how much should I give a highschool art student for doing a piece for me?

Artists are so unappreciated. But yeah, that's a tough one. Mu gut instinct would be USD $200 plus expenses, depending on the outcome.

I'm no artist, but I did do a fully illustrated technical manual once. The manual was 40 pages long, and had several detailed CAD illustrations. I offered to do it for (inflation adjusted) $18 000 and they accepted. After four months the manual was done, and I've never felt so robbed in my life! It was a lot of work, lot more than I had anticipated. In retrospect I should've probably charged them double.

What is the highest price this piece is worth to you?

You don't have to answer me. Ask and answer yourself.

Always tough to know what to offer in cases like this for sure. You want to pay something that will make them feel it is worth it but not too much. You do not want them to conclude that being an artist pays.....

I will offer this one up to anyone on this site only $499, this week only.

Why would you think it would make an amazing painting? Have you seen anything that these kids have done?

You will pay for materials, you say. Do you know what that will mean, exactly? What materials? Acrylics? While there are quite cheap acrylics available, if they go out and buy high grade artist paints, it'll cost $8 to $30 per tube, depending upon pigment, for the smallest size. For 8 colors, that may end up to be more than $100. That's crazy of course, for a couple of 15y olds, to paint with. My point is you better be on top of these material costs.

Here's a series of reasons why you shouldn't pay them:
You put a burden on them. If they want to do it for fun and to do you a favor, fine. But if you pay them, they have to perform, and they'll never be sure of that you were a satisfied customer.

I had more reasons, which were various inversions of that reasoning, but on second thought I won't bother.

If you get happy with the results, there's nothing stopping you from giving them some money to show your appreciation, but don't hint at such things in advance.

Finally, are you sure your photograph will survive their copying attempt unscathed?

See? There's that lack of appreciation again.
Exactly. And it was more like five months of work done in four.

Well, I didn't intend to say that materials would be expensive, just that they can be.

I don't paint acrylics, haven't for decades. I hate the medium, but it's apparently what's mainly used in schools these days, because it requires no rules, no knowledge, and dries fast.
Anyway, the market is organized in the same way as I described for WaterColors in the Art&Crafts thread (and it's also the same for Oil).

Still speaking acrylic paints, sets of tubes, hobby art quality, can be had for around $20. Or there are larger sets of smaller tubes, still hobby quality, for as little as $10.

Smaller sets, limited to 6 tubes or so, then you can have even 'budget artist quality', like Grumbacher Academy or W&N Galeria, for $20-$30.
I'm very confident that Galeria and Academy are excellent quality, comfortably way beyond just usable, suitable also for professional art. The fact that they're not in the top, high grade segment doesn't matter.

If you've seen work they've done, then they have used something already. What? Provided by the school?

Due to later years technical developments and mass production/cost reduction of originally exotic pigment classes, what I characterize as 'hobby art paints' are not necessarily always crap either. Look for the 'C.I. generic name' aka “pigment code” PR101, PB15, PW6, PY3, PR9 etc., appearing on the tubes and some kind of lightfastness rating (even if its just the brands own standard, it at least reveal they have some level of ambition at all).

Some brands that seem to get around (though I know nothing about them) are Myartscape, Arteza, Gotidal, Monte Marte, Castle Art. Wouldn't surprise me if some of them are made in the exact same Chinese factory, or even is the same, in different packaging.

Well Labor and Material will cost so much.

Ask this student how much he normal charges by the hour then what is the material cost. Unless you are planning to buy the material yourself, you need to include the material costs as well as the labor cost.


so if they are asking for $10.00 per hour and gets done with 3 hours, then expect to shell out at least 30 dollars. Talk to this student what is reasonable.


This is personal experience due to working in the construction field, working with various clients to get them bids and getting them a proper scope of work cover their area of constructions with a reasonable budget and profit for our clients and company I work for.