Pricing your artwork

Pricing your artwork

There are no rules for pricing your artwork, but it is best to base them on market value, i.e. what the buying public is currently paying for similar work. Learn the market value by visiting galleries and checking prices of works similar to yours. For emerging artists (unknown) it is advisable not to compare with established artists. When determining a price it is

necessary to consider the following:

Medium. Oils and acrylics cost more than watercolours by the same artist. Price your paintings higher than drawings.
Expense of materials. Work done on expensive paper will have to cost more than work of a similar size done on a lesser grade paper.
Size. Though a large work is not necessarily better than a small one, as a rule of thumb you can charge more for the larger work.
Scarcity. Charge more for one-of-a-kind works like paintings and drawings, than for limited editions, such as ethings, lithographs, woodcuts, etc.
Status of artist. Established artists will charge more than unknown artists.

As you establish a reputation, you may begin to raise your prices, but do so cautiously. Each time you raise the prices to a new price level, you will not be able to come back down.