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The Studio of Lucinda Carlstrom

Pricing of Artwork,
(a general guide with lots of exceptions.)

The retail price of my artwork is generally calculated at $195.00 per square foot. Therefore, a 12" x 12" would be around $195.00 unframed and a 24" x 24" would cost about $775.00 unframed. A mathematic formula for calculating this is as follows:

width x height = xxxxxxx (divided by) 144 = xxxxx (sq. ft. amount of artwork) x 195 (price) =

___________ Estimated Cost of Artwork

For example, a piece of artwork that is 23 ½" x 54" would be priced as follows:

23.5 x 54 = 1269 (divided by 144) = 8.8125 (sq. ft.) x 195.00 = 1,718.4375

(144 is the number of square inches in a square foot.)

This means that this artwork would be priced around $1,700.00. Most of the time this represents the highest price it would be. If I made a piece of artwork out of a lot of pure 23k gold leaf and used only papers that cost $50.00 per sheet, I would charge the higher amount.

Most artwork is reduced down from this figure, sometimes up to 25%.

The factors that influence this reduction are:

(1) Modular piecework and repetitive piecework which allows me to work faster,

(2) Commissions generally take longer as I have to find or make specific colors and or blocks. Work that is done for inventory and on speculation goes much faster because it does not have these restrictions. I have 20 years worth of paper collected and over 1,000 silk patterns and colors. Sometimes it takes me hours to find a piece of it which was purchased 18 years ago.

(3) Imagery which I am familiar with goes much faster than doing a new pattern or block for the first time.

(4) Constructing something a certain size is difficult. The paper stretches as well as the silk. Drawings to scale quite often don’t turn out to scale and must be adjusted. I generally target a size and then do my best to keep it “around” that size. I do not charge more if it is larger than the targeted size.

(5) Framing considerations and stock matt board sizes can be important when determining the size. Matt board is either 32” x 40” or 40” x 60”. It can be joined if you don’t mind a small seam in the middle. My artwork is often mounted on linen or silk glued to foamboard.