Eric Seffinga

Nice!

-e.

Jill Thompson's Sandman promotional art.

Used on T-Shirts and elsewhere. Hangs in our formal dining room with most of the Sandman art.

-e.

Updated the old CAF with a few more gems...

-e.

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=7723

In an attempt to revive the thread...

I finally got around to taking some shots of these pieces for my CAF gallery.

Future Lions - Ashley Wood:

Zombies vs. Robots vs. Amazons cover - Ashley Wood:

Denizen 2: Tartarus - Phil Hale & Rick Berry

From the Endless Reflections gallery show celebrating the 20th Anniv. of Sandman

-e.

Right on! Great frames.

Zombie art rules.

-e.

That's awesome. LOVE the rabbit.

Oh... and yeah, Baba Yaga pretty much rocks.

-e.

I see you snagged my old Timmy Scarecrow splash too. Loved that piece.

Glad to know where it is.

-e.

Just contributing where I can. I've got nothing constructive to add to the "punch page" thread.

-e.

Wow. Just wow.

-e.

I really like those frames that the Tim Sale pieces are in. They look really simplistic in the photo and they are VERY clean looking, but the profile of the frame and the addition of the V groove in the top mat really gives it an extra sense of sophistication comic art usually doesn't get.

Generally if it's something I've had framed, I've gone with a black frame, and most of the stuff under glass gets a white top mat, either a white, black or a soft color for the bottom mat where appropriate, and the occasional extra detail, like a fillet or something if it seems appropriate to the piece.

Here's a photo of one of our Jill Thompson watercolors from my CAF gallery. You can't see the outer frame or the wall, but you can see we went with a black top mat (on all of these) and a colored bottom mat, but with a black wood fillet that matched to the outer frame. Then finally a third color mat and then artwork. Even though all that detail is there, it in no way distracts from the artwork. In fact you almost don't notice it's there when you walk up to the art on this wall, but it seems so appropriate and really disappears unless you are looking for it.

I just explained this to someone in an email, but to paraphrase and get on my framing soapbox...

My wife and I do all our framing ourselves. Or rather, we pick it out together. Usually with a very firm idea of what we're trying to do before we even get to the frame shop.

By "doing it ourselves" I mean, we order the mats, we cut the glass and we get the wood frames assembled to size, but Sarah puts it all together. She ran a frame shop for 7 years and was a CPF (Certified Picture Framer) with archival training for even longer. I've not trusted anyone else with my originals in forever. After seeing what happens in even the best frame shops over 7 years, I can say I'd never trust a good frame shop, and even with all the good employees Sarah had working for her, she doesn't trust anyone with our originals either.

Of course Sarah's an odd duck amongst comic art wives, as she's the one with the degree in Sequential Art from SCAD. Our art is up all over the house.

Michael's? Yikes! I believe more than one of her old former employees ended up not just working at, but running Michael's framing departments in the area. Oh and as far as ANY frame shop having some form of liability "insurance" be sure you have some form of physical proof of value (an appraisal, you insurance paperwork, etc.) before you let that art out of your hands. Also ask if you can get a copy of the insurance agreement and make sure they are aware of the value of the piece. If you think getting reimbursed for art damaged in shipping is tough... try an insurance company for a frame shop.

I suppose it's a bit like being in the restaurant business and seeing what happens behind the scenes.

Anyhow, because she ran the shop so long, when we want something framed, we get to walk in the door of one of the two locations that she ran and they more or less just let us do our thing. We bring in the art, pick the materials, do the necessary measurements, order the frames and mats (she even writes our orders up on their computer) we pay for it, with our discount. When the material comes in we pick it up, Sarah cuts the glass, gets the mats ready. Fits the art and assembly.

It was fantastic when we needed stuff framed back when she worked there because we only were paying the cost of the materials. That massive Andy Lee sumi painting in our gallery ran us about $250 or so in just materials when she framed it. Oversize mats, expensive frame and whatnot. If we'd been a walk-in customer, that same piece would have been closer to $750 with full price of materials and added labor, shipping, etc. I miss those days, but not her old paychecks.

My advice is if you are planning on framing a lot, buy your own quality mat cutter. The $250-300 investment will be well worth it. You can pick up acid free rag mat board for about $10 a sheet and you'll be able to get 2 or 3 mats out of a single sheet depending on the piece size. Measure times, cut once. Cut a few pieces worth of mats and that mat cutter will pay for itself. Buy cheap, discount or damaged mats or matboards to practice your cuts on. It won't take long and you can save yourself a small fortune over time. Again, only if you frame a lot.

If you don't, just be an educated consumer...

Make sure you are dealing with archival materials.

Make sure your framer is not dry mounting ANYTHING.

Make sure they are insured, how, and that they are aware of the value of a piece before they agree to take it in to frame.

Shop around.

Lowest price isn't always the "best deal" and a lot of peace of mind and confidence in a good framer can be well worth a few extra bucks out of pocket.

If it sounds too good to be true, a corner is being cut somewhere.

Don't be afraid to ask if they are running any specials or willing to give discounts. Many stores often will give good customers a regular 25% off without needing coupons. They value good customers' business and, especially in this economy, they'll be looking to hang onto as many as they can.

Be smart and you'll be happy.

I digress worse than Peter David...

-e.

Anthony's a good guy. I haven't bought nything from him in gosh, maybe 8 years or more, but he was always good with me. I remember once that I had dibs on this Alex Maleev Batman cover. It was right around Christmas, because Anthony said Alex would get the original back around the time it hit the shelves.

I had the money all set up to send to Anthony, but then Anthony found out from Alex that the original didn't come back to him. Alex had a call in to DC and the word was that it had been "lost". Which is code for absconded with I'm sure. Alex was pissed. Anthony was none to happy, and I was disappointed. Anyhow, I never got the chance to buy it, but if anyone ever sees it turn up, be sure to let Anthony, Alex or I know.

Gotta love the Batman, and yours is a cool way to get your feet wet. honestly, I've never understood why guys pay thousands for comics that have multiple copies out there, especially when they are encased in plastic slabs, when the originals are just that.

Different mindset I guess.

-e.

Australian artist Jeremy Geddes. It's the cover to IDW's Zombie #3.

He's got a site up if you want to see more of his stuff. He's an astoundingly gifted painter.

-e.

Here's a wall. Technically the Zombie painting isn't "under glass", but we'll count him anyway.

The Fegredo Shade covers on either side are framed as pseudo-opposites as it suited the pieces well.

This time a Tim Sale wall. This has since been rearranged and the Dark Victory cover has been moved elsewhere, with another snow falling Joker page from the Long Halloween taking it's place.

The pieces themselves can be seen here.

-e.

Very cool.

Just added 2 Gotham Adventure pages by Craig Rousseau, a Mr. Freeze piece from Dustin Nguyen, and a Batman page from Eduardo Risso.

Same Bat time, same Bat channel:

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=7723

Enjoy,

-e.

Last week was good. This one's started out even better! Either of these new Ashley Wood paintings would have been a coup for the art collection. But both in one day is truly pure bliss.

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=7723

Enjoy,

-e.

Loves me some Timmy. Spotted your post about it over on the TSF. Very snazzy page.

Dig the Wolvie. Hate Gambit, so this is appropriate, and my favorite bit? "BRAV-O"

She's hot!

-e.

Another piece added to my CAF gallery. This time a little painting from Phil Hale...

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=7723

-e.

Got a new Jeff Jones piece in. Showed up faster than expected. It happens so rarely, so it was a welcome surprise.

Really a very delicate piece, but with astounding mood and so accomplished for what it was. I love seeing Jeff's art from the 70s, and this is certainly the oldest of his pieces (pre-cartouche) that I've ever had. I also love that it is as loose around the edges as it is. You can see the energy in it, and some of the choice making and problem solving.

I need to try and get a better scan, because it appears a bit off color in the one from earlier. Trying to get paintings to scan properly can be a real bear sometimes.

If you want a peek, it's in my CAF gallery here:

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=7723

-e.

Thanks for the welcome. I find it curious that this board is so active but the one on CAF is so dead. Is there a reason behind that? Is it a matter of which was established first? Dunno why but I just stumbled across here the other day and had been meaning to check it out.

Plenty of familiar screen names here.

-e.

Most everything in my CAF is framed...

Phil Hale, Kent Williams, Jon Muth, Dave McKean, Ashley Wood, Paul Smith, Jill Thompson, Mike Allred, etc.

To me, if I can't see it, why have it? After years of artworks tucked away in portfolios and flat files, once my wife and I started getting the bulk of our work up, it really transformed the art owning experience, and we really catch a lot of compliments and questions from people not into comics or art in general.

-e.

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=7723