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I have had only one significant delay - my commission from Mike Kaluta. It's finished and Elaine has it to mail, but I haven't heard from her yet.

As for the others, they have been delayed, but nothing that's bothered me because they keep in touch and seem to have managed their money better than, e.g., Starstruck.

I'd do it again for the right artists.

Hope my advice helps, but remember "Free advice is worth what you pay for it." (paraphrase of Robert Half)

Others may have known him longer and more may know him better, but how many have a sketch by our hero in their 3-Minute Sketchbook?


I call it "3MS by OMLguy."

No doubt the sale of my copy will fund my retirement! Right?

Best three page sequence in comic? I think this is it (from the collection of Mike Burkey)

I've been happy with my Canson Mix Media wirebound books. Some of them have this terrific chart to help you select what you want based on what your artists are likely to use. At a con, that's normally pencil, pen&ink, and marker.

Based on the chart, I probably should have bought a book with Illustration Bristol or Mi-Teintest Pastel paper in it.

My only other suggestions on sketchbooks themselves are:

• Heavier paper is generally better (less bleed through)
• Carry a sheet of thick paper to use as a backer for the sheet that they draw on.
• Use a wirebound book because the pages lie flat
• There's a lot to be said for hard covers

One more suggestion, record the artist, the art and the commissioner in the sketchbook.

1. When you pickup the art, record the artist's name, location and date on the bottom of the page that was drawn on and take a picture of the art, the artist, and, optionally, the commissioner.
2. When you get home, do this:

• Go to an art supply store and buy archival see-thru Mounting Corners (see below)
• Print the photos as 4x6 at Walgreen's or wherever (it's really cheap)
• When you have your picture, mount the corners on the back of the previous page and insert the photo

If you should ever want to sell the page, remove the picture from its back and replace it with the picture from the back of the previous page and you have provenance. If you never sell, you have a great memory book. Try it, you'll like it.

Finally, and this is really important, label your book!

Tape a business card on it with your mobile number and name. Do something to make it clear that it's yours and how to find you. Most people are honest and will try to get in touch if you give them a chance. I put a label on the front cover and on the inside.

Manhattan Projects was one seriously fun book. I have a page from it here and my avatar is from a commission that Nick did for me.

3 hours ago, Lucky Baru said:

Everyone thinks their work is fantastic and both are as wonderful people as they are talented....Jeff Smith and George Perez.  I don't have the words to express just how nice, down-to-earth, and humble both of them are when I have had the chance to interact with them.

I agree. They are both great guys. George Perez is one of the hardest working guys on the con circuit. He sits at his table signing and drawing for as long as the show is open.

Jeff Smith did this:


George did this for me:

2 minutes ago, chico_suave_58 said:

FWIW, there was a posting in the marketplace by Mikel Janin’s art rep selling the hand drawn cover by Mikel (who I believe works primarily on digital)...see here.

Mikel’s work on the cover is stunning, but given the subject matter depicted & the ultimate story result, I would be more than a little ticked about it. There are other covers that reference the same subject.

For the work that was associated, but could standalone (e.g. Jim Lee cover), I wouldn’t upset at all.

Personally, I don’t have a dog in the hunt.

I might be a bit upset at spending $18K on one of the covers with the way the story went.

The NYT printed a review that spoiled the ending before the comic was released; hence, the controversy - did the spoiler devalue the book and people's experience reading it which in turn might impact the value of the OA.

 

I'd like to play. I bought this piece a few years ago from Steve Schanes of Pacific Comics fame in an eBay auction. The description read:
     SHAZAM Captain Marvel Original Pencil & Copied Bkgd C. C. BECK #1U818
     Size: 11.25" x 8.5" 
     Drawn for the publication of Fanzine
     Original Captain Marvel "Shazam" & Words were drawn by C. C. Beck
     Klang the Killer and background are copied

and that description seems 100% accurate. However, it didn't have the fanzine name and I'd like to know than and try to get a copy of it. 

So, I wrote to Steve, but no luck. He wrote back:

     I traded for the SHAZAM Captain Marvel Original Pencil & Copied Bkgd
     C. C. BECK about 3 years ago with a CC Beck collector who was also a close friend 
     of CC Beck.

     At the time of this transaction he told me the name of the fanzine but I have 
     forgotten.

Drat! 

Does anyone recognize it? Click to see a bigger image.

1 minute ago, PhilipB2k17 said:

Finally met Jeremy Bastian at the Motor City Con this year. Really cool guy, and phenomenally talented. I definitely want to own one of his pieces. He showed me something he was working on that was amazing. 

The other artists there I spoke to (some long time industry pros) were highly impressed by his work. 

His work is amazing. I have two other pieces:

Pirate Ship (done at Rose City Comic Con in 2017, I think)

His first commission CPG vs. Grandfather Crab (done for Rob Stolzer and bought from Rob by my wife as a gift to me!)

Click the images to see a larger view.
 

My favorite piece is clearly my Curt Swan Superman (click to embiggen).

I'm not sure that I have a grail beyond this, but I think the pages that I would want the most are probably:

The splash to the first comic I ever read. My brother and I poured over this trying figure out who everyone was and what they did. I do have a page from that comic. You can see it here. Yes, I'd like this more than the cover.

There are four others that I would be especially happy to own.  The original to the 2nd Legion Index is in David Mandel's CAF. Sigh...  

I might be a Legion of Super-Heroes fan as well as a Curt Swan fan.

I have a number of such folks:

David and Julia Petersen of Mouse Guard. David is amazingly talented. He builds models of his story sets to get the perspectives right. Here's on piece that I have by him. It wasn't done just for me, but he did suspect that I'd try to buy it.  Click to embiggen.



Jeremy Bastian of Cursed Pirate Girl. I've gotten to know Jeremy from con visits. I enjoy talking to him and love his work. I have several pieces, but this is the first and my favorite - CPG herself.



Like David and Jeremy, Katie Cook is from Michigan. I guess those cold winters give them time to draw and write.  Katie is probably best known for her licensed Star Wars work (books, posters, etc.). She also wrote MLP for a number of years. Her creator owned book Gronk is a lot of fun and got her a minute or two on the Super Bowl one years - it seems that the Patriots have a player with the same name and the network wanted to clear up the confusions.

Here's a piece she did for me featuring her characters Dale, Gronk, and Harli meet Sugar & Spike.

If you haven't met Andy Runton at a con, make the effort to introduce yourself to him and Owly. A nicer guy and a sweeter story you simply won't find.

And, of course, there's my friend Thom Zahler. He's a great guy to be around and a terrific story teller. His Love and Capes is a must read in my opinion. This piece (one of several) is one of the few pieces of L&C original artwork. He's a good friend!


There are a lot more actually. My experience with the comic artist/writer crowd is that they are generally pretty nice to be around.

  

One other comment about a commission, to get the best work, you need an idea that appeals to both the artist and to you. My Howard the Duck vs. Donald Duck by Frank Brunner was one like that.

I enjoy getting commissions, but ...

1) I have been uncommonly lucky in that none have been late for less than valid reasons and all the artists have kept in touch.

2) I expect to lose at least 60% of the cost of the commission when they are sold (by my wife and daughters).

In exchange, I get an image that I want from the artist I chose. That works for me.

As an example, of what I like and what will never make back the cost, I offer my most recent commission. I'm a fan of Yale Stewart's work on JL8 and Kathy commissioned him (with an assist from me) for a 35 wedding anniversary present featuring the "Little Legion." Click for a bigger image.

There are 30 humanoids, 1 disassembled killer robot, a table of food, and rocks. This was pricy.

I have the OA boards, the prelims are on the way, and there is one full-size print. A Legion collector might pay me a couple of hundred for the lot if they had a sweet spot for the SA Legion, but I doubt it would go for more.

My rule of thumb - the more personal the commission, the lower the resale. The more complicated, the longer it will take and the more expensive it will be. Commissions get worked in among the regular job and they can slide for a long time.

Risk and reward.

1 hour ago, The Voord said:

Oh, no, the brothers have a sister!  

More likely a wife since D is her married name.

I would.

Here's my standard answer on restoration questions. It might be useful.
 

---------

In the many threads on paper conservation, the names that recur the most were:

Robert Dennis 

• agraphicstateofmind@verizon.net
• http://www.agraphicstateofmind.com/
• http://www.agraphicstateofmind.com/comic_art_restoration_service.html

Gordon Christman

• ggc2k@hotmail.com
• Gordon doesn't seem to have a web presence, but his snail mail address and phone number are:
• GORDON G. CHRISTMAN 
• RESTORATION & CONSERVATION 
• 330 SOUTH HORNE STREET #L 
• OCEANSIDE CA 92054 
• TEL:  760 439 7970
• CEL:  760 458 2290

I also had one recommendation for:

• Tracy Heft - Eclipse Paper 
• trace@eclipsepaper.com
• http://www.eclipsepaper.com

I would add that most major museums know of paper conservators. You might want to contact someone at a local museum and see if there is a conservator close to you.

Yeah, there are ample targets for improvement in that website, but Josh & Co. seem to have zero interest in making it better. Sigh...

Colleen Doran has written quite a bit about the hazards of markers including Copic.

Comments on Twitter: 

If you join her Patreon account, you'll get access to posts on this topic. On that stream, she recommended these:

1 minute ago, Will_K said:

Getting a little off track here...

Joe Staton has a Justice Society print that reads:
TM & (c) 2016 DC Comics Inc Used by permission

I asked Joe if he REALLY has permission.  He said that in fact he has a letter from DC that gives him permission to draw their characters.  I don't think it's limited to a specific list of DC characters but... there you go.  This was the first instance I've heard of an artist actually having "permission" to draw copyrighted characters.

Nick Cardy occasionally mentioned that he was worried about doing convention sketches.  I just told him that they probably won't be throwing a 80 (and later 90) year old guy in jail, so don't worry too much.

Roger Kastel (artist of the Jaws paperback cover and movie poster) also painted The Empire Strikes Back style A poster (Gone with the Wind version).  He told me his contract expressly restricted him to only depicting characters and scenes from ESB.  And he thought this contact was still in force even decades later.  He didn't think he was legally allowed to paint a character like Jabba the Hutt.  So all you guys and gals in Artist Alley should feel lucky.

Yep. That's the way it should work legally.

Carl Barks had permission from Disney to paint the Ducks. I believe that Don Rosa does, too.

I'm sure that there are other formal arrangements.

29 minutes ago, Rick2you2 said:

The artist retains the copyright to the picture, so he can re-use it if he wants to do so elsewhere. The artist's drawing of an image, however, is probably a copyright violation, if it is something like Wolverine, where Marvel would hold the copyright. 

Re: The artist's drawing of an image, however, is probably a copyright violation, if it is something like Wolverine, where Marvel would hold the copyright

I'm a little pedantic so here goes my simplified copyright vs. trademark explanation (I can't stop myself).

• Copyright - right to make copies
• Trademark - right to use a symbol (words, image, design, whatever) as a means to identify the seller and the goods

The artist owns the copyright to whatever she draws unless she specifically sells it. It may or may not be protected by Trademark.

A few use cases:

1. If the artist copies a work, e.g., a published cover, exactly. In this case, he could be (probably is) violating the copyright to that image. The odds are the publisher holds those right. This can occur even if he drew the original because he probably assigned his rights to the publisher.
2. If the artist creates a new image with a character created by someone else, e.g., a commission for me featuring Superman. In this case, the Superman image and especially his S-shield are trademarked. Though he would still own the copyright to the image, he might be (probably is) violating the trademark of the character owner, e.g., DC. 
3. If the artist creates an new image without using the Intellectual Property of others, she will own the copyright and have the option of trademarking the image or portions of it.

The length of a copyright to a work is set by law.

The length of time that  a Trademark remains active/in force depends on its being in regular use and the owner enforcing her rights. Coca Cola hires people to go to restaurants to ensure that when an order is place for "Coke" they get a Coca Cola; hence, "No Coke, Pepsi." You will see DC and Marvel revive and repurpose trademarked titles to keep the trademarks enforceable.

The gist of the above is your sentence should read:

 

Quote

The artist retains the copyright to the picture, so he can re-use it if he wants to do so elsewhere. The artist's drawing of an image, however, is probably a trademark violation, if it is something like Wolverine, where Marvel would hold the trademark for Wolverines image and symbols.

1 minute ago, artistlost said:

careful Andy...it's a slippery slope

Amen to that!

1 minute ago, thirdgreenham said:

Wow! Thank you so much for the thoughtfulness and effort put into your post here.  

I have a bit of knowledge on some of the sites you're mentioning, but there's so much more I didn't know about. 

I knew about Comic Art Tracker, but forgot what it was called.  I may even have a CAF page of my own.  Have to go check that out too. 

Too out of the loop these days. Thanks for reeling me back in.

-Andy

You are welcome. This question comes up very often so I keep this answer at hand.

On the Felix podcast, Ron Sonnenthal mentioned me and these answers. The conversation lasted 15s (I timed it!). I'm sure everyone is impressed with my 15 seconds of fame!

3 minutes ago, thirdgreenham said:

not really

I'm still in the early stages and haven't yet gone through my collection and pulled out cr@p that I wonder why I bought.  I'm sure I'll have lots that I'll pull out and try to sell, but my point being, most collectors just by miscellaneous stuff here and there and only later on put more thought into it and start to focus a bit more.  I'm not focused yet.

 

That's actually a mistake everyone in this hobby makes - buying all the bright shiny objects without considering whether or not they really make sense. A theme (or three) really helps, but it often doesn't develop until much money has been spent. [Voice of experience.]

I commissioned Yale Stewart of JL8 fame (click the link and read, you'll be glad you did) to create a Silver Age Lil Legion piece for me using the Silver Age team. He nailed what I wanted. The commission included a print which I have had framed.

You can see the OA, a better scan of the art, and read more about its creation by clicking here.

 You can see this piece and other framed art on the walls by clicking the image below.