe, the reason that you're struggling to make ends meet is because you're charging more for a single picture than a lot of people (like me) spend in a month on groceries. Seriously, I'm not going to name names, but when your commission info is listing $250 for colours, $700 with a background (and this person already has a Patreon, btb), don't wonder why you're not making much money. You might get more steady work if you were willing to learn some basic economics and price your work competitively. It takes you a full week to make a piece, and you deserve a full week's pay for it? No offense, but maybe this isn't a skill you can support yourself on, then. Just because some people will pay the higher price doesn't mean that most people are willing, nor even able to. If the choice was between having some nice porn, and eating for a month, or between having some nicer porn, or paying rent, which would you prioritize?
Furry porn isn't just a luxury item. It's a niche luxury item that you can't even show off to most people in an over-saturated market. Not only that, but as the frequency of art theft ought to prove, if there was any doubt, many people don't need the perfect piece to be satisfied, just something close enough, and there's a lot of porn on the internet. Even if every artist decided to delete their gallery tomorrow, you're not putting that particular genie back in the bottle. From the most pragmatic of standpoints, nobody's really going to have to do without if they can't get a commission. In terms of supply and demand, supply is high, and demand is middling at best. It's just not a market where you can justify premium prices.
Oh, but you "work full time" as an artist? Well, I hate to break it to you, but you don't. You work on commission. You get contracted, work on the contract, and when you don't have a contract, you don't work. Yes, I know, I'm stating the obvious. I want it to sink in. If you don't have a contract, you don't work. Welcome to life as an independent contractor. You are not guaranteed an income, and society does not owe you one. In exchange for being able to set your own hours and choose what jobs you take (and let's be honest, not paying taxes for some of you), you take on the responsibility of pricing, marketing, and scheduling. You have to get enough work to put food on the table and pay the bills...and you can't just charge "one of these and I'm set for the month" as your price and hope for the best. You have to charge a price that people are willing to pay, or you don't get work. You have to be able to reliably get customers at regular enough intervals to pay your bills. Those first two basically mean you have to aim low. Not the lowest, but it has to be enough that there are enough potential buyers in your price range that even if some of your regulars aren't interested, you're sure to make your target number. Not just some of the time, not most of the time, but all of the time. Yes, this is going to be a balancing act. You need to figure out how much work you can get done, how fast, how much time you're willing to spend doing it each month, or week, or whatever, and price accordingly. You're also going to have to accept that you may have to work a little harder than you want. Maybe a lot. You don't get to take a vacation unless you've saved up enough to cover more than the time you're away, because there is a very real possibility that demand has gone down in the absence of a steady stream of product...and yes, you have to produce at a steady rate. Otherwise, it's not a job, it's a hobby that sometimes makes you money.
You just want people to recognize how awesome you are and throw money at you to cover your needs? Open a gofundme.
