Selling portraits...

[The Mutant]

Posted this on Slippertalk, and decided to post it here too.

I'm seriously considering to accept commissions to draw/paint portraits of beloved family members (either of the four legged etc. kind, or the two legged, human kind), all to be able to buy some more Paphs that I still want (Dollgoldi, I'm looking at you...). This, because I'm studying at the moment, and not full time, so money is pretty scarce...

The question is, would anyone be interested in ordering portraits made by me?

The human portraits would, unfortunately, only be made in pen, a.k.a. black and white/grey scale, since I'm not good enough to paint humans in colour yet. I might dare to make animal portraits in colour, but I can't guarantee that the quality is as good as I would like it to be (man, I'm so good at selling myself!).

Also, I have no idea what the cost should be for the portraits. I thought of offering two sizes; A4, and A3, and that PayPal be used for payment. I would also be willing to ship the drawings/paintings anywhere in the world, as long as the buyer understands that shipping costs will be added (shouldn't be too much though, seeing as the package shouldn't get too heavy).

I would take some liberties with the pictures like I did when drawing this doggy portrait:



Here's the original photo, and I felt that the dog sort of disappeared into the background, so I removed it and tried to make the dog, pop out more. Also, note that my picture is drawn/painted in Photoshop, and since I can make as many adjustments, for as long as I want to in Photoshop (correcting mistakes etc.), I can't guarantee that my pen portraits would be as good as I consider this portrait to be (brag, brag ).

Here's the only example I have to show for a human portrait (again, it's done in Photoshop and wow...4 years ago... - Still proud of it, even if there are parts where I feel I could have done better):




So, the questions are:

What do you think people would be willing to pay for a portrait with shipping costs etc. included? What's a reasonable price?

Is anyone here on OB interested in ordering a portrait to, hopefully, get a portrait of a beloved family member, and support my orchid obsession?

[orchidsarefun]

wow, you are really talented.
I would pay at least $100 - probably worth more !

[Ordphien]

Oh my....
I... hmm....


Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[Ordphien]

Oops. I was going to say I hope you figure out what price you want because in desperate need of a portrait of my cat.
His name is Dorian Gray.
So to make the joke complete I need a well done portrait of him.

Question.

If you like the freedom of Photoshop... why not do digital portraits and send the file via email?
I know I can think of at least 6 places locally that can do very high quality prints at reasonable prices if you bring the file.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[sbrofio]

ah! You could make me much more handsome than I am :P well, it's not so hard ahaha!
Ok, seriously, you are really talented as OaF said, never thought about (serious) second job?

[NYCorchidman]

Wow~ Aren't you talented!!!

PM me about the range of cost you are thinking of charging.

I have some friends (doctor and lawyer, so I'm sure they have money haha) in Sweden who I could ask if they'd be interested. If they say yes, I would let you guys talk and figure things out.

but I have to ask first, so give me some time before I get back to you.

[The Mutant]

Thanks for your praise guys!

This is only temporary, so that I can save some money to be able to buy that Paph. Dollgoldi (+ shipping costs etc.) and a Paph. Ambiente x charlesworthii. Unfortunately, I'm not productive enough to have it as a second source of income.

Originally Posted by Ordphien

Oops. I was going to say I hope you figure out what price you want because in desperate need of a portrait of my cat.
His name is Dorian Gray.
So to make the joke complete I need a well done portrait of him.

Question.

If you like the freedom of Photoshop... why not do digital portraits and send the file via email?
I know I can think of at least 6 places locally that can do very high quality prints at reasonable prices if you bring the file.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

To be honest, this would be wonderful for me, and if you wouldn't mind a digital portrait of your kitty, I would love to work in Photoshop. The reason why I'm offering to do it in pen, is because many people seem to think that digital art is not as valuable as "real" art. I have no idea how other digital artists work, but for me it takes at least the same amount of time and energy, no matter what media I'm using.

I will ask some artists that I know, what would be a reasonable price for a digital portrait, and come back to you.

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

Wow~ Aren't you talented!!!

PM me about the range of cost you are thinking of charging.

I have some friends (doctor and lawyer, so I'm sure they have money haha) in Sweden who I could ask if they'd be interested. If they say yes, I would let you guys talk and figure things out.

but I have to ask first, so give me some time before I get back to you.

As mentioned above, I'll ask some artist what would be a reasonable price, so I'll PM you as soon as I know.

[The Mutant]

So, I've decided on a general price after consulting my art teachers and other artists (people who actually do this from time to time); 75 - 150$, 55 - 110 EUR (other currencies will be calculated if needed), all depending on size and work involved.

Also, I realized that I confused "pencil" with "pen", sorry for any potential confusion. Plus I realized I can offer to make digital portraits too, and in this medium, I'm more confident in regards to colour portraits (at least drawing/painting animals in colour, humans not so much).

If you're interested, just PM me.

[Vanda lover]

Very nice work.