Um

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JAYWlNG's avatar
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This is probably a ridiculously common topic by now, but it's common for a reason and truly should be heard.

Don't undervalue your art. Sure, you may be a novice, but that does not mean you get to sell your art for literal pennies.

The minimum wage in the US is $7.25. That means you should technically be paid about $7 for every hour of work you do. And keep in mind, $7.25 is extremely low; you can't make a living that way at all. I'd say the minimum wage you'd have to get to be able to make a living is $15, probably enough to pay for an apartment and ramen noodle meals.

But my art isn't damn worth it! THEN DON'T SELL COMMISSIONS. Really, if you think your art is so bad that you can't put a decent price on your art, then why are you doing it in the first place? Not only is it going to kill you in your later years, it's hurting the artist community. Think of it like this: some person sells their art for 100:points:. A person goes to another artist, who sells their drawings for $30. Naturally, they'd think that's freaking expensive, and may even complain about how high it is. When in reality, they're getting their fair amount of money for all the work they have to do to draw things for you.

You may not think about it, but in the future, whether it's your profession or not, you may have to sell art to be able to make some money to be able to live in a freaking apartment. If you continue to sell your art at 10:points: a piece, if the time comes where you actually really need money, how are you going to be able to afford it? After all, you can sell 100 drawings, but you'd still get only $10 out of it, and you're just wasting your time.

Having your commissions at 10:points: also hurts yourself; people who sell cheap commissions tended to be treated poorly, and people try to push more out of them. And don't forget the dreaded NEVERENDING TO-DO LIST. Not the best idea to have one, you'll never catch up with what you have to do.

tl;dr, don't sell your art cheap. If you really think that your art needs to be cheap, then just don't sell it.

© 2013 - 2024 JAYWlNG
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Nikiptc18's avatar
I don't give pay for my artwork, because I don't need it yet, and because people could easily go to someone with better artwork for the same price. It's not worth having it up there. But I do love to draw stuff for people, so I keep it. Like MagicPawed said, I'm an amatuer, I don't deserve pay yet. And trust me: I don't get pushed around very easily. :XD:
But artists undervalueing their art is extrememly annoying. Not 'annoying' like the person themself is annoying, but the fact that they don't think their art is worth anything. Sometimes I say, "oh man this drawing is crap" but I really mean, "this isn't my best, expect much more from me". My friend though, who loves to draw, whenever I mention her art she can't stop talking about how much it sucks. I actually think it isn't any worse than mine, so it gets on my nerves sometimes. >_<;