ESeffinga

Depends on your perspective. Personally I think it’s a national hero.

People are reacting to this like they’ve never heard of such a thing. I find it surprising.

In comic OA, BWS was doing this for a while. Have we all forgotten his art contracts already. And it stands as an example of how that stuff either doesn’t work for the artist in the long term or doesn’t last, for all the reasons already argued in this thread.

In the larger art world, art is sold all kinds of ways. I myself have sold pieces to people with a handshake request that if they find themselves ever putting the piece up for sale, that they give me dibs on buying it back (not limiting the price or getting a taste, just to get a heads up before it goes off to auction or trades behind closed doors and I lose track of it entirely). Its never happened, mind you, and it wasn’t a contract. But it is a matter of personal integrity. And while not a contract, word does get around when you are the sort of person that begs a piece loose, or uses your wife or kids as a sentimental excuse to get people to sell you stuff they might not ordinarily let go of, etc.

Even with new blood coming in, the world of comic art isn’t such a very big place. People into certain artists often know each other. We travel in the same circles. Someone’s reputation is still a pretty big deal. So these unofficial verbal contracts, unenforceable, but happen a fair bit in my experience. The nice side of it is often friendships are borne out of that.

As for putting stipulations on sales, depending on where you are, there are already some of these out there. Not just in comic art, but all over. 
 

In the larger art world, many galleries have various stipulations on sales. Things like if you decide to resale a given work, they want it to be through them, so they can “manage” their artists’ sales prices. Or that they have a first right of refusal to buy the work back, for a similar reason.

Art galleries and art reps are in the business not just if selling the work, but managing expectations for an artist. It’s been said in this thread already. 
 

I’d wager there are a fair few folks that Felix has sold art for, whose work wouldn’t sell for what he sold it for originally, if that work was put back out into the secondary market. And yet, I bet if those very same works went back through Felix to re-sell, he could get as much or more selling them over again, as he did selling the first time.

The simplest answer is people that buy from Felix go to him because they know he is the source for that work. He is easy to find, and prices at what it can sell for.

On the secondary market in some random art dealers stash, that work is lost among a jumble of artists. You don’t know what you will find there. Maybe a gem in the piles.  Or on eBay or in an auction house... you have to be plugged in and always on the hunt, going through every single listing to chance upon a particular piece. In other words you have to be committed and hungry for the art. Enough that it is who you are and not simply something you do from time to time.

Not all art buyers are like that. And to them, someone like Felix offers a service to his artists. Visibility, and stability. And for that he gets what he can for his crew.

Someone can argue art is only worth what it sells for in the secondary market. I would argue sometimes the secondary market is too much of a haystack, and some people just want to go to the store to buy a needle.

Its different kinds of collecting and people are willing to accept different things.

I’d happily buy a piece if it’s a work I’ve always wanted, and planned to keep forever. Even if I had to give the artist a chunk of the resale cost, etc. But it’s have to be a piece I know myself well enough to know I’d genuinely never part with. Then the cost is the cost of enjoying it for as long as I live. I just would factor that into any purchase I was going to make. Which in reality, I already do anyway. Contract or no contract.

I could see where a certain type of collector wouldn’t want to buy into a piece that has a contract when so many do not. People speak with their wallets, and their feet. Just ask BWS.

Apologies to Felix. I use him as an example more often than I intend to, but 1. It’s because he is one of our most visible, participating reps/art sellers on the board. And 2. Because I admire and respect him and what he has accomplished for his artists. He doesn’t need “defending”, if anything he should be admired and emulated by as many reps as possible.

13 hours ago, Will_K said:

Do you have an opinion about using Best-Test Acid-Free Paper Cement ??

https://www.dickblick.com/products/best-test-acid-free-paper-cement/

Way longer answer than needed... apologies up front.

I suppose it would depend on its use. If we are simply talking about reattaching text bubbles, or trying to fix a loose corner of a paste up, I think there are definitely worse ways to go. I wouldn’t have a problem with someone using it for that purpose. The stuff used originally was more than likely way worse.
 

Speaking of which, if the stuff used is the kind leaving nasty crusty yellows glue stains under the bubbles, so long as they are lifting off, it might be a good time to have a pro take a look at cleaning them up before reapplying a bubble. If they look pretty clean under there, have at it. Though, please please please put them in the right spot. Nothin like attaching a bubble crooked, or moved... If in doubt, blow up the published page on your computer to the size of the art, print, and use a light box to register the art and align the bubble.
 

There are other adhesives that do a similar thing, like Zip Dry. But I tend to like anything I do to be totally reversible.
 

For those kinds of tasks, if you aren’t mixing your own adhesive, (and who really wants to do that, unless they need a lot) and Especially if it’s something important, I am partial to Jade R, or for permanence Jade 403, to fix up any batches of art that need fixing all at once. Like checking and fixing any lifting bubbles on pages through the collection. These are book binding adhesives. They are totally archival and tough. Jade does have an approximate 90 day shelf life, before it can start to cure in the bottle. So that’s why I buy it and do any “housekeeping” at once.  Every few years I could pick up a bottle and use it to fix this and that. I will save up things that need maintenance for a couple years. And things that are fixed stay fixed. And this reminds me I’ve noticed a couple pages that could use some attention, so thanks for the question!

All of that said, I’d never use something like Rubber cement or Jade, or anything to glue a wavy art board down to another board. It would be neigh unto impossible to get it off the backer without damage in the future. And who wants to buy art some other goof glued down? 
 

So what to do?

2 options. In subtle cases, it is simply a matter of placing the pages between 2 sheets of artists non stick tissue paper. Then placing on a large flat surface like a coffee table, with a large flat weight laid over the top. I have a coffee table with a piece of glass for a top, that I use. I can add books over the top for added pressure. The nonstick sheets are important to keep the paint/ink from sticking to the weighted glass if left for a long period of time. I’ll leave a piece for months at a time. It’s rare a piece doesn’t flatten out eventually. 
 

If the piece has ripples or tighter waves to it from moisture exposure or even from the moisture of the brush, ink, paint used to create it... it is what it is. You can press it, you can iron it, it’s really not likely to go completely flat, or totally stay that way. Better to accept the state of the piece as it exists, than try and will it into being flat. As you are more likely to damage it messing around with it. The paper fibers have moved, and trying to get them back flat may mess with paint or inks present in the waved area. 

Less is more. Be attentive but comfortable with what you are doing. If it is outside your comfort zone, find someone more comfortable with it. And if it’s got serious value, there are pros out there.

One last thought on the topic. 
Today’s modern art might be tomorrow’s Sandman, or 1st appearance of Wolverine/X-23, or Walking Dead or whatever. The point being, if we treat our artwork like it has value now, it will be in better shape in the future, should it turn into something more.
And to balance that, not every con sketch of X-23 or commission of our dog playing with Superman needs to be treated like a masterwork. It’s ok to put up a sketch with a thumbtack. Or get that $50 doodle drymounted if you think it’s too wavy or whatever. But especially as it comes to published art, give some thought to its treatment, at least. Hopefully it outlasts is all. Some of it with value (hopefully) in the future. A lot of it won’t. Just like comics. But just like comics, you can’t always predict what will last in the long run. And you don’t want to be “that guy” in the future that had Oliffe color your Wolverine pages, cause you thought it looked better.

-e.

Far be it from me to tell someone else what to do with their art, but I would never use that “acid free” tape without some kind of reassurance it is reversible.

Having a tape to glue your art down to a backer board without being acidic is one thing. Having it be fully reversible and removable would be crucial to me, though. Which is why I don’t know any museum folks or archival framers that’d use the stuff.

I mean gluing it down without acid... cool if that’s your thing. I’d be concerned about long term effect/ineffect personally. And what happens if you wanna sell it un-framed some day.

Until someone has an archival AND totally reversible method that works better than a Japanese hinge, I’m sticking with the old tried and tested method that’s been around for centuries.

-e.

15 hours ago, comix4fun said:

Calling him the Kurt Cobain of comics is clearly an attempt to trigger me personally. 

I am not giving in to temptation. 

Oh, but the video goes on to compare Liefeld's work to Jack Kirby, and how well he put the lessons of Kirby's art to work as well.

You know you wanna........
 

6 hours ago, tth2 said:

The actual Garfield published strips don't cost very much.  Is there really a market for their prelims?

Apparently there is a market for Jeff Foxworthy’s so, why not?

It looks like tracings of photographs?

Definitely has the pre-adjusted “posture” and the right date mentioned in the description for the 2nd draft Heritage is auctioning off. Looks like the right catalog.

The way the text reads, it sounded to me like the original published cover is definitely out there somewhere after being auctioned off in the 90s. And was available for comparison to this piece. If I was a serious Frazetta shopper, that’d definitely factor into my thinking.

FWIW, certainly not my favorite Fritz by a LONG shot. IMO super well known image, that breathed new life into the story for people at the time. Not a great painting. Frazetta did far better work.

To me, this painting is all about bragging rights, but then kneecapped right out of the gate because “not really”, given it’s the second version.

-e.

On 7/25/2020 at 5:28 PM, fenip said:

Jeremy's Bastian Sir Death finally arrived 

THIS is truly great!

^^^ Andy Lee!

Now there's a name I haven't thought of in years.

3 minutes ago, Jaraven7 said:

If I don't like the colour of the comic

I like signatures small in gold.

These strike me as highly unusual. Would love to hear more if you don’t mind elaborating.

Why gold, for instance?

The vast majority of comic OA is in black and white. When you say color of the comic, what do you mean?

ISO grail with open mind and open heart.

Turn ons:

Killing Joke

Price discovery

Wall power

Fresh to Market

Turn offs:

Too many pouches

Glue or tape stains or writing on back

Asking your brother for permission

Herb Trimpe

Lets spend the rest of our lives together!

Like sticking a GT or Dyno sticker on your knock-off Huffy tho.

You can add pegs, and change the mushroom grips and stickers out, but it’ll always be a Huffy.

You don't have to see it that way That is exactly what it does, regardless.

It's like "extending" the artist's conceived visual area. Compositionally, many artists give great thought to exactly where things start and stop in a given image. Usually to strike a harmonious balance.
Not all artist's mind you, and I'm not speaking to this piece so much as the practice of matching art to mat board.
IMO it's a horrendous look, and in this case does that particular piece no favors.

I want to see the art, not someone's poor idea of interior decorating.
 

I am probably the last person to ever notice this, but Thor looks an awful lot  like Reed Richards in a Sue wig...

Pretty sure the conundrum would give me a stroke. Best not to dwell on it.

On 7/21/2020 at 10:21 AM, GotSuperPowers? said:

Size.  Large than twice up art is so difficult to store.  I've since got two large flat file draws so I can drop everything in there, but even so...

Sissy.

12 hours ago, Timely said:

What is everyone’s thought on the apparent marker fade that is on the page?

 

 

 

the fade seems to be happening to an ancillary background motion effect, and not the the main figure. That has to soften the amount of wincing for some.

Marker fade to character or integral part of their environment that looks nasty = gross. 

Marker fade to what amounts to a background texture in a near even application and has a highlighting effect on the main character thus potentially improving the composition = a consideration but less of a deal breaker.
 

Some might even think it looks like less of a busy eyesore, like the bulk of Todd’s panels/pages. (This last one is me) hahaha

4 minutes ago, batman_fan said:

There have been several strips I really like over the last few auctions but all went above the max I set for them. This next Heritage auction will be interesting to see where prices go. 

Take a look at the street art auction too. I saw some Peanuts are there too! Really.

^ Exactly that.

5 hours ago, Rick2you2 said:

So, if I infer correctly, Roy is telling Tony ink the back for free and I will approve the front page? Hell, I would by this for that alone.

I don't think that's what the note is implying. I think Roy was saying he'd pay for the work on the back if it was inked. It wasn't part of the job/page, but Roy liked it enough to find a published use for it. Thus was gonna pay them for the art, if it got inked/finished.

That's the way it reads to me.

That is where the wheat/chaff will play itself out over the long term, re: digital art.
To play devil's advocate, there was a time when people thought Warhol was a joke. His art was frequently silkscreens of pictures and images he didn't even own. And he was making them by the dozen. Who would want that?
Much of his early memorable works sold for very cheap prices. Time has a habit of answering prognosticators.

My general stance is simply this, when faced with spending money in comic art (there are SO many options out there these days), what gets me excited?
Some will look at what is safest place to park the money, or what they presume will be the best return on the quantity of $ placed there.
History often laughs in our faces, and shows us to be wrong in one manner or another.

I still personally find it very hard to get excited about most digital art of any kind. Too much opportunity to rethink. Infinite undos. Ability to totally perfect an image. I tend to like artists that approach the act of creation like being a high wire act without a net. You have to commit. You have to do it right. It takes an immense amount of practice, technique and skill, and yet it still feels like a live performance. Some other guys prefer heavily multi-tracked recordings, to continue that awkward analogy.

I think as the world continues its march towards all thing digital, there will always be a place for the hand wrought. But what people end up spending large sums of money on? I really don't know any more. Just look at the numbers Gene was tossing around in the posts about manufactured sports card collectibles. They boggle my mind. As do some comic book sales prices. And so many other things.