Chris Rallis - Cover art and illustrations

Hiya!

Wow! Thank you guys for your comments. I'm really glad you like my art.

Well, pricing artwork is a difficult thing for artists, and I'm no exclusion.
I can't just put a price list on my website, as every piece of art is special and most of the times prices are tailored to the client's needs.
Price is fixed (flat-fee) according to each agreement, e.g. a client would pay less per cover if there's an agreement for a series of covers than he'd pay for a single cover.

I've seen prices like $50 to $200 for an e-book cover. I must say that I'm nowhere near that mark. I'm a strong believer that you get what you pay. I mean no disrespect to artists that charge that low. Everyone has different needs and there's a wide range of services. Therefore it's logical to be a wide range of prices. Retouching a photo or making a collage is one thing, but creating a painting from scratch is another. 

Another factor is the quality of the final artwork (referring to paintings). I'm not saying that I'm a virtuoso at my thing, as there are artists out there that are truly masters. Nevertheless, I'm trying to develop my art and I consider myself a professional. On the other hand, I've seen people delivering illustrations that defy basic rules of painting, i.e composition, light/shadow, anatomy, perspective, etc. and somehow they manage to sell them for $100. That of course has to do with what a client wants. If you want a cheap image then you buy cheap. If you value your work and want a piece of art that reflects your passion, then you have to pay more.

They say that you can't judge a book by its cover. However, in real life, people go towards attractive covers with good story telling, they make them curious, if only to pick up the book and read the description of the work, and that is the first step in selling a book. It's better to save some bucks and invest in a quality cover, than spend less to buy a cheap piece of art.

Hope all the above makes sense.

Cheers,
Chris

All,

If Chris freelances for game companies, then it is likely that he wouldn't want to name a specific price range here in the forum. If he did, and the price range was lower than what other businesses pay him, then they would have some leverage to negotiate with him to a rate that matches what he put out in a public forum. I know I would do that if I were an art director and stumbled upon a post where he listed his rates.

In addition, there are so many factors that go in to a piece of art, that the range could be so large it would be relatively useless. I suppose people are looking for the bottom number. I can't (and won't) speak for Chris, but my own experience would lead me to believe that an artist of similar quality would charge upwards of $600 as a minimum fee for a cover painting.

Note: I'm not saying that these are Chris' rates. I don't know him or speak for him in any way. He may be much cheaper. However, I do have some experience releasing products with artists of similar caliber. The best thing to do is query Chris with your needs and keep my estimation in mind. If he is in that ballpark, you'll be prepared for the conversation, and if his rates are cheaper, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Keith

Blimey! I never thought that I'd cause such a disturbance by choosing to be discreet.

@dotx OK, first things first, I'm not shooting my leg here. I'm working as a freelance illustrator for about 20 years and dealing with all shorts of clients taught me that each one is unique and I have to respect that. Thank you for your critique though.

@Keith Strohm You cracked it mate!

@Doomed Muse Thank you for the compliment! Mind you, art can be judged by artists. I'm not talking about personal taste here. I can't tell if a book is a masterpiece, cos I'm not a writer nor have I studied literature. However, I can tell if an illustration is good or bad.

@leedobbins I'm glad you like my art. You're right when you said "I'm sure that range is different for everyone here."

@Bleekness Hi Keith! I'll be available for you mate, no matter what. Keep it up!

Thank you all for your interest and especially for your positive comments. Unfortunately I have to stick to my initial stand.
It would be useless to say that my range is from $A to $X. I can understand the stress of being an independent developer, writer, etc. having to complete a project on a limited budget. That's why I charge lower than I'd charge a company. I'd be completely insensitive if I didn't do that. So, please, if you're interested in a quote for a specific project, just drop an email with a brief description and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. It's that easy!

Sorry if I started something here.  I really just was looking for a starting number.  I do understand your predicament better now.  Just know that for a lot of us, self-publishing is very time consuming beyond the writing (which is fine, it's part of the deal), and like any business you want to maximize your time.  I've had the unfortunate experience of dealing with an artist over several e-mails, getting excited about the work, only to be quoted something so high that I never would've engaged in the conversation if I had known that up front.  And I wasn't asking for anything unusual.  Meanwhile, I'd lost a week or so, still had no artist, and my release date was fast approaching.  I'm trying to learn from previous mistakes. Your last post suggests that you'd be able to give a quote off of an initial description.  If that's the case (one email essentially), then I think that's entirely reasonable.  Again, sorry if I got things off on the wrong foot for you here.  The KB people are great, even if we get a bit crazy from time to time. I suspect you'll get quite a bit of work from this thread over the coming year.  I've certainly gone ahead and bookmarked your site.  Best of luck!