Am I undercharging on commissions?

[Laiska]

@ffocal: You clearly are not an artist. Managing basic grammar skills is a far different skillset than learning EVERY aspect of art ever. You can study art techniques for 50 years and still not know everything. Does that mean that you should not get paid for your efforts for 5 decades? If someone makes cartoon images at a professional level, but struggles with conveying value in oil paintings, does that mean they shouldn't get paid pro prices for their cartoon work?

[Noyemi K]

@ffocal: You clearly are not an artist. Managing basic grammar skills is a far different skillset than learning EVERY aspect of art ever. You can study art techniques for 50 years and still not know everything. Does that mean that you should not get paid for your efforts for 5 decades? If someone makes cartoon images at a professional level, but struggles with conveying value in oil paintings, does that mean they shouldn't get paid pro prices for their cartoon work?

The stuff ffocal mentioned is all "basic" stuff they teach you in art school and yes, every professional character artist has some grasp of. You're veering off course into things like various techniques and elements of style rather than foundation.

[BlueB]

Uh, all the things I mentioned are musts for an artist/illustrator... just like writers should know nouns, verbs, adjectives, grammar, tense, where to put apostrophes etc etc.
You can't go - I'm a writer but I never learned how to use adjectives, but come on, if I knew all of those I'd be some kind of god. That's a very unprofessional attitude to have.

Maybe basic grasps, yes. But "professional" artists make mistakes in those areas all the time. People who color for DC mess up on the lighting. Best-selling authors need spell-check. You can't expect someone to know everything there is to know about their selected medium just to be considered professional. That's the way I see it, at least.

[hiko27]

I'm sure I'm pretty late to this but I wanted to butt in cause that's the only thing I'm good at lol.

About the professional artists topic you've all been debating: You don't have to grasp every aspect of art to start being a professional. If you study some of professional artists' artworks, you'll sometimes notice the hands look very awkward, or that it's not anatomically possible. Being a professional just means you're making a living off of it, and you work in the industry. By industry, I mean you work commercially. You can make a living off of just taking commissions online, yeah, but that doesn't really mean you're a professional. Well, in the art industry. You're more of an amateur, or an independent artist. But it SHOULD be a must, because the more you develop your skills and know the basics, the better your art will be (and easier the workload since you won't have to spend 5 hours making that hand look like it's not bending awkwardly) as well as the more commissions you'll get (if people can afford you). As long as you make beautiful artwork and it's selling, no one would really care if you know your stuff, but you'd still be called a professional as long as you work in the industry.

As for your prices, PRETTY SURE YOU'RE UNDERCHARGING. I'd say sprites for about $20, and backgrounds, more than that. And as for how to get more people to commission you, it's pretty much a combination of advertising/marketing yourself, and improving your skills. We artists can never stay at our current skill level as we always have to keep on improving. Pretty much what Tempus linked to, as well as emphasis on the second and fourth points. You're going to have to spread out your art as much as possible. Ever wondered why so many amazing artists (like Yuumei or Sakimichan) have so many social networking accounts? It's so they could reach more people. The more people you reach, the higher chances of getting more commissions. You pretty much need to expose your art to people, as well as you as an artist. It's the same with trying to get a fanbase, you're going to have to spread out your art everywhere you can. And as for the fourth point, I think that's a given if you're compiled a portfolio before. I've heard a few things about what a portfolio should look like -- put only your best works in it, start it off strong by putting the best of the best at the beginning, but pretty much put your best foot forward. The point is to impress people, and you know, knock people's socks off. You're trying to convince people to commission or buy from you.

Some artists suggest doing the minimum wage per hour thing on how much to charge, but unless you're like me who works on and off a commission and whose timeline on one artwork differs (plus I forget to actually time myself as I hyperfocus on drawing), then I suggest just looking at others. It's as daikiraikimi mentioned, look at others' works and gauge at whose level you are at, and look at their prices. And if you're getting too many commissioners, you can most likely charge higher. If you're not getting much, you can charge lower. OR OFFER DISCOUNTS OR BUNDLES. It's a way to get more people to buy your stuff (I actually tested this when I sold my stuff at Anime Expo and it actually worked). People like deals, but it really depends on the effort you put into the piece. You can probably use that as a base price, and then do add-ons. That's what most amateur artists do.