Anyhow, long story short, I was wondering, given my level of experience and skill (Visit my site for examples), what would you evaluate my skills as being worth for a completely colored full bodied color drawing with a background? I am accustom to judging things with US dollars, even though I am Canadian.

I know there's the old measurement of how many hours a piece takes you, but a lot of the time, I have guilt about accidentally over charging a customer... I mean, tardiness and inefficiency is a fault of the artist, so why should the customer pay for it?

Strangely, quite a few people seem to be from the UK who like my work, so I was wondering in particular about what Bomu thinks would be a reasonal price? As he has seen my work. A skilled anime/manga artist (Outside of Japan) on the higher ranks like Rachel Young has no problem charging $100+ for a full on piece, but somehow, I feel guilty charging money period (I feel guilty for getting paid to have fun!), but I need it to support my rather spotty freelance career, so I have no overriding morale choice in the matter. I would highly appreciate it if someone could help me determind a good general price range for my work, particularly on full on pieces.

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www.xynthica.com

What is your work worth to you? All work takes time, effort and skill.

How does your work compare to other professionals? I can see you're definitely not a beginner, but still improving- like all of us really!

Who is paying and what will the work be used for? This is very important, as individuals will only pay so much for a private commission, where as companies looking to use the character in a game or as a company mascot are usually willing to pay a much higher amount.

Starting up as a freelancer or someone who draws for money is hard at first as you need to know business as much as how to draw well. Be strict with your pricing and don't undersell yourself as you'll just feel ripped off if you end up taking extra days over a picture and feel you weren't properly compensated for your time. However, overcharge and you'll never get customers! It's a tricky balancing act.

I hate to put a price on your work but for a full colour CG character and fairly detailed BG for private use, perhaps $20-$40? What do you think?

I think recently, I might have made my first commission mistake based on a royalties project rather than a full payment one... you know how sometimes you just get that negative vibe that somethings not going to end well but you are too deep to back out? I've been having that feeling for a while now... having your client not reply back to you after the work is done is also a pretty horrible sign... but eh, I still have faith in the majority of the human race Worst case scenario, it's a life lesson.

Ohhh, anyhow, thank you all for the kind words, I hope to have some of my newer stuff out before the New Year

Hey Bomu and the rest of the veterans on this board, is there a formal procedure to contracting a commission that freelance artists do to make sure that neither side gets screwed over before any actual work is done? I have found working on faith alone highly unbeneficial. My dealings have been online primarily, so I have e-mail threads for contracts, but that can kinda' fall through the roof right? So I was just wondering if there is a more professional way to do this than "Your word and my word" without lawyer oriented legal binding. Thanks in advance

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www.xynthica.com

In other words if the guy gives u some instructions towards the drawing and u do it and he don't like it he's stuck with the pic and still has to send u money since there is a as is agreement in the contract.

anyways before u lay a single lead on paper have the guy sign the contract and have him send a pic of him signing the contract and holding it, thus if he tries to worm his way out u got proof that he signed and he can sue him some money. thus everyone gets wat they want.

On my first commission being friendly paid off, because my first client was a real angel and the work was fun, the pay was great, and the client was reliable from the get go, but I also have seen what can be lost from not having a backbone.

So in you guys opinion, in being a freelance artist, what do you think is more important? Business skills, or art skills? Kind of the chicken and the egg, but I just thought it'd be interesting to ask

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www.xynthica.com

As far as legal bindings go, I tend to work with contracts if I do a commission or project which will pay £100+ ($200). If it were something smaller for a private commission for example, I may not bother with contracts providing I felt there was trust between myself and the client- As you said Zephos, if you get that feeling that something's not right, leave it alone, or if you're already committed, try to resolve things before doing anything else..

Also, if you're not working with contracts, make sure to get 50% of the payment up front before even starting work! This isn't uncommon and it ensures you will at least get something if the project turns sour half way through, but most importantly, the client is then committed to see the project through until the end, as they have already invested time and money into it. Also make sure the final isn't sent until the last payment is received. Instead perhaps email a lower quality version of the artwork etc.