Would you pay for a custom Baldur's Gate style portrait?

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

LordRumfish

The answer is maybe. Depending on the price, and just how much I love my character. That being said, I was recently toying with the idea of getting a few commissions for scenes from Veraka's Saga. Not toying very seriously (as in checking the price and narrowing down my favorite illustrators), but it has been a passing fancy.

Kamigoroshi

No. Not for one, single 210x330 sized digital portrait I'm afraid.
Given that I rarely play through Baldur's Gate these days anymore. It is more likely that I would request a commission of a "portrait set" of, say, 12 different pieces for a reasonable price. In sizes fit for a wider range of games, not just for Baldur's Gate.

Up until now I had ordered quite a few commissions to artists; ranging from drawings, paintings, figurines and various other art pieces. All with a different price tag attached to them, of course. It is a good feeling to purchasing something which exactly meets your expectations. Although I do advice to previously check on the artists skills before requesting something.

FinneousPJ

Maybe leaning on no

CrevsDaak

There are far too many great portraits already that I haven't used. Plus, I usually create my character from the portrait so I'd rather have the portrait before anything.

God

BG?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpmHBWQTli8

BG make problem. Trust me, BG2 better.

LordRumfish

CrevsDaak said:

There are far too many great portraits already that I haven't used. Plus, I usually create my character from the portrait so I'd rather have the portrait before anything.

Yeah, I can attest that starting from the other end (coming up with the character first and then trying to find matching art) is a frustrating and often doomed enterprise. I count myself lucky I was able to find decent art for Veraka after hours searching on deviantart many moons ago: http://yngvarasplund.deviantart.com/art/Cumulonimbus-166696236

Chnapy

I would, but not any amount. Not sure I'd be ready to pay enough for something as big and detailled and gorgeous as what Beamdog did here.

semiticgoddess

"Baldurizing" portraits has never held much appeal for me. The style is okay, but it's not the best.

My favorite portraits have come from online artwork, which I find much more interesting.

Silverstar

I would, though I'd rather people didn't know it was me. Prefer personal details on the internet being locked behind a "friends only" gate, so it irks me that I cannot properly remove the picture I uploaded in the 2.0 thread.

lolien

The proper question would be: If someone would pay me, could i make a custom Baldur's Gate style portrait with desireable quality?

deltago

lolien said:

The proper question would be: If someone would pay me, could i make a custom Baldur's Gate style portrait with desireable quality?

Could you? I have a bag of around here somewhere as suitable payment.

qwerty123456

Shandyr said:

And I would pay money for a custom Baldur's Gate style portrait. Probably more than I should...

Well, nothing stops you. There's a lot of freelance sites.

Teflon

Nope, thanks for asking
I'd like to keep it to myself.

justfeelinathome

Yes, but probably (in the vein of what Shandyr said), less than I should. While I'd love to have one, a student has little money to spend on luxuries and there's o-so-many temptations in this world that'd come first.

If I'd be a millionaire, though, I'd secretly contact the artists beamdog hired for the project and pay them handsomely. You know, another one of those pipe-dreams...

Buttercheese

Kamigoroshi said:

No. Not for one, single 210x330 sized digital portrait I'm afraid.

Artists usually work in much higher resolutions and then the finished product is shrinked down afterwards.
If you pay for it you can expect to get the full size thing, unless the artist states otherwise beforehand.

_______________________

Also, I am really curious to what y'all think "reasonably" priced means because artists get constantly shit on for asking at least the minimum wage for their work.

A few months ago I had a client who was appalled by the idea of paying more than 20 bucks for a fully coloured and shaded CD cover that had two characters and a car on it, just as an example. Also a popular statement: "I am just a student, I can't pay you full price!" Well, tough luck kiddo, then you can't have your artwork.

Most non-artists don't know anything about so called "reasonable" pricing because they don't know and don't understand just how much work, experience and skill art takes. Also, dealing with clients can be very very tiresome (often the most tiresome part of the whole deal), so don't you come with the ever popular "but it's your hobby and you enjoy doing it".

It is perfectly reasonable to demand 70USD minimum for a detailed portrait such as they are found within the games.

So please, do tell me what reasonable pricing means to you guys.

Kamigoroshi

@Buttercheese
In my example I spoke of a portrait pack commission with 12 different art pieces, which should fit a wide range of games.

Clearly the idea of what a "reasonable price" for such a work load would indicate is not set in stone. To me, it depends on various key points: ranging from the art style, level of detail, resolution, as well as the interhuman negotiation itself. After all, I'd rather pay more to an artist I find personally sympathic rather than someone who's prices are lower but I find dislikable.

For further references: the upper price cut I'd be willing to pay for the theoretical commission example I've mentioned above lies around 250€. Considering that the 12 requested portraits would probably be coloured busts and not full body portraits.

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

JuliusBorisov

Thea Kent was the portrait artist.

deltago

Shandyr said:

Buttercheese said:

It is perfectly reasonable to demand 70USD minimum for a detailed portrait such as they are found within the games.

So please, do tell me what reasonable pricing means to you guys.

If it was a really well done BG portrait like from the "Road to v2.0" contest I would pay that.
And that would not be the upper bound for me for a price.

I think those two portraits are gorgeous.

Which portraits are these?

God

Buttercheese said:

tell me what reasonable pricing means to you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr0J2mQRWqs

I can pay a folk artist from Djibouti some 2$ asking price for an artwork which your appraisal could value at 70$. I can resell that artwork for 70$. I can then go back to Djibouti and give the man those 68$ he never knew he wanted, in one way or another.
I can also pay you 70$ for an artwork, go to Djibouti and sell it to a local folk artist whose appraisal could value it at 2$, and you are in no way obliged to refund me the remaining 68$. But you can do that if you want to, in one way or another. Like, for example, you could use that money to go to Djibouti and buy an artwork for 2$, such that you could resell for 70$. And maybe make friends with a local folk artist while there

deltago

It would cost me $1800 to fly to Djibouti to save $68.

Something tells me i'd bite the bullet and attempt to just heckle down to $60

JuliusBorisov

deltago said:

Shandyr said:

Buttercheese said:

It is perfectly reasonable to demand 70USD minimum for a detailed portrait such as they are found within the games.

So please, do tell me what reasonable pricing means to you guys.

If it was a really well done BG portrait like from the "Road to v2.0" contest I would pay that.
And that would not be the upper bound for me for a price.

I think those two portraits are gorgeous.

Which portraits are these?

https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/61217/the-road-to-v2-0-reward-3-portraits-a-pregen-char-and-the-siege-of-dragonspear-ce-copies

Buttercheese

God said:

I can pay a folk artist from Djibouti some 2$ asking price for an artwork which your appraisal could value at 70$. I can resell that artwork for 70$. I can then go back to Djibouti and give the man those 68$ he never knew he wanted, in one way or another.
I can also pay you 70$ for an artwork, go to Djibouti and sell it to a local folk artist whose appraisal could value it at 2$, and you are in no way obliged to refund me the remaining 68$. But you can do that if you want to, in one way or another. Like, for example, you could use that money to go to Djibouti and buy an artwork for 2$, such that you could resell for 70$. And maybe make friends with a local folk artist while there

Different countries have different values of money and different average incomes.
In some countries you can live well with a monthly income of 20USD while in others you need at least 700USD.
Your argument holds no water what so ever.

Kamigoroshi

Buttercheese said:

Different countries have different values of money and different average incomes.
In some countries you can live well with a monthly income of 20USD while in others you need at least 700USD.

Very true. Both points should also be important factors for the topic at hand as well. This would also explain as to why many great artists over at deviantart&Co. sell their services for 15USD and up per portrait, even though they do not live in the US themselves. It is advisable for clients and artists alike to inform themselves about other countries market prices as well, not just their own.

JuliusBorisov

Buttercheese said:

God said:

I can pay a folk artist from Djibouti some 2$ asking price for an artwork which your appraisal could value at 70$. I can resell that artwork for 70$. I can then go back to Djibouti and give the man those 68$ he never knew he wanted, in one way or another.
I can also pay you 70$ for an artwork, go to Djibouti and sell it to a local folk artist whose appraisal could value it at 2$, and you are in no way obliged to refund me the remaining 68$. But you can do that if you want to, in one way or another. Like, for example, you could use that money to go to Djibouti and buy an artwork for 2$, such that you could resell for 70$. And maybe make friends with a local folk artist while there

Different countries have different values of money and different average incomes.
In some countries you can live well with a monthly income of 20USD while in others you need at least 700USD.
Your argument holds no water what so ever.

Actually, it does. BG is being played in different countries, with different average monthly income per family. So a question about the meaning of a reasonable pricing can get different answers depending on the city/town a person responding the question lives.

The question in the OP is whether you would pay for a custom BG style portrait or not. I think the question about how much should be paid is connected to the first question and it's fine people are sharing views on it.

Buttercheese

So you are saying it is unreasonable to ask for payment based on the average of the country the artist is actually living in because there are other countries with far lower incomes ergo starving oneself to death because of international competition.

Gotcha.

I am pretty sure most artists who offer their work in the english speaking part of the internet (which is what most BG players would turn to) live in a country that does have and average income comparable to that of the US so good luck finding someone who asks for just two bucks.

If you happen to live in Djibouti where allegedly the average income is so low that 2USD can buy you a custom professionally painted portrait, then you yourself probably have a pretty low income. So you would still pay conversely 70USD. It's not about international worth of money, it's about the national one. Because the person who lives in a high-income country and just travels to a low-income country to buy goods there is probably very very much the exception. That and what @deltago said.

But I don't want to derail this thread any further, if anyone wants to learn more about this just talk to any artist who ever offered their work online ever.

___________________________________________________

Back to the original question:

Yes, I would absolutely commission another artist for a fitting portrait when I can afford it and I can't find a portrait that suffciently meets my vision of the character online.

I do personally prefer art trades though, but that is obviously a thing between friends.
The nice thing about art trades is, that they take the "commissioner/commissionee" set-up out of the equation, putting both artists on the same level. Plus, it's a fun activity between friends!

JuliusBorisov

I actually don't think anyone said it was unreasonable to ask for payment based on the average of the country the artist was actually living in. @God just answered your bit about "tell me what reasonable pricing means to you".

The Internet now is a world-wide market. A person wanting to acquire a certain item should pay for it. The sum comes as a result of a negotiation between two parties. If the negotition fails, for example because the price wasn't agreed upon, then the person wanting to acquire a certain item should find a new performer.

Buttercheese

@JuliusBorisov

Which I do agree with but that is besides the point I was trying to make. My point was, that most non-artists don't know what reasonably pricing for art is and that "reasonable" is an absultely vague and subjective term, making the statement "if the price is reasonable" rather unhelpful.

FinneousPJ

I would argue that this type of commissioning is a buyers' market. Hence, reasonable pricing is what the customer is willing to pay, not what the artist thinks is "fair".