Why are my Custom Drawings so Expensive?

Ever wonder why my one-off custom art costs what it does?

It’s pretty simple, really. I charge by set hours for the work. For many years I charged £15 per hour, plus the cost of printing. I worked out that, on average, it takes me about 10 hours to draw a car. So, 10 hours at £15 works out to £150, and then I add my standard print prices depending on the size: £25 for A3, £35 for A2, and £50 for A1.

An A1 custom drawing of a car priced at £200 — for the time, skill and materials involved in hand-drawing someone's pride and joy — felt like a fair price to me. After a while, people began requesting full hand-drawn backgrounds in addition to the car, which meant I had to re-evaluate and set a new price. I needed to look again at how long it actually takes, on average, to draw the car and a full background together — and the hours were noticeably higher. The average easily ran over 50 hours. At £15 an hour, that would equate to around £750.

That figure, while justified, conflicted with the ethos I wanted for my business, so I chose to cap the price to account for 20 hours at £15, even though in reality I was often spending many more hours on each piece.

In the last few years, rising costs for all of us have meant that my custom drawings have become more of a luxury item — one that has moved further out of reach for people who might otherwise have commissioned me. In keeping with my mission of providing affordable custom art, I’ve chosen to absorb the increased costs so I can offer a flat rate of £150 for car-only commissions and £300 for a complete piece with a fully hand-drawn background. I’ve also kept my hourly rate at exactly £15, despite substantial inflation since I started. Even my A1 print price has been reduced to £45 to make it more accessible, even though my own expenses have risen significantly over the years.

What I’m trying to explain is that I know it’s still a lot of money, but there’s a great deal of time involved and many costs on my end — the drawing software I use, printing and packaging expenses, business insurance, website fees — and I also have to pay tax on the income.

I hope this gives you insight into my pricing.