Methods for paying an artist

[lweedop]

I've currently been presented with an opportunity to create computer generated art for a small up-and-coming fine art company; if they like what I do of course. We haven't talked about how a might be paid yet but I'm curious about the different options.

I understand we can't talk specifically about prices so I'm just looking for methods and maybe the pros and cons. Commission, hourly, one-time payment per piece. I believe their previous artist was signed on as an employee but I'm already set up to bill through my own free-lance company so I think I'd rather do that. However, their type of art requires more finishing than just printing it out (resin, staining, canvas streching). So if I decided to get involved in that process (which I'm very interested in) it would present some billing problems.

Any feedback would be helpful!

[PrintDriver]

What exactly is your relationship to the person selling the art?
Are they commissioning you to do one piece? One piece that is reproduced many times?
Series pieces (signed and numbered up to an upper limit)?

Depending on what you are doing is how you get paid.

Hourly is very rare in fine art. Usually it's per piece in some fashion.

Commission, they pay you for the piece and it's theirs to do with as they like.

An un-numbered piece is usually sold on a royalty basis. So many dollars for so many prints. Be very careful to word your contract so that you retain copyright in the piece so you can continue to charge royalties for it or even sell the rights to use it to anyone else you want.

A signed and numbered series has a limited run and the royalty is much much higher. Assuming the work sells, the number limits the editions and no more can be made after the top number is reach. You've all seen art with something like 5/100 or 22/500 in the lower right corner. Once the 100 or 500 is reached, no more can be printed. In theory they become collector's items and the lower the number the better.

Beware of Work for Hire. If you become an employee in some way, your work is usually owned by the person paying your paycheck.

You might want to check into some books for illustrators and artists. There are pricing guides out there similar to the GAG Handbook for graphic artists.

Be sure anything you do is by contract. Before you create the artwork to be sold.

[lweedop]

Originally Posted by PrintDriver

What exactly is your relationship to the person selling the art?
Are they commissioning you to do one piece? One piece that is reproduced many times?
Series pieces (signed and numbered up to an upper limit)?

Wow, thank you for your reply, it has given me a lot to think about. This lead was given to me by one of my old college professors. I've been doing some hourly work for them here and there in their local office and have created some sample art pieces for them to review. I've never met the company owner but we've been talking on the phone and through e-mail.

From what it sounds like, they create a limited number of prints and try to have several new pieces for each show they do (4 shows/year).

Originally Posted by PrintDriver

Commission, they pay you for the piece and it's theirs to do with as they like.

If I went this route, is it common to reserve copyright of the piece?

Originally Posted by PrintDriver

Be sure anything you do is by contract. Before you create the artwork to be sold.

This is very good advice. Where could I start to find/create a good contract? I'm sure there are some on the Internet but would it be better (and worth the money) to have a lawyer draw one up?

Really, the royalty road sounds like a great idea because it would create some residual income. Plus, I've seen some of the orders they are currently doing and it seems like they're selling pretty well. Are royalties usually based on a percentage? And I don't know if we can talk about percentages here, but what's a fair percentage?

Obviously you've answered a lot of my questions but have created many more. I really appreciate your feedback!

[PrintDriver]

Commissioned pieces are fairly complicated copyright-wise. With artwork I've heard, but can't substantiate, that the artist retains copyright in the art even though someone buys it. The owner technically shouldn't change the artwork in any way, the original artist has to be credited for the work but not necessarily paid for its use. This is different from a commission graphic piece like a logo where the copyright is outright sold with the piece. I've 'commissioned' specific artwork pieces for exhibit work (maps and illustrations) where the artist retained the artwork after being paid to create it. There was a first time exclusive-use contract applied that varied with the art as to how long the artist could not resell the usage rights to it. It all depends on the contract drawn up for the commission.

Royalties work just like the bigger stock photo companies. Make yourself an account over at Corbis and play with their Royalty estimator. They sell the same image over and over, the user has to sign a licensing agreement, and the cost of the image depends on how many prints, how big the market audience, and how long a term of use is requested. Two or more people can use the same image at the same time (though again, exclusive rights can be offered for an even higher fee). Royalty Free stock is a set fee per use, say 100 clams. Rights Managed stock has terms applied. The fee can start at 100 clams but if you use the image on the cover of a magazine (instead of inside on the bottom of page 280, and the magazine has a nationwide distribution, you may pay well over 4000 clams. I pay more for an image I use for a mural than if I use the same image in a flipbook, based soley on size and exposure.

[holycow77]

Originally Posted by lweedop

small up-and-coming fine art company

I'd be careful of this bit... It sounds pretty, but it's the opposite of being a large, established fine art company.

[lweedop]

Wow PrintDriver you sure do know your stuff. I'll be doing some research on some of the things you've been talking about and try to figure out what will work out best for me.

holycow77, I don't have much to lose on this other than a little time. Here in Idaho pretty much all we have are "small up-and-coming companies." lol I'm taking this opportunity for what it's worth and not getting my hopes too high on it.