Collecting newer OA - Pencils, Inks, or Both?

[Mean Green-migration]

Ideally, inks over original pencils are best for me. However, there is also a charm to pencil only pages. I do own a few pencil only pieces of OA and, though I've said to myself that I'd like to complete the set, I find it less of a "priority" to get the blue-line inked pages than if a new page presents itself.

 

I still do believe I will one day track down the inked counterparts but there always seems to be another commission or splash/cover that becomes available... .

 

 

[Tony S]

paintings

 

Excuse me - did anyone notice this reply? Here's the best answer. Paintings are paintings - be they "vintage" and 50 years old or "modern" and 5 months. They have never had word ballons, never had titles.

 

I realize that pencils represent the original concept - but no matter how detailed they are not the published art. A polished draft is still a draft. The published art is the inked version. Getting the inker to ink the pencils years after the art is published isn't the published art either. It's a commision - by a collector - of the original pencils being inked .

 

It is something the hobby will have to come to grips with in the future - as this method of creating the art is the future.

 

Perhaps in the future - if art that is pencilled and inked has more collector value in the aftermarket - we'll see more artists inking their own pencils. A few artists quickly come to mind that produce beautifully finished work when they both pencil and ink.

 

[Pete Marino]

There are also guys that are doing just pencils and never even getting digitally inked.

 

Off the top of my head, I know that Kubert did it for 1602 an example (not that those pages are available)

[JadeGiant]

Preference in order

 

1 Penciled/inked page

2 Penciled page

3 Penciled page accompanied by inked page

4 Inked page only

 

 

I agree with the notion that I want the pencils, even if beneath inks. If they are split up and separate I generally prefer the pencils. This is largely dependant on the penciler. I have noticed a trend for pencilers to be less detailed in their work as it will be cleaned up in the inking process. I am relatively new to the OA collecting hobby so this may not be as much of a new thing, rather something that is noticed more now that the penciled pages are made available without ink as opposed to more traditional method of almost always pencil and ink on the page. If the pencils are too loose/rough/etc., I find myself in a quandary – the pencils alone don’t appeal to me due to their unfinished nature and the blue-lined inks don’t appeal to me because they don’t have the original pencils. In this case, I generally pass on the page(s) all together. I get the notion if inks being the published page but it just doesn’t do it for me unless the inker really blows me away (very possible, just not common). I have a couple pages inked over blue lines and I have not decided if I want to keep them or not – I think I will ultimately sell them to acquire some penciled or penciled/inked pages.

 

 

 

[LastRaven]

I have a similar question too... I mean I really like transformers series, so I can get a lot of the older inks over pencils.

 

Unfortunately, the modern stuff is separated between the pencils and inks, so I can only grab what I can, when I can. There are a few pencil and ink pieces done by the same artist (Guido Guidi) that I have picked up, but a large percent of what I have that is just inks because the pencils aren't available since the inkers and pencillers work separately.

 

It's funny that a lot of the inks for the current series aren't available because the artist did them in pencil and then digitally colored and inked them himself later

[Claudio]

Like most, I prefer inked pages over pencils however, I have no problem with just pencils only. I will mention, that I am don't buy any modern stuff second hand (unless I am certain of the creative process) because I do get concerned with disclosure. I think this practice of inking over bluelines will depress the value of the modern market for a while. It just creates a lot of uncertainty.

 

[jick]

I don't mind the inked page only as long as it is the published version and it is from a reputable inker and not just some "filler" inker.

 

To me it looks better on my collection and it is more affordable. It is also the one used in the published version so if you display it side by side with the actual comic, you can see the similarity.

 

Sometimes, the pencils are faint and because the inker added a lot of his own touches, the identity of the pencils and the actual page is not easily apparent.

 

While most of my collection will be older art where the inkers really ink over the actual pencils, when I do get modern art, I would probably prefer the inked page.

 

Consider me in the minority.