Knowing how to price artwork is one of the most important financial skills an artist can develop. Yet one of the most common mistakes artists make is forgetting to account for their own labour when calculating the cost of creating work.
Your time is money.
Your expertise is valuable.
And yet so many artists price their work, apply for grants, or take on commissions without ever factoring in what their time is actually worth. This is one of the leading reasons artists go broke even when they appear to be busy and productive.
When you calculate the cost of a project, you need to account for two types of expenses:
- what it costs to keep the lights on regardless of whether you’re making work
- what it costs to make that specific piece of work
Most artists only think about the latter.
And then there’s the thing almost nobody accounts for: themselves
Your labour is a line item. Your artist fee is a cost of production. If you’re not including it in your numbers, you’re essentially subsidising every project you take on with your own unpaid time. That’s not dedication. That’s a bad habit that will eventually grind your practice into the ground.
The full breakdown of how to calculate your actual costs, including what to pay yourself and how to work backwards from there, is something Artist Money Matters can show you.
If someone else were doing your job, what would you pay them?