Andahaion

Ultimately it's up to you, and your point about talking it through/aloud is well taken. When faced with situations, I try to find something which puts it into context. What I thought of reading your post was that people buy new cars all the time. Two years in and, what, half the "value" is gone? And it just snowballs from there. Yet, we have to buy a new car. Why? It's borderline insane to me. This might make sense, or not. It's just what popped into my head. And, I presume most here keep art longer than they would a car. Then again, lots of people on this board move a lot of art. I buy to keep, so I'm not too worried (up to a certain price point) about retaining value. And interestingly enough, I'm also considering a piece that is giving me fits trying to ascertain it's long term potential. I don't mind spending money, but at a certain point (which is unique to each individual) the money means something.

I might be incorrect here, but if you accepted payment via friends and family doesn't that negate some seller protection? Not that you'd be protected if the buyer decided to "return" the piece and send you a photocopy of the art. The empty galleries are a red flag, but I suppose you have to decide what your risk tolerance level is, and at what price point.

This makes me recall in college when we'd put dryer sheets in our baseball hats to keep the gnats at bay during practices and home games. Never worked. I think it was more mental than anything.

Can't really make a choice, because it really depends on the art. Probably lean inks, but I'm an absolute sucker for someone who can properly apply value with graphite.

No nostalgia for any of these, but i voted Silver Warrior, Egyptian Queen, and Conan the Destroyer.

Ha. It's funny, I have an internal struggle concerning what to do about comic art. I only have four pieces, two of which I'd qualify as "adult purchases" (meaning I spent a few K on each one). I don't have "nostalgia" for any of the four pieces. The closest is the splash from Batman RIP, but I was nearly 30 when that came out so I don't think that counts. I just really like the story and the art. I didn't even read the story of the Frison Wonder Woman cover I bought. I do have a "hit list" of artists I do want and it spans the gamut...Kirby, Colan, Mazzucchelli, Lee, Jock, Miller, Aparo, N. Adams, Cassaday, Tedesco, and Coipel just to name a few off the top of my head. Oh, and I still want something from Felix's website but I darn near miss every art drop due to my work schedule. But, my first love is collecting fine art and so I don't think I'll ever amass a large collection of comic OA. So, hopefully that means I'm not really any competition

Good, interesting stuff. Thanks and hope all is well.

In an ideal world, you (the consumer) should not be varnishing anything. You will likely receive several discordant responses here, but there are several things you should be aware of: I would highly recommend you not put the varnish/fixative on yourself. There is a difference between what you put on graphite drawings and what you put on oil/acrylic paintings. For example, I use Spectrafix Fixative for my graphite drawings. It uses a milk enzyme and a formula that has been around for centuries. But there are so many choices (for example, workable fixative vs. final fixative) that as a consumer, you'll likely be confused. Acrylic doesn't need a year to dry. I've no idea why an artist would need to return a year later to varnish an acrylic painting. Either there's some info missing, or the artist doesn't know what they are talking about/confused. Acrylic is plastic, it's very durable and usually would not need varnish. It also dries in about 15 minutes, as opposed to oil which can take weeks/months to fully cure. These days, varnish is basically a personal choice. Some artists swear by it, others don't. I've been told by conservators at MOMA not to use varnish. You'll find a wide mix of opinions on this issue. Varnish can protect the painting, but it also adds depth and a consistent finish to the work. In some paintings you'll find there are matte and satin/glossy areas. A varnish can unify the surface. True, it will also serve as a protective barrier, but it will also yellow over time (decades) and will have to be removed and possibly reapplied. I'm so confused as to why an artist would tell their patron to varnish the work. Unreal. If you're wondering if I know what I'm talking about, here is a link to my website. I paint landscapes in oil and have been doing so for several years. I do not varnish my paintings, but there's nothing really wrong with doing so as long as you know what you are doing and are comfortable doing so. https://www.justintworrell.com/

Yes, it looks hand finished but I assure you the colors are digital. A cursory Google search seems to pull up several videos on YouTube concerning Artgerm’s process. Look there.

The cover I own (posted above) is produced in several stages. She does a simple line drawing in pencil, then scans and prints that onto a new bristol board. She then does the grayscale you see in the picture by hand using graphite, chalk, acrylic. She then scans that and finishes the color digitally. Here is a pic of the finished cover:

Jenny Frison has stated that when asked to do a cover she is very rarely relayed any information about the story. Not sure this is a good or bad thing, but I think helps add some context about the real world issues and may offer insight as to why these types of covers do not usually have anything to do with the story. I really like her work. I also like the covers of yesteryear. Good art is good art, and comes in many forms.

Late to the dance, but finally saw it. I liked it. Thought Larson was serviceable, but didn't strike me as made for the role. But, I certainly had a good time. Hope to see some growth from her in subsequent films. I enjoyed WW more, but this was a good film.

Glass for acrylic? It's plastic. Is it varnished? Just keep it out of direct sun. You'll be fine.

Jack Kirby, Neal Adams, Frank Miller, Jim Lee.

That is awesome.

No clue on value, but I kinda dig that page.

Discovered Jenny Frison's work, and discovered I needed one of her Wonder Woman covers (to #54). No nostalgia needed, I've never read WW Rebirth. I just love the art. I like that it's different than pencil and ink. Seems more "complete" even though the digitally finished piece is quite stunning also. I am really pulled toward how strong and powerful Frison depicts women. Not overtly sexual. Seems more natural, in a way. Very beautiful in hand. Can't wait to get it framed up and on the wall.

I just learned of this artist the other week when CAT alerted me to this cover for the new DD volume coming out soon. I missed out by about 10 minutes on purchasing this cover, apparently. I really like this version as opposed to the digitally published cover. I'm now actively following him, hope to pick something up. Julian Totino Tedesco.

@vodou No, I have not been around OA for any lengthy amount of time. Fine art, yes. Comic books, yes. I really didn't pay any attention until I started seeing pieces more frequently at auction and on this board.

Nothing revelatory there. In the context of Comix4fun's post it sounded like there was something significant to learn. In any rate, most of these guys are "reps" for a subset of artists, but also "deal" in other artists' art. So then what is Artists' Choice...? Both? Romitaman seems to be one who is strictly a dealer. I still don't understand why an artist would sign on with a rep and be ok with that rep not having an understanding of how they work and have boilerplate language they can throw at guys like me. I'm sure there are exceptions for reasons hitherto unknown, but on the whole it doesn't make much sense to me if I'm trusting someone to "represent" my work. This is an unnecessary barrier to sales. Sounds like most customers just don't ask much aside from "is page X available"?

Loved Counterspell...such a good card and the reason why I always played Blue (other being White most of the time).

I was doodling and thought this looked like Elektra...

I was in the midst of drafting a reply before the lock because something was stated that I was hoping for additional clarification...what is the difference between a dealer and a rep? It was stated that perhaps some here don't know the difference...and I'm apparently one of those persons...

I can certainly understand some things being out of their control, but what's not out of their control is communicating to the client (presumably who just spent a couple thousand dollars) the context of the situation and what is being done to resolve it. Silence in this situation just seems wrong/unprofessional and breeds skepticism and distrust. It shouldn't be that difficult, especially since it appears most collectors already have some baseline understanding of how this machine works. A month without anything sent to the OP is ridiculous.

Couldn't agree more. No communication looks and feels (especially for the person spending $$$$) terrible. But I still don't understand how a person who literally deals a particular artist's work...is supposed to champion it and produce sales...cannot speak to it...? How does that happen? Has he never actually seen the art in hand? Is that a thing? Does the artist know her rep acts like this to potential clients/customers? Now I'm all worked up...it's almost happy hour time...