#14 - The How's and Why's to Pricing my Art

Fatal Beauty 9x11 pastel on sandpaper SOLD

Well here it is..... painting #14 of 31 in 31 days. I still have 17 more to go with only 13 days to get it all done and reach the goal so some days I think I'll need to double up.  Monarchs are my favorite butterflies. There's just something about them that draws me in, and with their numbers steadily decreasing it's a rare sight to see one these days.  In years past I've searched for Monarch eggs and brought them in the house to raise for release to help boost their numbers, but for the last 2 years, I'm lucky is I've even seen 1 or 2 all season.  It's a really scary thing to think that one day there may not be any more monarchs to appreciate.

I recently had a conversation with someone about the pricing of my paintings.  It's been said by quite a few people that my prices are too low which lead me to wanting to post my how's and why's.  Yes, my prices are much much lower than a similar painting from another artist with the same experience. Do I think my work is not worthy of a higher price tag? No, not really - I just want to make original art affordable for everyone - not just those with fuller pockets.  I've seen many paintings while out and about that I would have loved to buy for myself, but when I see the price tag, I realize there's just no way I could ever afford it !  I love to make art so I'm going to make my art no matter what - whether it sells or not. Of course you want your art to sell at some point otherwise you've run out of room to store it all, but I cannot understand the reasoning of pricing a painting at $600 for a 9x12 when I could never afford that myself.  So my goals are to create affordable art for all.  So right now, the easiest and most organized way for me to price each piece is by square inches.  I measure the square inches first, say a 9x12 painting would be $108 (already $500 cheaper than most paintings) then I divide that number by 2 because I still feel $108 is a high price.  I round that number up or down depending on my personal likes to the painting. So in this case, the price would be $54, and will be rounded up to $55 because 54 just sounds weird to me as a price.

So that's the method to my madness in a nutshell.  I'm sure there are artists completely against pricing this way, and that's ok.  This is the way that works best for me at this time in my art journey, and gives me a chance to provide affordable, original art to those that would otherwise not be able to afford it, and having an original piece of art where you can actually see the paint strokes or the sparkling dust of the pastels gives you a whole new appreciation for the piece than if it's just a print.