Wow, what a prices. Just one frame is 250 and a pencil page 300? And storyboard has a lot of frames which means you get thousands and thousands of dollars. And that is just a fraction of what you get? Holy moly.
Thanks Calvin! Yeah, money is a sticky topic. I feel it needs to be more openly discussed to help others know what to expect. I appreciate you watching the channel! -Rob
I can't thank you enough for your videos, Robert... Although, I started drawing as a kid, it was always an on & off affair with no consistency whatsoever, until now. I'm a web developer and SEO specialist during the day, but at night I work on a graphic novel idea I've had for a while, and your videos have helped me greatly!! Again, thanks.
Very happy to hear that I can help. You have a great advantage then. A lot of artists aren't aware of how influential SEO and web development can be. You will be able to generate a lot of your own exposure. That's awesome and good luck to you. Thank you for watching this channel! -Rob
I hope so. It was a tough one to record but I am glad I did it. I know when I was starting I would have loved to stumble on this type of information. It shouldn't be so hush hush in my opinion. Thank you and more on the way soon! -Rob
Robert Marzullo I agree, things shouldn’t be hush hush. It’s a nightmare trying to figure out how much to charge for something when someone is like you and they make a living with their skills. Luckily for you and us (I follow you on skillshare and Udemy) you have incredible skills, and incredible at teaching all of us.
Happy New Year 2019 Robert, God bless you ! 😉 Thanks for your work ! 👍 💖 🕊 Your RUclips channel and your courses are of great help !.. In case you don't kow, you're my favorit artist !.. 😊 For me, you're a model to follow, you rock at drawing and at teaching !.. the guy who knows, who tells and does it incredibly well !.. Keep on the good stuff, your work speaks for you ! 😁
Thanks so much Eric! Very nice of you to take the time to leave an AWESOME comment. I am truly grateful that you like the channel and my artwork of course! ;) More videos are on the way soon!! -Rob
Whoa! The thing that jumped out at me was the pencilled page rates! I know of another credible RUclipsr pro comic book artist who made $110 a page(pencils) when he started professionally(I forgot if it was Marvel or DC), so that's what I was expecting to make someday for my 1st pro gig. I hope I can make $300 a page eventually! (right now I'm just a nobody with no pro experience)
I wouldn't be able to work at a lower rate. Mainly because I take too long. I average a page a day so that rate would just be too low for my cost of living. I imagine there are other factors such as selling more commissions from being a pro and having the ability to sell prints. Something must leverage the page rates but still not exactly sure!
This is amazing, thanks for sharing this. I do want to share how I charge for my works. Since I do everything on my own, I separate each department with their own prices. Sketch/pencil per panel Inking/lineart Coloring Typography Per hour rate Each panel cost differently. Fewer panels cost higher as it needs to be more detailed than smaller panels. Smaller panels costs lower. The style of thr comics also determine the price For something stylized, the price is lower compared to something realistic as it requires more skill set and time. Overall, each page I make charges around $150-300.
Awesome vid man. I'm just breaking in and working on my first title here in Canada. I'm Hoping one day to get my page rates up to your level, currently, I'm paying my dues with lower rates.
Nothing wrong with that approach Mike. We all have to find our groove in this business. As long as you are happy then keep at it! Glad to hear you are working on a title! :)
Great vid rob, I'm struggling to find steady work. I would love to do some illustrations for like Marvel coloring books etc but don't know where/how to apply
Thanks Tim! Good luck on finding the right contacts. It is pretty tough to figure out. I wish they still took the time to view submissions. Have to hit the shows and mingle I guess. :)
Since every Artist on any given State must/should pay taxes in a 25% to 30% of any money that is made, I suggest for starting to have as basic reference the Federal/State Minimum Hourly Wages of your own State and multiply it for the 8 hours workday (full time) or amount of hours working in the piece/ page/project. Then, (for make some gain and pay the materials) duplicate such amount multiplying it by two. Sometimes going up on the minimum wage but never going lower (the taxes, remember?) Lets say, for comics: Pencils: Minimum wage (on my State) is $12.5 x 8 hours workday equals $ 100 per page x2= $200 per page, and so on, working any other kind of commission. Also checking that regular entry jobs are start paying $15 to $18 the hour as reference. My opinion, of course. Hope this may work for U.
One can't thank you enough for putting out your personal prices and the reasoning behind them! Thank you very very much! this type of info is too few and far between!
Glad you found this video to be helpful. I will do my best to share more as I grow in the industry. I think more people need to be open about this topic but opinions vary greatly of course! ;) Thank you for watching this channel! -Rob
Really interesting Rob... do you do any book illustration? I usually do more commercial type commissions- family portraits, landscapes, corporate stuff...but I was approached by a publisher & asked if I’d illustrate a children’s novel (that’s a whole new thing to me, it’s a full colour chapter book).... anyways I jumped at it & received my contract the next day... but when we started talking money I was at a loss. I sure as hell cant charge what I do for portraits! (I’m in Aus, so our exchange rate is much lower) I charge from $800 up, dependent on factors such as how many people, backgrounds etc. I’m thinking about getting an agent soon, just to handle all the crap I hate doing & leaving me more time to just paint, but not even sure how to approach this... would love your thoughts on both topics, cheers in advance.
Yes, I have done a few illustrations for various books. I am also the author/illustrator for the book, "Learn to Draw Action Heroes" by Impact Publishing. For books deals, it is usually an advance and a per sale royalty. Those amounts vary greatly based upon how many books you have or how well accredited you are in a specific industry. I only took the book deal with Impact because they are in all the major stores. They have a large range of distribution so it makes sense to wait for royalties. The great thing about agents in that industry is they will fetch you larger advances. ( for a fee of course! :) I have worked with various authors that have gotten advances from as little as 3,000 to as much as 50,000 upfront. ( Keep in mind it is called an advance because it is first paid back from the royalties before you get any additional checks. ) Generally, your freelance work will be at a much higher hourly or day rate. Books deals will gain you more exposure and long-term return on investments. So it is a mixed bag. I hope that helps and good luck with your ART! -Rob
Robert Marzullo thanks for taking the time to reply, appreciate it greatly. That helps a lot, I have been offered up front & royalties...so I guess it's a regular contract. Figured I'll go with it for the experience anyway, & the author & publishing house have won tons of awards, so should get decent exposure. Love your channel, keep up the awesome work & thanks X
I almost have all of your pencils from your site as well as watched 80% of all your videos on Skillshare I really enjoyed more of the list style that you included with this video as everyone learns differently one of the best classes that I learned from on Skillshare was from widi muttaqien on Krita hopefully that will give you some ideas if your open to critique. I teach occasionally and I am always trying to look for better ways to communicate and connect with the students as a artist I have always found the talk of pay amongst the community has been taboo for the most part not sure why as I think getting more comfortable and realistic with the topic certainly won’t harm us.
Thank you very much for the support of my work. I will look at the other instructor's class that you have mentioned. I am always willing to learn and improve my lessons and my art. I agree we shouldn't be dodging the topic of money. I understand that money isn't a fun topic for everyone but it is a necessary subject to understand. I think more often than not, larger companies use this against freelance artists that are not business savvy. If more people were aware of what they could and should charge, fewer artists would struggle to stay in business. Just my opinions of course. ;)
Wow, 300 for an 11x17 penciled page seems really low, even if some pages take longer than others, as does 100 for inking. Is that rough average pricing for comics? If so, I’m glad I’m not a comic artist.
Yes, I feel it is a bit low as well. I think that most artists have a variety of things going on so the page rate if just added income. If you are fortunate enough to land some good book deals you also get royalties. I will be doing a follow-up video talking about that as well. Thanks for watching! -Rob
Happy New Year to everyone here. Great video about a subject most tend to avoid. I considered commissioning some pieces for a personal project (fantasy character/creatures) in the past, but I found art to be extremely expensive. I am an electrical engineer, and after hearing the prices that were thrown around, I felt like I am in the wrong profession. Does anyone have experience with commissions from fiverr? I see all those artists advertising that they create character illustrations with full background, but most artists are from countries like Bangladesh or other third world places, which looks shady. The entire platform and the way they treat legit artists also seems to be very shady as I've read several posts from artists talk about their awful experience.
I made an account on fiverr, did some commissions for 5 bucks, it's a ridiculous amount. from what I have heard you are supposed to work for pennies until you have some good score but I see people that get commissions regularly and still just charge 5 bucks. it doesn't seem like a place where artists can thrive at all, I just need the money ;P
@@acuerdox It is definitely not an ideal situation for an artist, but I was talking mostly from the perspective of a buyer. I see artists that claim they can create detailed character art with full background for $50-75, but the art examples they post on their gig belong to other artists, some of them are art pieces that have been used in games. So I came to the conclusion that the platform can't be trusted because apparently the artists are not vetted at all. Which is a shame because I bet there are legit artists who try to make a living.
@@cartoon80s90s I guess if they made some bad job you can lower their rate, or take it to the site authority. from what I have seen there is not a lot of quality for the most part, it doesn't surprise me with such low rates.
I haven't used them but I could only imagine what you might get for such a low price. You really do get what you pay for in most professions. I think finding a good illustrator is like finding a good builder or mechanic. If you look for the cheapest price you will regret it in some way. One thing that I do to make sure my clients are happy is I send them sketches and updates throughout the process. That way they are not surprised at the end result. It also helps to avoid time-consuming changes. Just one of the things you learn when drawing for a living I guess. Thanks for watching and for your comment! -Rob
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
Wow, what a prices.
Just one frame is 250 and a pencil page 300? And storyboard has a lot of frames which means you get thousands and thousands of dollars. And that is just a fraction of what you get? Holy moly.
Thanks Dude...For some reason it's hard to get this information from a lot of artist
Thanks Calvin! Yeah, money is a sticky topic. I feel it needs to be more openly discussed to help others know what to expect. I appreciate you watching the channel!
-Rob
I enjoyed this video. Very straight forward and well rounded. You cover many important aspects that should be considered.
Glad you enjoyed the content and more on the way!
I can't thank you enough for your videos, Robert... Although, I started drawing as a kid, it was always an on & off affair with no consistency whatsoever, until now. I'm a web developer and SEO specialist during the day, but at night I work on a graphic novel idea I've had for a while, and your videos have helped me greatly!! Again, thanks.
Very happy to hear that I can help. You have a great advantage then. A lot of artists aren't aware of how influential SEO and web development can be. You will be able to generate a lot of your own exposure. That's awesome and good luck to you. Thank you for watching this channel!
-Rob
Amazing Vid Rob!! This will help many many people start to gauge how much they should charge for their art.
I hope so. It was a tough one to record but I am glad I did it. I know when I was starting I would have loved to stumble on this type of information. It shouldn't be so hush hush in my opinion. Thank you and more on the way soon!
-Rob
Robert Marzullo I agree, things shouldn’t be hush hush. It’s a nightmare trying to figure out how much to charge for something when someone is like you and they make a living with their skills.
Luckily for you and us (I follow you on skillshare and Udemy) you have incredible skills, and incredible at teaching all of us.
Thanks for being so open to share this information! I'm still trying to properly place a value on my time / skills and this has definitely helped.
Happy new year rob!!👍
Happy New Year Pat! ;)
Great video and love the inking brush you created!
Thank you!! :)
Robert Marzullo You’re welcome! Hope to post soon the Artwork have been inking with you’re brush.
Great art and thanks for the advice and suggestions
Thank you very much and always happy to share my perspective!
Happy New Year 2019 Robert, God bless you ! 😉
Thanks for your work ! 👍 💖 🕊
Your RUclips channel and your courses are of great help !..
In case you don't kow, you're my favorit artist !.. 😊
For me, you're a model to follow, you rock at drawing and at teaching !.. the guy who knows, who tells and does it incredibly well !..
Keep on the good stuff, your work speaks for you ! 😁
Thanks so much Eric! Very nice of you to take the time to leave an AWESOME comment. I am truly grateful that you like the channel and my artwork of course! ;)
More videos are on the way soon!!
-Rob
Thanks for this, It makes a huge difference to hear it like it is.
Whoa! The thing that jumped out at me was the pencilled page rates! I know of another credible RUclipsr pro comic book artist who made $110 a page(pencils) when he started professionally(I forgot if it was Marvel or DC), so that's what I was expecting to make someday for my 1st pro gig. I hope I can make $300 a page eventually! (right now I'm just a nobody with no pro experience)
I wouldn't be able to work at a lower rate. Mainly because I take too long. I average a page a day so that rate would just be too low for my cost of living. I imagine there are other factors such as selling more commissions from being a pro and having the ability to sell prints. Something must leverage the page rates but still not exactly sure!
This is amazing, thanks for sharing this.
I do want to share how I charge for my works.
Since I do everything on my own, I separate each department with their own prices.
Sketch/pencil per panel
Inking/lineart
Coloring
Typography
Per hour rate
Each panel cost differently. Fewer panels cost higher as it needs to be more detailed than smaller panels. Smaller panels costs lower.
The style of thr comics also determine the price
For something stylized, the price is lower compared to something realistic as it requires more skill set and time.
Overall, each page I make charges around $150-300.
Awesome vid man. I'm just breaking in and working on my first title here in Canada. I'm Hoping one day to get my page rates up to your level, currently, I'm paying my dues with lower rates.
Nothing wrong with that approach Mike. We all have to find our groove in this business. As long as you are happy then keep at it! Glad to hear you are working on a title! :)
who are you working with?
@@acuerdox No announcements have been made on the creative team, so I can't say just yet. I can say it's the largest comic company in Canada
@@mikemedal I guess congratulations are in order, congrats!
Great vid rob, I'm struggling to find steady work.
I would love to do some illustrations for like Marvel coloring books etc but don't know where/how to apply
Thanks Tim! Good luck on finding the right contacts. It is pretty tough to figure out. I wish they still took the time to view submissions. Have to hit the shows and mingle I guess. :)
great video, and very helpful, thanks. man.
hey rob, can you make a video on how to improve on, marketing your self as an comic artist.to get more job offers, sites to go thru. thanks sir.
Happy to hear it. Thanks Mannie!
-Rob
Great suggestion! I will add it to the list. :)
Great advice!!!
I want to do what you do when I grow up I love your art
Thank you Cody! Just keep working on it each day and you will get there bud! ;)
Very useful TNX!
You’re welcome and thank you for watching!
-Robert
Since every Artist on any given State must/should pay taxes in a 25% to 30% of any money that is made, I suggest for starting to have as basic reference the Federal/State Minimum Hourly Wages of your own State and multiply it for the 8 hours workday (full time) or amount of hours working in the piece/ page/project. Then, (for make some gain and pay the materials) duplicate such amount multiplying it by two. Sometimes going up on the minimum wage but never going lower (the taxes, remember?) Lets say, for comics: Pencils: Minimum wage (on my State) is $12.5 x 8 hours workday equals $ 100 per page x2= $200 per page, and so on, working any other kind of commission. Also checking that regular entry jobs are start paying $15 to $18 the hour as reference. My opinion, of course. Hope this may work for U.
Nice!
Thanks!
One can't thank you enough for putting out your personal prices and the reasoning behind them! Thank you very very much! this type of info is too few and far between!
Glad you found this video to be helpful. I will do my best to share more as I grow in the industry. I think more people need to be open about this topic but opinions vary greatly of course! ;)
Thank you for watching this channel!
-Rob
cool
Thanks!
Really interesting Rob... do you do any book illustration? I usually do more commercial type commissions- family portraits, landscapes, corporate stuff...but I was approached by a publisher & asked if I’d illustrate a children’s novel (that’s a whole new thing to me, it’s a full colour chapter book).... anyways I jumped at it & received my contract the next day... but when we started talking money I was at a loss. I sure as hell cant charge what I do for portraits! (I’m in Aus, so our exchange rate is much lower) I charge from $800 up, dependent on factors such as how many people, backgrounds etc. I’m thinking about getting an agent soon, just to handle all the crap I hate doing & leaving me more time to just paint, but not even sure how to approach this... would love your thoughts on both topics, cheers in advance.
Yes, I have done a few illustrations for various books. I am also the author/illustrator for the book, "Learn to Draw Action Heroes" by Impact Publishing. For books deals, it is usually an advance and a per sale royalty. Those amounts vary greatly based upon how many books you have or how well accredited you are in a specific industry. I only took the book deal with Impact because they are in all the major stores. They have a large range of distribution so it makes sense to wait for royalties. The great thing about agents in that industry is they will fetch you larger advances. ( for a fee of course! :) I have worked with various authors that have gotten advances from as little as 3,000 to as much as 50,000 upfront. ( Keep in mind it is called an advance because it is first paid back from the royalties before you get any additional checks. )
Generally, your freelance work will be at a much higher hourly or day rate. Books deals will gain you more exposure and long-term return on investments. So it is a mixed bag. I hope that helps and good luck with your ART!
-Rob
Robert Marzullo thanks for taking the time to reply, appreciate it greatly. That helps a lot, I have been offered up front & royalties...so I guess it's a regular contract. Figured I'll go with it for the experience anyway, & the author & publishing house have won tons of awards, so should get decent exposure.
Love your channel, keep up the awesome work & thanks X
I almost have all of your pencils from your site as well as watched 80% of all your videos on Skillshare I really enjoyed more of the list style that you included with this video as everyone learns differently one of the best classes that I learned from on Skillshare was from widi muttaqien on Krita hopefully that will give you some ideas if your open to critique. I teach occasionally and I am always trying to look for better ways to communicate and connect with the students as a artist I have always found the talk of pay amongst the community has been taboo for the most part not sure why as I think getting more comfortable and realistic with the topic certainly won’t harm us.
Thank you very much for the support of my work. I will look at the other instructor's class that you have mentioned. I am always willing to learn and improve my lessons and my art.
I agree we shouldn't be dodging the topic of money. I understand that money isn't a fun topic for everyone but it is a necessary subject to understand. I think more often than not, larger companies use this against freelance artists that are not business savvy. If more people were aware of what they could and should charge, fewer artists would struggle to stay in business. Just my opinions of course. ;)
Wow, 300 for an 11x17 penciled page seems really low, even if some pages take longer than others, as does 100 for inking. Is that rough average pricing for comics? If so, I’m glad I’m not a comic artist.
Yes, I feel it is a bit low as well. I think that most artists have a variety of things going on so the page rate if just added income. If you are fortunate enough to land some good book deals you also get royalties. I will be doing a follow-up video talking about that as well.
Thanks for watching!
-Rob
Yessss
Happy New Year to everyone here.
Great video about a subject most tend to avoid. I considered commissioning some pieces for a personal project (fantasy character/creatures) in the past, but I found art to be extremely expensive. I am an electrical engineer, and after hearing the prices that were thrown around, I felt like I am in the wrong profession.
Does anyone have experience with commissions from fiverr? I see all those artists advertising that they create character illustrations with full background, but most artists are from countries like Bangladesh or other third world places, which looks shady. The entire platform and the way they treat legit artists also seems to be very shady as I've read several posts from artists talk about their awful experience.
I made an account on fiverr, did some commissions for 5 bucks, it's a ridiculous amount. from what I have heard you are supposed to work for pennies until you have some good score but I see people that get commissions regularly and still just charge 5 bucks. it doesn't seem like a place where artists can thrive at all, I just need the money ;P
@@acuerdox It is definitely not an ideal situation for an artist, but I was talking mostly from the perspective of a buyer. I see artists that claim they can create detailed character art with full background for $50-75, but the art examples they post on their gig belong to other artists, some of them are art pieces that have been used in games. So I came to the conclusion that the platform can't be trusted because apparently the artists are not vetted at all. Which is a shame because I bet there are legit artists who try to make a living.
@@cartoon80s90s I guess if they made some bad job you can lower their rate, or take it to the site authority. from what I have seen there is not a lot of quality for the most part, it doesn't surprise me with such low rates.
I haven't used them but I could only imagine what you might get for such a low price. You really do get what you pay for in most professions. I think finding a good illustrator is like finding a good builder or mechanic. If you look for the cheapest price you will regret it in some way. One thing that I do to make sure my clients are happy is I send them sketches and updates throughout the process. That way they are not surprised at the end result. It also helps to avoid time-consuming changes. Just one of the things you learn when drawing for a living I guess.
Thanks for watching and for your comment!
-Rob
2nd
First