Part of my professional career involved find the trust cost and/or savings any project was likely to have. Sometimes the projects were more about softer values like ease of use or accessibility but more commonly is was about increasing productivity and reducing cost.  

Having worked that way for most of my career it should be no surprise I have brought that into my own consultancy and now into my life as a full-time artist. One of the first things I did when I started selling my art was work out the true cost to produce the work in the first place. I reasoned that if I knew what the base cost for me to generate a print of my work then I could then work out how much on top of that to charge in order to make a living from it. Many years latter I am still amending what became a spreadsheet of all costs.

My work starts out as a graphite sketch on cartridge paper, sometimes ink other times charcoal but they all start with one of these basic materials.Then the sketch is scanned using a flatbed scanner attached to a computer. (Currently a PC having been a Mac user for 30 years.) I tidy up the sketch in Adobe Photoshop then transfer it to my iPad for finishing touches, adding white highlights etc. Then it’s back to the PC to be printed on my top of the range inkjet printer onto the best quality paper I could find.

So with that in mind the costs break down something like this.

The basics.
Pencil, charcoal stick, sketching ink pen, cartridge paper.

The tech hardware.
High end PC. (I always go high end with the intent of depreciating the cost over 5 years)
A high resolution flatbed scanner. (Currently working well after 10+ years)
Monitors calibrated to 100% Adobe RGB colour.
A Wacom tablet and usual peripherals. There is a whole blogs worth of information about what and why I use certain technology.

The tech software.
The mainstay being the Adobe creative suite especially Photoshop and Lightroom.
Microsoft office for admin, email, spreadsheets etc.
One or two annual on-line subscription services. Password protection etc.
Then a vast array of open source or free software and services.

The online services.
For me the mainstay is my own website that I built and run myself using WordPress and a very adaptable theme. Along with Etsy which has continued to push the cost of it’s shop service higher each year. Both of which have ongoing costs which I express as a percentage of my gross income.

This has been learned over many years with endless trial and error of all aspects. Staying abreast of new developments is part and parcel of maintaining a quality service.

The printers.
I have two printers one for the every day usage. A reliable workhouse colour laser printer. Then my critical output device the high end ink jet printer. My personal choice being the Epsom p800 with it’s high capacity fade resistant HD inks. Guaranteeing a lifespan of 100+ years for artwork.

The post and packing.
After that comes the postage and packaging. Posting is now set at the top delivery that Royal Mail tracking can offer both nationally and internationally. Packaging is everything from boxes to envelopes through to bubble wrap and cellophane sleeves.

This has been learned over many years with endless trial and error of all aspects. Staying abreast of new developments is part and parcel of maintaining a quality service.

The spreadsheet I have built reflects all of these factors and more. Everything is covered from the pencil to postal. What is now quite a daunting sheet of calculations was built up over years, added to and modified as and when I had time or inclination. The end result is I can easily add in any new cost and immediately see the impact it will have on every individual sale no matter what size or destination.

I know many people can’t face this level of cost analysis but as I said at the start, my career hard wired me to do this and I get a strange thrill from knowing the actual cost of everything that goes into making of my artwork.

I often speculate how many artists and craft people would abandon their endeavours if they knew the true costs of producing work. It becomes clear that some people are in it for the satisfaction and they only sell their work for the enjoyment of doing so and to maybe reduce their material costs. It also becomes clear why professional artist who depend on their work for a living cost at much higher price point.

For me my sketch sales were about establishing a base income and building my confidence whilst I established myself as a professional artist. Now I have archived those goals it is time to venture into making a living from my art. Not just surviving as an artist but thriving as one. Only time will tell if this is possible but one things for sure, I will know exactly how poor or wealthy I am along the way.

Sean Briggs has spent 30+ years working in the publishing world. He now makes a living as a traditional and digital artist.