Pencil Drawings

Hi folks just needing a bit of advice please.

I have come to the conclusion that if there is any remote chance of me getting a bike this summer I am going to have to find some pennies and quickly at that! As I am a student money is not something I have a lot of, if any and although I have a job the brass just isn't rolling in quick enough

As a sideline I have done sketches for friends and family of pets etc as presents and they have been telling me to pull my finger out for a while now as they think I could earn a bit from these drawings. However I haven't the foggiest idea how to go about this sort of thing, I'm used to doing these sketches as gifts so wouldn't know where to start if I was to start charging a fee or what people would be prepared to pay (if anything ...)

Here are a couple of recent ones:





(Sorry about the photo quality )

I do them from photos and they tend to take rather a while to get finished, but I could do one in an evening if I put my mind to it. I prefer to draw animals (as they are something I'm interested in) and they're more personal but have done other things too.

What are people's thoughts on the matter? Any comments would be much appreciated, thank you for reading!

xx

EDIT: I'm not posting this thread with the intention of gaining "custom", mainly advice

A quality drawing of me on my bike would be worth paying for.
Have a think of what you think you would charge and I may be interested.

[Wideboy]

Originally Posted by missyorkie_chris

(Sorry about the photo quality )

yeah right joke they look the brill

should try putting a add on ebay of something alot of people do that but i'm not sure how effective it would be but you need mulah to pay for the ad

try www.adtrader.co.uk must be something in there where you can do it and its free so is www.freeads.net <<< not sure if that works

Originally Posted by Furry Ginger One

A quality drawing of me on my bike would be worth paying for.
Have a think of what you think you would charge and I may be interested.

I did one for yorkie_chris a while back:



....took me absolutely aaaaaaaages, was actually quite fun but oh so technical and finicky!

I honestly wouldn't know what to charge, I've seen pictures on the net etc and some people charge ridiculous amounts for tiny things. I'd probably have to take into account the time it takes me to do it, amount of detail etc.

Originally Posted by missyorkie_chris

I did one for yorkie_chris a while back:

....took me absolutely aaaaaaaages, was actually quite fun but oh so technical and finicky!

I honestly wouldn't know what to charge, I've seen pictures on the net etc and some people charge ridiculous amounts for tiny things. I'd probably have to take into account the time it takes me to do it, amount of detail etc.

That's the best way - Just figure out an hourly rate and then how long it will take. Only trick is to knowing how long something will take, but the more you do it, the better you get at estimating

I think where cars/bikes are concerned, you generally get the cartoon style drawings with oversized wheels etc. and I dont think theyre to everyones tastes.

I think with pencil drawings, the animals look great. What about looking at doing landscapes too? Or personalities? (The last however is done to death and I dont think people make a great deal of money from them)

Either way, great talent you have there.

I think someone on here does this, sells drawings of animals done from photos. ArtyLady I think.


Slightly OT, I saw some ball point pen drawings by
Juan Fransisco Casas in the paper the other day.
Unbelievably good.

[Lissa]

I had a drawing done of my mother's cat as a Christmas present. Framed, it cost me £50............that was 15 years ago. It was a large picture though, 3ft by 2ft.

I think your drawings are certainly comparable in quality to that one.

Originally Posted by robchester

I think with pencil drawings, the animals look great. What about looking at doing landscapes too? Or personalities? (The last however is done to death and I dont think people make a great deal of money from them)

I've drawn people before but I'm afraid to say landscapes would just bore me. I wouldn't want a sketch to be something that just adds to the decor, it would have to be personal otherwise I wouldn't be motivated enough to do it in the first place. The pics I've done for friends and family have all meant something, especially pets.

Originally Posted by Lissa

I had a drawing done of my mother's cat as a Christmas present. Framed, it cost me £50............that was 15 years ago. It was a large picture though, 3ft by 2ft.

I was thinking something in the region of £50 I guess, but again it would depend on the type of picture, what the subject is, how big and so on.

Thanks everyone for the positive comments

Originally Posted by mac99

I think someone on here does this, sells drawings of animals done from photos. ArtyLady I think.

Yup...s'me!

MissYC - mine start from £165 for a small pastel dog or cat painting and horses start at £230.

You could probably charge quite a bit less though if you are just starting out and dont have much in the way of overheads.

I'll pass you on any pencil requests I get - as I dont do them!