Commission Prices

We could use this thread for posting our art and helping with price ranges and the like.
 
I finally managed to get an image or two online. I only just started drawing ponies not too long ago, but I don’t think it’s that bad for just starting.  

 
I would like to do commissions, but I’m not sure as to how much I should charge. Could anyone help me out with it?

sir i think you are quite good for a beginner. i dont know if you wanted to make it abstract or accurate but here i ses some good sketch. at first,you should sell them at low prices ranging from 0.25$ to 1$. for price variation, you should rank them yourself and also, yo may want to add versatility to your works. like coloured, photoshop, vector (even jf i dont know what it is) and stuff like that. this will add up to your demand and get you more buyers. i hope it helped. if not i at least bumped for someone else ;)

IMO, consider doing requests instead of asking for money. You’re only starting out. You may want to invest time in more practice with your own tools.
 
Depending on what your goals are, if you ever wish to be making at least triple-digits from commissions, you’ll have to start an arduous path art professionals have to take to improve on their craft. Art is not a walk in the park.

really? why are you a background pony then

@maxime12
 
@Pix3M
 
Thanks for the input ^^ I will definitely consider them. As of now, I’m thinking about holding off commissions until I get better (and I want to experiment with some color). I plan on drawing some more ponies and different poses to show people what I can do.

Let me disregard the fact that I may offend you and say this: If someone decide to commission, they would want something that is worth the money. They would spend $200 for a great artist, but definitely not 2 cents for a beginner.
 
As far as traditional art goes, you (and your commissioners) will want your skill to be at least around this
 

 
And of course, this will be something to strive for
 

I’ve been considering doing commissions myself (since I really need the money) but get very little to no feedback at all on the artwork that I’ve put out.
 
What kind of prices do y’all think I could get out of my stuff?

Draw porn or heavily suggestive stuff, that almost always gets feedback…

@Grieffon  

 
lol @ first pic. Do you realize how skilled discommunicator is? Discommunicator has done lots of anatomy homework as well as studied art fundamentals including but not limited to lighting, composition, and it shows. If you’re totally serious that this is the skill level people need to strive for in order to make money, then I will hate to break it to people. If you want to make money off art, you have to do studies equivalent of going to art school. If you’re self-taught like me, the road for you is a little harder.
 
Don’t mistake detailing for skill level. A dead giveaway to art done by a beginner is detailing done only for the sake of detailing, and not being able to draw in a consistent art style. Second pic isn’t the worst example but with the well-rendered clouds but ponies being drawn with line instead, it’s on the fence.

@TheLoneLampman  

 
I’m gonna be brutally honest. If you would like feedback from an artist who’s paid thousands of dollars to work on game projects, here’s some feedback: You’re not that much better off than OP.
 
Surrealistic/semi-realistic ponies like my avatar and of works like Tsitra360 are very difficult to pull off. Critics don’t even think Tsitra’s art style is good as well, and very, very few artists can pull off convincing dimensionality on FiM-style ponies without making it look uncanny. (It’s part of why Hashbro is so famous for being the few who does it right).
 
Though it’s hard for me to accurately judge if I’m also one of the few who gets it right, it gets some critical acclaim from other admins at the best-of-mlp-fim group on deviantART. Whether my avatar is a good example or not, I have to extrapolate information not found in the original vector style and add features like the brow ridge and cheeks to avoid making uncanny ponies. You have to do anatomy studies to know how to make ponies less uncanny. By ‘studies’, I do not mean looking at anatomy reference sheets drawn by hobbyists; I mean understanding what’s underneath the skin of RL horses and humans. Often, artists learn this by drawing realistically from life. Try gesture drawings as well.
 
Don’t use black to shade; it’s incorrect and gets you boring colors. Go outside on a sunny day and observe how shadows are more cyan-tinted than areas lit by the sun.
 
Know how to use negative space well as well. Your avatar’s nose is bumping into the edge of your canvas which results in a very annoying effect that it looks like he’s bumping into an imaginary wall.
 
I dunno what prices you can get away with at your level, but if you’re not getting feedback, it’s not a good sign. If you work enough on color theory, composition, lighting, anatomy, perspective, and other things, you’ll be a lot more marketable but until then, you’re only starting out.
 
Anyways, sorry if I came off as pretentious, but feedback is feedback.

@Pix3M  

 
I do. That’s why I picked one of his simpler work. And yeah, bad second example. Hope you understand, I’m a beginner as well so…
 
And thanks for the posts. Those were quite informative.

@Grieffon  
Haha, there are little details in said simpler work that told me that the example you gave came from an artist who has definitely did some homework. I checked the artist tag and found there is definitely a considerable level of skill from this artist.
 
I like how he leaves the face unshaded because shading it will hurt readability on the face, and pony faces tend to make little to no sence in 3D. The way he does hair is also very excellent suggesting all the little strands with fine details without having to over-detail the entire thing. He conveys a good amount of dimensionality with fewer shades which is a clear sign of an artist who knows a thing or two with lighting.

@Princess Celestia  
I plan on doing that xD
 
 
@TheLoneLampman  
I can look at your work. I’m not too good at feedback, but I can try my best.
 

 
As for the skills of traditional art, I’m not sure I’m going to get that good. However, I’m always up for the challenge. Only thing is, I don’t really see my drawings as realistic. If I do become an artist, I’ll most likely draw the much more “cartoon-y” images.
 
Lastly, I’ve been thinking about getting into other kinds of art (besides traditional). Problem is, I don’t know if I need certain computer programs or anything…
 
Here’s another image I did:  

@Pix3M  
Thanks very much for the feedback; I would rather my works be torn apart pixel by pixel than completely ignored.
 
I’ll freely admit that my pony anatomy is not that great at the moment and probably my weakest area. More practice/experimentation should fix that in time.  
I have a thing for slightly over-dramatic lighting that needs to be toned down, so yeah. Black shadow emphasis = bad. Noted.  
For negative space, my avatar isn’t the best example to judge from since I was trying to pack as much pony face in there that I could.
 
I’ve done no art study and really only have been drawing on and off since joining the fandom so I’m very much a beginner in that sense.
 
This has been sufficiently derailed by having turned into critique rather than pricing. Maybe another thread should be started, if anyone’s interested in continuing down that path.

@TheLoneLampman
 
Uh, it’s not that dramatic lighting is bad, but here’s the more technical side of color theory - when we look at colors, we can think of them in three dimensions: hue, saturation, and value. I think you should know what they mean if you do digital art.
 
When using black to shade, you are changing value and saturation. However, the reason why shading with black is wrong because it does not change the hue. Again, look at shadows on a sunny day and look at how the hues go from a warmer hue, to a much cooler hue in the shadows (due to the sky becoming the main light source in shadowed areas). Put a green object next to a white object. The very light that makes the green object visible is the same light that can act as a minor light source on the white object. Thus, you get reflected light - parts of the white object will be slightly greener due to the green object. Lighting gets very complicated when many different elements are involved.
 
Play with colors. Instead of using a white light, you could be using an orange light. An orange light will make shadows more azure due to color relativity. Maybe you can add multiple light sources if you’re able to attempt that.
 
The thread may be partially derailed into a critique thread, but these criticisms are completely relevant to why we might not be getting too many customers. Some times it’s the little things that keep us from making ‘good’ stuff, but stuff that makes people go ‘Shut up and take my money!”
 
However, no amount of artistic skill will help you if you don’t catch the attention of people who are willing to pay money for the stuff you produce.

As for how much you guys should price your art, take people’s appraisals with a grain of salt. I’m only saying that you guys may want to improve on your craft before thinking about making money off your artwork, because there’s always that chance that since we’re only starting out, we don’t know how to approach improving on art.
 
I’m also “starting out” in another sense with little professional experience atm. However, despite producing professional-quality pixel art comparable to commercial games out there, I get some huge variations as to what people think my art is worth.
 
On one end, I’m paid thousands of dollars for a small game project requiring a 16-bit art style comparable to FFX4 (but suited for the modern LCD monitor), and I get away with hundreds of dollars for mocking up hypothetical screenshots of games. On the other end, one person appraised my 50x50 pixel portraits for $7-8 when they’re really at least two hours worth of perfectionism. On the most extreme, there are teenagers (or people from poorer countries) who offer me a couple of quarters worth of virtual currency for a couple of hours of my time. Nobody will value your work the same as everyone else.
 
If you’re truly lost on how to price yourself, do some research. There is always the possibility of looking at other artists, but be wary of where you look. on dA, $3 commissions can be considered expensive among hobbyists. In the real world, that’s when you’re starting to deal with triple-digits from artists who know their stuff.

@Latios381  
Oh and one thing, don’t learn to draw ponies. Learn to draw, then practice drawing ponies.