My philosophy on pricing has been based on Level of Effort, as Michael terms it, and based on keeping it simple, too. Too many options confuse people, I think.
My pricing is as follows:
$2,000 for head and shoulders
$3,000 for three quarters
$4,000 for full length
Additional figures are 70% of the first one. I've been charging 30% more for any background other than a plain "studio" background and have been pricing pets at $1,000 each. Travel and framing are at the client's expense.
Even with this relatively simple basis, the pricing for a portrait can get complex. Some of my clients have already paid for a portion of the cost through a charity auction, for example.
A recent portrait I priced, for two kids and a dog went like this:
- $3,000 for first three-quarters figure
-$2,000 for head and shoulders equivalent, already purchased at an auction
$2,100 for second three quarters figure
$1,000 for dog
$1,830 for complex background of fireplace, plant, chair, which I price based on 30% of the total before the auction amount is deducted
Total: $5,930.
(I feel my work is worth much more than this but I haven't built a name yet and I live in a part of the country with no tradition of portraiture. My prices will rise as my backlog grows.)
As you can see, the above sample pricing is already getting complex, especially if the client is trying to decide between one portrait of the two kids, two separate paintings, including the dog or not, etc. I end up presenting them with a list of pricing options like the one above for these various possible portrait combinations they may choose.
This pricing formula allows me to paint at whatever size canvas would end up at about 80% to 100% life size, which I like to work at, and compensates me more or less based on the effort involved.
There will always be variables that make one painting much harder to do or another one very easy and I won't always know which before I begin to put brush to canvas. That's just part of the business, I think.
If a client presented me with reference or other conditions which I felt were too tough I would kindly refuse the commission. Better to have no commission than a bad painting out there with my name on it, I think, especially while I am trying to build my reputation in the wealthier circles of this city!
My suggestion is to spend lots of time studying the websites of the artists on SOG, comparing the various variables you mentioned and see how they price their work.