Will_K

Beta Ray May - you've been warned.

That is being very charitable. Without making accusations, the practices being described are mercenary. And leaving out the prospective buyers and middlemen (e.g. auction sites), they (those practices) do not respect the actual drawing, the artist or the artistic process.

Did you only learn about the artist's political views while you were transacting ( with the artist?? ) for the art ?? Does it bother you that maybe the artist's views contributed to WHY you liked the art ? You obviously liked the art at some point. So does that mean in the future, you will investigate an artist's political views before buying any artist's art ?

On the plus side: Bob Peak... Star Trek... fan fave... it features the main cast On the minus side: it's the Klingon Bird of Prey (not the Enterprise)... no whales... no Catherine Hicks (not a must but she would balance out the left side)... not a key image (ala RoboCop as per @delekkerste) If you said Bob Peak and Star Trek, I would think of the poster for the first movie, not this one. You'd need 2 really big fans with deep pockets to get into the $40-80K range.

I wouldn't say there are "mistakes". As you get older, your tastes change. As time goes by, new styles (e.g. Bruce Timm, Darwyn Cooke) and techniques/types of art (e.g. Alex Ross, post-Adams Sienkiewicz) emerge. New storytellers emerge (e.g. Alan Moore, Frank Miller) The stories have changed. Instead of the basic story of a super criminal merely robbing banks, now you have Watchmen. The market has changed. Instead of checking for a few posts in CBG, now you have regular Internet auctions and a few dozen seller sites. Collecting original art was relatively "cheap" (e.g. $20 for a page of original art, $100+ for an original cover, convention sketches for $20) You didn't have to be focused. You just had a lot of art that you liked. With all the art that's available at even higher prices, now it helps to have a focus. And it is a slippery slope. A very high, very long, slippery slope.

Totally agree with that. Also, commissions are all about expectations so there's bound to be some level of emotion involved. I just received a commission (not related to Felix or his clients). It was supposed to have a specific version of 2 characters. Well, I didn't get the versions I wanted but otherwise... a great piece of art. But so specific, I probably can't flip it (except at a great loss). I'm still trying to absorb it. I haven't commented to the artist. And I doubt he'd re-do it, for artistic reasons I'd guess. It'll probably go into the back page of an Itoya.

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.

I'm a backer of a failed (says me) Kickstarter documentary on Bill Finger. My reward (a DVD of the documentary) has an estimated delivery date of May 2014.. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/comicartscouncil/the-cape-creator-a-tribute-to-bat-maker-bill-finge (Finger with no R) Yay.

Fascinating. On CAF, I credit the characters' creators. For Batman, I put Bill Finger's name before Bob Kane's.

There's always the possibility of Frank Price running towards the terror. Then they just have to draw the back of his head. Hey Frank Price!!! Why the hell are you running the wrong way ?

I have a CAF gallery called "Various good stuff" that has prelims and random pieces that artists had in their portfolios. Under "Art Type", I usually put "Prelim" or "Other". And yes, I'm fairly certain some of the images were repeated over and over. For example, the 50's Bat-family by Sheldon Moldoff (Shelley), not a commission. I think when I got my Sgt Rock by Russ Heath, he may have had multiples and I picked the one I liked best. Also, Nick Cardy repeated a lot images several times. In some of his later pieces, he actually numbered them (i.e. "1 of 3", "2 of 3", "3 of 3"). I love Nick's art and I wasn't afraid to buy some of those from him. There's a relatively well known artist who sold drawings that seem to be mannequins with different costumes rendered. I was at a convention and requested a Black Canary. After I picked up mine, I later spotted a guy with a Black Canary that was just a mirror image of mine. I told him I liked mine better and he said the same.

Yes. But I'll say that the themes and storytelling are very much in line with Steve. Steve's personal work has an added bonus... cheesecake.

Congrats on grabbing the story. Steve's pencil work is really something to behold. I have more than my share of Steve's art but no complete stories.

Exactly. They've seen art sell for big bucks. They've even seen their own art sell for big bucks. Why should some random guy make more $$$ than the actual artist ??

If you're getting new art from the artist and/or their agent, you're paying what they "want" for it. It's their art. So let them come up with their price. However, I have to say that the pricing seems relatively "flip-proof". As has been mentioned, you'd be very lucky to get back what you paid for the art. That has nothing to do with buying art as an "investment". Rather, you're selling under duress or to pay for another piece.

Thanks for your responses.

This is interesting. I'm kind of surprised. Especially, in this particular case, Chaykin provided a rough layout and you indicate he was having a hard time with the expression. It's hard to know but would you be more happy with a poor design but no pasteup, better jaw and nice looking hat ?? Regarding the other commission you mentioned, if the design was poor from the get-go, how great was the execution that you're proud to own the work. Did you know what the design was before it was completed?? Out of curiosity, I'd like to see that commission. Also, if you think Chaykin "rushed" to complete the commission (before traveling) was a factor, I think the packaging would've been an issue. I think that's the biggest pain in the for artists. You think you're done when the art is done. But noooo, now you have to pack it up and mail it or call for a pickup.

My guess is Chaykin won't agree to change or re-do anything. Especially after it's been discussed here. Actually, I'm surprised Chaykin even accepts commissions. At conventions, he'll only draw headshots. If you're 90% pleased, I'd say that's already a high threshold among all commissions. I suggest you quit while you're ahead.

That's a great page. Gene Ha should be a superstar comics artist. Not sure why not. Great detailed art. Every line means something. Love the fish eye lense drawing the the bottom panel.

Just posted a Betty & Veronica story by Jeff Shultz in a new CAF gallery. And consolidated Jeff's other art in a new gallery dedicated to Jeff, it was about time. That gallery also has a new cover added. Jeff's Black Canary & Green Arrow piece remains in that gallery. Hoping to pick up more art from Jeff when I see him at a local show in a couple weeks. And I misspelled Jeff's last name before (inserted a C). Sorry, Jeff !!

I have some Archie art. But almost none of the published art is on CAF, I should do something about that. A while ago, I put up a twice up Dan DeCarlo (Rudy Lapick inks) story from Pep 157 for sale, still there if you want to look. Of the "modern" Archie artists, I like Jeff Schultz. He worked for years on Betty & Veronica. He doesn't really have an on-line presence. But he's currently represented by Catskill Comics ( catskillcomics.com ). Covers, pages, complete stories. Nothing against Dan Parent or Fernando Ruiz, but Jeff's lines are really, really clean. He usually had inkers. But he'd ink the faces himself in a lot of cases. Once in a while Jeff would totally ink himself.

I'm not on Facebook. I don't follow the Yahoo groups. And those are free, I think. Some have commented about not missing out on something they don't have. So am I missing much ? However I am a CAF premium member. What I pay for CAF means a whole lot more to them than paying the same dollars to Facebook or Yahoo. That's all that matters to me. On the plus side: 1) It's a great resource to discover new art and new artists. 2) CAF is a great reference for matching up art with owners (e.g. when you suspect you see a fake for sale). 3) I occasionally buy and sell art via CAF. On the flip side: 1) The market data doesn't matter all that much to me. 2) I think CAF invested a good amount of time/energy to create an auction marketplace that did not get a following.

If you're logged in (or not), under Latest Updates | All, hit View All. On the Recently Updated Galleries in the Last 24 Hrs screen, you'll see the View all in Last 7 Days button. There's also a View all in Last 30 Days button.

As per Felix's suggestion... ComicConnect's comment: Pg. 18; Steve Ditko pencils and inks; image size 12.5" x 18.5" Spider-Man in every panel. "That is one of the five best Ditko ASM fight pages." - Glen Gold

Multiple fake Milo Manara's and probably other fakes. https://www.ebay.com/itm/MILO-MANARA-ORIGINAL-NUDE-ART-SKETCH-PIN-UP-Signed-Erotic-Not-a-Print-OOAK-/152750652507?hash=item2390a5fc5b:g:XVUAAOSwPAxZ5Y1u