For years I have struggled with how to price my paintings. If I overprice them, I might scare people off. If I charge too little, people will think something is wrong.
So it became a guessing game. The larger pieces priced higher than the smaller ones, unless they were more elaborate or somehow “better” in my mind.
I even tried pricing them according to how long it took me to finish, multiplying by an hourly rate that sounded nice, but wasn’t ideal either since paintings don’t always complete themselves at the same pace. A large painting might be completed quickly, and a small painting may take a long time to finish.
Then I discovered 2 reliable pricing structures
Recently I found a post by Melissa Dinwiddie on The Abundant Artist about how to price your paintings. My eyes were opened.
You can price by the square inch or by the lineal inch. You still total the width and the height, then multiply them by something, but there is a big difference in the end.
Square inch pricing multiplies height and width, then multiplies the total against a set rate.
h × w × r = price
Linear inch pricing adds the height and width. Then the sum is multiplied against a set rate.
h + w × r = price
I prefer the linear inch method.
This is because there is less of a giant difference between a small and a large piece. Square inch pricing results in a dramatic jump from one size to another. A linear inch pricing structure is easier to stomach. It’s also easier to calculate.
If a painting is 12 x 12 inches, that is 24 linear inches, right? Multiply that by my linear inch rate of $9. That’s $215. Why $9? Because that’s what I think my artwork is worth right now. And in time, I will incrementally raise my prices as I develop my body of work and gain more recognition. This covers the materials, my time, and the inherent value of the work.
If I apply the 99-cent rule, I can adjust a price from, say, $72 to $75.
My Pricing Table
So, here is what my pricing structure looks like right now. I add the height and width of canvas sizes, then multiply the total by $9 to arrive at a base price. The base price can then adjusted to something akin to the ’99-cent’ rule if necessary. Right now I use the same multiplier for commissions.
| Canvas Size | Price |
|---|---|
| 4 × 4 | $75 |
| 8 × 8 | $145 |
| 10 × 10 | $180 |
| 12 × 12 | $215 |
| 11 × 14 | $225 |
| 18 × 18 | $325 |
| 20 × 20 | $360 |
| 24 × 24 | $430 |
| 36 × 36 | $650 |
| 48 × 48 | $865 |
That’s how I price my work these days. As my work becomes more recognizable, the rate will go up. This increases the value of earlier paintings as well.
How do you do it?
Let me know in the comments how you price your work! I’m curious how other people do it.
Update
This article was originally posted January 20, 2015. It was most recently updated November 26, 2022.
I am an aspiring artist, my art is not recognizable yet. I have searched and searched for the right pricing. And I have always liked the linear inch. It is more fairer when you are selling pieces of different sizes as I am attempting to do. I like the idea of a beginning price of $5.00 per linear inch. This price range leaves room for increasing the value of paintings, which is what art collectors want to see, their investments in art increasing in value, and with the time spent in building one’s skills, in addition to repurchasing of paints, brushes, or even travelling for viewing an actual seascape, or a mountainous landscape, a field of wildflowers along the way, actual views of the black bear in locations away from home, or dolphins playing in the ocean, an increase in value covers all that the artists ends up putting into their art over time. With my husband of 54 years, retired, we travel, and my art and art supplies go with me, and I have all these views in my memory, photos, sketches…I paint smaller works when traveling and my larger pieces when at home.
[…] My friend Pamela emailed me while the Christmas in July sale was going and said, “Brad, your prices are too low.” I appreciate when somebody cares enough to gently tell me what I’m doing wrong and how to correct it. “Brad I love your paintings, and I want you to succeed, so price them higher. Also, I know where you can get better canvases.” So, when I did the 40 Days of Abstracts Project toward the end of the year, I raised my rates to $5/linear inch. […]
If you are converting from sq in pricing to linear, and you charged $2 per sq inch, what do you price at linear?
In short, I would find a baseline or a “medium” size among your different sizes and base your new pricing from there.
Square inch and linear inch are two different things. Square inch is based on the area of the painting, multiplied by a dollar amount. The linear inch method adds the sides and multiplies by a dollar amount. The problem is when you use the square inch method among a variety of sizes, the bigger sizes are WAY more expensive. The linear inch method doesn’t have such dramatic changes.
Make sure you are calculating according to the authors verbiage and not his formula. It is a major difference in the end result. The formula according to verbiage is h + w = sum x rate = price (8 + 8 = 16 x 5 – $80). If you go by the formula he posted, h + w x r = price, your shorting yourself money! 8 + 8 x 5 = $48. Your rate is multiplied by the SUM of your h + w.
Heh, that order of operations thing always trips me up. (My kids are learning it now in school and it confuses me!) Thanks for clarifying that. Maybe I need to update the equation for clarity.
No problem! You actually have the most simplified explanation plus you explain how and why you came up with your base rate, which is helpful. When I did the math using the formula the price didn’t match with your 8 x 8. That when I reread the verbiage and noticed the difference. It would be great if you could correct the formula. Thanks for the post!
This is the most helpful site for pricing our art. I have read on many sites, and this article is the best. Even many of the responses are helpful. Thanks, Brad, for taking this time for us little known artists wanting to get a start in the world of art. And pricing is the hardest to come by, but this site looks at the buyer and the artist, and brings the pricing together to suit each of them. Thanks for bringing this information before us, and thanks to all that shared along with this site.