Andahaion

On 6/6/2023 at 6:17 PM, Dirtcheap31 said:

I know in high end art they restore but it’s mostly cleaning

I'm a fine artist.  I'm not a conservator, but I am familiar enough to perhaps help provide some additional context here.  Yes, cleaning is certainly something that happens particularly with older work.  One has to be careful in the cleaning process because over aggressive cleaning with the use of various solvents can take original paint off of the ground (canvas, board, etc.).  But color retouching is something that's certainly available to damaged work also.  A good conservator will do everything in their power to preserve the paint laid down by the original artist.  What this generally means is that a quality color retouch will only replace paint where the actual losses have occurred.  Additionally, conservators can lay down what's referred to an isolation, or barrier layer over the original paint.  The conservator can then retouch over this isolation layer which in effect helps preserve the original paint laid down by the original artist (it is also easily reversible and hopefully poses minimum risk to the original paint layer).  Bad retouching results where the conservator uses an inappropriate amount of new paint directly over the artist's original pigments, often covering large swaths of the original image.  Then there are cases where the canvas is torn or has holes which need repairing.  Other "alterations" to old paintings can also include taking off and replacing the old varnish layer with a new varnish.  Relining, reinforcing, and various repairs to old/damaged canvases and structural supports such as wood panels.  I've seen some wood panels completely separated be joined back together with amazing results.  So, I guess my point is that there are a lot of conservation efforts that take off and put on various "things" to help preserve the art.  Lots of "mucking" around with the original, which to some degree takes the work further away, yet closer to the original.  

I am always torn with conservation in the context of comic OA.  One one hand, I see it as perfectly acceptable in order to preserve the art.  However, I am absolutely disgusted by amateurs, or dealers (you know who they are) who take action into their own hands to permanently deface the original in an attempt to make it appear as something it never was, or to appear in a light to make it more attractive to a buyer. 

Yet, on the other, I totally share sentiments expressed in this and other threads that even if the original artist retouched areas which may be at risk of losing their richness; that action somehow devalues or demotes the original to something other than the original.  It's funny how I'm fine with buying old, conserved paintings, but would likely not purchased conserved OA.  I think it may come down to if I know the conservator, and trust they acted in an ethical and responsible manner.  Not sure we have that option in OA as of yet.

I liked Eternals also.  But, I generally have a difficult time being very critical about most of these types of movies.  Generally.  There have been some in the 'nerd cinema world' I've wanted to walk out of.  

On 2/11/2023 at 11:40 PM, Hawkgirl said:

I’m looking for advice. I have a one-bedroom apartment which is east-facing so gets morning light. It’s a small apartment, so there isn’t really anywhere that I can hang my pieces that will avoid direct sunlight, which makes me worried about displaying my collection. I have some inked pages and some pencils-only. They haven’t been framed yet. Should I go ahead and get them framed to hang them up? Or should I keep them in a portfolio for now? 

You likely thought of this, but you could make copies of the art to frame and then not have to worry about it.  I do not believe I would place any art (pencil, ink, or otherwise) in direct sunlight.  But I'm sure there are differing opinions out here in internet land.

Shout out to @Phill the Governor who made the overlay to this cover.  Really completes the art and will look fantastic up on the wall.  Highly recommend!

I just can't get through them all.  As Doc Holiday once quipped, "I'm afraid the strain was more than he could bear."

On 12/17/2022 at 1:13 PM, Twanj said:

If it's Surfer, we wanna see it!

What he said! 

Picked up two pieces by Liam Sharp from Albert's booth at Baltimore Comic Con a few weeks ago.  Really fun time at the con this year.  I need to go to more shows as I tend to run into things that are not online (or maybe I'm not as obsessively checking as some of you).  To that point, Albert had a whole portfolio of new art that Liam recently gave to him, none of it even priced yet.  I saw this splash and pretty much knew this was the example for me.  Love the loose rendering, really different from the other piece I picked up which is a tightly rendered WW pinup.  It's huge, 21" x 16.5".  This is from GL Season 2, #7, page 22.  Written by Grant Morrison.

On 11/12/2022 at 10:22 PM, JC25427N said:

Did you click the keyword links? The email takes you to a page that has all your keywords on it and you have to click each keyword individually to see the results that it found for each one 

Man do I feel like an insufficiently thoughtful person!  I was on my phone when I received the email and did not realize each of my keywords was its own link.  

I bought a modestly priced contemporary/modern cover. I missed it last CAF Live, and the seller worked with me a bit. Overall happy with it, but pricing is making decision making more difficult. After I bought it I basically tuned out and quit looking. 
 

The pre-show want list email alerts didn’t really work for me. I received one email with one piece of art in it. 

Having login issues also.  I input my info and it just refreshes without advancing.  I input my login info again and it does the same.  Thanks!

I guess I've done it all also, except I've not purchased at a convention (though I do attend locally when schedules align).  I do prefer to buy from the artist when possible.  

I live in NOVA and would be interested in meeting some fellow nerds. Most of my modest collection is framed and on the wall, but I can eat some wings and drink some beer. 

On 8/16/2022 at 1:28 PM, Hawkgirl said:

Hi! I’m new to this forum. I got started in the OA hobby in 2018 after getting a sketch cover at a con, and I’ve been collecting comics my whole life. I’m slowly easing into getting more serious about collecting OA, both commissions and OA pages. Any advice on budgeting, pacing yourself, targeting certain artists?

I’m late 20s and single, no kids, but want to balance this hobby with saving for the future. I’m currently focusing a bit on ‘quantity’ over ‘quality’, so I’m buying more smaller/less expensive things rather than more epensive/bigger names as I start building out my collection.

Some of my favorite current artists are Dan Mora, Jorge Jimenez, Chris Samnee, Doc Shaner, Tom Reilly, Bilquis Evely, and Elsa Charretier. I would love to hear any recomendations of similar artists, especially ones who have that throwback, simplified comic art, or use negative space in their style. I also want to get into collecting up-and-coming artists if you know of any.

Do you all collect mostly current art or older art, like pages from your favorite comics as a kid, or both?

How do you feel about Artist’s Proofs for current artists who work entirely digitally?

Welcome!  Good list of artists.  I recently secured work (commission) from Priscilla Petraites.  I think she may fit in nicely with your list.  I also really like a Greek artist who goes by Dani, or Dani Strips on Instagram.  She's great and uses negative spacing wonderfully.  

Regarding budgeting, it's easy to get out over your skis.  I'd generally recommend pacing yourself.  There is a lot of art out in the world, lots of choices.  I'd also generally recommend quality over quantity, but I also understand the excitement aspect of acquiring work.  But, once you start buying more expensive pieces you may look at the cheaper stuff differently.  

I would say most on this board collect work pre-1990.  There are some of us who dabble in more current art, but this isn't really the venue for that in my opinion.  But, there is a wealth of historical knowledge here and that is really valuable.  I generally collect backwards.  I look to the art on the page, then usually nostalgia or storyline a close second.  Most folks collect based on nostalgia, which is cool too.  

Most here also don't respond well to/think much of artist proofs.  I have one piece, the Hawkman #29 cover by Mikel Janin.  It'll likely be my only print (at least in comic art circles).  I know that Jimenez is pretty much 100% artist proof, so that may be your only recourse for him.  I love his work and might be someone I could buy a print from in the future.  But I love the traditional stuff too much.  

Welcome again.  I'm sure others will chime in...

I would add that I've had this happen with pretty much all the major carriers.

I run into this all the time with art as well as other items like wine club deliveries and whatnot.  I work from home, so it's usually not an issue, but yeah...causes me some concern on higher priced items.  For me this kind of falls into the "pick your battles" bucket.  Wife and I working from home, usually not an issue...until it is.  

On 7/20/2022 at 12:50 PM, thethedew said:

Result!
Nice packaging.  I may need to save it.  My garage is beginning to fill with unusual flat boxes.
So, for future reference... nudging Heritage may be required.  Good to know.

Those boxes are awesome. I ship paintings in them all the time, at least the expensive ones!  Totally worth keeping.

I couldn't even get the request to process!  Oh well, somehow I won a DWJ Wonder Woman: Dead Earth page at that drop.  I've no idea.  I think that's the only time I've won at these drops.

Holy smokes that's awesome.  Congrats.

On 6/8/2022 at 4:47 PM, MAR1979 said:

I'd love to have a piece in an Artists Edition - way cool cred for collectors braging rights

This happened to me.  I was considering a Lee/Williams DPS a few years ago.  Really hemmed/hawed at the purchase for various reasons.  A Lee artists edition came out at about the same time and I saw the DPS was published inside.  That was encouraging, at least to me.  That fact, however, wasn't necessarily determinative in pushing me over the edge to decide to buy, but was a factor in deciding to make the purchase.  I now know that looking at the art in the artists edition wouldn't be good enough for me, wouldn't scratch that itch.  Not much beats actual, original art in my opinion.

On 5/27/2022 at 2:00 PM, JadeGiant said:

A good exception to the rule IMO - I would likely have a wider matting on something like this and/or add the overlays. 

Yes, I think the overlays are needed here.  Would make for a stronger presence on the wall.