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How much new comic art is digital ?!?

Started by Will_K,

43 posts in this topic

Will_K

Will_K

Posted
Posted

I was picking up a recent art purchase. I made a comment about how much new art there could be in the market. The response made me think about how much art could be digital (i.e. could not be sold in the market as "original art").

 

If I was an artist drawing a Top 10 book now, would I work digitally and forgo the chance of selling "original art" ??

 

I'm thinking in terms of line art (i.e. "pencils" and/or "inks") however you'd like to define it, that is NOT ON PAPER. I understand some artists may create breakdowns/layouts on paper (or digitally) and finish the art on paper (or digitally).

 

So if someone (e.g. the inker) wraps up the line work on paper (blue lines or pencils), that counts as "not digital". Otherwise, it's digital. Exclude colorists work (on paper) and painted art (on paper/canvas).

 

So how much new art is digital ?

 

 

 

 

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SquareChaos

SquareChaos

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I'm pretty new to all of this, but most of the art from the modern books that I've sought out, you can't really find much. When you can find it, it seems that almost all of it is inked blue line, which many more experienced collectors I've spoken to don't really even seem to consider OA.

 

 

Edit: Realized I should rephrase - there is a lot of modern art available, but for me personally, I often have trouble finding stuff from specific series, and some I can't find at all.... East of West for instance. There's a few covers floating around, but that's it as far as I know.

 

 

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Eric Seffinga

Eric Seffinga

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East of West for instance. There's a few covers floating around, but that's it as far as I know.

If you want a page from Nick's East of West work, you can always contact Felix, assuming you want a physical recreation of something that exists digitally.

 

Not sure if he's still doing what Felix mentions at the link below, but he'd be the one who could clarify...

http://www.felixcomicart.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=12094&ArtistId=566&Details=0&Mag=EAST+OF+WEST&From=TDetail

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Mighty Hal

Mighty Hal

Posted
Posted
East of West for instance. There's a few covers floating around, but that's it as far as I know.

If you want a page from Nick's East of West work, you can always contact Felix, assuming you want a physical recreation of something that exists digitally.

 

Not sure if he's still doing what Felix mentions at the link below, but he'd be the one who could clarify...

http://www.felixcomicart.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=12094&ArtistId=566&Details=0&Mag=EAST+OF+WEST&From=TDetail

 

Just doesn't feel like the same thing, does it?

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afowlerart

afowlerart

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Depends...most premier books from the top 4 publishers are usually penciled/inked traditionally (although inking over bluelines, allowing both pencilers and inkers to keep orig. art to sell). Lettering is 95% digital; the days of "complete" original pages (pencils, inks, letters) are pretty much gone.

 

Some pencilers who ink themselves will also blueline and copy their pencils to ink separately, which will increase their art sales (though I'd imagine it reduces the price per unit theycharge).

 

It's hard to tell, but I'd say about 54% of comics are done completely digitally these days.

 

Source: Brief stint working at Marvel.

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SquareChaos

SquareChaos

Posted
Posted
East of West for instance. There's a few covers floating around, but that's it as far as I know.

If you want a page from Nick's East of West work, you can always contact Felix, assuming you want a physical recreation of something that exists digitally.

 

Not sure if he's still doing what Felix mentions at the link below, but he'd be the one who could clarify...

http://www.felixcomicart.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=12094&ArtistId=566&Details=0&Mag=EAST+OF+WEST&From=TDetail

 

Just doesn't feel like the same thing, does it?

 

Yeah, that is basically where I am. People have me half convinced that I'm already settling due to my moderns just being 'original inks' lol

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Nexus

Nexus

Posted
Posted
East of West for instance. There's a few covers floating around, but that's it as far as I know.

If you want a page from Nick's East of West work, you can always contact Felix, assuming you want a physical recreation of something that exists digitally.

 

Not sure if he's still doing what Felix mentions at the link below, but he'd be the one who could clarify...

http://www.felixcomicart.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=12094&ArtistId=566&Details=0&Mag=EAST+OF+WEST&From=TDetail

 

Yes, this is the compromise I came up with for Nick, so that there'd be *something* for EoW fans. A bit of an experiment when we started. But the overall reaction has been positive, and we've got a backlog of requests.

 

You can view samples of Nick's EoW art here:

 

http://www.felixcomicart.com/ArtistGalleryTitleDetails.asp?Details=1&ArtistId=566&Mag=EAST+OF+WEST

 

There'd be even more if he had the time to take on every request. These aren't inexpensive, either, so fans (or enough of them, at least) have made the mental adjustment.

 

There are also pieces in the gallery that were drawn 100% on paper. Nick has been doing this with most covers in the last year or so. EoW was the first project he set out to do digitally, for time. No regrets (well, mostly:P), but for his next project, he plans/hopes to go back to paper. :wishluck:

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Nexus

Nexus

Posted
Posted
East of West for instance. There's a few covers floating around, but that's it as far as I know.

If you want a page from Nick's East of West work, you can always contact Felix, assuming you want a physical recreation of something that exists digitally.

 

Not sure if he's still doing what Felix mentions at the link below, but he'd be the one who could clarify...

http://www.felixcomicart.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=12094&ArtistId=566&Details=0&Mag=EAST+OF+WEST&From=TDetail

 

Just doesn't feel like the same thing, does it?

 

It's not for everyone. I can certainly understand. But, as I said, enough collectors/fans have been willing to accept this reality. My own feeling is that the hobby evolves, and collectors adapt. OA has changed in various ways over the decades: It was big, then small; it was lettered, then it wasn't; it was penciled on paper, now it's digital pencils; etc. What anyone is willing to accept is an individual decision.

 

(I do strongly believe that this is something that should be disclosed, however. I suspect there are other artists/reps who have followed our lead...but aren't disclosing and are passing off the art as 100% original on paper. Be sure to ask for clarification with artists who are otherwise working digitally.)

 

If anyone didn't already know, I love DKR. And even that OA has been problematic. There are MANY pages that were partially re-inked by Miller for publication...but only the unpublished Janson inks exist on paper. I bought a page that had several unpublished Janson-inked panels. Not ideal...but for me, better than nothing.

 

 

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SquareChaos

SquareChaos

Posted
Posted
East of West for instance. There's a few covers floating around, but that's it as far as I know.

If you want a page from Nick's East of West work, you can always contact Felix, assuming you want a physical recreation of something that exists digitally.

 

Not sure if he's still doing what Felix mentions at the link below, but he'd be the one who could clarify...

http://www.felixcomicart.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=12094&ArtistId=566&Details=0&Mag=EAST+OF+WEST&From=TDetail

 

Just doesn't feel like the same thing, does it?

 

It's not for everyone. I can certainly understand. But, as I said, enough collectors/fans have been willing to accept this reality. My own feeling is that the hobby evolves, and collectors adapt. OA has changed in various ways over the decades: It was big, then small; it was lettered, then it wasn't; it was penciled on paper, now it's digital pencils; etc. What anyone is willing to accept is an individual decision.

 

(I do strongly believe that this is something that should be disclosed, however. I suspect there are other artists/reps who have followed our lead...but aren't disclosing and are passing off the art as 100% original on paper. Be sure to ask for clarification with artists who are otherwise working digitally.)

 

If anyone didn't already know, I love DKR. And even that OA has been problematic. There are MANY pages that were partially re-inked by Miller for publication...but only the unpublished Janson inks exist on paper. I bought a page that had several unpublished Janson-inked panels. Not ideal...but for me, better than nothing.

 

 

Felix, thanks for providing your insight here. As someone new to collecting OA, it can be really difficult to navigate, and more importantly, understand, the hobby - almost everything I own is inks over blue line, and I often wonder if what I have is original or 'one of a kind' since it seems like it'd be easy to reproduce since so few people do pencils directly on the board these days. To me, the connection to a page is that it's the same published art that I originally loved in a comic, so it's an important distinction to me personally.

 

With regards to Nick's recreation work, I'm aware of that possibility, but my current focus is to get an original commission from him some day soon if I can't have a published page. In fact, you may or may not recall an email exchange with me trying to get on one of Nick's commission lists and not quite making it in time! One day though.

 

 

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Nexus

Nexus

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Posted
East of West for instance. There's a few covers floating around, but that's it as far as I know.

If you want a page from Nick's East of West work, you can always contact Felix, assuming you want a physical recreation of something that exists digitally.

 

Not sure if he's still doing what Felix mentions at the link below, but he'd be the one who could clarify...

http://www.felixcomicart.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=12094&ArtistId=566&Details=0&Mag=EAST+OF+WEST&From=TDetail

 

Just doesn't feel like the same thing, does it?

 

It's not for everyone. I can certainly understand. But, as I said, enough collectors/fans have been willing to accept this reality. My own feeling is that the hobby evolves, and collectors adapt. OA has changed in various ways over the decades: It was big, then small; it was lettered, then it wasn't; it was penciled on paper, now it's digital pencils; etc. What anyone is willing to accept is an individual decision.

 

(I do strongly believe that this is something that should be disclosed, however. I suspect there are other artists/reps who have followed our lead...but aren't disclosing and are passing off the art as 100% original on paper. Be sure to ask for clarification with artists who are otherwise working digitally.)

 

If anyone didn't already know, I love DKR. And even that OA has been problematic. There are MANY pages that were partially re-inked by Miller for publication...but only the unpublished Janson inks exist on paper. I bought a page that had several unpublished Janson-inked panels. Not ideal...but for me, better than nothing.

 

 

Felix, thanks for providing your insight here. As someone new to collecting OA, it can be really difficult to navigate, and more importantly, understand, the hobby - almost everything I own is inks over blue line, and I often wonder if what I have is original or 'one of a kind' since it seems like it'd be easy to reproduce since so few people do pencils directly on the board these days. To me, the connection to a page is that it's the same published art that I originally loved in a comic, so it's an important distinction to me personally.

 

With regards to Nick's recreation work, I'm aware of that possibility, but my current focus is to get an original commission from him some day soon if I can't have a published page. In fact, you may or may not recall an email exchange with me trying to get on one of Nick's commission lists and not quite making it in time! One day though.

 

 

You're welcome!

 

I agree that it's an important distinction. I also believe, though, that it's a distinction that will matter less over time, for many collectors. It's on paper, it's hand-drawn, it's one-of-a-kind. And just to show I put my money where my mouth is, I've made a five figure offer to a digital artist to draw on paper one of my favorite images from their comic (provided they adhere to the same conditions I set forth for Nick). So it's not just some convenient talk because I'm doing this for Nick...it's something I would get for myself, and I would pay as much for it as if it had originally been drawn on paper.

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Mighty Hal

Mighty Hal

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I agree that it's an important distinction. I also believe, though, that it's a distinction that will matter less over time, for many collectors. It's on paper, it's hand-drawn, it's one-of-a-kind. And just to show I put my money where my mouth is, I've made a five figure offer to a digital artist to draw on paper one of my favorite images from their comic (provided they adhere to the same conditions I set forth for Nick). So it's not just some convenient talk because I'm doing this for Nick...it's something I would get for myself, and I would pay as much for it as if it had originally been drawn on paper.

 

I suspect you're right. Minds and attitudes change. There was a time when I wouldn't collect anything that was pencils-only (I wanted the impact of ink over graphite). Since that time, I've adjusted my point of view and, now, two of my favorite pieces are penciled.

 

But for today, for now, I still want the actual cover produced on board by the artist's hand. The re-do of the digital image just doesn't interest me.

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Will_K

Will_K

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Minds and attitudes change.

 

As snobbish as it may seem now to look down your nose at art that was not drawn with pencils and inks on paper, in a few years it'll be ultra-snobbish.

 

As time goes on, the frame of reference will change. If you've never collected comic art before and your all-time favorite comic was produced digitally, what're you gonna to do ?

 

If you draw it... even if it's digital, people will come.

 

 

 

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SquareChaos

SquareChaos

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Minds and attitudes change.

 

As snobbish as it may seem now to look down your nose at art that was not drawn with pencils and inks on paper, in a few years it'll be ultra-snobbish.

 

As time goes on, the frame of reference will change. If you've never collected comic art before and your all-time favorite comic was produced digitally, what're you gonna to do ?

 

If you draw it... even if it's digital, people will come.

 

 

 

Surely there's a chance people lose interest? I mean, I have no numbers or facts, does anyone know at what rate modern pages sell compared to those from other eras? Maybe a drop off has already happened, maybe people that collect today mostly collect commissions or older pages?

 

I'm suppressing my confirmation bias here - I collect modern original art - but as I've expressed already in this thread, it doesn't mean that I don't have concerns about it.

 

I think the only thing we know for sure is that things will change, but it seems really difficult to attempt to predict which direction that change will take. Maybe it is as you and Felix have said, maybe the new norm will be established, but then again, maybe not.

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Nexus

Nexus

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Yup, time will tell. I'm OK with that.

 

To tie into DKR again (because that's what I do)...if it had been drawn digitally, I'd still want a Miller hand-drawn original, post-publication or not.

 

So what's true for a favorite work then, is true for a favorite work now. Not comparing anything modern to DKR, but there are lots of books I enjoy reading greatly that I'd want some type of original art.

 

Where I personally draw the line are 1/1 prints. No interest at all. If the only way to get a DKR page was with a 1/1 print, I'd pass.

 

Again, I get that that line is different for everyone. Just speaking for myself!

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romitaman

romitaman

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I'm curious if Felix can explain how anyone would be able to just look at these redrawn digital pages and know immediately they are recreated pages?

 

unless its noted very visibly that these redrawn digital pieces are not from the ACTUAL produced comic book...I think this sets a terrible..TERRIBLE PRECEDENCE for future buying and reselling of this art if buyers do not know beyond a shadow of a doubt that these are not drawings directly from the comics.... but actual recreated pages.

 

On a slightly off topic side note.....I went through this with BLUE LINES years ago when no name inkers were inking and selling at comic shows as their inks over big name penciler's actual pencils and trying to get away with it....just sets a VERY bad precedence for our hobby "IF" future buyers cant tell immediately that these pieces are recreations.

 

So long as its noted very visibly that this art was not for production of the comic then its all fine I feel.

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