Art Crash Course

Original Artwork aka “Originals”

• The first version of a piece of art in its original form. If sold, some original artworks include a certificate of authenticity, however, this is not consistent across the art market.

Limited Edition Print

• A replica art print developed by an artist of an original artwork with only a limited number of recreations. Limited Editions Prints are often printed in a single size on high quality paper, signed in pencil, hand numbered, and include a certificate of authenticity. Limited Edition Prints can also be recreated using other types of mediums (such as metal or acrylic), but this is not as common.

Open Edition Print

• An open ended recreation of an artist’s original artwork that can be sold in any number of sizes or mediums the artist chooses. These recreations are not signed or numbered and usually do not come with a certificate of authenticity.

Artist’s Proof

• A limited edition print that is not included in the official number of recreations. It is a printed “proof” for an artist to confirm the quality of a print run before releasing for purchase.

Certificate of Authenticity

• A certificate provided when an original artwork or limited edition print is sold. It is provided alongside the artwork to confirm its legitimacy on behalf of the artist.

Medium

• A generic term used in art to describe the materials used to create a piece of art or to describe the type of material on which an art print is developed. These materials include both the applied products as well as the substrate on which a piece of art is created. E.g “Paint on Wood Panel” - both the paint and the wood panel are considered a medium.

Professional Scan

• In regards to art, a professional scan refers to the act of using a high-resolution scanning machine to process an original artwork into digital form. In most cases, scanning artwork is done with the intention of creating high quality prints.

Archival

• A term used to describe material quality in art prints. Specifically, it is art that is suitable for long-term contact with important objects and safe/stable to museum or library standards. Examples of archival products include print mediums and ink. If a print is labeled as “archival,” it means the print is created using materials suitable for a museum.

Museum Quality

• Similar to Archival and often interchangeable. It is a reference to the quality of a piece of art or reproduction. See “Archival” for a more in-depth definition.

Aspect Ratio

• The ratio of the width to the height of an image or screen. In regards to artwork and art prints, art prints need to properly reflect the aspect ratio of the original artwork. For example, if an original artwork is painted on a wood panel sized 16”x24”, the aspect ratio would be 2:3. Due to this ratio, any recreation for this artwork would be best sized as 8”x12”, 12”x18”, 20”x30”, etc. or similar to ensure the art is printed proportionally without warping or stretching the image.

Matte

• Flat: without a shine.

Satin

• Medium gloss sheen. Not as shiny as semi-gloss.

Print Medium Options

• Archival Matte Print

  • A print made with archival ink directly applied to a 308 gsm, Arches brand BFK Rives paper with a matte finish.

• Archival Satin Print

  • A print made with archival ink directly applied to a 310 gsm, Hahnemuhle brand Photo Rag Satin paper with a satin finish.

• Archival Metal Print

  • A print made with archival inks applied directly to a DiBOND metal panel. The metal sheen can be seen after the ink is applied, giving it a distinct metallic appearance.

• Archival Acrylic Print

  • A print made by using archival quality ink applied to archival quality photo paper and face mounted directly to a clear acrylic panel. The process results in a ¼” acrylic panel with a glossy finish.

Portfolio

• An artist’s organized collection of finished works created with the intention of showing their skill sets and artistic style.

GSM (Grams per Square Meter)

• A metric used to distinguish the thickness of paper by measuring its weight in grams across a square meter of the material. The higher the number, the thicker the paper.

Commission

• A piece of art created on behalf of a commissioner. A formal request is made by an individual or group (the commissioner[s]) for an artist to create a piece of original artwork. Size, medium, price, and other specifications are discussed and agreed upon prior to creating the piece.

Blue-Chip Art

• Blue-chip art refers to high-value artworks by well-established artists – artists with a solid reputation for creating art that increases in value over time. Blue-chip artworks usually sell for the highest price at auction houses and become a more valuable investment with time. E.g. Picasso, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Jean-Michel Basquiat, etc.

RBG

• RGB is a three-color process that stands for red, green and blue, and is most commonly viewed on desktop computer screens. Digital art and digitized art used for computers/websites are best formatted with RBG colors.

CMYK

• CMYK is a four-color process and stands for cyan, magenta, yellow and key (black), and is preferred for use on printed materials because it helps achieve a true color.

Art, as a general rule, is one of the trickiest products to price across any marketplace. A hefty combination of objective and subjective factors are involved in the prices we see for artwork. It is even a subject of debate whether art should be categorized as a commodity or luxury good. Nevertheless, art (and its sister industries like graphic design) is a multi-billion dollar industry and despite its subjective nature, does have a basic pricing structure for most original artwork.

How Original Art is Priced in the Industry

• The basic pricing structure for ORIGINAL art follows typical guidelines of most industries. The price of an artwork is usually a combination of cost of materials, size of the artwork (which is usually accounted for in cost of materials), shipping, fees for business costs, and the fee charged by the artists themselves. The artist’s “fee” is usually expressed as an hourly rate and often is higher or lower based on the popularity and skillset of the artist or artwork. The confusing part to pricing art, however, is how drastically (and unpredictably) this basic pricing structure changes when the following variables are introduced:

  • Historical nature of the artwork

  • Demand/popularity of the art style or artist themself

  • Collectors and unpredictable auction prices

  • Cultural importance and relativity

  • Level of controversy the art or artist creates

  • Other non-business related reasons

• In order to provide a more simplified guide for you, the reader, we are going to use the following list of variables: Materials, shipping costs, complexity of the art/artist’s skillset, art business costs, artist’s demand, and artist’s fee.

  • Materials

    • Although this is a straightforward concept, the general population is often not aware of how expensive art materials are. Especially quality art materials.

    • For example, an oil painting on a stretched 12”x16”canvas may require the following materials: $35 professional grade canvas, 210 ml of oil paint which is roughly 6 tubes at $12 each, wear and tear on a set of $300 professional brushes, and $2 worth of canvas prep.

    • These material prices can skyrocket even more if you plan on purchasing a one-of-a-kind sculpture, a multi-media piece, or an oversized canvas.

  • Shipping Costs

    • This category is often overlooked by first-time buyers. The smaller the piece of art, the less of an expense it becomes. However, for large pieces. sculptures, etc, shipping costs can range from $100’s to $1,000’s.

  • Complexity of the Art/Artist’s skillset

    • As with any service, the better the skillset the higher the price. Art is no different. Whether the medium is paint, ink, pencil, metal, watercolor, paper mache, or anything else, the greater the skillset, the higher the price.

    • The argument that is often used against this cost usually relates to how “relevant” an artistic skillset is to the average person. Many people across all cultures often see art as an unnecessary expense. The thought of paying thousands of dollars for a single 20”x30” canvas simply because the artist is talented is too much for many to stomach - and that’s ok. As a reader, the important thing to remember is the art community can be easily compared to any other collector community. For reference, there are thousands of people that would be willing to buy the original Ferrari 308 GTS from Magnum PI for $180,000 (its actual auction price) just to have it sit in a showroom. Simply put; artistic skillsets can be identified on a technical level, especially for pricing, but the desire to BUY art will always be subjective. It is a collector community just like any other.

  • Artist’s Business Costs

    • Art businesses function just like any other. In the eyes of the government, selling platforms, software companies, etc. artists sell products to buyers. As such, art businesses pay for services, pay taxes, and any number of other business related requirements.

    • The cost of doing business is often included in the price to purchase the art.

  • Artist’s Demand (Popularity)

    • Artist’s demand is easily one of the most difficult components to price. It is nothing more than the basic economic concept of “supply-and-demand.” The frustrating part to this factor, however, is that demand for an artist is entirely unpredictable and has a habit of being very trendy.

    • Very often in the artworld, artist’s with small portfolios, low-level technical skills, and unqualified business acumen will create something that catches the eye of the public and are shoved into a cultural spotlight. The price for this fame is justified ONLY by whether you, the buyer, want to pay for the demand. Sometimes the demand is justified and sometimes it is not but in the end, only you can make that determination.

  • Artist’s fee

    • Artist’s fees usually exist as an hourly rate living in the mind of the artist, but sometimes it is simply an arbitrary number. Not all artists work through the required math to develop an accurate hourly rate.

    • In short, an artist’s fee is usually developed by assigning a value to their skillset and their popularity. The number they come up with is entirely subjective. Along with “artist’s demand”, an artist’s fee is the most arbitrary of factors in pricing artwork. Oftentimes you will see beginning artists give themselves a worth close to minimum wage ($15/hour) which in their position makes sense! Other times you will see semi-successful artists give themselves a worth lightyears away from their perceived value, and yet, people buy their artwork. No matter this cost, art is a collector’s world and if a collector deems the artist to be worth $500/hour, then they will pay $500/hour.

  • Final Thoughts

    • Artistic people by nature are less inclined to understand the business world like they do the creative world. In most cases, artists do not do a good job of itemizing the costs we’ve listed above simply because they do not have the business skillset to do so. Without knowing it, their price is usually their best estimation to cover these costs.

    • Pay attention to artist’s that understand both sides, are aware of each category of cost, and focus on quality and customer interaction. If you are ever concerned about the cost of art, these guidelines are the best place to start. PLEASE NOTE: most artists will not divulge every detail of their pricing structure either because they don’t know or they don’t want it fully exposed. That is common! But the more research you do about materials, shipping costs, artist’s popularity, and business costs the more likely you are to gauge how much of their price “artist’s fee”. Once you deduce that estimate, it’s up to you whether you agree with it. Always do what feels right.

    • Lastly, an important note for all new collectors - BE CONFIDENT IN YOUR OPINIONS. If everyone in the world is willing to buy a popular artist’s work for $10,000 a piece and you think it’s nothing more than $5 garbage, own that opinion. Technical knowledge, appraisals, and objective artistic opinions should still be left to professionals, but what you like is what you like. Own it.

BLUE Original Art follows the same structure presented in the last section “How Original Art is Priced in the Industry” - Materials, Shipping Costs, Complexity of the Art, Business Costs, Demand, and Artist’s Fee. We approach each component of pricing original art with the goals of being fair and profitable. We NEVER price gouge but we do price according to the piece - some pieces will be affordable while some will be considered expensive. See below for our breakdown.

• Materials

  • We calculate the total cost of materials by combining direct material costs and perceived wear and tear on tools and equipment.

  • We add small amounts of mark-up to material costs to capture fluctuations in purchasing.

• Shipping Costs

  • Shipping costs are included in the base price of all Blue products sold in our website EXCEPT Commissions.

  • We do not add mark-up to shipping costs.

• Complexity of the Art

  • This cost is built into the Artist’s fee. See below for a full understanding of this calculation.

• Business Costs

  • Blue Art Studio Company incurs business expenses like all companies. We calculate these costs by basing a percentage of our business fee relative to the type of art piece. This percentage rarely changes because business fees are not related to the “type” of art sold. Business fees exist regardless of our revenue or sales.

• Demand

  • This cost factor is the most important to treat with care, and we know it! Our promise to never price gouge means we only adjust art pieces according to demand when they are in-line with our market. Given it is VERY difficult to gauge consistent pricing in the art market, we are always conservative with these adjustments and avoid increases as much as possible.

• Artist’s Fee

  • For BLUE Original Art, this price is related specifically to art created by our owner. It is a sliding scale that incorporates complexity of the art, time spent creating the artwork, and prep work. It does not always follow an hourly rate because in some cases, multiplying time by an hourly rate would result in an astronomical price. When a piece is less complex, an hourly rate is often applied.

How Our Prints are Priced

Before diving into our pricing approach for prints, it is important to know the following.

• Creating prints out of original art does NOT affect the price of the original. This is an industry norm.

• Limited Edition Prints will always be more expensive than Open Edition Prints due to their limited supply.

Our pricing factors for prints include the following: Scanning Costs, Printing costs, Shipping Costs, Business Costs, Profit Percentage.

• Scanning Costs

  • Each piece of art is required to be professionally scanned to create a high-resolution image worthy of printing. The cost for this process is broken out per print according to our in-house formulas.

• Printing Costs

  • The cost to produce each print is included in the cost to purchase.

• Shipping Costs

  • For prints, cost of shipping and shipping material IS included in the base price.

  • 2$ shipping is added at checkout to help accommodate minor fluctuations in transaction expenses and logistical fees.

• Business Costs

  • Costs for transaction softwares and business services are broken out into a small percentage and added to the cost of purchase. This percentage is determined by our in-house formulas.

• Profit Percentage

  • Once the above factors are calculated, a percentage is added to the number to create a final price. The profit percentage is adjusted based on size of the print, type of print material, and whether the piece is limited or open edition. Limited edition prints will always be more expensive due to their exclusivity and rarity.

  • This percentage is stable in our in-house formulas which allows us to have a pricing guide for ALL limited and open edition prints.

Our goal is to create a price that invites buyers, not scares them away. When we calculate profit, we focus on fairness.

This section is dedicated to understanding the options presented in our store. We breakdown the differences between each print material, why some print materials may seem expensive, and how to choose what best suits your needs.

Choosing a Limited Edition Print

• We price our limited edition prints according to the pricing structure in the previous section. To the buyer, the price in our shop is the only price available.

• Limited edition prints are pre-selected in size, number of prints, print medium, and price. Given these choices are pre-determined it is up to the buyer if they want a print based on their interest in the piece.

Choosing an Open Edition Print

• Selecting an open edition print requires a combination of these factors: interest in the piece, where this piece will be displayed in your home/life, the type of finish you want, understanding the print mediums, and outside factors like cost of framing.

• Interest in the Piece

  • This is a straightforward factor to purchasing a print. Make sure you like the piece.

• Where Will This Piece be Displayed?

  • Although this component is straightforward, as well, here are some things to consider.

    • Will this piece receive a lot of sunlight? (Outside costs may increase due to the need for UV protection with your frame glass)

    • Will this piece have a display light? (satin or metal prints may be too reflective)

    • Will this piece need to closer to the wall or further from the wall? (E.g. acrylic prints may be too thick).

• Type of Finish

  • Matte

    • Flat; without a shine

  • Satin

    • Medium gloss sheen. Not as shiny as semi-gloss. Not extremely reflective, but slight reflection will be noticeable.

  • Metal

    • This metal product does have sheen. It is a medium to high sheen and can noticeable in locations where light is coming in at multiple angles. Some buyers seek out this finish intentionally.

  • Acrylic

    • Clear acrylic with minor reflective qualities (but not as intense as metal). It is a thick piece of acrylic that provides a depth to the print.

• Understanding the Print Mediums

  • Archival Matte Print

    • This is a museum quality print using a thick, matte-finish paper with no sheen. It typically requires professional framing and UV rated glass since the print material is susceptible to UV damage.

  • Archival Satin Print

    • This is a museum quality print using a thick, satin-finish paper with medium-low sheen. It typically requires professional framing and UV rated glass since the print material is susceptible to UV damage.

  • Archival Metal Print

    • Created using DiBOND metal panels, this is museum quality print where ink is directly applied to the face of aluminum. It has a medium-high sheen, is very resistant to UV rays and does not require framing. It does not require hanging gear, either, if ordered with a hanging kit.

  • Archival Acrylic Print

    • Created by face-mounting archival photo paper to the back of a ¼” clear acrylic panel. It is very resistant to UV rays and does not require framing. It does not require hanging gear, either, if ordered with a hanging kit.

• Outside Factors

  • When purchasing prints, it is important to keep in mind the following costs that are NOT associated with our prices.

  • Will your print need to be professionally framed?

  • Do you need special UV rated, non-reflective glass for your frame?

  • Will your art need to be matted?

  • Do you live outside the contiguous United States? (Shipping costs increase)

• Final Thoughts

  • Selecting the type of print medium for your open edition print should include all of the above factors. But our biggest concern is understanding that our prices, although expensive to some, is a reflection of fair pricing practices.

  • A $500 24”x36” Archival Acrylic Print with a Hanging Mount seems high to your average person, but beneath the cost you have several important items.

    • The cost of printing on acrylic as a standalone cost is expensive. As I’ve mentioned earlier in the Art Crash Course, art materials can be pricey. This same concept applies to all high quality print materials.

    • Acrylic panels with a hanging mount do not require additional framing, additional UV protective glass, or additional matting.

    • It is lightweight and non-damaging to walls when mounted properly.

    • It will last decades if properly cared for.

We hope this guide helps you better understand the printing process we offer here at Blue Art Studio Company and hope it helps you better understand our reasoning behind our prices. We promise quality and fairness! If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out at info@blueartstudioco.com

Blue Art Studio Company is open to commissions for ink artwork.

To learn about commissioning in its entirety, click the link below. The “Contact” page includes a “Commissioning Information” section that covers how to contact us, pricing for each service, time-line for how the process works, and links to each service option with prices included.

COMMISSIONING INFO CLICK HERE