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New to OA Collecting, Advice, tips?
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1,154 posts in this topic

On 8/16/2022 at 3:13 PM, Andahaion said:

Welcome!  Good list of artists.  I recently secured work (commission) from Priscilla Petraites.  I think she may fit in nicely with your list.  I also really like a Greek artist who goes by Dani, or Dani Strips on Instagram.  She's great and uses negative spacing wonderfully.  

Regarding budgeting, it's easy to get out over your skis.  I'd generally recommend pacing yourself.  There is a lot of art out in the world, lots of choices.  I'd also generally recommend quality over quantity, but I also understand the excitement aspect of acquiring work.  But, once you start buying more expensive pieces you may look at the cheaper stuff differently.  

I would say most on this board collect work pre-1990.  There are some of us who dabble in more current art, but this isn't really the venue for that in my opinion.  But, there is a wealth of historical knowledge here and that is really valuable.  I generally collect backwards.  I look to the art on the page, then usually nostalgia or storyline a close second.  Most folks collect based on nostalgia, which is cool too.  

Most here also don't respond well to/think much of artist proofs.  I have one piece, the Hawkman #29 cover by Mikel Janin.  It'll likely be my only print (at least in comic art circles).  I know that Jimenez is pretty much 100% artist proof, so that may be your only recourse for him.  I love his work and might be someone I could buy a print from in the future.  But I love the traditional stuff too much.  

Welcome again.  I'm sure others will chime in...

Thanks! I will definitely check out Priscilla Petraites. I also like Dani and got a convention sketch from her in 2020!

I just created a Comic Art Fans and added all the pages and a few of the con sketches I’ve gotten. https://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=177595

That makes sense about the time period focus of most collectors on the board. I’m also in some Facebook groups which focus more on commissions/sketch collecting.

I bought 2 artist proofs from Jorge Jimenez, and that will probably be the extent of my artist proof collecting. I just really love his work.

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On 8/16/2022 at 1:28 PM, Hawkgirl said:

Hi! I’m new to this forum. I got started in the OA hobby in 2018 after getting a sketch cover at a con, and I’ve been collecting comics my whole life. I’m slowly easing into getting more serious about collecting OA, both commissions and OA pages. Any advice on budgeting, pacing yourself, targeting certain artists?

I’m late 20s and single, no kids, but want to balance this hobby with saving for the future. I’m currently focusing a bit on ‘quantity’ over ‘quality’, so I’m buying more smaller/less expensive things rather than more epensive/bigger names as I start building out my collection.

Some of my favorite current artists are Dan Mora, Jorge Jimenez, Chris Samnee, Doc Shaner, Tom Reilly, Bilquis Evely, and Elsa Charretier. I would love to hear any recomendations of similar artists, especially ones who have that throwback, simplified comic art, or use negative space in their style. I also want to get into collecting up-and-coming artists if you know of any.

Do you all collect mostly current art or older art, like pages from your favorite comics as a kid, or both?

How do you feel about Artist’s Proofs for current artists who work entirely digitally?

Welcome aboard. I’ve bought art, on and off, for over 40 years. I was “off” when married. Caveat emptor, but I definitely got the better of the deal. I also specialize in one character and love comparing styles. For me, half the fun (and frustration) is finding something worth buying. 

First, DO NOT neglect your IRA or 401(k) for this stuff. That may seem like a silly warning, but if you really get into it, buying stuff becomes like eating potato chips. 
 
Second, if you are not familiar with Comic Art Tracker (CAT) sign up. Almost everything on-line, except Comiclink art auctions, which shows up on line is on CAT. Be very careful with eBay. Fake art of popular artists is disturbingly common. Bruce Timm, Peanuts, and Jack Kirby are some of the more common fake subjects or artists. 

Regarding quality over quantity, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and in this hobby, price is not proportionately related to beauty. Prices are often a function of nostalgia and popularity, of the character, artist and storyline. So long as a piece is published by the Big Two, however, it has a guaranteed level of quality. So, I would stick to that for now (at least). Just flip through CAT and look for stuff. If I were you, I would not buy “artists proofs” or digital art. It has little resale value, since they are really just prints. But, I love modern and happily add it.

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Re: Artist's Proofs, a.k.a., one time prints
Not for me. First, when times get tough, another can be printed. Second, I've never been a print guy; I get annoyed when Kickstarters add them. 

Re: current art or older art
Me: Both. I still read comics and find artists that I like a lot.

The board as a whole: Most everyone here indulges their specific nostalgia and seems to like many of the same Silver Age / Bronze Age artists. You will seldom see discussions of GA pieces or current piece though there are always exceptions.

Re: Artist recommendations
Nothing at the moment. Sorry.

Re: Focus
My advice:

  • Take a few months (6) before buying whatever is expensive for you. Use the time to learn.
  • Read this article, I think it's useful, but I might be biased: Pricing Comic Art. It's not just about pricing.
  • ComicArtTracker is your friend.
  • Buy art that makes you feel emotion, i.e., buy what YOU like
  • Don't waste money on pieces that you can afford; deferred gratification is a wonderful thing. Save and buy something meaningful
  • Themes aren't necessary, but they can be a lot of fun.
    • My main them is artists I like and the characters that I associate with them, but I have others that you can read about here.
    • You can find a lot of interesting themes here. Check them out!
  • Don't worry about missing out on a page. It is seldom ever the case that its the only one that will appear. Bide your time, build your ammo.
Edited by alxjhnsn
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What is "dot-tone" when referenced to comic book art? I'm looking at a piece and it is described as pencils, ink, & dot-tone. The seller has other pieces that are for sale from the same story. However those pages come in pairs, one is pencils and the other one is just inks and dot tone. Just wondering what that is since I've never seen it before in comic art description.

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On 8/20/2022 at 10:07 AM, Nuttzo said:

What is "dot-tone" when referenced to comic book art? I'm looking at a piece and it is described as pencils, ink, & dot-tone. The seller has other pieces that are for sale from the same story. However those pages come in pairs, one is pencils and the other one is just inks and dot tone. Just wondering what that is since I've never seen it before in comic art description.

I'm gonna guess that's a way to say zipatone.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screentone

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I have a quick question regarding backing boards

I've been looking at the acid-free boards from BagsUnlimited (https://www.bagsunlimited.com/category/129/backings-for-original-comic-art) and I like the thought of using the standard acid-free boards just to add some rigidness/thickness it would add to the art+mylar. Make it more comfortable when handling the art, and seems like the added thickness would make it more safe especially when turning pages in a portfolio.

My concern is that it seems like the standard acid-free boards aren't really acid-free since I don't believe they're coated with anything, BU only mentions that the super-acid free boards are coated with Calcium Carbonate. So if the standard boards don't have the carbonate coating, how is it acid free? My understanding on this is limited but I believe the carbonate coating is what makes boards acid-free, am I wrong?

I'd prefer to just buy Standard to save on costs and I think the Super Acid Free boards are too thick and would cause a tight fit when trying to slide it in the Mylar Bag. But if the backing board isn't truly acid free, would having it be in contact with the art cause more harm than just not having a backing board at all?

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For pieces over say $1k, get the Super Acid Free boards. I prefer the thicker board due to the 13x19 size of the folio pages -- less flex. (You are using 13x19, right? :baiting:)

And if the folio thing gets too unwieldy, switch to a buffered or MicroChamber gallery box.

 

Edited by BCarter27
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On 8/20/2022 at 10:28 AM, Nuttzo said:
On 8/20/2022 at 10:23 AM, Twanj said:

I'm gonna guess that's a way to say zipatone.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screentone

Thanks

Also, a moiré pattern is created when 2 or more pieces of zipatone are overlapping.  Gray Morrow seemed to do this a lot.  I guess he wanted to use up all the random pieces of zipatone that were lying around.

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On 8/16/2022 at 12:28 PM, Hawkgirl said:

Hi! I’m new to this forum. I got started in the OA hobby in 2018 after getting a sketch cover at a con, and I’ve been collecting comics my whole life. I’m slowly easing into getting more serious about collecting OA, both commissions and OA pages. Any advice on budgeting, pacing yourself, targeting certain artists?

I’m late 20s and single, no kids, but want to balance this hobby with saving for the future. I’m currently focusing a bit on ‘quantity’ over ‘quality’, so I’m buying more smaller/less expensive things rather than more epensive/bigger names as I start building out my collection.

Some of my favorite current artists are Dan Mora, Jorge Jimenez, Chris Samnee, Doc Shaner, Tom Reilly, Bilquis Evely, and Elsa Charretier. I would love to hear any recomendations of similar artists, especially ones who have that throwback, simplified comic art, or use negative space in their style. I also want to get into collecting up-and-coming artists if you know of any.

Do you all collect mostly current art or older art, like pages from your favorite comics as a kid, or both?

How do you feel about Artist’s Proofs for current artists who work entirely digitally?

Welcome! You've already made some good choices, like coming here and joining CAF. Learning the community of collectors and dealers and agents will pay dividends. Premium CAF membership is worth it, to display more and higher res images and to support CAF itself. There's also an active CAF YouTube channel where you can see the dealers and collectors in action.

Here's a thread discussing modern artists; I posted quite a few examples, as did others: 

 

 

I am a relatively new collector myself (started 2019). As you can see on my CAF link, I get a good bit of modern work. It doesn't have the nostalgia factor -- yet -- but is quality art and is far more affordable than older pieces. I don't go for "artist proofs" or "monoprints" seems like a scheme to get people to reclassify prints as original art. There's too much actual original art available anyway.

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On 8/23/2022 at 8:41 AM, RBerman said:

Welcome! You've already made some good choices, like coming here and joining CAF. Learning the community of collectors and dealers and agents will pay dividends. Premium CAF membership is worth it, to display more and higher res images and to support CAF itself. There's also an active CAF YouTube channel where you can see the dealers and collectors in action.

Here's a thread discussing modern artists; I posted quite a few examples, as did others: 

 

 

I am a relatively new collector myself (started 2019). As you can see on my CAF link, I get a good bit of modern work. It doesn't have the nostalgia factor -- yet -- but is quality art and is far more affordable than older pieces. I don't go for "artist proofs" or "monoprints" seems like a scheme to get people to reclassify prints as original art. There's too much actual original art available anyway.

Thanks for the advice! Your collection is awesome. You have a ton of art for having gotten started so recently.

I think I’ll focus on collecting interior pages from current artists. I think that today’s artists are doing great work. Plus, a lot of the artists I grew up reading, starting in the early 2000s, are still active. I would also read a lot of back issues from the Silver Age and Bronze Age, but I feel less of a nostalgic pull toward those, and starting with modern artists feels like a more realistic starting point for the hobby. I would like to get some covers and earlier art in the future, but I’ll work my way up to that.

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On 8/16/2022 at 1:28 PM, Hawkgirl said:

Hi! I’m new to this forum. I got started in the OA hobby in 2018 after getting a sketch cover at a con, and I’ve been collecting comics my whole life. I’m slowly easing into getting more serious about collecting OA, both commissions and OA pages. Any advice on budgeting, pacing yourself, targeting certain artists?

I’m late 20s and single, no kids, but want to balance this hobby with saving for the future. I’m currently focusing a bit on ‘quantity’ over ‘quality’, so I’m buying more smaller/less expensive things rather than more epensive/bigger names as I start building out my collection.

Some of my favorite current artists are Dan Mora, Jorge Jimenez, Chris Samnee, Doc Shaner, Tom Reilly, Bilquis Evely, and Elsa Charretier. I would love to hear any recomendations of similar artists, especially ones who have that throwback, simplified comic art, or use negative space in their style. I also want to get into collecting up-and-coming artists if you know of any.

Do you all collect mostly current art or older art, like pages from your favorite comics as a kid, or both?

How do you feel about Artist’s Proofs for current artists who work entirely digitally?

buyfromcomicartists.com is a directory of nearly every artist who has worked on major books who sells their art online. Worth a peruse if you're itching to spend money! 

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On 9/8/2022 at 3:46 PM, Dr. Balls said:

I am a former digital artist from the late 90's through the mid-2000s (not a comic artist) and would like to chime in here on Artist Proofs (APs).

Originally, APs were made on-press, meaning the artist was there during the actual printing to make sure the colors were what they wanted on their lithographs. They would make adjustments to color density, etc to get the colors they wanted. While they were doing this, they would pull out a sheet and look it over, the artist telling the pressman where to make an adjustment. The artist would set this print aside and repeat the process until he got to where he wanted to be. This stack of prints were the "artist proofs". He would sign them 1/5 or however many there were, and they had a slight variation from the final run.

Sometime in the 90's (I put the blame on Bev Doolittle and Thomas Kinkaide) artists realized they could get a premium for their APs and they would just sign a random stack of prints, calling them Artist Proofs. I saw examples of this several times in an art and framing gallery I worked at that dealt with Bev Doolittle prints in the mid-90s. Side by side, they were the exact same - even under a loupe inspection (CMYK rosettes being similar if not exact - as much as the human eye could perceive it).

Flash forward to the digital age: computer generated artwork that had no tangible "original". When I would make a lithograph of one of my pieces, I made appointments to be on press, so I could create a few APs - back in these days, color calibration was a lot more challenging - as your computer monitor may not be calibrated to the color space of the printing company, which could lead to problems with color variance on press. So, I always did press proofs and pulled the APs like everyone else.

When the technology advanced to digital printing, color calibration was much easier to manage and creating an AP didn't require a lot of coordination. I would simply order a proof print of my file, they would print one and I would make sure it was how I wanted it to look. If it wasn't, I'd make changes on my file on my end and reprint. This usually meant I only had 2 or 3 APs.

With modern technology (starting around 2010) color calibration and color spaces were really dialed in, and I could print something through a vendor and it would practically be exact to what I was seeing on screen. Starting around then, I don't think I ever had an AP because they weren't needed. I cant speak for modern comic artists, but I know that there is no realistic way they could make APs in quantities over 5 and have it be a "true" artist proof. Anyone selling APs numbered to 20-25 is padding the edition, in my opinion.

So....to my point: I would not pay a premium for an AP unless it had true variances from the rest of the edition, and I would ask questions regarding the AP process the artist undertook to create them. I believe that many artists selling APs are simply offering a sub-edition to their regular edition. Which may make it "valuable" to a collector - but if it's not created in the true fashion of what an artist proof is, it may A) hamper resale down the road or at worst B) just be a gimmicky way to sell prints. Bev Doolittle was one of the most popular artists of the late 80s and 90s, and she absolutely flooded the market with endless prints and "limited" editions of prints going up to 100,000 copies. This gimmicky approach killed the value of her art and left a lot of people misled about the value of her work, which went from high-end limited edition to the price of a poster at Wal-Mart.

I never created editions over 200 (and I probably wouldn't have sold many larger than that lol ). My over-arching goal was not to flood the market and cheapen my work in that way. If you are buying limited editions or APs, I would spend a little time researching the aftermarket, see how they hold value, etc. Just spend some time getting to know the marketing practices of the artists you buy from so that you not only buy the piece you want, but that you get to enjoy the pride of ownership that comes with having a truly "limited" piece of artwork.

This is just one Boardies opinion.

 

Those sound like real “artist’s proofs”—something useful for the artist. What I think we see are simply digital 1 of alleged 1 prints (or perhaps more like 1 of 10?) with the seller slapping on that label to pretend it is something special besides a print. That’s why there is so little interest here.

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I have another question. I have a couple of pages, and most have the artist’s name on it, but one of the pages doesn’t. In general, I expect the artist’s name to be on the page somewhere, as well as the comic’s title for Marvel and DC work, so I’m not sure what to think about the page that is missing those (it’s from a Marvel comic but is on plain Bristol board instead of the official Marvel art board). 

What are your thoughts on getting a page signed by the artist (either if the page already has the artist’s name or if the name isn’t on there)? Is it normal to buy a page that doesn’t have the artist’s name anywhere on it? 

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On 9/10/2022 at 4:55 PM, Hawkgirl said:

I have another question. I have a couple of pages, and most have the artist’s name on it, but one of the pages doesn’t. In general, I expect the artist’s name to be on the page somewhere, as well as the comic’s title for Marvel and DC work, so I’m not sure what to think about the page that is missing those (it’s from a Marvel comic but is on plain Bristol board instead of the official Marvel art board). 

What are your thoughts on getting a page signed by the artist (either if the page already has the artist’s name or if the name isn’t on there)? Is it normal to buy a page that doesn’t have the artist’s name anywhere on it? 

I have some pages where the artist's name is on the top under Penciller and/or Inker, some pages where the artist signed with their signatures in the margins, some pages with both, and a few pages with neither. It varies, but I'd say it isn't too uncommon to get a page that doesn't have the artists name on it, it's more common if the artist did both the pencils and inks and thus was the only artist to ever handle that board, they usually just write the book title and issue # on it in those cases. 

Disclaimer: Most of the pages I own are from late 1990s onwards, anything before that might have different customs I'm not familiar with. 

Edited by JC25427N
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On 9/10/2022 at 4:58 PM, JC25427N said:

I have some pages where the artist's name is on the top under Penciller and/or Inker, some pages where the artist signed with their signatures in the margins, some pages with both, and a few pages with neither. It varies, but I'd say it isn't too uncommon to get a page that doesn't have the artists name on it, it's more common if the artist did both the pencils and inks and thus was the only person to ever handle that board, they usually just write the book title and issue # on it in those cases. 

Disclaimer: Most of the pages I own are from late 1990s onwards, anything before that might have different customs I'm not familiar with. 

Thanks for the response! That explains it. I hadn’t thought about it that way. The penciller and inker are the same, so that makes sense. It doesn’t have the book title on it, just the page number. I guess I’ll just have to remember what comic it’s from.

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On 9/8/2022 at 2:46 PM, Dr. Balls said:

I am a former digital artist from the late 90's through the mid-2000s (not a comic artist) and would like to chime in here on Artist Proofs (APs).

Originally, APs were made on-press, meaning the artist was there during the actual printing to make sure the colors were what they wanted on their lithographs. They would make adjustments to color density, etc to get the colors they wanted. While they were doing this, they would pull out a sheet and look it over, the artist telling the pressman where to make an adjustment. The artist would set this print aside and repeat the process until he got to where he wanted to be. This stack of prints were the "artist proofs". He would sign them 1/5 or however many there were, and they had a slight variation from the final run.

Sometime in the 90's (I put the blame on Bev Doolittle and Thomas Kinkaide) artists realized they could get a premium for their APs and they would just sign a random stack of prints, calling them Artist Proofs. I saw examples of this several times in an art and framing gallery I worked at that dealt with Bev Doolittle prints in the mid-90s. Side by side, they were the exact same - even under a loupe inspection (CMYK rosettes being similar if not exact - as much as the human eye could perceive it).

Flash forward to the digital age: computer generated artwork that had no tangible "original". When I would make a lithograph of one of my pieces, I made appointments to be on press, so I could create a few APs - back in these days, color calibration was a lot more challenging - as your computer monitor may not be calibrated to the color space of the printing company, which could lead to problems with color variance on press. So, I always did press proofs and pulled the APs like everyone else.

When the technology advanced to digital printing, color calibration was much easier to manage and creating an AP didn't require a lot of coordination. I would simply order a proof print of my file, they would print one and I would make sure it was how I wanted it to look. If it wasn't, I'd make changes on my file on my end and reprint. This usually meant I only had 2 or 3 APs.

With modern technology (starting around 2010) color calibration and color spaces were really dialed in, and I could print something through a vendor and it would practically be exact to what I was seeing on screen. Starting around then, I don't think I ever had an AP because they weren't needed. I cant speak for modern comic artists, but I know that there is no realistic way they could make APs in quantities over 5 and have it be a "true" artist proof. Anyone selling APs numbered to 20-25 is padding the edition, in my opinion.

So....to my point: I would not pay a premium for an AP unless it had true variances from the rest of the edition, and I would ask questions regarding the AP process the artist undertook to create them. I believe that many artists selling APs are simply offering a sub-edition to their regular edition. Which may make it "valuable" to a collector - but if it's not created in the true fashion of what an artist proof is, it may A) hamper resale down the road or at worst B) just be a gimmicky way to sell prints. Bev Doolittle was one of the most popular artists of the late 80s and 90s, and she absolutely flooded the market with endless prints and "limited" editions of prints going up to 100,000 copies. This gimmicky approach killed the value of her art and left a lot of people misled about the value of her work, which went from high-end limited edition to the price of a poster at Wal-Mart.

I never created editions over 200 (and I probably wouldn't have sold many larger than that lol ). My over-arching goal was not to flood the market and cheapen my work in that way. If you are buying limited editions or APs, I would spend a little time researching the aftermarket, see how they hold value, etc. Just spend some time getting to know the marketing practices of the artists you buy from so that you not only buy the piece you want, but that you get to enjoy the pride of ownership that comes with having a truly "limited" piece of artwork.

This is just one Boardies opinion.

 

Really useful information. Thanks.

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