Don't undersell yourself

So how do you even get started if your prices will be 100$+ right off the bat? Just shake your portfolio and hope someone likes it enough to come by and request work? Bug people for work because you're good?

>>3130843
If your art is good enough to be $100+ right off the bat, people will come to you with job offers (paid work, not that "free internship" bullshit that adds nothing to your resume) instead of you having to go out and search.

> Just shake your portfolio and hope someone likes it enough to come by and request work?

This is what happens. Your job is to draw and get better, and POST YOUR WORK ONLINE.

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>>3130840
Joke's on you, I've been wanting to purposely charge dirt cheap prices to spite elitists just like you, I wouldn't mind doing commissions for ramen noodles if it destroys competition.

>>3130856
I try to do it for free and they force me to take 5$.

to summarize:
>only work for a living wage with whatever you do
>practice to get to a level where ppl want to pay you that
>promote yourself to get eyeballs on your portfolio
>receive offers

>>3130856
>it's elitist to want to be paid minimum wage or above for services rendered

I know you're trolling but there are autists out there who actually think like that.

>>3130840
You're right.

>>3130900
>https://commission-an-artist.deviantart.com/gallery/
>tfw all these artists are probably underselling themselves
What the fuck? Then there's this person whose got an autobuy at $700 just for one thing
>https://rosuuri.deviantart.com/journal/
Are there no standards or are Deviant Artists just stupid?
>https://osagvsa.deviantart.com/art/OPEN-COMISSION-702876843
Like this guy seems to do pretty good work unless it's photobashed, but his prices have got to be undersell.
>https://akizero1510.deviantart.com/journal/?offset=1
This person too seems pretty good, but they're quite low.
It seems like it would take these artists longer than a day(eight hours) to finish these, so why do they charge so low? Are they just really that inept? Or is it because this isn't for commercial work and therefore have to be cheaper to be able to market to the common people?

>>3130900
Its amazing just the idea of getting paid for your hobby. Like, I like to beat off but if someone gave me 5 dollars to do it even better.

And both can fuck up your wrist and shoulder if you think about it.

sorry anon i live in a shithole and 15 bux is 2 times more than full day work

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>>3130911
They are making more then enough.

>>3130914
>be camwhore
>get paid
>let people watch you play games
>get paid
>make 5 minute videos a week
>get paid
Capitalism at its finest

>>3130919
Damn, that's a nice catch right there. Really gets the noggin moving.

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>>3130840

>>3130840
even if it is minimun wage you get it without much sweat

>>3130933

I worked at a front desk and was being paid $10/hour AND got to draw during empty hours.

>>3130911
Rosuuri is very popular on da, Twitter, and pixiv. She also does a lot of commercial work. The more popular you are the more you can charge

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Reposting a screencap of some advice I gave regarding starting a career freelance illustration.

Don't bother making these awful commission charts where you charge $20 for a single illustration, when you can focus on landing one commercial client to pay you $2000 instead. I promise you it'll be easier to land one $1000 job than it will be to land 100 $10 jobs. If you want to make a solid living with a career in commissioned freelance work, you need to be focusing on landing commercial clients rather than these bottom-of-the-barrel DA / tumblr commissions.

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>>3131244
not that other anon but saved, thank you for your solid advice

>>3130840
>If you suck and your art isn't worth a living wage, then you shouldn't be doing commissions. You should focus on getting better, especially if you're still in school, young, and still have parents or a man backing you up. You'll save time and energy this way.
Some of us don't have the luxury of finding a job or mooching off others. We have to grind it out and do what we can to get fucking paid. Minimum wage jobs can DESTROY your will to live and want to do shit when you get off work. Can I make $10 an hour? Sure. Then I come home and want to zone out to forget what a shit day it's been dealing with shit people.

I'd rather grind out art for cheap while improving my skills to barely get by than work a minimum wage job that crushes my fucking soul. That's the point your missing here. One is a job that does nothing to progress your talents in the industry you want to be in and the other actively improves your desired trade. Obviously if I could I would charge more but I can't right now and I don't want to be one of those guys who has to give up his dream and wonder 10 years later why the fuck I made the choice to get into retail.

>>3130856
>cutting of your nose to spite your face

We got a real winner over here ladies and gents.

>>3131321
I think a lot of people underestimate just how draining minimum wage work is on a mental level despite it being easy work. That mental drain becomes a physical drain and then learning or practicing another skill becomes that much harder. Once you accept that kind of work you're one step closer to giving up on your dreams and creating a bunch of unnecessary adversity. You should definitely charge as high as you can but if you live off your art then you need to keep those slots filled. Experimenting with price increases can be risky and leave you with no work.

Also a lot of people here need to understand that living expenses are different across different parts of the world and even within the US itself. I can get by here on $1200 a month but in another state my minimum total costs may end up being upwards of $1500-2000 a month or more. That means I can charge significantly less than someone who lives in New York or San Francisco. About $40 a day and i'm set. I could technically go down even more if I cut certain luxury foods out of my diet and drop my internet package down a notch.

>>3131244
Saved, thanks anon

>>3131244

this is good advice. i just wish i had the time to follow it. i got caught up in porn and bottom of the barrel stuff because i needed to make shekels asap or work at mcdonalds.

i'm now taking the scenic route and establishing a few porn projects for cash flow in hopes of eventually building a patreon audience for them, so that i can later mantain the patreon crowd as a cash cow and satisfy it with infrequent lewd art, while following my dreams of becoming a skilled high level illustrator.

>>3131336
>I can get by here on $1200 a month

where you at anon? god damnit i want to move there.

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>>3131244
Saved it + a good reply

>>3131432
im in spain and i can get by with 1k/month

>>3130843
>>3130849
What does a 100$ piece of art even look like?
Is there a skill level for that?

>>3130840
>Am I wrong?
I'll play devil's advocate.

If a person is able to remain on the market and survive while charging low costs, is their direction necessarily wrong? It may be inefficient, if they are putting in long hours for cheap (definitely stupid) but you could technically make a good wage by being cheap with your time and charging the same. Here's an example. Give someone a retarded photobashed sketch you did in 20min for 20$ and its technically 60$/hour if you have multiple 20$ jobs lined up and people are stupid enough to pay for your cheap sketches. The problem here is not the value of art, but the value of time. This is assuming we're talking about just one currency. The problem gets a little more complicated when you realize that people from poorer countries being paid cheap for online services, like drawing, are making a pretty good wage by getting jobs from more wealthy countries. Wealthy people pay them cheap, but it's considered good wage for them when converted into their currency. Therefore, "less than minimum wage" is not always "bad". It's only always bad, if you think about it in a single currency.

If it were truly a terrible thing that no one should be doing, then these sorts of people would not be able to financially support themselves with cheap marketing decisions, and they would eventually fall off the market, due to having to put their time towards what actually keeps them alive. If they do not fall off the market, then it means that something is working for them. And if it's working, and they are surviving, are they really in the wrong? You can't convince people they're selling themselves too cheap, but life will SHOW them if they're selling themselves too cheap, when they begin to struggle for basic necessities. If they never struggle, it means they're making ends meet. If they can make ends meet, is that incorrect? Is this a debate about survival or is it about maximizing on your profits just because you can?

>>3130840
>That's less than minimum wage
depends on where you live. Here in Portugal, the minimum wage per month is 557€. If someone earning the minimum wage works 40hrs per week, they earn 4€ per hour. And Im sure there are worse countries around.
So $20 for a couple hour's work isnt that bad

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>>3131618

>>3131431
Working at Mcd's here. How to get started on porn? My experience is mostly on photoshop doing mainly painterly stuff. I have basic fundies and am thinking of getting manga studio thats on sale just to make the inking better.

>>3131770
Look at how others do it, capitalize on it.

>>3131770
>Working at Mcd's
same here, make sure they make your schedule right and dont fuck you around. if you let them the will run all over you.
you need a lot of time to get gud.

>>3131321
It's not that hard to work and draw at the same time

I live in Russia and shit jobs in my town pay u 100-500$. I worked 10-12 hours per day 6/1 just for food. And everyone who works with u trying their best to turn your day into hell. U under stress 24/7. You can be fired anytime. Even at official job they can fuck you and pay nothing. Work for free. Real story. I assume OP hear about "shit jobs" only from internet or from his dad.

>>3131855
Obviously, we're privileged and live in non-immediate danger status.

>>3130840
no sensible employer for a minimum-wage job hires someone who ever did art, lest you end up hiring a useless whore with bright-pink hair

>>3131770
Get manga studio 5. Its worth it.

>>3131826
>It's not that hard to work and draw at the same time
Scenario 1: You undersell yourself and get paid poorly but get in 8-10+ hours a day of drawing with time to relax and do other shit or get in even more time for drawing.

Scenario 2: You spend 8 hours a day at a minimum wage job not drawing. Depending on how far you are from work you might burn another hour driving back and forth.

Even if you don't consider the mental drain aspect why the fuck would you want to lose out on 8-10 hours of practice AND getting paid to do it? What's the advantage to getting a shit job when your good enough to get SOMETHING for your art? The more you practice the faster you improve and the quicker that something goes up.

>>3131826
Working at a fast food place. I thought it would be easy to balance both but the “mental drain” thing is valid. Especially at full time.

I like getting 8 hours of sleep because I do a lot of heavy stuff, but my only way to feel like I had time to myself is to cut it to 6 hours. Because otherwise you only have 6 hours to split between art and the rest of your day. That sounds like a lot, but eating, cleaning, hygiene, errands, etc, all has to fit in that. Good luck getting more than 2 hours of true free time without cutting sleep.

Then you’re constantly at war with if you should use your days off to do art or have fun, perhaps feeling guilty for taking a weekend completely off because 2 hours a day isn’t enough for your other hobbies or possible social needs.

When you do art to improve, even without commissions it’s almost a second job. Very hard to balance and not feel like shit.

I can honestly understand why someone would undercharge themselves to avoid it. I’ve been considering it. Or at least going down to part time, which wouldn’t support me without secondary income.