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How do I price my art? It's the single most often asked question from new and emerging artists. It's also one of the most discussed questions in online art forums with many and varied approaches of how artists arrive at a dollar figure on each piece of art they create.

There are many variables to consider, all quite valid, with no one 'correct' way to set your prices. In this article I will outline the various considerations and hopefully provide you with some direction when it comes to pricing your own artwork.

Things to consider:

* Cost of materials.
* Cost of your time.
* Living/Working Expenses.
* Size and complexity of the artwork.
* Intended market.
* Commission Fees.
* Importance of the Artwork to your artistic development.
* Your reputation as an artist.

Cost of Materials

This aspect of pricing is a 'no brainer'. If you aren't at least pricing your work to cover the cost of materials how are you going to fund your next artwork without getting a second job? No matter what method you ultimately use to price your art cost of materials should always be a factor.

Cost of Your Time

Many artists find this a stumbling point because they don't know how to put an hourly dollar value on their time. Rather than just picking a figure out of the air you could determine your hourly rate based upon research of:

* Hourly rates of other similar artists (it never hurts to ask).
* Hourly rates earned by commercial artists producing similar work
e.g. graphic artists, photographers, jewelers. Any similar profession that has an entry level base salary or wage.

You could base your hourly rate upon any previous entry level jobs you may have held. Even if the job wasn't in the arts, It's still your time that was being paid for.

Living/Working Expenses

Do you want to be a full time artist? If so you'll have to factor in the cost of your living and working expenses since now you're attempting to pay all of your bills.

To make these calculations you'll need to have an approximation of how many hours a month you intend to spend creating your art.

Living expenses are fairly self explanatory. You'll need to work out approximately how much you spend per month for things like rent, electricity, water, food, vehicle expenses, entertainment etc. Divide that total figure across the number of hours you intend to work a month and add that to your hourly rate.

Working Expenses are everything you spend money on not directly related to creating each individual artwork but related to the production and

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