I'm sure you know, Sarah, but for anyone who doesn't, yes, you still own the copyright (unless you contract to sell all rights, in which case you'd better have asked for a metric buttload of money), but if the person buying the painting wants to be able to sell prints, you *can* license that right to them for an additional charge. You can license any IP rights you own, and make more money that way. Someone might commission you to do a painting that they want to use for a book cover, and they'd also like to own the physical painting, and they want to be able to make and sell T-shirts with the art on it. So you're making money for 1) the physical sale of the painting, 2) the license for T-shirt reproduction and sales rights, and 3) the license for use as a book cover, that'll be reproduced. You can ask for accounting of the shirts and books, and a payment per sale if you want to, but most such licenses charge a flat fee for X number of sales. So the book cover license might cover the first 50K or 100K books sold, and if they want to continue using the cover after that, they have to come back to you for a new license. How much you make on each license fee depends on a number of things. For example, if someone who wants to use your art for a book cover doesn't want you to license it to anyone else for *their* book cover, that exclusive license will cost significantly more than if they don't want exclusivity, and are fine with you licensing that image to a dozen other indie writers or publishers. Or you and the writer/publisher might agree to, say, a four year period of exclusivity for that book cover license -- that means they're licensing the exclusive right to make and sell books with that image on it for four years. After that, they can keep selling books (if they haven't hit their copies-sold cap yet) but you can also license book cover rights to others if you want to, on a non-exclusive basis. Exclusive rights always cost more than non-exclusive, and you should charge accordingly. That writer might own your original painting, and have exclusive book cover rights (whether for a period of time or until the copies-sold cap is hit), but you can still license the image to, for example, go on the box cover of a board game, or as one of a dozen similar images you've made in a calendar you're selling, or as a poster. (If the writer/publisher doesn't like you selling posters of their book cover art, they should've paid to exclusively license that right.) There are many ways to make money off your IP, if you're smart about how you license it. If you're an artist who's earning money, then your business is actually the licensing of creative IP. Get a copy of the Copyright Handbook by Nolo Press, and learn about how that business works. Angie, amateur-beginner artist but professional writer :)
Wow this information right here just opened my mind, thank you kindly! Just a question, what about if they ask the picture of the finished artwork before they have it physically(to show it to their families etc) should I charge that extra picture as well? I just don’t like the idea of getting the picture and making prints of it by themselves before even having the actual product 🤷♀️
@@macideelifipkran6616 That's up to you, but personally, I wouldn't send them a terribly high quality image until you have a signed contract and at least a good percentage of the fee. If they just want to show their family, "Hey, look what I'm getting!" or "Mom, do you think this'd look good in the livingroom?" or something like that, they don't need a high-rez image. With a low-rez (low pixel count) image, they can show it to people casually, but if they try to rip you off by making prints or whatever based on that image, whatever they make will be blurry or jaggy or otherwise clearly inferior.
Yes thank you so much for all the info! Since I rarely do commercial projects I do not consider myself an expert, I just know the basics. But all my commercial projects had a contract which laid out the complete scope.
On a sort of related note, I've had countless people ask me if they can buy digital versions of my paintings so they can print at home. While some artists might consider this, that's a hard no from me. Too risky as they could easily resell digital copy or prints. I'm not even a "popular" artist and I get these requests and have had a few copyright fights. Imagine a very popular artist, how much they deal with theft?? I try to educate everyone who asks me on why it's not OK.
Hi Sarah! Thank you very much for sharing your experience with commisions 👍👏👏💗 I had only digital commisions but not for my traditional paintings and this was very helpfull 🤗😊 and that artwork is gorgeous 🤩🤩😍 have a great day 😊 Marija
I’ve been wanting to do commissions for a while now but not taken that leap of faith yet. Recently I sold two of my small paintings to a friend which forced me to sort out a price list, that was really hard, pricing your art. May I ask, if I could see and maybe use the contract you send to your customers please. This is the bit that scares me 😳 the legal stuff. I love your channel. I really like the drone footage you do in your videos, it shows how beautiful our country is. You have a lot of control when you fly it too. If it was me I would lose it in the sky somewhere 😄 your art is amazing ☺️ thank you for sharing.
I don't have a single contract that I use for everyone, because I only use them for companies or big projects (and then it's very specific to them). So I mainly just use emails. My lawyer friend said that if you clearly state the scope and price and everything it would hold up in court if they fought you. But im not a lawyer so take everything in your own hands. I'm also working on a separate video about pricing.
Thank you, Sarah, this is very helpful - especially since I was asked to do a commission and don't have a ton of experience with that yet. A question I have: If you're just beginning and everything still takes quite a while or several iterations or in your case if it is a difficult subject and a lot of "pre-work" is needed, how do you factor that into your pricing? I find that I always underestimate how long things take me and there is a margin where that feels ok but also there's a tipping point where I start feeling drained and the price I set doesn't feel like a good compensation anymore. I know this is a difficult one but if you (or anyone else here) has any advice or thoughts on this I would love to hear them. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and your struggles with us all!
Hello :) A lot of that has to do with experience..and of course that means you go through ups and downs, learning what to do (and what not to do), and then this prepares you for the next time. So by now, when I hear an idea, I know how much prep it’s going to take and I can factor that time into the pricing. Don’t offer a low price because you think it will scare them away if you KNOW it will take a ton of time/effort. That’s just not fair to you. And trust me, there are people out there who will pay the fair price, and know the value of it. So in the meantime, keep growing your skills. High quality work and passion will attract the right clients
@@SarahBurnsStudio Thank you, Sarah, that's very good advice! I will start a "lessons learned" page in my Bullet Journal I think. Then I can consult this the next time I do a commission and add to it as I grow.
Hi Sarah, I really like your Videos. Can you show us how you make your Prints? From the Foto to the digital editing? Thank you very much. Keep up your beautiful work!
I've shown this in a couple of my VLOGs, but I'll consider doing this in a separate video. I take photos of my work then print at home on my nice Canon Printer
I’ve been working on the first commission that I have accepted. I’ve done all the things that you say you do, the extra drawings, thumbnails, practice paintings, color swatching, etc. it’s all been nerve racking; probably because I want it to be perfect and I’ve never painted this kind of science before. I wish I would have taken the 1st commissions I was asked to do 25 years ago; I would probably had a career in art back then. Thanks for sharing your process! Could you please tell me what printer you’re using, the size and the type of ink? Do you make your own prints of your art, too? Thanks!
@@SarahBurnsStudio Thanks for responding! It’s 12:30am here in CA. It must be morning where you are. You’re about 5000 miles from me. I just thought I’d look it up:D Have a great day!
Thanks for these informations! But how do you calculate the price? Depend of the size? Or the time that you spend to do the comission? Thanks for any help!
I didn't talk about pricing because that is SO personal to each artist, and every single artist will give you different advice at different points in their career. But...since most buyers aren't educated about what goes into making art, it's important for you to stand up for yourself! Don't let anyone make you feel bad for charging what you are worth. Remember you are doing something that takes years of discipline to learn. If you have absolutely no idea where to start, get a base point price by comparing your skill/products to similar artists with similar skill levels (like on etsy or elsewhere) and it will give you something to start with. Then you can tweak things. ALWAYS make sure to cover your material costs no matter what. If you want to be 100% sure your time is covered, you can calculate it based on hours...and over time you begin to know how much a certain size painting will cost. Or you can calculate per square inch and see if that is more suitable.
HI Sarah, so you print your sketch straight onto your watercolor paper? Do you use any special settings? When you ship, do you use tubes, or flat package when they only need the painting, not a frame? Do you have any contract samples, or a blog entry on how to write them, what to include etc?
I only print onto watercolor paper if it's an extremely detailed drawing, not landscapes. Just regular settings on the printer. Large paintings are shipped in tubes. If the buyer asked for a frame, it goes in a big box with tons of padding. I don't have contract examples to share but there are plenty out there to start with then customize for your own needs.
I'm sure you know, Sarah, but for anyone who doesn't, yes, you still own the copyright (unless you contract to sell all rights, in which case you'd better have asked for a metric buttload of money), but if the person buying the painting wants to be able to sell prints, you *can* license that right to them for an additional charge. You can license any IP rights you own, and make more money that way.
Someone might commission you to do a painting that they want to use for a book cover, and they'd also like to own the physical painting, and they want to be able to make and sell T-shirts with the art on it. So you're making money for 1) the physical sale of the painting, 2) the license for T-shirt reproduction and sales rights, and 3) the license for use as a book cover, that'll be reproduced. You can ask for accounting of the shirts and books, and a payment per sale if you want to, but most such licenses charge a flat fee for X number of sales. So the book cover license might cover the first 50K or 100K books sold, and if they want to continue using the cover after that, they have to come back to you for a new license.
How much you make on each license fee depends on a number of things. For example, if someone who wants to use your art for a book cover doesn't want you to license it to anyone else for *their* book cover, that exclusive license will cost significantly more than if they don't want exclusivity, and are fine with you licensing that image to a dozen other indie writers or publishers. Or you and the writer/publisher might agree to, say, a four year period of exclusivity for that book cover license -- that means they're licensing the exclusive right to make and sell books with that image on it for four years. After that, they can keep selling books (if they haven't hit their copies-sold cap yet) but you can also license book cover rights to others if you want to, on a non-exclusive basis. Exclusive rights always cost more than non-exclusive, and you should charge accordingly.
That writer might own your original painting, and have exclusive book cover rights (whether for a period of time or until the copies-sold cap is hit), but you can still license the image to, for example, go on the box cover of a board game, or as one of a dozen similar images you've made in a calendar you're selling, or as a poster. (If the writer/publisher doesn't like you selling posters of their book cover art, they should've paid to exclusively license that right.) There are many ways to make money off your IP, if you're smart about how you license it.
If you're an artist who's earning money, then your business is actually the licensing of creative IP. Get a copy of the Copyright Handbook by Nolo Press, and learn about how that business works.
Angie, amateur-beginner artist but professional writer :)
Mmmm very interesting. Very kind of you for sharing this information.
Wow this information right here just opened my mind, thank you kindly! Just a question, what about if they ask the picture of the finished artwork before they have it physically(to show it to their families etc) should I charge that extra picture as well? I just don’t like the idea of getting the picture and making prints of it by themselves before even having the actual product 🤷♀️
@@macideelifipkran6616 That's up to you, but personally, I wouldn't send them a terribly high quality image until you have a signed contract and at least a good percentage of the fee. If they just want to show their family, "Hey, look what I'm getting!" or "Mom, do you think this'd look good in the livingroom?" or something like that, they don't need a high-rez image. With a low-rez (low pixel count) image, they can show it to people casually, but if they try to rip you off by making prints or whatever based on that image, whatever they make will be blurry or jaggy or otherwise clearly inferior.
Yes thank you so much for all the info! Since I rarely do commercial projects I do not consider myself an expert, I just know the basics. But all my commercial projects had a contract which laid out the complete scope.
On a sort of related note, I've had countless people ask me if they can buy digital versions of my paintings so they can print at home. While some artists might consider this, that's a hard no from me. Too risky as they could easily resell digital copy or prints. I'm not even a "popular" artist and I get these requests and have had a few copyright fights. Imagine a very popular artist, how much they deal with theft?? I try to educate everyone who asks me on why it's not OK.
As someone who doesn't enjoy doing commissions, I did really like hearing your experience on the matter.
I get burned out on commissions too. But once in a while something comes along that I love!
I bet a lot of the "paint this in this other artist's style" requests are because they expect you to be cheaper.
Yea, I'm sure. Or they could have good intentions and want to support me but don't understand how that request can be frustrating.
very practical! appreciate your work! :D good one
Thank you!
Hi Sarah! Thank you very much for sharing your experience with commisions 👍👏👏💗 I had only digital commisions but not for my traditional paintings and this was very helpfull 🤗😊 and that artwork is gorgeous 🤩🤩😍 have a great day 😊 Marija
You are so welcome! I think it's good to get a variety of advice about this topic too.
@@SarahBurnsStudio I agree! :)
Thank you for this in-depth video Sarah, this will guide artists like me who aren’t sure what to do with commissions 😩😅😅
I'm glad it inspires you!
This video was fantastic! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us Sarah
Aww Leslie thank you! I could learn SO much from you 🤩
Hello my friend 🙋♂️🤝🙋♂️🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭
Soper like 160 👍👍
Very Very good vidéo 🌺🌺❣❣💐🔔💐
I’ve been wanting to do commissions for a while now but not taken that leap of faith yet. Recently I sold two of my small paintings to a friend which forced me to sort out a price list, that was really hard, pricing your art. May I ask, if I could see and maybe use the contract you send to your customers please. This is the bit that scares me 😳 the legal stuff. I love your channel. I really like the drone footage you do in your videos, it shows how beautiful our country is. You have a lot of control when you fly it too. If it was me I would lose it in the sky somewhere 😄 your art is amazing ☺️ thank you for sharing.
I don't have a single contract that I use for everyone, because I only use them for companies or big projects (and then it's very specific to them).
So I mainly just use emails. My lawyer friend said that if you clearly state the scope and price and everything it would hold up in court if they fought you. But im not a lawyer so take everything in your own hands. I'm also working on a separate video about pricing.
Beautiful artwork and great Q and A on commissions 🌺
Thank you so much!
Great video Sarah, wont start back taking commissions anytime soon though.
Really instructive as usual 👏🇫🇷🎨
Hi Sarah, What was the electronic Ipad thingy that you were doing your drawing on and then able to print it off. It looks useful. thanks
Ipad, Procreate software, export as jpeg, print!
Thank you, Sarah, this is very helpful - especially since I was asked to do a commission and don't have a ton of experience with that yet.
A question I have: If you're just beginning and everything still takes quite a while or several iterations or in your case if it is a difficult subject and a lot of "pre-work" is needed, how do you factor that into your pricing?
I find that I always underestimate how long things take me and there is a margin where that feels ok but also there's a tipping point where I start feeling drained and the price I set doesn't feel like a good compensation anymore. I know this is a difficult one but if you (or anyone else here) has any advice or thoughts on this I would love to hear them.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom and your struggles with us all!
Hello :) A lot of that has to do with experience..and of course that means you go through ups and downs, learning what to do (and what not to do), and then this prepares you for the next time. So by now, when I hear an idea, I know how much prep it’s going to take and I can factor that time into the pricing.
Don’t offer a low price because you think it will scare them away if you KNOW it will take a ton of time/effort. That’s just not fair to you. And trust me, there are people out there who will pay the fair price, and know the value of it.
So in the meantime, keep growing your skills. High quality work and passion will attract the right clients
@@SarahBurnsStudio Thank you, Sarah, that's very good advice! I will start a "lessons learned" page in my Bullet Journal I think. Then I can consult this the next time I do a commission and add to it as I grow.
Thank you Sarah 😊
Hi Sarah, I really like your Videos. Can you show us how you make your Prints? From the Foto to the digital editing? Thank you very much. Keep up your beautiful work!
I've shown this in a couple of my VLOGs, but I'll consider doing this in a separate video. I take photos of my work then print at home on my nice Canon Printer
I’ve been working on the first commission that I have accepted. I’ve done all the things that you say you do, the extra drawings, thumbnails, practice paintings, color swatching, etc. it’s all been nerve racking; probably because I want it to be perfect and I’ve never painted this kind of science before. I wish I would have taken the 1st commissions I was asked to do 25 years ago; I would probably had a career in art back then. Thanks for sharing your process!
Could you please tell me what printer you’re using, the size and the type of ink? Do you make your own prints of your art, too? Thanks!
I use Canon Pixma Pro 100S with CL42 ink, yes I make my own prints at home. If a very large or special print is needed I order from a local printer.
@@SarahBurnsStudio Thanks for responding! It’s 12:30am here in CA. It must be morning where you are. You’re about 5000 miles from me. I just thought I’d look it up:D Have a great day!
Did you print that on watercolor paper? If not how did you transfer it?. I'm new so learning. Thanks for all you do. I'm learning a lot.
Yes I did
Thanks for these informations! But how do you calculate the price? Depend of the size? Or the time that you spend to do the comission? Thanks for any help!
I didn't talk about pricing because that is SO personal to each artist, and every single artist will give you different advice at different points in their career. But...since most buyers aren't educated about what goes into making art, it's important for you to stand up for yourself! Don't let anyone make you feel bad for charging what you are worth. Remember you are doing something that takes years of discipline to learn. If you have absolutely no idea where to start, get a base point price by comparing your skill/products to similar artists with similar skill levels (like on etsy or elsewhere) and it will give you something to start with. Then you can tweak things. ALWAYS make sure to cover your material costs no matter what. If you want to be 100% sure your time is covered, you can calculate it based on hours...and over time you begin to know how much a certain size painting will cost. Or you can calculate per square inch and see if that is more suitable.
@@SarahBurnsStudio Thank you!
HI Sarah, so you print your sketch straight onto your watercolor paper? Do you use any special settings? When you ship, do you use tubes, or flat package when they only need the painting, not a frame?
Do you have any contract samples, or a blog entry on how to write them, what to include etc?
I only print onto watercolor paper if it's an extremely detailed drawing, not landscapes. Just regular settings on the printer. Large paintings are shipped in tubes. If the buyer asked for a frame, it goes in a big box with tons of padding. I don't have contract examples to share but there are plenty out there to start with then customize for your own needs.