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New Charity Auction! Cover recreation of Batman 608 RRP by our own Dadaist!

Started by dam60,

52 posts in this topic

sckao

sckao

Posted
Posted
All - our very own comicwiz / dadaist has some artistic talent!! He has done a beautiful cover recreation of Batman 608 and has decided to auction it off with all the proceeds being donated to ACTOR!!

 

Please take a look:

Batman 608 RRP Cover Recreation

 

 

It's very nice. As another artist though, that recreation appears to be traced/lightboarded via outlines. That's why the outlines and general areas are right on but the interiors don't really match the Jim Lee precision. (Or more to the point, the women don't really look like "Jim Lee" drawn women. The tracing is particularly evident on Killer Croc. The fainter images in the back illustrate the artist's personal style since those probably didn't show up as clearly.

 

I'm glad it's for charity, but I'm wondering if maybe this goes beyond fan art or homages.

 

I noticed the other auctions listed ( Amazing Fantasy 15 and Amazing Spider-man 100 ) are NOT for charity.

 

I also don't see a notation on the original art that it IS a homage or recreation.

 

(I did pretty much the same thing in my youth with marker recreations of comic book covers on 18 x 24 posterboard, but I never sold them and I didn't have access to lightboxes, etc.)

 

I'm all for homages and fan art... but this seems to intrude on DC's (and Jim Lee's) territory. People like Herbe Trimpe and Mike Zeck are entitled to do recreations based on their own original work. Derivative works should always be attributed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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dadaist

dadaist

Posted
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As another artist though, that recreation appears to be traced/lightboarded via outlines.

 

Please explain how a tracing can occur on a 1/4" thick illustration board.

 

hat's why the outlines and general areas are right on but the interiors don't really match the Jim Lee precision.

 

Its a recreation. Some variance will occur even when the original artist attempts a recreation. Jim Lee stylizes, and executes with precision, and although there are those who wouldn't like my rendition of the cover, I tried my best.

 

BTW: I was vying for charitable pursuits, and not recognition.

 

I also don't see a notation on the original art that it IS a homage or recreation.

 

The photo I took was taken at a point where I'd run out of lead, and pencils. Since the photo, the piece includes a JF after Jim Lee notation.

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sckao

sckao

Posted
Posted

 

Please explain how a tracing can occur on a 1/4" thick illustration board.

 

Please don't misunderstand me-- I don't mean to impugn your work. But tracing doesn't have to be "through" a light box. It's also done via a projection device projected onto the front of a canvas or illustration board. (It can also be transferred onto the surface via graphite transfer/blue pencil or rubbing.) There's nothing wrong with this technique. It's a variation on the camera obscura which some of the greatest artists (like Vermeer) have used. When I learned that some of the photo realistic Great Master artists of the past had used this technique, at first I was a little taken aback... as if this lessened their considerable achievements. But really, they were just using the tools available to them, and they were able to achieve startling, realistic results. (They still had to paint the paintings, after all.)

 

 

BTW: I was vying for charitable pursuits, and not recognition.

 

I realize this. I was just pointing out that you also seem to do this on a semi-professional basis for profit. The lack of a notation was particularly egregious. (Although, as you note, you DID put it on after the piece had been framed/mounted and photographed.)

 

Peace.

 

 

 

 

 

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dadaist

dadaist

Posted
Posted
It's also done via a projection device projected onto the front of a canvas or illustration board. (It can also be transferred onto the surface via graphite transfer/blue pencil or rubbing.) There's nothing wrong with this technique.

 

Those methods do sound interesting. None of which I've ever practiced myself.

 

As studies for this piece, I took a 72 dpi scan of the original cover art from mythanospage.com as a reference for the faces above Batman as they are cut off by the titling on the printed comic. Next, I requested a 300 dpi scan of the front cover from an eBay auction, and displayed it on my computer for reference.

 

I have a bunch of photos and some moving images of the piece in progress. I'll post the media files here tomorrow.

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dadaist

dadaist

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Saw it in the store today .. Nice details..

 

but wont Dc be upset at people making money off their characters?

 

Thanks Ares.

 

I'm not sure I'm the right person to ask this question.

In this particular instance, notation has been made in homage of the piece, and the artist Jim Lee. The art piece is being auctioned off for charitable puposes. If DC wants to make a stink about it, then there are plenty of OTHER artists out there making money from doing recreations.

 

Honestly, I can't say I've made a single solitary cent from doing any cover recreations. The only quasi-sale was a Crumb piece, but in the end, it worked out that the person who commissioned me had a few early print undergrounds I wanted -- and the guy was so happy with the piece, he offered me double my asking price as a way to allow me the opportunity to secure the set of Mr Naturals 1-3 in trade.

 

Except for that one occassion, all the recreations I've done have been either for myself, or for people I've known for years, and the most I've ever gained from it was a handshake and a pleasant reaction to the work.

 

The satisfaction I gain from doing cover recreations is immense. For starters, it allows me to pay homage to characters I grew up reading, and artists I really appreciate. I started doing cover recreations not too long ago, mainly as a way to keep my freehand artistic abilities somewhat sharpened, in the face of more widely practiced digital art pursuits. But I did cover recreations also as a form of escape. I used to spend hours drawing as a kid. I used to like that feeling, and every once in a while, I like getting back in that zone.

 

There are some things I also want to say about my reasons for choosing ACTOR. It wasn't too long ago that I really got bent out of shape over the wrongful conviction against Jesus Castillo. It bothered me to no end. But then, drbanner posted a thread about an email he recieved from Herb Trimpe, and in that thread, chromium posted an article written by Herb Trimpe ... and quite honestly, my view on one of my favourtie artists was forever altered.

 

Here was an artist I grew up loving. I would literally spend hours flipping through those Hulk issues he drew. As a young impressionable kid, I used to think that the artists were somehow enchanted with far greater powers than the characters they actually drew. They had to be. After all, they drew them so precisely. Anyone who could capture such power on those pages had to harness a considerable amount of it themselves.

 

I had a scrapbook that was dedicated to the Hulk. 90% of the drawings were from Trimpe's work on that series. What a rag that scrapbooks turned into; all my friends and cousins used to tear sheets out of it, keeping the drawings they liked best. In the end, it was nothing more than just two hard cardboard covers. tongue.gif

 

Herb Trimpe was a childhood hero to me. And reading that article made me realize that, sadly, the real heroes in life sometimes fall the hardest.

 

I'm not much into modern comics. And so my real first experience over the excitement caused by the Batman 608 RRP was at the Toronto Comicon charity auction. But when COI posted the thread about original art, and cover recreations, it allowed me to give the Batman cover a real hard look. After studying Jim Lee's attempt at one of my favourite characters, I was inspired to have a go at it.

 

But I kept thinking about that Trimpe article. And then I just stopped thinking about it, and decided to actually do something.

 

I'm glad I did..

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OldGuy

OldGuy

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That was cool. I had to drop a couple more bids, but that damn Diesel character seems to have placed a hefty proxy bid. I have a feeling we'll be finding out what his max is before the day is done. grin.gif

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