noobie OA question #2: someone talk me OFF THE LEDGE!

[Claudio]

Chris, he didn't complete his focus too quickly. If you read his posts on some of the threads (LIKE INVINCIBLE!), you'd know.

[Ares]

Step 4 is going to be bloddy dificult

[Bronty]

haha This thread started off as a no holds barred exploration of why to move from slabs to OA. But it could just as easily turn the corner to "why it's tough to be an OA collector" at this point. Maybe that will partially "talk you down" -- it's only fair you know this stuff.

 

The dark side:

 

This is a competition. Having to compete for art is something you'll either relish or despise based on your personality. Just remember there's lots of art out there, and not to take losing out to Alex Gonzalez (or AN Alex Gonzalez) personally. Of course, having to compete with the same folks you're networking with and befriending is going to lead to a pickle every now and again. If you try to act reasonably and with a reasonable amount of respect for your fellow collectors, then not TOO many people will end up hating you. (but someone/a few surely will, and be prepared for that to happen)

 

Money talks. Anyone can put together an absolutely incredible blue chip collection if they're willing to spend like money means nothing. Though not EVERY individual piece is obtainable, almost everyone "has their price" on a piece of art. This is both good and bad in that you will be lured toward bankruptcy the more in love with the hobby you become.

 

You will be outspent. Whatever you want to collect, there could easily be one or several people out there with more money outspending you, or simply spending what you cannot and obtaining the nice examples while you get nothing or face only obtaining lesser examples. While you can probably find a 10.0 copy of Killing Joke, you may likely never be able to acquire a page from the book. This may drive you slowly insane over your collecting career, Joker style.

 

People will try to take advantage of you. Just remember that if a dealer does it, it's just business. Sometimes it will be someone that calls themselves your friend. This will suck. Most importantly though, no one is holding a gun to your head to buy a piece of art. If someone starts to rake you over the coals or deal with you dishonestly, just walk away from the deal. Even if you get the art after that, you will likely not be able to look at it the same way again, and will likely be looking to sell at a loss very soon afterwards.

This includes artists.

 

Anyhow, it's a great hobby, but literally a year or so in, I almost quit, because learning some of the above lessons embittered me and stressed me out to no end. Some moments I'm still embittered, but you just have to learn to appreciate the gems of OA you do obtain and love, and not focus on keeping up with the Gonzalezes.

 

that's some good advice about the dark side

[Bronty]

hurmmm

 

i have selected invincible covers/splashes, jeff smith sketches and jae lee Dark Tower pages...i think that leaves enough room for tastes to change, don't it?

 

accounting for focus changes is tough to put in the top 6 for a noobie with less than ten total pieces!

 

edit: perhaps i did complete step 3 a little too fast...but i think i'm on the right track as far as a starting focus

 

well I would suggest chris is right, what seems like something you will be very interested in may in time hold little interest for you. I know pieces I was very excited to acquire early on do nothing for me now, and I haven't even been collecting art very long (and already my tastes have changed).

 

But there's also no way to get there other than learning the lesson first hand... just be prepared that some of what you buy to start with you will love for a long time, and some you will quickly end up with no attachment to.

[Pirate]

jae lee is pencils only, which is why I don't collect his DT stuff. Not paying huge prices for pencil only.

[PhiGam-migration]

jae lee is pencils only, which is why I don't collect his DT stuff. Not paying huge prices for pencil only.

 

yeah, this is why i will only be buying his 'cheaper' pieces from moy ($400 or less)...

 

i'm also not too excited about the fact that all of Ottley's invincible stuff is now inked by rathburn ....mark hays at splashpage is still charging a premium for pencils

 

 

[Pirate]

Personally I won't buy pencils only, just my preference. I'll take them as prelims if they are cheap but won't pay premium. You really need to learn yourself on modern stuff as there are lots of artists who draw, blow up the scan, fax to inker who then inks and faxes into company. You end up with a pencil page that may or may not be original and an inked page over "blue lines" which is just a really nice inked copy.

 

Lots to learn, some artists (Mahnke) still do it the old way, inks over original pencils, some like barry kitson will do a small rough, blow it up, pencil over it and then fax to inker. Nowadays I try to get Kitson pieces that he has inked himself, so at least I get all parts to it.

 

Most art from the 90's and earlier is inks over pencil, but do your homework.

 

whew.

[Eric Seffinga]

Another basic question is what kind of collector are you?

There are arguments to be made on both sides of the quality vs quantity issue, and plenty of internal debates within yourself.

 

After being in the game so long, I don't even have to ask myself the question, because I know exactly where I tend to fall, even when I know I should be more one than the other.

 

There is something to be said for knowing your liquidity for purchases, how much you can put together in a space of time, and how much you anticipate sending in a year. One reason for this is to address the question at the top. Will you spend money each month? Every 2 or 3 months, just so you can get the charge of having a new piece of art? Or do you have the intestinal fortitude to sit on your hands and put together the money necessary to jump on something more substantial?

 

Many people begin at one end of the spectrum, and end up moving towards the other.

I could regale you with countless stories from my own past, or those of friends. The ways in which we spent our art dollars. Even with focus to a collection, you can still "waste" so much money on insignificant commissions, drawings, and published pieces. Amassing volumes of material, and still never achieve the overall sense of accomplishment and thrill that owning 5 to 10 truly amazing pieces can impart.

 

So what is it going to be? Are you going to have money burning a hole in your pocket?

Are you more interested in having 1 so-so piece by everyone who ever drew your favorite character? Or are you willing to tough it out and search for those grail-like pieces that only come up a few times in a lifetime, and totally grip you in the pit of your gut every time you view them while wondering at your own luck and good fortune at being able to call them yours?

 

We all cave in a little every now and then and buy a piece that is in some way "beneath" us, but so long as you only buy what you love, rather than what you think everyone else will congratulate you for, you'll be happy.

 

If I can impart any advice it is to buy the best piece you can afford. If it's out of your immediate budget, then save. Put together a war chest for when those rare gems pop up. I've seen bus drivers with small, but astounding collections. It's not the size of your resources, but what you do with them that matters.

 

-e.

[mschmidt]

Beware if it has been pressed

 

?

 

You made some sort of pressing comment in the "art behind frames"-thread as well - but I have to say that I have no clue what you're talking about here ...

[PhiGam-migration]

moi aussi

please quit it, you're de-railing alot of nice and informative threads

 

[mschmidt]

moi aussi

please quit it, you're de-railing alot of nice and informative threads

 

Wow ... that was some mighty quick post deletin'

[Mephisto]

Personally I won't buy pencils only, just my preference. I'll take them as prelims if they are cheap but won't pay premium. You really need to learn yourself on modern stuff as there are lots of artists who draw, blow up the scan, fax to inker who then inks and faxes into company. You end up with a pencil page that may or may not be original and an inked page over "blue lines" which is just a really nice inked copy.

 

Lots to learn, some artists (Mahnke) still do it the old way, inks over original pencils, some like barry kitson will do a small rough, blow it up, pencil over it and then fax to inker. Nowadays I try to get Kitson pieces that he has inked himself, so at least I get all parts to it.

 

Most art from the 90's and earlier is inks over pencil, but do your homework.

 

whew.

 

I was against pencils only but I did pick up a nice Darth Vader piece. I would pick up others but not go crazy. Some of them are just too light, especially for the price. Paintings rock. Part of me wishes I would've just went with all paintings. I'd probably already have most of the stuff I really want already with the exception of a few lower end blue chip pieces.

[Pirate]

Personally I won't buy pencils only, just my preference. I'll take them as prelims if they are cheap but won't pay premium. You really need to learn yourself on modern stuff as there are lots of artists who draw, blow up the scan, fax to inker who then inks and faxes into company. You end up with a pencil page that may or may not be original and an inked page over "blue lines" which is just a really nice inked copy.

 

Lots to learn, some artists (Mahnke) still do it the old way, inks over original pencils, some like barry kitson will do a small rough, blow it up, pencil over it and then fax to inker. Nowadays I try to get Kitson pieces that he has inked himself, so at least I get all parts to it.

 

Most art from the 90's and earlier is inks over pencil, but do your homework.

 

whew.

 

I was against pencils only but I did pick up a nice Darth Vader piece. I would pick up others but not go crazy. Some of them are just too light, especially for the price. Paintings rock. Part of me wishes I would've just went with all paintings. I'd probably already have most of the stuff I really want already with the exception of a few lower end blue chip pieces.

 

I would get a tight pencil commission, just not panel art.

[Mephisto]

Well since Dan commented on the piece, and the scan is darker on CAF (not by me as I don't have a scanner large enough for OA.), here is what it looks like in person. It also the only piece in my collection I've had multiple people inquire about availability.

 

[Mephisto]

Personally I won't buy pencils only, just my preference. I'll take them as prelims if they are cheap but won't pay premium. You really need to learn yourself on modern stuff as there are lots of artists who draw, blow up the scan, fax to inker who then inks and faxes into company. You end up with a pencil page that may or may not be original and an inked page over "blue lines" which is just a really nice inked copy.

 

Lots to learn, some artists (Mahnke) still do it the old way, inks over original pencils, some like barry kitson will do a small rough, blow it up, pencil over it and then fax to inker. Nowadays I try to get Kitson pieces that he has inked himself, so at least I get all parts to it.

 

Most art from the 90's and earlier is inks over pencil, but do your homework.

 

whew.

 

I was against pencils only but I did pick up a nice Darth Vader piece. I would pick up others but not go crazy. Some of them are just too light, especially for the price. Paintings rock. Part of me wishes I would've just went with all paintings. I'd probably already have most of the stuff I really want already with the exception of a few lower end blue chip pieces.

 

I would get a tight pencil commission, just not panel art.

 

That is the one good thing that came from me selling off my first OA collection during college. I realized panel pages really didn't do much for me at all. I've been tempted to say hey I would take a Watchmen page, or Cockrum/Byrne X-Men but I probably never will. Partially because of cost as I couldn't afford a cover or splash from something like that and would only be able to get panel pages.

[Shootydog]

I like pencils and this is the item I picked up as it fell in my price range...(I bargained a bit too). The image is darkend slightly to be seen better.

 

 

I plan on picking up one of his painted pieces in the future....hopefully...but I need to gather the scratch first.

 

This is the kind of OA that appeals to me. Some panel pages will fall into it but I mostly prefer full page/splashes.

[PhiGam-migration]

below is a splash which i have on the way to me (just the pencils,thx ty)...pencils were done by ottley and inks were done by rathburn...

 

This will be my 'test' pencil piece, to see how i feel about pencils in general...the pencils look much lighter than the inks in this scan, but i won't be able to tell just how much i'll dig it until its in my grubby little hands

 

[comix4fun]

Sweet...the kid-invincible-kills-and-doesn't-give-a-damn-page...nice

 

 

C

[PhiGam-migration]

For me, I have an extremely narrowed focus: TMNT. I collect nothing else (though I do enjoy reading other titles- just don't collect them).

 

So its easy for me to do both, collect slabs and art. The art, though, is really where my heart is and there are a few pieces that will probably stay with me forever while the slabs I'd be alot more willing to part with.

 

Just like whats been said above, theres something about owning a 1 of 1 piece of art from a book that you care about. It IS addictive though, and will probably be the most money you'll ever spend in the hobby (and ever thought you'd spend). But in the end its completely worth it. Especially if you can frame up a few pieces and display them as I've recently done with a few pieces.

 

My advice: be selective!

 

Yes, pick the brains of the experts here. I don't know where I would be without early advice from Chris Caira. He didn't tell me what to buy, but gave me a lot of advice on what to look for when buying art such as if it's a blue line or original etc and tons of things I wouldn't have thought of.

 

can anyone expand on this idea a touch for me? blue line vs original?

[westform]

Well since Dan commented on the piece, and the scan is darker on CAF (not by me as I don't have a scanner large enough for OA.), here is what it looks like in person. It also the only piece in my collection I've had multiple people inquire about availability.

 

 

Well....... I didn't inquire, but consider this my formal inquiry.. DF