Price List 2012/2013

For the past few years, I've been winging it when it comes to pricing.  I'd finish a piece, submit it to a show and when they requested a price I'd hem and haw and generally dither around trying to figure out a number value to attach to something that to me is representative of hours of concentration, creative thought and angst.  This method has led to some rather unhelpful price structures based basically on how much I liked a particular piece at the time I priced it.  So, after researching how other artists have done this, I've come up with a (somewhat) more objective way to price my work.  I say somewhat, because it's always going to have a level of subjectivity to it.  Basically I have 3 categories based on the size of the paintings small, medium and large,I thought about giving them pretentious titles using different languages to confuse people, but then thought better of it, and then a dollar range for each one. The price of the painting then becomes based on the size first, the complexity of subject and the overall finish of the piece, the time it took me to complete factors in as well (although it is pretty much related to the level of finish), and the general awesomeness of the painting. Here are the categories with some of the standard sizes that I work in

Small (8x10, 12x12, 11x14) 500-1,000 dollars
Medium (14x18, 16x20, 18x24, 20x24) 1,000-2,500 dollars
Large (22x28, 24x30, 24x36, 30x40) 2,500-5,000 dollars

The Studio

My studio was remarkably clean this morning, So I figured I better document it. Even at its cleanest my studio is still pretty cluttery. It's a little over 300 square feet and half of it is dedicated kid space. My dad built a play loft for them so they have two levels of space. I have a stage that I move around to catch natural light for models. A light box area that fits 2-3 still life set ups and a desk area. Usually I keep 2 major paintings going at a time and do random small ones along the way. I generally work between 15 and 20 hours a week, and the kids are with me the whole time since they aren't in school yet. They are pretty good at entertaining themselves,they have a lot of toys there, but mainly they draw and paint and work with playdough. They also run around and visit the other artists in the studio.

I work at Water Street Studios in Batavia IL. It's a community art center that rents space to about 30 artists whose work ranges from sculpture and ceramics to painting, photography, and graphic design. We have classrooms for teaching and a gallery that is home to 3 juried shows a year.

Painting of the Month Club

So I had an idea. You know all of those fruit of the month, cigar of the month, wine of the month etc clubs that you can subscribe to? The ones where you pay an upfront fee, and over the course of a specified number of months, usually 3, 6, 9, and 12 you get either one item every month, or one every other month. I was thinking I could do the same thing with art. Paintings would be originals, not prints and would range in size from 5x7 to 11x14 be of any number of subjects, still life, figurative, landscape, portrait, maybe even an abstract. It would almost be like buying a futures contract on art!

A 3 month subscription would be for 150.00, and you would get 2 paintings

A 6 month subscription would cost 225.00 and you would get 3 paintings

A 12 month subscription would cost 350 and you would get 6 paintings

What do you think?