I have painted for years and have several awards for my work from art shows. I have sold a few things and just started to sell animal portaits on consignment. I always wanted to make some income off of my work. My husband's doctor suggested he would like some murals painted in his office. Sounds like fun! What do I charge for something like this?? It will be 3 or 4 walls involved. He suggested a waterfall on one wall. I don't know what to charge. Help.

-- pjc (zpjc5_@hotmail.com), February 12, 2002

Answers

Nothing for design work. $25 per hour plus materials for the actual painting. Hey, make it worth your while.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), February 12, 2002.

Murals are a whole different thing, as the doctor will most likely write this off this as a business expense and you will receive good exposure from this work, I’d charge the doc a bundle. Good quality regular painting go for several thousand dollars, so start with several thousand dollars a wall with the understanding that this is a starting point and not a finished price quote, citing that the work will need to be done after office hours, numerous movings of furniture, special paint needs to be non-allergenic, special finish coating so that the murals can be easily cleaned, mural will need special track lightening, etc.

There is a lot involved in this and you can always contact or look at what other charge for murals of the same size and quality.

-- BC (desertdweller44@yahoo.com), February 12, 2002.

I agree this will be great exposure so cut him a deal and see if you can leave a business card holder etc. I also agree with Ken make it worth your while. No doubt he'll want some preliminary scetches include your time for that. Comercial art isn't cheap but only recognised artists get the really big bucks. Good luck and I'd sure like to see how it turns out!

-- Ross (amulet@istar.ca), February 12, 2002.

Maybe you could call some other artists in your area and ask them to qoute on the project. Then you would have an idea of what the going rate would be.

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), February 12, 2002.

My sister in law: AKA starving artist, resorted to 'sponge painting' a doctors office to barter the bill. It is now her full time job and she has to practice her art in her spare time-go for it!

-- Kathy (catfish201@hotmail.com), February 12, 2002.

I have found that many murals do not take the entire wall, so I charge by the square foot. I have also done just the door, and charge by the square foot, which ended up being about $300.00 for each door. Some customers are also more comfortable with square foot pricing so I would say figure no less than $10 a square foot, for your expenses. Then add how much you figure your time is worth. Good luck! Jacki

-- Jackie Goss (jgossspecialtees@msn.com.), February 12, 2002.

Several thousand dollars sounds like a lot to me. I would go with $25/hr. and paint fast.

-- ed (edfrhes@aol.com), February 13, 2002.

It depends upon the complexity of the design, type of paints used, etc. As to how much is too much to charge, it depends upon how the person values your work. A lot of people are no exposed to art in school any more, so think "wow, that's a lot of money", but you go to the big city, and there are people who think nothing of spending money on art, just as you would on a car, or other high ticket item.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), February 13, 2002.

It really depends on the type of paint you use, extra expenses, such as childcare, since you likely cannot paint during business hours, transportation costs, etc. Personally, I prefer the barter system (in writing) the best when embarking on a project I have not done before. I have done murals, and found that if I drew my preliminary design on paper, and then projected it onto the wall in question, it saved a LOT of time. I was used to painting 16X24", so a whole wall was a challenge the first time. The projector allowed me to get the initial design on easily, and the detail could be painted from there. Your local school, even if you don't have school- aged children anymore or at all, is a good source for borrowing or renting a projector. I charged $1400. (Canadian) for my first mural, which was approximately 6.5' x 4.5'. Best of luck with your project. I hope my tip helps you. Judy

-- Judy Hill (hillsacres@sk.sympatico.ca), February 15, 2002.

P.S. I forgot to add that truck stops are a great source for potential customers, if you are into realism. Judy

-- Judy Hill (hillsacres@sk.sympatico.ca), February 15, 2002.