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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Fiery Todd" data-source="post: 634311" data-attributes="member: 550">There is a distinct difference between Illustration and Fine Art.  Ilustration is work-for-hire, and although illustration is basically fine art in many cases, it's still work-for-hire.  Another words, an art director has determined that he needs a piece of art for his product and he is going to contract for it.  Fine Artists make art and hope that someone buys it.  Illustrators are business men/women as much as they are artists.There are many avenues for an illustrator to make money, but ultimately, it is in advertising where the big dollars can be earned.  Advertising is primarily a visual medium, and thus, excellent illustrators/designers/photographers are at a premium.  The cover to a product is the most important piece of art of that product, and it is what likely sells it.  It's the product's biggest ad.  So, if the product's success depends on its cover, than the artist who is commissioned to do the cover can, quite easily, and with clear conscious, charge what he/she wishes.  It all depends on the kind of cards the art director has to play. Charging for services rendered in the art world is no different than anywhere else.Illustrators' fees are based on many factors that have been already mentioned, but there's more to this story.  Illustrator's, as a rule of thumb, charge anywhere from $10 to $80 an hour for any given job.  This is modified by things like complexity, colour or B&W, what the illustration is for, how many people are going to be seeing the illustration, where the illustration is going, how often is the image going to be used, is the image directly related to the company's attempt at branding, and just how determined is the art director to acquire his/her specific style?  This process is no different than when a plumber comes into your home and figures out a quote (copper vs. brass, are we going to have to knock out a wall, how many men am I going to need for the job...).  It's up to the artist to price themselves effectively, getting the most for what they're worth, vs. the art director's budget and need for their services.Illustrators provide a specialized, professional service for which they have trained for many years.  There is a need for them.  Just go to your local book store and look around.  There are many illustrators who make a fine living at what they do, but this percentage is very small.  Most illustrators usually have part time jobs (usually art related), and manage to get work here and there.  There is a lot of work out there, but the competition is pretty fierce.  Most illustrators I have known have a strong couple of years and then decline as new styles and faces take over.  This is the natural order of things.  In the art world, only the strong and highly talented survive.  Networking, who you know, luck, etc. play a part too, but that’s not nearly as romantic. The business world of Fine Art is very similar to the music industry.  You have your classic art and you have your pop art.  There are work-for-hire fine artists (portrait artists for example), but generally, fine artists lead a complicated existence of ideology, truth, and innovation - Much like a garage band before they hit it big (Nirvana be praised).  Fine artists are discovered (usually from a “scene”), showcased, and then go on tour.  Fine artists have agents, yes they do, who continually attempt to drum up business.Fine artists, either successful or not so successful charge what they charge.  If nobody buys, so be it.  That’s for them to address.  The price of art is all in the mind.  Accusing an artist of over charging for a service you may undervalue is counter productive.  People have no problem dropping $120 on a Tommy shirt even though it cost Tommy about $4 to make.  They even know this.  But they still buy it anyway because the image that Tommy conveys is something they want.  This, of course, is capitalism at its best and it also captures the same philosophy of big time art collecting.  Paintings are bought and sold at such astronomical prices because the people who are buying and selling them say so.  The local artist charges what they charge because they say so.I like art a lot.And I have a special appreciation for ceramic art.  My folks have been in the business for some 30 years now. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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