Just a couple of Questions I had no idea where to post them

[LdyDragon]

I am posting this here in the "free" section because I am not sure which section to post it in. I am NOT asking for free anything though, I have some questions but there isn't an "ask the artists" section (unless I missed it and need to go back to bed).

First off I have NO clue what a fair price would be to offer an artist for a piece I would want commissioned. What I would be looking for would be lots of smaller black/white or grey scale art about 3x5 (some pieces smaller) and a few large full page, full color art.

The black/white or grey scale are would be like drawing a race so people could see what it looked like in a male and female form. Smaller drawings might be like what chain mail armor looks like or a certain type of weapon.

The color art would be much fancier. Full background with a scene etc.

The next question is... for now the art would be simply for me for my personal RPG I am creating. But eventually in another 2-3 years when we complete it, friends might want copies or we might even be able to sell a few. I have NO idea what is fair to pay an artist for making copies of the work etc. For friends they'd just pay the cost of making the book, paper, binding, ink for printing, but I still think it fair to include some pay for the artists work (unless they want NO art in the book). But if we eventually tried to publish it or something then I know a larger amount should be paid to the artist. Like I said I have NO clue what is considered fair or reasonable for this.

Edit: Oh one more thing I forgot... what about the cost of making a black/white or grey scale map like those you see in books (or the LOTR map) style say something about 16x22?

Thanks for the help and sorry if I posted this is the wrong place!

Megan

[madelf]

The main board at "Freelancing and Freelancers" is about as close to an "ask the artist" forum as you're likely to get, and I think you'll find questions like this one to be quite welcome there. (Basically anything freelancing/art/writing related other than posts requesting work without up-front payment is good to go) By posting here, you'll probably slip under the radar of a lot of the pros.

As to your question...
Rates vary a lot. It'll be hard to know for sure where prices will fall without either contacting an artist you like and asking their rates, or doing an open call for any artists interested to send you their rates for particular illustrations.

An average that gets quite a bit of airtime is the $100 per page rate for black and white drawings (fractions of a page would be fractions of that price naturally). It's not a bad starting point. Many artists want more, some will take less (especially for simple "spot illustrations" like a weapon, or such) Color work will naturally cost a bit higher.

Cartography, I can't really give you an answer on. Hopefully someone else can.

Edit:
Missed a question.
An artist's standard rates would generally include permission to reproduce or publish the art. This can also affect price. If you want all rights to the piece so no-one else can publish it, etc, that will drive the price up as compared to simply the non-exclusive right to publish.