Pricing Guide — Artrise Journal
How Much Should I Sell My Paintings For?
2026 Pricing Calculator + Chart
The Question Every Artist Has
There Is a Formula — You Just Haven't Been Taught It
Every artist asks this question. Most get no useful answer. The internet offers vague guidance about “charging what you're worth,” galleries keep their pricing logic deliberately opaque, and art school skips the subject entirely. So artists guess — and guessing almost always means undercharging.
The honest answer to “how much should I sell my paintings for?” is a number you calculate, not a number you feel. It accounts for your canvas size, your experience tier, your costs, and your market. Once you have it, every painting prices itself in about sixty seconds.
This guide gives you that formula — specifically the (height + width) × $/inch multiplier method favoured by professional artists and galleries — along with a ready-to-use price chart, a worked example, and the three mistakes that quietly keep talented painters underpaid. For a deeper dive into the underlying principles, read our complete guide to pricing your art.
In this guide
01
The (H+W) × $/inch formula
02
Multipliers by experience tier
03
Price chart: common canvas sizes
04
A worked example
05
3 costly mistakes
06
Next steps
01 — The Formula
(Height + Width) × $/inch
The most widely-used size-based formula for paintings is deceptively simple: add the height and width of the canvas in inches, then multiply by a dollar-per-inch rate that reflects your career stage. The result is your asking price before any gallery commission.
This formula works because it creates a consistent, defensible price list. A collector who owns a 16×20 and wants a 24×30 can see the logic: the price scales with the work, not with your mood on a given day. Galleries respect it. Collectors trust it.
The Formula
Dimensions in inches. The $/inch rate varies by experience tier — see the chart below.
Beginner
$1 – $3 / inch
First 1–3 years selling. Limited exhibition history, building your collector base. Works priced to move and generate early sales momentum.
Example
16×20 canvas: (16+20) × $2 = $72
Intermediate
$4 – $8 / inch
3–8 years selling, group shows, growing collector list, consistent studio practice. Your work is recognized — your prices should reflect it.
Example
16×20 canvas: (16+20) × $6 = $216
Established
$9 – $20+ / inch
Solo shows, gallery representation, institutional collections, or strong secondary market activity. Prices that signal serious market position.
Example
16×20 canvas: (16+20) × $12 = $432
Your rate should also pass a cost sanity check. Take your materials cost plus a realistic hourly rate for the time spent — if the formula result doesn't cover both, your rate is too low regardless of your tier. See our complete pricing guide for the full materials + time + overhead formula.
02 — Price Chart
Quick Reference: Common Canvas Sizes
The table below applies the (H+W) × $/inch formula across the most common canvas sizes at each experience tier. Use it to benchmark your own work and check whether your current prices are in range.
| Canvas Size | H+W (in) | Beginner ($2/in) | Intermediate ($6/in) | Established ($12/in) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 × 10 in | 18 | $36 | $108 | $216 |
| 11 × 14 in | 25 | $50 | $150 | $300 |
| 16 × 20 in | 36 | $72 | $216 | $432 |
| 18 × 24 in | 42 | $84 | $252 | $504 |
| 24 × 30 in | 54 | $108 | $324 | $648 |
| 24 × 36 in | 60 | $120 | $360 | $720 |
| 30 × 40 in | 70 | $140 | $420 | $840 |
| 36 × 48 in | 84 | $168 | $504 | $1,008 |
| 48 × 60 in | 108 | $216 | $648 | $1,296 |
03 — Worked Example
Pricing a 24 × 30 Oil Painting
An intermediate artist — four years selling, a handful of group shows, growing collector list — wants to price a 24 × 30 inch oil on canvas. Here is the full calculation:
Step-by-step
The formula gave $324; the cost check came in at $335. Rather than ignoring the discrepancy, the artist bumped the rate to $6.50 — bringing the formula result above costs — then rounded to a clean $350. This is the right approach: the formula is a starting point, cost reality is the floor.
Artrise Toolkit
Want the calculator built for you?
The Artist's Pricing Toolkit includes a ready-to-use pricing calculator, size-rate tables for every common canvas format, market research methodology, and the exact language to discuss prices with galleries and collectors — everything in one place for $19.
Get the full Artist's Pricing Toolkit — $1904 — Common Mistakes
3 Mistakes That Keep Painters Underpaid
01
Pricing by feeling, not formula
The most common error: charging more for paintings you love and less for the ones you struggled with. Collectors see your complete price list, not individual pieces in isolation. An incoherent price list signals inexperience and invites negotiation. Apply your formula to every work — emotion is for making the painting, not pricing it.
02
Starting too low to seem 'accessible'
Pricing below your formula output to attract more buyers is a trap. Low prices attract price-sensitive buyers, not collectors. Collectors who follow careers — who return for second and third works, who generate word-of-mouth, who matter for your market — buy on quality and connection, not on getting a deal. Worse, prices you set today are very hard to raise dramatically without disrupting those early relationships.
03
Not adjusting for gallery commission
If you plan to show with galleries (which take 40–50% of the retail price), your pricing must account for their cut. An artist pricing at $300 who then signs with a gallery walks away with $150 — which may not cover materials and time. Either price your retail work so you are satisfied with 50%, or maintain separate direct-sale and gallery pricing (a practice that requires careful management to avoid collector confusion). Either way, ignoring commission means working for free.
The answer to “how much should I sell my paintings for” is not an instinct — it is a calculation. Do it once, apply it consistently, and you have a price list that earns respect rather than inviting negotiation.
05 — Next Steps
Build Your Complete Pricing System
The (H+W) × $/inch formula gives you a starting point. A complete pricing system goes further: it accounts for medium (oil commands more than acrylic at the same size), exhibition history, overhead, and market comparables. It also gives you a strategy for raising prices over time without disrupting collector relationships.
Artrise
Stop guessing. Start pricing with a system.
The Artist's Pricing Toolkit gives you the complete framework in one place: the formula, the calculator, size-rate tables for every common canvas format, market research guides, and the language to discuss prices professionally with collectors, galleries, and curators. Built for working artists who are ready to be paid properly.