seems like no more adam hughes con sketches

[SignatureSelect]

Couldn't the guy at least wait a month? I mean I don't think it is the fact people sell. I think it is the fact people lie and beg then put it up 20 minutes after they get it. I only sell if I get an upgrade.

 

When artist see their art for sale on ebay for exuberant prices by people who specifically bought the art to sell it makes them feel like worker monkeys and whores.

 

It kind of degrades them and cheapens their work.

 

These guys are human beings and have feelings. They want to go to conventions to have a good time and meet people and perhaps make a living. They are not simply here for our amusement.

 

The fact that they sign and do sketches is simply a biproduct of them attending different festivals & conventions.

 

The quicker people realize that the better off we will be.

[white_pages-migration]

I'm not understanding what this guy is biatching and whining about. It's called capitalism and he knows his artwork is a hot commodity and will undoubtedly be sold now or a hundred years from now at some kind of a margin or profit. What Adam needs to do is draw/ink/sketch whatever for a set price on each piece as to what he thinks each's value is worth; charge that exact price and be done with it. If people stick their nose in the air at his pricing it is their loss and he can tell them to off. If you don't want to pay money for it then go away. Doing a little bit of research on his own about the current prices of his own OA would go a long ways for him.

[comix4fun]

I'm not understanding what this guy is biatching and whining about. It's called capitalism and he knows his artwork is a hot commodity and will undoubtedly be sold now or a hundred years from now at some kind of a margin or profit. What Adam needs to do is draw/ink/sketch whatever for a set price on each piece as to what he thinks each's value is worth; charge that exact price and be done with it. If people stick their nose in the air at his pricing it is their loss and he can tell them to off. If you don't want to pay money for it then go away. Doing a little bit of research on his own about the current prices of his own OA would go a long ways for him.

 

 

You may want to research the past history of the artist and why he does what he does at shows before offering him advice.

 

He has a very clear knowledge of what his artwork is worth, probably better than anyone else.

 

He realized he was selling his convention sketches for well under market value. This was done in an effort to put some of his art into the hands of real fans who could not spend $3500 for a convention sketch auction, or $5,000 to $15,000 for his published covers.

 

He priced them this way intentionally and went to pain-staking effort to try and place these pieces into the hands of appreciative fans. Most of the time it worked well.

 

Sometimes, however, someone eyeballs him as an ATM machine. Sometimes, like this time for example, he whines and cries and pleads and begs and lies his way into convincing Adam that he's a real fan and really wants the piece for himself.

 

Then he puts it on EBay within 2 hours of the end of the show. Total con-man tactics. Lying to the artist's face in order to curry favor and get a sketch.

 

Adam only did 3 sketches over the weekend and one of them went to a mercenary who put himself in front of everyone else and in front of doing the right thing and the honest thing.

 

So Adam knows exactly what his artwork is worth. Up until now he was trying to do the right thing, the fair thing. One too many people took advantage of that in a really way.

 

So as Allison (Adam's wife and manager put it) since they are going to end up on Ebay the convention sketches will start on ebay and people can bid for their guaranteed sketch.

[Speedy-D]

I'm not understanding what this guy is biatching and whining about. It's called capitalism and he knows his artwork is a hot commodity and will undoubtedly be sold now or a hundred years from now at some kind of a margin or profit. What Adam needs to do is draw/ink/sketch whatever for a set price on each piece as to what he thinks each's value is worth; charge that exact price and be done with it. If people stick their nose in the air at his pricing it is their loss and he can tell them to off. If you don't want to pay money for it then go away. Doing a little bit of research on his own about the current prices of his own OA would go a long ways for him.

 

 

You may want to research the past history of the artist and why he does what he does at shows before offering him advice.

 

He has a very clear knowledge of what his artwork is worth, probably better than anyone else.

 

He realized he was selling his convention sketches for well under market value. This was done in an effort to put some of his art into the hands of real fans who could not spend $3500 for a convention sketch auction, or $5,000 to $15,000 for his published covers.

 

He priced them this way intentionally and went to pain-staking effort to try and place these pieces into the hands of appreciative fans. Most of the time it worked well.

 

Sometimes, however, someone eyeballs him as an ATM machine. Sometimes, like this time for example, he whines and cries and pleads and begs and lies his way into convincing Adam that he's a real fan and really wants the piece for himself.

 

Then he puts it on EBay within 2 hours of the end of the show. Total con-man tactics. Lying to the artist's face in order to curry favor and get a sketch.

 

Adam only did 3 sketches over the weekend and one of them went to a mercenary who put himself in front of everyone else and in front of doing the right thing and the honest thing.

 

So Adam knows exactly what his artwork is worth. Up until now he was trying to do the right thing, the fair thing. One too many people took advantage of that in a really way.

 

So as Allison (Adam's wife and manager put it) since they are going to end up on Ebay the convention sketches will start on ebay and people can bid for their guaranteed sketch.

I hear you man, it's an honorable thing to try to do. But it's too hard. How can he determine who's an "appreciative fan?" I mean, obviously he can't, or this wouldn't be happening right? But rather than going to the opposite extreme of auctioning his work off on ebay, he could try to find a rate that he'd be happy with, would weed out the cheap-o flippers, but would still get some artwork into the hands of the people who want it. And if it gets flipped, he won't mind as much because he sold it at a rate with which he's comfortable.

[Prince Namor]

Adam Hughes is in tough spot.

He's tried to be fair, but man, how could anyone justify doing the type of sketches HE does (maybe some of the best quality work done at shows) for $400, when he could easily do the same work for $2000?

It doesn't matter what anyone thinks of him or his place in comics history, the market says it all.

He's tried to be fair, but I could see how this would infuriate him.

 

I was #2 on the list at C2E2 (though he doesn't go in order), but by the time I had to leave on Saturday late afternoon he was still working on his first sketch and I figured, maybe next time.

Kicking myself hard for that one now.

[Lebowski]

Sometimes, like this time for example, he whines and cries and pleads and begs and lies his way into convincing Adam that he's a real fan and really wants the piece for himself.

 

Then he puts it on EBay within 2 hours of the end of the show. Lying to the artist's face in order to curry favor and get a sketch.

 

Yeah. Capitalism.

[itssmeeeeee]

That wonder woman sketch is BEAUTIFUL

[comix4fun]

I hear you man, it's an honorable thing to try to do. But it's too hard. How can he determine who's an "appreciative fan?" I mean, obviously he can't, or this wouldn't be happening right? But rather than going to the opposite extreme of auctioning his work off on ebay, he could try to find a rate that he'd be happy with, would weed out the cheap-o flippers, but would still get some artwork into the hands of the people who want it. And if it gets flipped, he won't mind as much because he sold it at a rate with which he's comfortable.

 

 

When his newer, copic colored, convention sketches come up for sale they for go for $2k to $3k.

 

So instead of charging that as a flat fee he is auctioning a guaranteed custom made piece, one for each day of the show. That way the market will determine what they are worth.

 

He only got three done at Boston. Which is the same amount he would have gotten done if he auctioned one a day. So it would net the same amount of sketches, at least at this show.

 

As for how to determine who's an appreciative fan, it's very hard. I have been managing convention appearances and table wrangling for several years for some very in-demand talent. At first it is hit and miss, but you learn the faces and names over time. Sure one will slip through from time to time, but Allison taught me everything I know about running a convention appearance the right way and making sure fans got taken care of, and she's very effective

 

I think in this case it was a whining, begging, pleading, fake fan who (obviously) had the dollars on his mind from moment one.

 

It's hard not to feel betrayed at that point, when someone is willing to lie to your face to take advantage of you and make a buck off of you like that.

 

He's been sketching at every show for over 20 years. That's Iron Man level output. If he's burned out on people trying to game him and the impossible task of trying to make everyone happy I think he's lasted about 15 years longer than I would have.

 

So he's still going to be sketching...there just won't be any more flipping.

[Turtle]

That's crazy talk until that same $200 bust sketch sells for $2K on eBay.

 

Still crazy talk in my world. I don't buy anything to resell it, so I don't care what I could get for it on ebay. And a quickie sketch by a modern artist isn't worth anything close to that to me. I'd rather get 4 Infantino head sketches for my $200. Or this Neal Adams for about half AH's asking price.

 

 

I have no idea when you got this sketch, but to be fair, Neal Adams was charging $200 for head sketches and $500 for busts at Dragon Con and NYCC 2010. Under normal circumstances, your Green Arrow sketch would be a $300-$500 sketch if you were to commission it today.

[nickwire]

i met adam once a few years ago and he was a cool guy, ive heard alot of things about him being not too nice, grumpy etc etc but we had a nice conversation. as for his art, i know im in the catagory that can not own any of his work, i just cant justify it and im fine with that, i love getting the sketch books all the same.

i messaged the wonder woman too through ebay and congratulated him on ruining conventions for adam and his fans, oddly...no reply

[Speedy-D]

That's crazy talk until that same $200 bust sketch sells for $2K on eBay.

 

Still crazy talk in my world. I don't buy anything to resell it, so I don't care what I could get for it on ebay. And a quickie sketch by a modern artist isn't worth anything close to that to me. I'd rather get 4 Infantino head sketches for my $200. Or this Neal Adams for about half AH's asking price.

 

 

I have no idea when you got this sketch, but to be fair, Neal Adams was charging $200 for head sketches and $500 for busts at Dragon Con and NYCC 2010. Under normal circumstances, your Green Arrow sketch would be a $300-$500 sketch if you were to commission it today.

I got it last year at NYCC. And he was charging $500 for head sketches throughout the show. On Sunday he reduced the price to $125, so I splurged and got the Green Arrow. So, I guess it was a bit of a disingenuous example. But really I was just being lazy. The real point is, Adams charges what he thinks is fair, or what the market will handle. he's not setting his prices to be nice (although that's a totally admirable thing to do). I got the feeling, after talking with him for a while about his prices, flipping, etc., that he'd found a place where he was happy. He can do sketches for fans without feeling like he's ripping himself off or setting himself up to be taken advantage of. Then, whenever he wants, he can reduce the price for a while to do some folks a favor, to sell more, or for whatever reason he may have.

[Turtle]

You nailed it. His random price adjustments were the reason I put "under normal circumstances" in my post. Your initial point was taken. (thumbs u I'm regularly asked to get sketches for people at shows and I just didn't want them to think that I could get them a head/shoulders sketch by Neal Adams for half of Adam Hughes' price.

[Speedy-D]

You nailed it. His random price adjustments were the reason I put "under normal circumstances" in my post. Your initial point was taken. (thumbs u I'm regularly asked to get sketches for people at shows and I just didn't want them to think that I could get them a head/shoulders sketch by Neal Adams for half of Adam Hughes' price.

O, absolutely. His normal price is $500 to be sure.

[NewWorldOrder]

I usually do not post in this section, but since I got my first artwork commission done this past weekend from Rob Liefled at WW Anaheim I would like to say a couple things.

 

When I asked Rob to recreate the cover for NM #93 he agreed and then I agreed on his asking price which was very fair BTW and well worth the casssshhhh.

 

I said a lot appreciative segments to him but basically I said this to him, "Rob I am not going to sell this because I grew up with your artwork, etc......"

 

Rob's answer to me was, "John honestly if you sell it that is your business since I am charging money to do this the sketch it is yours to do with it what ever you want. "

 

I assured him though I have no intention of selling, but to me Rob's thought process would be how I would think if I was an artist.

 

Man did he do an amazing job of one of may favorite covers.

 

 

 

I think anyone who buys something with a deceiving notion that it is for their personal collection just to get a discount on that item just to in turn flip it is a total scumbag.

 

However, an artist lists prices to which they are comfortable in selling their commission sketches for at shows or on their websites. So whether it is a fan, flipper, or this total liar like this butt-head they have to come to some rationale that they agreed to do the sketch for that predetermined price. So.....

 

I am not really a fan of Adam Hughes artwork, but I can understand why he would get so upset it is perfectly natural as I would be ticked off as well. However I think his new eBay way might alienate some of his actual fans. People won't be paying thousands to just have the right to get a sketch by him at a future date, especially if the character Adam will be drawing is still yet unknown. The potential for people to flip will still be easy, and the auctions will probably still end close to what he is normally charging in the first place.

 

He could just raise his prices that he usually charges, but when do you get to a point where you overvalue your work, and price your fans out of wanting your commissions.

 

Perfect example for me is Neal Adams, who I love, but I value his current pricing structure for bust & full figures too overvalued. I have seen some of my friends pay $500-$1000 for his work in the past couple of years, and they all were disappointed for paying all that money to get Neal Adams artwork that is shell of his former self. I wouldn't pay more than $200.00 for one of his busts, but that is me.

 

 

 

I guess my advice to Mr. Hughes would be don't let one bad apple hurt the fans that actually love your work. (thumbs u

[malvin]

 

 

I am not really a fan of Adam Hughes artwork, but I can understand why he would get so upset it is perfectly natural as I would be ticked off as well. However I think his new eBay way might alienate some of his actual fans. People won't be paying thousands to just have the right to get a sketch by him at a future date, especially if the character Adam will be drawing is still yet unknown. The potential for people to flip will still be easy, and the auctions will probably still end close to what he is normally charging in the first place.

 

He could just raise his prices that he usually charges, but when do you get to a point where you overvalue your work, and price your fans out of wanting your commissions.

I guess my advice to Mr. Hughes would be don't let one bad apple hurt the fans that actually love your work. (thumbs u

 

I guess I'm not understanding something. His guaranteed sketches on ebay have been going for $2K to $3K for awhile and I think it will continue, if not increase (assuming that some people held back on bidding due to the chance of a subsidized sketch).

 

When you win a guaranteed sketch, you pick the character, as you would for any con commission.

 

I also don't see how the flipping potential is still easy. Everyone is already saying that $2-3K per sketch is high, you are saying you can easily sell it for more? Please point these people out for me, I have alot of swampland available (Swamp Thing might be there too)

 

I also don't see how the fans that love Adam's work will be hurt if he charges fair market value for his sketches.

 

Malvin

[NewWorldOrder]

 

 

I am not really a fan of Adam Hughes artwork, but I can understand why he would get so upset it is perfectly natural as I would be ticked off as well. However I think his new eBay way might alienate some of his actual fans. People won't be paying thousands to just have the right to get a sketch by him at a future date, especially if the character Adam will be drawing is still yet unknown. The potential for people to flip will still be easy, and the auctions will probably still end close to what he is normally charging in the first place.

 

He could just raise his prices that he usually charges, but when do you get to a point where you overvalue your work, and price your fans out of wanting your commissions.

I guess my advice to Mr. Hughes would be don't let one bad apple hurt the fans that actually love your work. (thumbs u

 

I guess I'm not understanding something. His guaranteed sketches on ebay have been going for $2K to $3K for awhile and I think it will continue, if not increase (assuming that some people held back on bidding due to the chance of a subsidized sketch).

 

When you win a guaranteed sketch, you pick the character, as you would for any con commission.

 

I also don't see how the flipping potential is still easy. Everyone is already saying that $2-3K per sketch is high, you are saying you can easily sell it for more? Please point these people out for me, I have alot of swampland available (Swamp Thing might be there too)

 

I also don't see how the fans that love Adam's work will be hurt if he charges fair market value for his sketches.

 

Malvin

 

Well I am shocked that people would pay that high for his work. I am seeing on eBay that his head busts go for about $50.00, but then I see this auction:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Original-Adam-Hughes-Sketch-YOUR-Choice-/250809396890?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6567ae9a

 

So I guess you are right that he can get that amount.

 

I guess I am just not impressed with his work personally so I am not rationalizing why people would pay that high for his work.

 

My only disagreement is most of his fans obviously can not afford $2000-4000+ for sketch.

[Pirate]

so whats liefeld charging for cover commissions?

[comix4fun]

 

Well I am shocked that people would pay that high for his work. I am seeing on eBay that his head busts go for about $50.00, but then I see this auction:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Original-Adam-Hughes-Sketch-YOUR-Choice-/250809396890?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6567ae9a

 

So I guess you are right that he can get that amount.

 

 

You can't compare freebee 30 second sketches (or $5 for charity) with full on quality sketches.

 

Here's a freebee:

 

Spoiler tags so the image doesn't take up the whole page

 

 

 

 

Here a real convention sketch:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I guess I am just not impressed with his work personally so I am not rationalizing why people would pay that high for his work.

 

My only disagreement is most of his fans obviously can not afford $2000-4000+ for sketch.

 

To each his own. That's the beauty of artwork. Everyone can find something that floats their boat, and it's usually different for a lot of folks.

 

It's like Liefeld, I am sure you love his work, especially given that you paid for a commission piece by him. To put it mildly, I am not very impressed with his work.

 

So if you told me what your idea of "reasonable" was for him doing that recreation I might think it's a ghastly price that I would never pay.

 

Adam Hughes has well in excess of 10,000 people between his yahoo group and deviant art followers. His sketches (whether resale on Ebay or presold on Ebay) are all between $2k and $4k for the quality pieces.

 

It would probably shock you to hear that his published work sells between $5k and $15k. But you aren't a fan of his work, so you'd have no reason to pay attention to it. However, given how active, fervent, and enthusiastic his fans and the market for his work is if you spent some time looking around you'd realize it's not so shocking.

 

It also explains the constant struggle dealing with people who will lie, cheat, steal and con in order to get a sketch out of him simply to turn a buck.

 

He's mostly upset and annoyed that someone lied to his face that way, we'd all be.

 

Also he's been trying to please everyone at every show for over 20 years and it's a losing battle. Most folks would prefer some face time, a chat, some signatures, and by limiting the sketching and bringing some predone pieces to the show (as he mentioned) he can do just that. He can make hundreds of fans happy instead of 2 or 3 and those fans can still have a chance to pick up a piece in a couple of different ways.

 

The guy's put up with more and done more to try and appease his giant fan base than I think anyone will ever know.

[Antithesis-migration]

 

C,

 

The guy's put up with more and done more to try and appease his giant fan base than I think anyone will ever know.

 

Couldn't agree with you more, there. Which makes what's happened all the more sad.

 

 

casl

[MagnusX]

That's crazy talk until that same $200 bust sketch sells for $2K on eBay.

 

Still crazy talk in my world. I don't buy anything to resell it, so I don't care what I could get for it on ebay. And a quickie sketch by a modern artist isn't worth anything close to that to me. I'd rather get 4 Infantino head sketches for my $200. Or this Neal Adams for about half AH's asking price.

 

 

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You are a smart men (thumbs u[/font]