AuthorTopic: Pricing Standards?  (Read 3105 times)

Offline feathering

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Pricing Standards?

on: March 09, 2014, 03:49:23 am
Hello,
I'm new to commissioning work in the pixel community. I've looked around and I noticed that there's a typical $___/hr format, but I'm not really sure how that works. What kind of quality can I expect from 0.5, 1, 2, 3 hrs of time? How much detail/quality can I get for, say, $20 upfront?

At the moment I'm looking to just get one polished piece with two characters, but not like sprites. Just.. art?

Thanks for listening!

Offline Novally

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Re: Pricing Standards?

Reply #1 on: March 09, 2014, 05:00:19 am
I don't really believe in pricing per hour. It's a very unfair tactic for the person ordering the commission. Any form of art is time consuming to make and for someone to pay a wage is ridiculous unless they have the budget to do so.

I charge by sprite and size. The amount I charge balances out the amount of time I spend on the animation.
Please message me if you're looking to hire a sprite artist!

Offline Pix3M

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Re: Pricing Standards?

Reply #2 on: March 09, 2014, 06:38:15 am
Ask artists what they can accomplish in a given amount of time. Different artists work at different speeds with different subjects. More experienced artists may be more expensive but more expensive artists tend to work faster and have a better idea of what they are doing.

I made this in fourteen hours around August 2012:



Sure, it's detailed and all but when I made this, but it looks amatuerly done when you know what to look for. The leaves do not make sense, and this tree isn't particularly interesting. That, I also could not draw everything else in the same style as trying to draw other things are out of my skill level. Say I worked for $10 which is dirt cheap - that's $140, and that doesn't cover the fact I redid this tree in a completely different style. Luckily, that was merely for a volunteer project.  :crazy:

I made this in three hours at around October 2013:



Over a year later, I know a lot more about art direction, and I drew a tree that is a lot more expressive than my other tree. Colors are more exciting which can communicate a fantasy setting more strongly than my other tree. Let's say I theoretically worked for $40/hr for this art style. I blew up my theoretical rate four times higher (which isn't even a rate I'd actually ask for) and you get a tree that's not as expensive as the older, less skillfull artist I used to be.

(Sorry if these images disappear in the future... I uploaded these on dropbox)
« Last Edit: March 09, 2014, 06:46:15 am by Pix3M »

Offline Cyangmou

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Re: Pricing Standards?

Reply #3 on: March 09, 2014, 12:57:20 pm
a lot mor information can already be found in the forums.

http://wayofthepixel.net/index.php?topic=16239.msg147486#msg147486

@pix3m - maybe it would be an idea if you would post your example there as well :y:
« Last Edit: March 09, 2014, 01:05:11 pm by Cyangmou »
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