Bad Experiences with OA

[comix4fun]

Nope, it wasn't a typo. I asked him if it was a typo and he said that was the going rate for someone in animation.

$1800 was the price.

 

I don't know who the artist is, but I can back up his claim. Comics, as a medium, pays it's artists ALOT less than other graphic media formats. Animation, Advertising, hell even skate board designing pays dramatically more than the comics field. People who are immersed in these fields are paid alot more for their time than we are used to when commissioning them.

 

Artist's have been leaving comics for years to hit these other media types. Hell, I offered to double Mike Zeck's regular commission rate for a piece and he told me to check back in a year, he was doing far too well in advertising, or commercial art.

 

So $1800 might be a silly number to people used to comic artist rates, but to the rest of the art-for-hire world it could literally be chump change.

 

Chris

[Reno McCoy]

That actually brings me to my other question. How appropriate is it to offer more money for a "better" piece of art? I mean, some artists just say, "Oh, I charge $100." But I've been tempted to say, "You know, I'd like something of higher quality than a typical commission. If I double that fee, will you do something that's more cover like? Or more painting like?"

[matewan1990]

Nope, it wasn't a typo. I asked him if it was a typo and he said that was the going rate for someone in animation.

$1800 was the price.

 

I don't know who the artist is, but I can back up his claim. Comics, as a medium, pays it's artists ALOT less than other graphic media formats. Animation, Advertising, hell even skate board designing pays dramatically more than the comics field. People who are immersed in these fields are paid alot more for their time than we are used to when commissioning them.

 

Artist's have been leaving comics for years to hit these other media types. Hell, I offered to double Mike Zeck's regular commission rate for a piece and he told me to check back in a year, he was doing far too well in advertising, or commercial art.

 

So $1800 might be a silly number to people used to comic artist rates, but to the rest of the art-for-hire world it could literally be chump change.

 

Chris

 

I know they definitely make a lot more in animation ... however, if they're going to take on commission work they shouldn't expect to get the same rates. I wanted a sketch, something simple... It wasn't anything hard or elaborate ...

$1800 is too high. I can remember LB Cole doing commissions for hundreds of dollars and Jack Kirby did drawings for cheap.

Nowadays, too many of the artists believe they're the next Frazetta and charge way too much.

I bought a cover from a guy a long time ago for $200. He threw in a splash page to go with it. Then, when he realized I was willing to pay what was fairly good money, he upped the prices of his panel pages to $100 for regular character pages, $150 for pages with the hero on them.

The animation artist I was talking about lowered his commission prices to $150 a while after his first request of $1800, but I was kind of put off by him and didn't have a whole lot of cash on hand at that point, so I didn't get the commission. He's asked me again just lately to get a commission for $150. But, the whole experience is tainted now, so I'm not getting any more art from him.

$1800 is too much. You could probably get Steranko to draw something for that.

[comix4fun]

$1800 is too much. You could probably get Steranko to draw something for that.

 

It would get alot of artists...the vast majority of them in fact.

But it wouldn't get you a Steranko unless it was something super simple. I was just having this conversation with him about 10 days ago. Something tells me he would be worth whatever the cost would be though.

 

Chris

[matewan1990]

$1800 is too much. You could probably get Steranko to draw something for that.

 

It would get alot of artists...the vast majority of them in fact.

But it wouldn't get you a Steranko unless it was something super simple. I was just having this conversation with him about 10 days ago. Something tells me he would be worth whatever the cost would be though.

 

Chris

 

Heck, I'd give Steranko $1800 to do something super simple. Except, like, just a line... He did the cover painting to Green Hornet No. 1 for $3000 back in 1989.

[comix4fun]

That actually brings me to my other question. How appropriate is it to offer more money for a "better" piece of art? I mean, some artists just say, "Oh, I charge $100." But I've been tempted to say, "You know, I'd like something of higher quality than a typical commission. If I double that fee, will you do something that's more cover like? Or more painting like?"

 

 

This was another conversation I had with an artist. He was giving me options $XX for pencils, $XXX for ink wash, $XXXX for watercolor. He had given me a preliminary price and tried to stick with it even though he was going to load on alot more detail.

 

So I offered him extra to let loose, and he appreciated it. Artists, from what I have experienced, appreciate it when people show them respect for their talent and effort. If I am getting more than I bargained for I offer to pay more.

 

Chis

[comicartfan]

I have been lucky with my commissions....course, i've only had three done (I sold one) and I have two more pending....in all three cases, the artists went above and beyond the amount I paid for the pieces. I have been lucky...I know I am due a clunker and that's okay...Part of the process....

 

And I agree with you Chris, artists do appreciate the little extra confidence...whether you pay extra for a little more or just by paying a little extra in the way of a tip...I did that at the NH show with Adam Hughes...gave him an extra 20 on top of the price of the piece since he slipped me in .....

[micmack]

...I did that at the NH show with Adam Hughes...gave him an extra 20 on top of the price of the piece since he slipped me in .....

 

Did the exact same thing for my AH! at the National this past fall....

[comix4fun]

Did the exact same thing for my AH! at the National this past fall....

 

 

I asked Adam for a "sexy black cat" at last year's Chicago Wizard Show..and he came up with this....

 

AH! Black Cat Chicago 2005

 

As soon as I saw it I gave him twice the regular fee....and I felt like I was stealing it from him at that. He's one guy where you always get, not just, what you paid for, but 5-6 times what you paid for....

 

Chris

[shady64]

I have a few commissions coming down the pipe, my first actually. Haven't received any yet (one should be in very soon), but I've seen prelims of some of them and they are looking quite spectacular. I was a bit disappointed to find out the commission price for one of my favorite artists. I love his work, but the price was just a little ridiculous IMO. I can get some of his covers for a comparable price. Maybe when I'm making a little more money, I'll bite the bullet...

[matewan1990]

I have a few commissions coming down the pipe, my first actually. Haven't received any yet (one should be in very soon), but I've seen prelims of some of them and they are looking quite spectacular. I was a bit disappointed to find out the commission price for one of my favorite artists. I love his work, but the price was just a little ridiculous IMO. I can get some of his covers for a comparable price. Maybe when I'm making a little more money, I'll bite the bullet...

 

Some artists simply charge too much. You can get published covers by some of the artists for what they charge for a commission. It's also bad when you can buy a nice Kirby cover for what you'd pay for some artists' commissions. I've had to turn down some of the best artists because I can get a really nice cover or splash page for what they're charging for a pencil drawing or a pen and ink piece. It's frustrating to me that many of the newer artists these days charge way more than someone like Marshall Rogers, Frank Brunner, Dan Adkins, Ernie Chan or Tony DeZuniga. I once got in touch with Charlie Adlard's agent back when he was drawing X-Files (in that Keith Giffen-like style he was drawing in back then). I was dating a girl who was a major fan of the show and the comic series and I wanted to get her an X-Files drawing. I could get Adlard pages for fairly cheap prices, but I wanted something that no one else in the world had.

She was so excited and so was I. It was going to be my first commission. But, his agent said he charged something like $300 for one character. I wanted both Scully and Mulder and the agent gave me some really high price for the commission and I had to turn it down.

But only a few weeks later, longtime comics artist Val Mayerik did a full painting of Scully and Mulder with full background and UFOs in the sky for only $300. It was beautiful and was one of the best commissions I've ever seen done by any artist.

[clickhere-migration]

Summed up easily like this . . . . .

 

A published cover and/or page have already been paid for by someone else. Any money on top of that is gravy.

 

Commission work is new work that takes additional time that may take away from doing published work.

 

Let them charge what they can. If you can afford, great, if not wait.

 

PEACE ALL!

[matewan1990]

Summed up easily like this . . . . .

 

A published cover and/or page have already been paid for by someone else. Any money on top of that is gravy.

 

Commission work is new work that takes additional time that may take away from doing published work.

 

Let them charge what they can. If you can afford, great, if not wait.

 

PEACE ALL!

 

You're kidding me, right?

Some of these artists haven't worked in years and just the honor of getting a commission from one of them isn't enough to justify their high prices.

Many of them don't do anything but commissions and still charge outrageous prices.

You know what, they can charge what they want and I can keep turning down their offers to do commissions. I'm sure I'm not alone. It's not a matter of affording anything. Check out my CAF gallery to see if I'm having a problem affording anything...

It's a matter of me feeling like I'm being taken for less than stellar artwork.

Published pages have so much more resale value and, despite the fact that I am looking to keep most everything in my collection, there's going to be a time when I am gone and my wife will sell the art, so I want her to be able to get as much as possible. Sometimes it's hard to sell a commission for what you gave for it when the artist charges way too much.

Here's another case in point: I asked an artist recently for a commission. He said he'd take $250 for the commission of one character. I went onto eBay, put in a bid on an item and won an already-drawn commission from the artist of the character I'd asked for, for $65 ($76 with shipping, handling and insurance).

I'm not bashing any artist for charging what they feel is necessary for them to create new works of art. That's all up to them. But, $1800 was way too much for a commission from the artist I mentioned earlier and $300 was way too much for a Charlie Adlard commission. I still wouldn't pay that for an Adlard and I love his art. I think he's gotten a lot better and he's developed his own style, which I like very much. But, that doesn't mean I think it's worth $300 per figure.

[clickhere-migration]

Kidding I am not. Why are you kidding??? So . . . . . .

 

Once again . . .published art has been already paid for.

 

Commissioned art is exactly that, commissioned. Work to be done, and at a rate that the artist currently deems there time to be worth.

 

No question as to whether you can afford a piece or not. You do have a very nice CAF gallery. Congrats on that.

 

As you stated commissions are most commonly worth less in resale than the equivalently paid for published piece. In my opinion, you can't even compare these. If your concern is resale at some point, and it seems to be from your post, then that is the primary reason that you have such a problem with paying a high asking price.

 

Your eBay example is exactly what it is. An example of a piece that you did not request. Do you base an artist’s value on what he is worth on eBay?

 

Personally of all the commissions that I have had done, they have been of specific characters, and from specific artists. The whole process for me is a story, and the fact that the artist has created the piece for me, makes me enjoy it much better than said, "sloppy seconds" from another collector’s collection and/or speculation. I have yet to ever buy a commission piece, other than directly commissioning from the artist.

 

So next time you run into Bill Sienkiewicz or Neal Adams make sure to tell them that they charge way too much.

 

In my personal work, I charge a consulting fee of $125 an hour. Do some people find this to be too high? Yes, and guess what, they don't pay it. I can respect that. While others are more than happy to pay my rate. Personally that is what I charge. Wanna offer me $75 and hour, go ahead, but I will politely refuse. I have set that as my rate, and that is what I get.

 

But if you want to pay me rate to reprint a published work, well that I am a bit more flexible on, as it is now "gravy" money for me.

 

Hey you never know though, maybe my rates will go down in a few years if business is not so great, then again if I have invested well enough, I may increase the rate because I really don't need the work!

 

And for the record I have "over paid" on quite a few commissions, because quite frankly, I respected the artist and wanted a specific piece by them.

 

The End!

 

Hope this wasn't to objectionable, just opinions, and all in good fun. Have a great day!