A reference sheet is the commission clients come back to. Once a character has one, every later piece, every emote set and every model starts from it, so the artist who drew the sheet tends to get the follow-up work too. That makes the price worth getting right, and it is a hard one to set because a "ref sheet" can mean a single flat full body or a full design package with turnarounds and expressions. Here is what artists actually charge, read off their own price lists.
The short answer. A character reference sheet commission costs $135 at the median across 8 artists' published price lists, with starting prices from $25 to $450. Fan and original-character sheets cluster between $25 and $160 (median $85). A professional character design sheet, where the artist also designs the character, starts at $410 to $450. Each extra view adds $12 to $100, a headshot $5 to $10, and a custom design $50 or more over drawing an existing character.
Reference sheet commission price calculator
Build the sheet the way clients order it: how many full body views, how many headshots and close-ups, and whether you are designing the character or drawing one that already exists. The calculator totals the price and shows what you keep on each common way to take the order.
Gig page rows add the plan fee on completed orders to card processing on your own Stripe link. The monthly plan price is not included.
Tired of rebuilding this sheet price in every DM? A gig page lists your reference sheet tiers with what each includes, takes the client's references with the order, and sends them to your own card checkout. See how artists sell art commissions from their own page.
How much does a reference sheet commission cost?
These are the published starting prices from 8 artists who list reference sheets on their commission pages, copied as they stood on 19 October 2026. The sample is small and comes from artists whose pages turn up in search, so it shows the going rate among visible, working artists rather than an average of everyone who draws.
| Artist sheet | Reference sheet price | What the base includes | Add-ons |
|---|---|---|---|
| sukarosa | $25 | 1 full body, 2 headshots, palette and written info | Full body +$12, headshot +$5, bust +$8, close-up +$5 |
| boogurcommission | $30 to $80 | One full body $25 to $35; a large front-and-back ref $70 to $80 | Design detail $5, headshot $5 to $10 |
| zodicommissions | $50, $80 or $100 | Simple: 1 full body. Complex: 2 forms. Extreme: up to 4 mini outfit refs | Custom design $60 to $100 |
| corvidaearts | $120 | 1 flat colored full body, 2 details, color palette | Not listed |
| stellerjayed | $150, or $200 custom | Detailed full reference, palette, name and info | Custom character +$50 |
| snappakappa | $160 | Front view, back view, headshot, hands and mouth close-ups | Custom character priced up |
| anemielle | $410 | Character design, front view and accessories | $100 per extra view or set of 3 expressions |
| lyrianoms | $450 | Reference sheet; character design from $400 | Priced by detail and accessories |
The median starting price is $135. Strip out the two professional design sheets and the six fan and original-character sheets have a median of $85, which is the number most hobby clients have in their head. The jump from $160 to $410 is not a gap in the sample. It is two different products sold under the same name.
Why reference sheet prices run from $25 to $450
Three things move the price, and each one is visible on the sheets above.
Who designs the character. Drawing an existing character from the client's references is the cheaper job. Designing one from a brief takes rounds of sketches, color tests and back-and-forth, and artists charge for it: one sheet asks $150 for an existing character and $200 for a custom one, another prices custom design at $60 to $100 against $50 to $100 for a ref of an existing character.
How many views. A front view alone is the floor. A back view roughly doubles the main drawing, and turnarounds with side and three-quarter views go further. Per extra view, sheets in this sample charge from $12 at the low end to $100 at the professional end.
Who the sheet is for. A sheet for a roleplay or fan character is drawn to be recognizable. A sheet for a VTuber, a game, a brand mascot or an animation is drawn to be built from, so the proportions, colors and details have to hold up when other artists use it. That is the work behind the $410 and $450 sheets, and it is the starting point of a model order: the median Live2D model with art and rigging costs $710 for half body on our page about VTuber model commission prices.
How much should I charge for a character reference sheet?
Start from your hours, then check you sit inside the band your work belongs to. Time your next front and back sheet with a palette. If it takes eight hours, $15 an hour makes it a $120 sheet and $20 an hour a $160 one, which is the middle of this sample. If you are slower or your rendering is more detailed, your price moves up with the hours, not down to match the cheapest sheet you can find.
Then price the parts separately so the client can see what they are paying for. A structure that matches the sample: a base price for one full body with a palette, a fixed price per extra view, $5 to $10 per headshot, $5 per close-up of eyes, mouth, hands or paws, and a design fee for original characters. Use our art commission sheet maker to lay those tiers out, and the wider guide to art commission prices covers the hourly math for every other kind of piece.
What is included in a character reference sheet commission?
At minimum, one full body view of the character with a color palette. Most sheets in this sample also include a headshot and space for the character's name and short written notes. Back views, extra outfits, expression sets, close-ups of eyes, mouth, hands or paws, and props are add-ons on almost every list, so write each one as a separate line. A client who knows that a back view costs extra will usually buy it; a client who finds out after the sketch will argue about it.
How much is a reference sheet with front and back views?
From about $70 to $160 at the fan and original-character level. One artist in this sample prices a large front-and-back ref with multiple headshots at $70 to $80, and another includes front view, back view, a headshot and close-ups of hands and mouth for $160. On a professional design sheet each extra view costs about $100, so front and back lands near $510.
How much more should a custom character design cost?
Add $50 or more over the price of drawing an existing character, and more again when the brief is vague. One artist in this sample charges exactly $50 extra ($150 against $200), another prices custom design at $60 to $100. Clients who arrive with a few loose ideas want a lot of exploration, and the first rough concepts are where that time goes. Before you quote, ask the client to collect images of the look they want; sending them off to browse design inspiration by style gets you a brief with real references instead of adjectives, and makes the design fee easier to keep to.
Where to sell reference sheet commissions
On a $135 sheet, a Stripe payment link keeps $130.78 and a PayPal invoice $129.80. VGen keeps $124.03 after its 5% plus processing, and Fiverr keeps $108.00 after its 20% seller fee. A gig page keeps $124.03 on our Pro plan and $119.98 on Starter, including card processing, plus the monthly plan price.
| Where the client pays | Fees on $135 | You keep | Fees on $410 | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe payment link | $4.22 | $130.78 | $12.19 | $397.81 |
| PayPal invoice | $5.20 | $129.80 | $14.80 | $395.20 |
| Gig page, Studio | $8.27 | $126.73 | $24.49 | $385.51 |
| VGen | $10.97 | $124.03 | $32.69 | $377.31 |
| Gig page, Pro | $10.97 | $124.03 | $32.69 | $377.31 |
| Gig page, Starter | $15.02 | $119.98 | $44.99 | $365.01 |
| Fiverr | $27.00 | $108.00 | $82.00 | $328.00 |
A plain payment link is cheapest per sheet, and VGen puts you in front of clients who are already browsing. What neither does is hold your price list, your add-ons and the client's references in one place. That is the job of a gig page: the client picks Basic, Standard or Premium, sends the brief with the order, and pays on your own card link. Fees on VGen are broken down in our VGen fees guide, and every payment option is compared in art commission payment methods.
Should I take a deposit on a reference sheet?
Yes for custom designs and anything over about $100; full payment up front is common below that. One artist in this sample requires payment in full before starting and offers payment plans only on large commissions. For a $410 design sheet, half before the first sketch and half before the final file is the usual split, and our art commission invoice calculator shows the fee on each payment.
Sell the follow-up work
A client with a fresh reference sheet is about to need more art of that character. Put the next steps on the same page: a discounted first illustration, an emote pack priced from our guide to Twitch emote commission prices, and, for streamers, a model tier. Artists who list those next to the sheet sell them far more often than artists who wait for the client to ask.