average cost for artist

jaybcorreia

Hi everyone I am new to polycount and I wanted to know how much does it cost on an independent level to charge or recieve money for art services. ex if I was to hire an artist for some concept art, and 3D art how much would that come up to. and so on and so forth. thank you for taking the time to read my post.

Jason

gauss

the only catch-all answer to this question is "it depends". there are a lot of factors to consider. when i do contract work, i've found the easiest way to get to a figure is take whatever figure you're working with for a piece and then come up with an hourly/weekly/yearly salary based roughly on that estimate. that number should sound right. point being you shouldn't be making the hourly equivalent of 100k a year, but it also shouldn't be minimum wage. and just talk to your client, you can work out what you both think is fair and works well for everyone involved. communication is always key for this (or any) business.

Ryno

Also take into account that not all artists are equal. You might some half-assed hobbiest who'd be willing to work for eight bucks an hour, but would give you terrible art, or a seasoned old pro that bills out at $100 per hour, yet does phenomenal work, both in quality and speed of production. Or it could be the other way around.

Review samples before hiring, and make sure that the artist whom you hire is capable of fulfilling the tasks that you need for the price you want.

pogonip

I'd budget 1000-1500/week for a good artists time ....maybe double that for an artist in the Calibur of say Feng Zsu or Craig Mullins or Sean Mills

cholden

Hi Jason, Gauss's "it depends" is very accurate.

Here's a few things:
A full game character or level could easily be worth $1000-$2000 or more, "it depends". Your project could be easy for your artist(s), and maybe $100 is enough. Talk out the deal with them personally, they will likely ask for more than they expect, and as should you always offer less than you expect. Finding the happy middle ground is the fun of it all.

There's a big difference between hiring a concept artist and a 3d artist. For example, the process of character creation can be: concept art > model > uvs > textures/materials > animate > game implementation
It's possible, and tough to find an artist that can do all of that. As an employer you may find it easier to break your assets up between more than one artist, set a budget for the work as a whole, and divide it accordingly between those artists.

The best artist isn't always the most expensive. A lot of times, because a concept artist, or whatever, is so good, they can deliver work incredibly fast, meaning it wasn't much work for them and they charge very little. Where as someone that's not as good, takes longer and assume that means they are worth more. Also, the very experienced are used to doing the job, and likely have "deals" for smaller budget projects.

It's generally less of a headache for the employer and employee for the artist to be paid per piece delivered.
Be sure that final delivery of that art is clear. For example, have your artist submit work pre-completion to make sure they are on the right track and give them the "thumbs-up" to complete the final. Try not to seem to strict about this, but it is easy for your artist to do more than you wanted and expect more money. It's important to build a professional relationship with your artist so that he/she can better understand and achieve exactly what you are looking for (communication). After you've worked with someone for a while, it's easier to relax with them, as you understand they're going to get them job done, and you're always going to be happy.

Hope this helps.

Whargoul

[ QUOTE ]
I'd budget 1000-1500/week for a good artists time ....maybe double that for an artist in the Calibur of say Feng Zsu or Craig Mullins or Sean Mills

[/ QUOTE ]

Guess again! We had Craig Mullins do some concept work for us. It cost a pretty penny, and yeah it looked pretty good. But I don't think it was worth the money! We could have hired more less well-known artists for the money and got more stuff out of them.

Rwolf

I wish I could be as good as Feng Zhu.
for starting out as a unknown artist, $100 for good work/commision sounds about right. Then starting going up, and your portfolio becomes more professional and more experienced. (well thats my assumption anyway)

Big Rocket

jaybcorreia: In the industry, new artists earn about $40K, and seasoned veterans (non-managerial) earn about $60K. On an hourly basis, that roughly translates to:

$40K divided by 52weeks divided by 40hours = about $20/hr
$60K divided by 52weeks divided by 40hours = about $30/hr

In reality, salaried artists often have to work more than 40 hours a week, but they enjoy health benefits and pension plans not available to contract workers. So, for contract work, figure about $20/hr if you are good, and $30/hr if you are really good. Multiply by an estimate of how long the work should take, and there you go.

- BR

jaybcorreia

Thanks guys for the excellent and quick response I appreciate it and one other thing. did anyone start off as not likeing art then saw how cool it was and went into it, or were you always the artist in school and was an art major the reason why I am asking is because I like art but not as much as other people but its sumthing that I am considering trying to do . the closest I have done for drwaing was I get comic books I look at a picture and I try to draw it just like it looks I can do that pretty well but cannot draw a character out of the blue. would anyone have advice for me or should I just make another thread?