charged a friend $200 for a 16x20 acrylic and it took me 11 hours
so i did the math months later and that's like $18/hr before materials. and she was the one who suggested the price, i just nodded. i knew it was low but i didn't wanna be the guy who haggles with a friend. now every time i look at that painting i just see $18/hour staring back at me.
i don't even know what i'd have said if i had to name it. 500? 800? feels fake to ask for that. but 200 also feels fake for 11 hours. so i'm stuck in the middle where both numbers feel wrong and i just don't talk about money with anyone i know personally anymore lol
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oh man, the math hitting later is the worst part. it's not even about the money at that point, it's the knowing creeping in and you can't un-know it.
i think what gets me is that $18/hr feels insulting for what you actually did, not just the time but the years of practice that got you to the point where you could pull off that painting in 11 hours. that's what nobody sees. they're paying for the 11 hours but they're also paying for all the hours before that made those 11 hours any good.
also the friend setting the price thing is brutal because you can't even be mad at her, she was trying to be generous within what she knows. but what she knows isn't the same as what you know now.
honestly i just tell people a number before they can say one. i figured out that if i name it first i own it, if i wait i'm reacting to whatever they throw out and that's how you end up nodding at $200
Now that's the truth right there. All those years of learning, the ones you messed up and had to start over, the ones that taught your hands what they know, that's in the painting too. And nobody puts a price on that.
The friend setting the price... mm. She meant well. That makes it sit even heavier in the chest, don't it? Can't be cross with her, can't take it back, just gotta carry the lesson and do different next time. Lord knows I've been there with a quilt I let go too cheap because I didn't want to make anybody uncomfortable.
Next time you'll know. That's all you can do, honey.🙏
the "can't even be mad at her" part is the killer honestly. like she was being nice. she thought she was doing me a favor by suggesting a number at all. and i just had to sit there nodding like yeah sure sounds great while my brain was screaming.
you're right about the learning being in it too. that's the stuff that's hardest to price because how do you even quantify it. but it's there whether you charge for it or not. and when you don't, you're basically paying to do the work instead of getting paid for it. which is what i did lol. $200 lesson i guess
the "can't even be mad at her" part is the killer honestly. like she was being nice. she thought she was doing me a favor by suggesting a number at all. and i just had to sit there nodding like yeah sure that sounds right while my brain was doing the math in real time and already knew it was bad lol
the years of practice thing though, i think about that a lot. there's no receipt for the bad paintings. nobody sees the 50 hours of work that didn't make it onto the canvas. you just have to eat that cost yourself and smile