A common question we get from other artists is how can we afford having multiple artists…..and how do I pay them?
The first part of this question is all a matter of opinion and quite frankly a matter of how much does one need in order to support their life style.
I could easily make an additional $40,000-$50,000 more a year by working more and having less artists to pay but my lifestyle and the way I prefer to live my life by being able to spend time with family and having free time to do the things I want to do mean more to me than an additional $50,000 a year. This might sound crazy to some people, hence the reason why I said it’s all a matter of personal opinion.
I also prefer to be able to have multiple locations as well as travel and do events. Since a person can not be in two places at once this entails having a staff.
The second part of the question is the more complicated. First let me list the various ways I have experienced and heard about how artists get paid.
1.) The most common is a percentage of all the artwork an artist does each day. This is based on working in a shop where the artwork is separate from the price of the shirts. This percentage can be anywhere from 50%-%85%. the amount is usually determined by 2 factors,
a.) Location
b.) who is paying for supplies.
The artists that usually work in high traffic tourist areas are the ones that usually get the 75%-85%….but they also have to supply all their own supplies and in some cases pay for their own order takers.
The artists that are usually in mall and free standing stores that are not in tourist areas are usually the ones who get the 50%-60%. Usually the higher the percentage the more possibility that the artist has to pay for their own supplies. This will vary from shop to shop.
2.) The second way I have seen is a percentage of ALL sales from that day…usually between 15%-30% These are usually artists who work the high traffic “Fair Circuits” and they usually do not sell a whole lot of different items….they usually limit it to t-shirts, hoodies and hats and they each have a single price….for example all t-shirts are $20, all hoodies are $35 all hats are $10…etc...no matter what design a customer gets. At the end of the night each person working gets a percentage of that days sales. These artists usually are also ones that have to pay for all their own supplies.
3.) A Percentage of art sales OR an hourly wage. These are usually artists in the Amusement parks. They will get 20%-25% of their artwork sales OR an hourly wage…ranging from minimum wage up to a few dollars higher than minimum wage….which ever is higher at the end of their pay period. So some weeks if its bad weather then the hourly wage probably adds up higher then the 20% of the artwork….or vice -versa on really nice weeks. These artists usually have to pay for their own airbrush at the beginning(usually deducted over a few pay checks) but then the shop pays for rest of the supplies or at least just the paint….again this can vary from shop to shop
4.) A flat fee or a HIGH hourly wage. These are usually the artists that work for events. An event planner or company may hire them for a one night event. It can range from $50 per hour to hundreds of dollars per hour depending on the event. These artists also usually have to supply their own equipment and supplies.
These are the 4 most common ways I have seen airbrush artists get paid over the years. Notice that the one thing ALL the payment methods that pay the highest amounts all have in common is that they are also the ones where the artists have to pay for all or a portion of the equipment or supplies necessary to be an airbrush artist as well as their own taxes.
Therefore this can be a little mis-leading to new artists just getting started who have not developed the skills necessary for high volume fast pace painting.
Artists in high traffic tourist areas have to be very good and very fast and work long hours to be able to bring in the high dollar amounts necessary to compensate for having to pay for their own equipment and in some cases their own employees.
The next thing to point out is the responsibility of taxes. This is a topic that gets lost to most artists…..because quite frankly, artists are the WORST business people.
The other thing that most of the "percentage pay” positions have in common is that they DO NOT pay your taxes for you like most jobs do. You are required to file and pay ALL your own taxes which is very confusing for most artists. The reality of being paid by strictly percentage is also that you are categorized as “Self Employed” and as with all business owners(because thats what you are if you are not an employee) all the accounting and tax deductions that are applied to any other business owner are now also applied to you.
I always caution artists about all the stuff above because this is where most artists get into trouble with their finances. I always encourage them to seek out the IRS website and the section that deals with “Sub-contractors” as well as their own state web sites that deal with “Sub-contractors” because that is what most of these “EMPLOYERS” are categorizing you as….but the reality is that it is a VERY GREY area that actually leans more towards you being an “Employee” then it does you being a “Sub-Contractor”. These Employers however, do not want to pay you as an “employee” because of the added expenses in taxes, insurance etc… and the truth is that this is just WRONG.
Here at Anything Airbrushed plus our artists are paid as employees. They are paid and hourly PLUS a commission …..not either/or….they are paid BOTH. Their taxes are paid by us, and they are covered by workers comp. We also hire, give paid training and pay for ALL supplies….all an artist has to do is show up and paint. This goes for our Mall location, our Waterpark location as well as our events.
When we first started out we paid the strictly percentage like everyone else….over the years and after spending months going over a years worth of pay stubs and “artist sheets”(the sheets that the artist write down what they did each night) It was determined that paying the hourly plus commission was much better for BOTH sides of the business.
The artists could budget the LEAST amount they would make each week by the fact that they were at least going to make their hourly wage. They were no longer concerned that they would sit in an empty mall during a beautiful Summer day or a horrifically cold winter day when there was no customers and know they were not making ANYTHING because they were no longer getting paid strictly percentage….Now with this pay method they at least got their hourly…and if by chance they did get orders then that was just icing on the cake because they were also getting a percentage of each sale. Then when it was really busy they now knew they were not only getting their hourly but they also were making A LOT more with the commission on top of it.
On the owners side, we were able to keep artists longer since they were no longer quitting because they could not deal with the days of low sales where they made very little being strictly percentage or having to pay their own taxes. We were also no longer writing the HUGE checks during the busiest times…it was now more manageable because the money was more evenly divided over the course of the year. Yes, we still had to pay out more even when it was slow but we made up for it when it was busy and did not have to pay out as much, and the artists have a much easier time managing their money.
Even with the added expense of employer taxes and workers comp, having the artists as “employees” is much better for the business in the long run. We get a better “quality “ of artists with a better work ethic because now this is a “real job” just like any other job and the atmosphere of the work place is much more “family” like then an artist who comes in each day praying they will make something that day because their rent is due.
Hopefully this gives you a little in-site into the different ways you can pay artists.
As always feel free to leave comments or ask question