How to Price Your Art Commissions: A Formula That Works
7 min read
Artists undercharge for commissions more than any other type of sale. It makes sense on the surface — the collector is right in front of you, the relationship feels personal, and saying a number out loud is hard. So you estimate low, the project grows, and you end up resenting the piece you're painting.
This guide gives you a concrete formula for pricing commissions, the factors that change that price, and how to communicate it with confidence.
Why Commission Pricing Is Different
When you sell a finished piece, buyers can see exactly what they're getting. They can compare it to other work. They know the dimensions, the colors, whether it matches their couch.
Commissions are different. The buyer is paying for:
- Your time (unknown until you start)
- Your skill (they're coming to you specifically)
- Their ideas (which may shift mid-project)
- The risk they're taking on something that doesn't exist yet
That uncertainty has value. Custom work commands a premium — and your pricing should reflect that.
The Commission Pricing Formula
Here's a straightforward formula used by professional artists across mediums:
Commission Price = (Hourly Rate × Estimated Hours) + Materials + Complexity Premium
Let's break each component down.
1. Your Hourly Rate
Start with what you need to earn. Don't start with what you think buyers will pay.
A useful starting point:
Target Annual Income ÷ Billable Hours = Your Hourly Rate
If you want to earn $60,000/year from art and you estimate 1,000 billable hours per year (roughly 20 hours/week, 50 weeks):
$60,000 ÷ 1,000 = $60/hour
This is your baseline. Most working artists find their commission rate falls between $40–$150/hour depending on experience, medium, and market.
Don't forget: Not every hour is billable. You spend time on admin, marketing, social media, and the business side. Factor that in — your actual billable rate needs to support the full picture.
2. Estimated Hours
Track your time on a few pieces to build real data. Until then, here are reasonable estimates by project type:
| Project Type | Typical Time Range |
|---|---|
| Small portrait (8×10, single subject) | 4–8 hours |
| Medium portrait (16×20, 1–2 subjects) | 8–16 hours |
| Large portrait (24×36+, multiple subjects) | 16–30+ hours |
| Pet portrait (detailed, realistic) | 5–12 hours |
| Landscape or still life (small) | 3–8 hours |
| Landscape (large, complex) | 10–25 hours |
| Abstract (process-heavy) | varies widely — track yours |
| Illustration (character, single) | 3–8 hours |
| Illustration (scene, detailed) | 8–20+ hours |
Always add a buffer. Commissions almost always take longer than expected because of revisions, communication, and the mental overhead of working to someone else's brief.
Rule of thumb: Add 20% to your estimate for client communication and revision rounds.
3. Materials
List your actual materials cost and add it directly. Don't absorb it — commissions consume more materials than typical work because they often require specific colors, formats, or substrates the client requests.
At minimum, track:
- Canvas or paper
- Paints or inks consumed
- Framing or shipping materials (if included)
- Any special supplies (metallic pigments, specific brushes, archival coatings)
For smaller commissions, a flat materials fee (e.g., $25–$75) is often easier than itemizing.
4. Complexity Premium
Some commissions deserve a markup above the base formula because of what's genuinely harder about them:
| Factor | Suggested Premium |
|---|---|
| Multiple subjects | +15–25% per additional subject |
| Complex backgrounds | +10–20% |
| Unusual reference quality (blurry photos, mixed sources) | +10–20% |
| Rush timeline | +25–50% |
| High-visibility use (commercial, licensed, resale) | negotiate separately |
| Sentimental stakes (memorial, wedding, milestone) | +10% (your emotional labor is real) |
Don't skip this. Complexity costs you time and energy that your base formula won't capture.
Putting It Together: Example
Project: 16×20 oil portrait of a couple, outdoor setting, client providing two good reference photos, 3-week turnaround.
- Hourly rate: $65
- Estimated hours: 14 hours (12 painting + 2 communication/admin)
- Materials: $55
- Complexity premium: 2 subjects = +20% of base
Calculation:
- Base: $65 × 14 = $910
- Materials: $55
- Subtotal: $965
- Complexity (20%): +$193
- Total: $1,158 → round to $1,200
That's a reasonable commission price for a professional-quality 16×20 oil portrait of a couple. Many artists charge more. Very few should charge less.
Deposit Structure: Protect Your Time
Always take a deposit before starting. Industry standard is 30–50% upfront, non-refundable.
Why:
- It confirms the client is serious
- It covers your materials and initial time if they ghost
- It creates psychological commitment — they're invested now
The balance is due on delivery (before you ship or hand over the final file).
Use Fine Art Form to track commission payments, send invoices for the deposit and final balance, and keep the paper trail clean.
How to Handle Revision Rounds
Define revision rounds upfront and include them in your quote. A clear structure:
"This quote includes two revision check-ins before the final piece. Major scope changes after approval of the sketch/underpainting stage may require a revised quote."
Most clients won't ask for unlimited revisions — but stating the policy in writing protects you if they do.
Raising Your Prices
If you're consistently booking commissions more than 4–6 weeks out, your prices are too low. Raise them.
A 20–30% price increase will feel terrifying and will lose some clients. The clients who stay are usually your best ones. Your income often stays flat or rises because you're doing the same work for more money.
Raise prices when:
- You have a wait list
- You're too busy to take care of existing work
- You haven't raised prices in over a year
- Your skill level is meaningfully higher than when you last set rates
The "I Can't Afford That" Conversation
Some clients will push back on price. Here's how to handle it without caving:
Acknowledge and hold:
"I completely understand — that's a real investment. My pricing reflects the time and care that goes into a commission at this level. I don't have a lower-tier option for this scope, but if budget is a concern, I could look at a smaller format or a different medium."
Offer a smaller scope, not a discount: A 5×7 instead of an 11×14. A digital piece instead of an oil. A single subject instead of two. You're protecting your rate while meeting them where they are.
What you should almost never do: reduce your hourly rate to match someone's budget. That devalues the work and sets a precedent that's hard to walk back.
Commission Pricing and Fine Art Form
Use Fine Art Form's Contacts and Invoicing tools to manage your commission workflow:
- Contacts: Log the client, the project brief, reference photos, and all communication in one place
- Invoices: Send the deposit invoice first, then the final balance on completion
- Smart Descriptions: Use the AI-assisted description tool when listing finished commissions in your portfolio — it helps you write compelling copy without starting from scratch
If you track commissions in Fine Art Form, you'll also have clean sales data at tax time — what you earned, when, and from whom.
Quick Reference: Commission Pricing Checklist
Before you quote a commission:
- [ ] Calculated my hourly rate based on target income
- [ ] Estimated realistic hours (with 20% buffer)
- [ ] Listed materials cost
- [ ] Added complexity premium where applicable
- [ ] Defined deposit amount (30–50%)
- [ ] Defined revision rounds in writing
- [ ] Set a final delivery date
Price with confidence. Artists who undercharge don't just hurt themselves — they make it harder for every artist in the market to charge what the work is worth.
Fine Art Form helps you manage commissions end-to-end: client contacts, deposit invoices, payment tracking, and portfolio display once the work is complete. Try it free →