How do you decide how much to charge for a painting

Go for the simple formula...so much per square centimetre. 30 X 30 = 900 X 10p = £90 Add replacement cost of the canvas...£10 Add cost of one brush + one new brush...£10 So you ask for £110

Although you may wish to alter the monetry values, 197's formula is a pretty good one. You may also wish to adjust the amounts depending on the venue (Church hall, gallery, open studio etc ) although there are arguments both in favour and against this approach.

And something called commission.

I agree Marjorie it cannot be calculated by size. Some huge enormous stuff would be out of most peoples league and as you rightly say minaturists would charge virtually nothing. I tend to think of the years I have been painting skills learned, the venue as Michael says , what I have sold for in the past , commission , materials . I had two pics in the North Wales open very recently quite a pretigeous venue and no I did not sell. But in pricing I took into account the materials , framing, hanging fee, and as I mentioned before the dreaded commision . Then I decide what I would like for me, I am an amateur artist I have sold in the past for reasonable amounts I also paint for pleasure. The "costs" without my bit ,came to almost a £100 .00 so....whadya do ? just hope someone likes it otherwise back home and under the bed. Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do. ~Edgar Degas

Two points - I've said this before,but I've never minded repeating myself: those who charge ridiculously low amounts for their paintings are vanity painters, and a flaming nuisance. I've seen watercolours, professionally framed under glass (REAL glass, not a sheet of plastic) offered for £25 to £30: maybe the framer is their partner, or they know some awful secret about them which allows them to enjoy their services for nothing, but you can't conceivably make a profit on that, and it would be pretty remarkable if you could even cover your costs. So don't do that..... Secondly, as to what's a reasonable price - if you're in a joint exhibition, there's little point in putting your prices higher than anyone else: so don't go in for joint exhibitions if your fellow painters charge peanuts for their work. And yes, charge by the square unit appropriate to the work - centimetre for miniaturists, and bigger as appropriate; then add on the cost of your materials; the cost of gallery hire or portion thereof or the actual commission; a portion for insurance if you're paying it; and then think what you would regard as a fair price for your 20, 30, 40 years of experience, and what you would regard as a complete steal, and pitch the price somewhere between the two veering as close as possible towards your fair price. But you can play this game as much as you like, including taking away the number you first thought of: there are so many variables - how good you are, or think you are or would like customers to think you are; what comparable painters charge. If you come up with a formula, though, try to stick to it - and don't go offering a piece for £300 on your website if you're asking £100 for the same piece in an exhibition, or vice versa. Offer easy terms, though not so easy that you lose by them. And remind people that painters not only have to buy paint, they also have to eat and clothe themselves. I also have a view about maximum pricing, even though it's got me into trouble when I said I thought a £4,500 price tag on an A3 drawing was an outrage - so I won't say it again and risk infuriating a certain gallery owner who likes to describe the works he offers as "investments". And I won't say that if you regard art as an investment, you're a greedy, tasteless philistine. I didn't say that, and you didn't read it here.

There is no such thing as a correct price and valueing a work is one of the most vexing decisions for the artist. I have heard so many debates on this subject and still don't know the answer. Do you price a little low in the hope to secure a sale in a difficult market? Or do you price it high: 'look at the price - it must be good' alternatively 'it's very cheap - can't be that good'. I'm afraid I fall into the trap of yoyoing my prices - maybe not good practice and this is compounded by the fact that I'm not that good at keeping records - 'How much did I put on that painting when I exhibited it at - now where was it I exhibited it?

It's a bloomin' pain, that's what it is. With paintings ranging in size from 7x7cm to 100 x 73 cm (not counting sold stuff), no one size based formula will work for me. I know a few tidbits - oils are worth more than acrylics, commisioned works should be dearer than regular (but I rarely follow that one), and I start at the premise that a mid size painting is sort of around £200 at the unknown-but-competent-or-better level. I haven't figured out what a mid size painting is, though. Another thing: I have prints that theoretically retail at circa £70; the original must be worth significantly more. Rue of thumb: at least twice as much.