What I charge.

I have a minimum charge for illustration work, I use kill fees, and I’ll keep drawing as long as you want, but it’s all on the clock.

Buckle up; this might be a bit different from other illustrators.

I work quickly, so it will cost less if we can get to what you need quickly.

Sounds fair? Good, but that works the other way around, too.

If we are still working on the commission 12 hours later, you will be invoiced for 12 hours.

This approach might differ from what you are used to, but I don’t do 10 hours of work for five hours of pay.

Nothing kills an illustration like tweaking it for hours on end, and if you do this, you will end up with a lifeless, lacklustre piece of artwork.

I appreciate that this way of charging might feel like an open chequebook, but I can assure you that if you give me the correct brief and I fully understand what you want, you’ll get it inside the budget.

I’ve tried to be very upfront about charges on this page; we Brits don’t like talking about money, but we all should know what’s happening before we get started.

Minimum charges for anything.

My minimum charge for any illustration is £120.

This charge is not time-based; it’s the minimum I charge whether it takes me 30 minutes or two hours.

Note that this charge is reduced to £100 for charities, NFPs, community-based clients, and wildlife/nature-based clients, especially those who work with cats or bees.

This charge covers the first two hours of work, so if we go over that, it’s £1 per minute for every minute spent working after this initial period.

99% of my character and doodle work comes under this, so you’ll get the perfect illustration for your project safely within budget.

If you want a more complex piece, then it’s more, but I will estimate this before we do anything. We’ll agree on an initial figure—whether we go over this or not usually depends on the rounds of amends you want to make: you pay your money, you take your choice.

What causes illustration commissions to go over budget?

A poorly written brief: If you want X but explain Y, the time spent creating X is billable.
A change in direction: So the Creative Director has changed their mind. That’s fair enough, but I am not picking up the bill.
Additions: So you wanted a banana, but now you need an entire fruit bowl – no problem, but that’s more time.
Colour changes: I will happily try different colourways but to a point – the clock still ticks.
Amends: As mentioned, I am not a fan of tweaking an illustration to death, but if the need arises, it is my time to do so.

In my general experience, the better the brief, the less time it takes to fulfil it, so expect me to ask some questions or seek reference materials before I put pen to paper.

Kill fees.

Shit happens.

Sometimes projects get pulled at the last minute, or your client changes their mind (I sympathise), but I still charge for work done to date.

If we are inside the initial two-hour period, then that covers it.
My time is still billable if we are at the sixteenth amendment and the project is shelved.

I think these are pretty fair and up-front—no one wants to start working with someone only to find some weird stuff in the small print that leaves them unfairly out of pocket.

Ownership of the illustration once completed.

This bit you’ll like.

Once my bills are paid, the illustration is yours to use as you see fit, bar a few omissions that mean we have to get into the licensing dance.

Things you can do:

You can use it without restriction on print runs or impressions.
You don’t need to credit me, but that does make my day.
You can use it on items for resale where the illustration would not be considered the main reason for purchase.
You can use it on software or as part of an app.
If you want, you can use it for your logo (best tell me that upfront).

Things you cannot do:

Resell, distribute, licence, sublicense and all that.
Upload to websites for resale.
Use to train AI
Use it on items for sale where the illustration would be considered the main reason for purchase.
Create derivative works.
All the other general stuff in my terms and conditions.

If you want to create something to sell where the illustration is the prime reason for purchase (think printing it on a t-shirt), we need to chat.

I don’t have a standard licensing agreement as there’s no standard licensing.

Please note that I am not VAT registered, so HMRC won’t inflate my charges by 20%.