How much should I pay a student at the university where I teach to
draw approximately 20-30 cartoons for use in my course.  He likes to
draw but has no experience nor any formal training.  I would provide
the storyline and the ideas and he would do the artwork.

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Request for Question Clarification by easterangel-ga on 01 Oct 2002 15:05 PDT

Would salary ranges for cartoonist be an adequate answer for your
needs. Just let me know. :)

Hi Camay!

You appear to be looking for a salary appropriate for one answering
this description:

"JOB DESCRIPTION
A cartoonist draws and writes political, comic book or strip cartoons
for newspapers, magazines or private sale.


TASKS

    * create characters, stories or jokes
    * design sketches in pencil
    * may go over sketches with ink to make a final copy
    * may recreate cartoons on a computer for manipulation
    * give the final copy to a newspaper, publisher or client
    * may draw and sell cartoons for special occasions, like birthdays
    * may provide entertainment by drawing cartoons at special
occasions"

My Career Path:  Cartoonist
http://www.career.edu.my/path/desc.asp?career_id=48

Unfortunately, salaries vary wildly for this line of work.  Much
cartooning and illustrating is done on a contract or freelance basis,
with pay determined by the artist and the client based on deadlines,
hours needed, skill of the artist and complexity of the project.

The "Cartooning" section at ArtJobs lists no salary range for a
freelancer, to a range of $15,000 to $60,000 per year for a full time
illustrator:

"Freelancer
(Salary range: Hourly fee or quote)

    This person is a self-employed person frequently hired by agencies
during a crunch. They do jobs that may range from illustration,
paste-up, design, and art direction.

Illustrator
(Salary range: $15,000 - $60,000)

    This person may be a freelancer. In large agencies, they hire an
illustrator full-time to save money. This person creates illustrations
for ads, TV, brochures, etc., using a variety of media including the
computer."

ArtJobs
http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/jobs/adv.html

Searching the salary range database at EJobStores.com returned a range
from a low of $15,000/year to a high of $100,000/year, with an average
of $55,875.00.

Cartoonist Salaries - Search on All US, 2002
http://www.realestatejobstore.com/ejobs_cfmfiles/salary/index.cfm

For a current example, I asked Eric Dieter what price ranges he's
encountered for per page rates.  Eric, known to fans of the wildly
popular Antioch Chronicles Starcraft add-on as Zeus Legion, is the
creator of up-and-coming hot comic "Antioch", and is contracting
artists to illustrate his story lines:

"An unknown artist can make anywhere from $60 to $100. A pro can
command $200 to $400 with $250 being middle of the road and $400 being
for the absolute very best artists available. Very few can command
this amount in today's economy so $300 is pretty much the current
maximum."

(For a look at Antioch:  
http://www.samods.com/~antioch/website/index.htm )

At the Univerity of Illinois at Springfield, student cartoonists are
paid $5.15/hour:

"Student Newspaper Jobs

Cartoonist/Illustrator
Salary: $5.15
5-10 hours per week
JOB DESCRIPTION: Draw cartoons and do illustrations.

QUALIFICATIONS: Art background helpful."

Student Newspaper Jobs
http://www.uis.edu/financialaid/StudentEmployment/stulife.htm

Since you're seeking a finite number of cartoons, and the student has
no formal training, I would recommend you treat him as a freelancer. 
Sit down with him to discuss the length of time required to complete
the project, and consider paying him a flat fee based on the total
number of actual drawing hours needed, multiplied by at least minimum
wage, and include actual cost of the supplies in the flat fee.

I hope this information is helpful to you.  If you find any part of my
answer unclear, please don't hesitate to ask for clarification.  I'll
be happy to assist you further.

--Missy

Search terms included: [ cartoonist salary ]

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Clarification of Answer by missy-ga on 01 Oct 2002 17:15 PDT

Hello again, Camay,

I have further advice from comic writer Eric Dieter, regarding setting
a price for your illustrator:

"I've worked out a deal to pay the artist a middle of the road price
of $225 (slightly more for a cover) whereas I could have been paying
the current maximum due to his rep and skill level.

This price may or may not include having the artist ink their work
which, fortunately, is part of the deal I worked out.

Bottom-line: Negotiate"

Something extra from someone currently working with an artist, to help
you decide what to pay yours.

Hope this helps!

--Missy

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Request for Answer Clarification by camay-ga on 02 Oct 2002 10:22 PDT

Salary ranges would be fine...

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Request for Answer Clarification by camay-ga on 02 Oct 2002 10:23 PDT

salary ranges per cartoon or per job would be fine..

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Clarification of Answer by missy-ga on 02 Oct 2002 10:27 PDT

Hi Camay,

I'm confused by your request for clarification.  Are the salary ranges
I found and the commentery from Mr. Dieter insufficient?

Is there something else I can find for you?

--Missy

Do make sure that the fee paid includes an assignment of the copyright
in the drawings to you.  This must be done in writing and signed by
the parties.  Without such an assignment, copyright will remain with
the cartoonist which means he'll be free to sell the same cartoons
elsewhere as well, possibly several times over.  You may also run into
problems if you wanted to use the cartoons for eg a book or indeed
anything else that was not anticipated at the time.