Great River Chapter, ABSA
The Challenge of Pricing Botanical Art
Input from Suz Galloway
September 8, 2012
Ways to price original art
(Note that in each example below, I have highlighted the pricing for watercolors and rounded prices to
the nearest “5”. I have also NOT INCLUDED the gallery commission fee which will be discussed at the
end.)
1. Price by medium
Two-dimensional art (as viewed by the upper Midwestern public) is generally ranked in importance by
medium as listed below.
Example A
I am using a framed 16” x 20” piece of art from a regional artist and put approximate retail prices
expected for work in the following mediums. Please note that this example is intended to show the
ratio of prices between mediums. . . not actual prices.
Oil
Acrylic
Watercolor, Gouache, Casein
Pen and Ink
Colored Pencil
Graphite
Tempera
Prints
Low
Medium
High
$200
$175
$100
$ 50
$ 50
$ 40
$ 30
$ 25
$500
$440
$250
$125
$125
$100
$ 75
$ 65
$1000
$ 875
$ 500
$ 250
$ 250
$ 200
$ 150
$ 125
2. Price by frame size and the square inch. (Generally used by oil and acrylic painters)
Example B
I am showing the relationship between pricing using a low, medium and high price per square inch.
4” x 6”
6” x 9”
8” x 10”
9” x 12”
12” x 16”
16” x 20”
= 24 sq in
= 54 sq in
= 80 sq in
=108 sq in
=192 sq in
=320 sq in
$1/sq in
$3/sq in
$5/sq in
$ 25
$ 55
$ 80
$ 110
$ 195
$ 320
$ 70
$ 160
$ 240
$ 325
$ 575
$ 960
$ 120
$ 270
$ 400
$ 540
$ 960
$1600
3. Price by fixed costs (Used most frequently by watercolor artists.)



Includes material costs, i.e., paper, paint, and other supplies
Includes framing
Includes an hourly rate for the artist (This is the hardest part for a botanical artist to determine
as there is generally a disproportionate amount of labor needed to complete a botanical
watercolor painting as compared to a traditional painting.)
Example C
(For illustration purposes, I am using one of my 16” x 20” watercolor botanical paintings and one of my
16” x 20” watercolor landscape paintings)
16” x 20” botanical watercolor painting by a regional artist
Materials
$ 10.00
Framing
$ 100.00
Hourly rate($30.00/hr for 15 hrs.)
$ 450.00
$ 620.00 TOTAL
Example D
16” x 20” traditional watercolor painting by a regional artist.
Materials
$ 10.00
Framing
$ 100.00
Hourly rate ($30.00/hr for 4 hrs.)
$ 120.00
$ 230.00 TOTAL
Gallery Commissions
Gallery commissions are charged to cover overhead expenses for a “brick and mortar” facility including
heat, light, real estate, taxes, etc. It also covers marketing and advertising expenses incurred by the
gallery. Commissions for most galleries in the Minneapolis/St.Paul area range from 20%-50% with most
of them running between 40%-50%. When pricing art, the artist needs to decide how much they
actually want to be paid for their work and adjust the retail pricing to accommodate the gallery
commission.