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Feb 2023

I am in the early stages of planning my webcomic project (fantasy genre) and I am seeking information on the cost and pricing for various steps involved in the illustration process. As the story is already written, I am interested in understanding what professionals charge for their services.

I understand that many artists prefer to work on an hourly basis, while others may charge per frame. If you could provide information on your preferred pricing method and associated costs (hourly OR per Frame), it would be greatly appreciated.

If you can help me, I want you to consider it an offer to work on the project, (even if i'm still planning this)

For an hour of work, what would your price be.

if you work per frame
A frame of, what would your price be. (or maybe it's an overall)
- Storyboard
- Pencilling Characters
- Pencilling Background
- Inking Character
- Inking Background
- Coloring & shading

Thank you for your time and help to plan it

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    Feb '23
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    Mar '23
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Hello, I'm a digital artist with more than 5 years of experience, I've worked on various comic projects and work with many different styles, my prices per frame, including all the steps you put, would be from $5 (very basic frame and b/w) to $30 (very detailed and colored)
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/J9JDX028

Hello!!

I’m a webcomic assistant for a couple different projects including an upcoming Webtoon Original! These rates may vary based on the persons experience and the art style.

For Inking (I work with a moderately complex style):
$5/panel + $2/extra character

I don’t do backgrounds or effects. This is based on how fast I work, and complexity, and is subject to change with each artist/style.

For flat coloring:
$3/panel + $1/extra character

For shading (depending on the shading style):
$3-$5/panel + $2/extra character

I always say that these rates are open to negotiation since I don’t know the financial situations of the artist. There are normally no issues with these rates, and they’re accepted most often.

Hope this helps!!

Chinese companies on average pay $800-$1,500 to produce one webtoon chapter (50 panels), depending on the complexity. It's a complete chapter, from scripting to typesetting. There may be no additional payment for covers and banner ads. Rates may vary from company to company.
Production in Korean studios is more expensive, in Indonesian may be cheaper.

Freelance artists can have very different prices. But you need to understand that if you need to draw a whole chapter (50+ panels) in 1-2 weeks, one artist will not be able to do it. Unless it's a very simple style, something like comic strips.

The main thing to understand is that high quality graphics as in popular series cannot be cheap, whole teams/studios are working on it. But this is not important for all stories and genres. Action must be impressive, but a romance, comedy, slice-of-life, drama can be drawn simplier and therefore cheaper. They can attract readers due to the plot, charismatic characters and jokes.

1 month later

closed Mar 13, '23

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