How Do YOU Organize Your OA? 0

[NelsonAI]

Most collectors seem to use art portfolios like the Itoya brand to store their artwork.

I have been organizing my art by character. So I had separate portfolios for Spider-Man, the X-Men, etc., regardless of the artist.  It always got a bit tricky if there was a cross-over.  It was always fun for me to go through a portfolio of Spider-Man art and seeing how different each artist drew the same character.  It also made more efficient use of the portfolio since I could randomly place a piece of art in one of the 48 sleeves of the portfolio.  

Recently, I've been re-evaluating my collection.  I am now thinking organizing by artist. I've always organized my CAF gallery that way so it makes more sense from a curator point of view.  I probably will have to buy a lot more portfolios though. 

So, how do you organize your artwork and why? 

[malvin]

Published pages are by publisher (DC, marvel, other) then title 

Sketches are by publisher then character 

They are in mylar sleeves (2 per sleeve) 

Those are the 11x17 ones. Other sizes are in separate stacks and less organized since there are less of them 

Edited March 10, 2019 by malvin

[▫️]

In my Itoya, there’s no organization by character or title. I simply put the largest pieces on the bottom. I have multiple pieces around 17x22 and then all the 11x17s and smaller pieces towards the top. Those larger pieces I have are also done on much thicker art boards.

[vodou]

I use no organization, except whatever strikes my fancy at the moment I'm putting a number of pieces away. As such, I'm never faced with OCD re-shuffling which is where hazard risk lies. I keep a spreadsheet of all items and details and which alo identifies 'where' the piece resides for ease of 'finding'. Perhaps mine is not the solution for more reasonable collections of a couple hundred pieces or less, where something on the order of fifteen or twenty Itoyas gets the job done. I'm waaaaaay past that

[Panelfan1]

8 hours ago, NelsonAI said:

Most collectors seem to use art portfolios like the Itoya brand to store their artwork.

I have been organizing my art by character. So I had separate portfolios for Spider-Man, the X-Men, etc., regardless of the artist.  It always got a bit tricky if there was a cross-over.  It was always fun for me to go through a portfolio of Spider-Man art and seeing how different each artist drew the same character.  It also made more efficient use of the portfolio since I could randomly place a piece of art in one of the 48 sleeves of the portfolio.  

Recently, I've been re-evaluating my collection.  I am now thinking organizing by artist. I've always organized my CAF gallery that way so it makes more sense from a curator point of view.  I probably will have to buy a lot more portfolios though. 

So, how do you organize your artwork and why? 

Sounds like you have a ton of art to get a portfolio for each character - unless you only collect spidey.

I organize by age - modern vs older stuff, then by character - but it's all within the same portdolio(s) I use the itoya books with removable pages so I can move things around as I get new pieces or let go of a piece.  

Edited March 10, 2019 by Panelfan1

[thethedew]

16 hours ago, NelsonAI said:

So, how do you organize your artwork and why? 

In Itoyas, by subject.  (Micronauts and... well... everything else.)

After that, by publisher, mostly.  Marvel Micros, Image Micros, IDW Micros.  Marvel Battlestar, Liefeld Battlestar, Dynamite Battlestar.  Etc.  More-or-less in book and page order. Commissions separate from published.

[aokartman]

Everything I have is in a sleeve of some sort.  I have an E. Gerber lifetime 10% discount for mylar.  I have an old chest of drawers, and some free standing four drawer file cabinets.  Apple crates.  Comic boxes under the bed.  David

[Peter L]

I use a mylar sleeve and a backing board.  I put the art in acid free boxes.  I used to use Itoyas but the pages always bend and don't lie flat, so I thought there was more risk of damage to the art.  Also I thought in case of a leaky roof or bathroom plumbing leak, or to better protect against silverfish, the boxes would afford more protection.

When the microfiber paper arrives, I will put them between the art and the board.

I frame my favorite stuff.

I have one box of art about 9 X 11, and other boxes of different sizes.  

[Will_K]

11x14 and 9x12 art goes in appropriately sized Itoyas.

For original art (or similar size), in general…

If I only have 1 piece by an artist, those artists are grouped / sorted alphabetically.  Generally fills 1 Itoya.

If I have more than 1 piece by an artist, those artists are grouped / sorted alphabetically.  Multiple Itoyas.  Up to 3 pieces in one “view”, e.g. 48 views per Itoya.  Artists get shifted to new Itoyas as the collection grows.

For some artists that I have “in quantity”, I’ll reserve space in the Itoya.  Or they have their dedicated Itoyas.

For commissions, those pretty much go in Itoyas.

I use a few hardsided artcases instead of Itoyas.  The art is generally loose in a large bag (no Mylar, backing, bags).  Those artcases (pretty much freestanding) are pricey and/or hard to find, I think because so much art is digital now.  I use those for original art, strips and other large art.

Complete stories kept together.

Unsorted art kept together.

[alxjhnsn]

Itoya's in a custom storage cabinet.

The layout of my CAF matches the storage in my Itoya's. That organization is reflected on the first page of my CAF.

[exitmusicblue]

Great Q; roughly by order of purchase for me in my Itoya.  I've got a huge Itoya (that's what she said lol) for the dimensions of GA art all the way through Modern.

On my CAF, I go by character, since they automatically categorize by artist below.

[wurstisart]

It’s much easier to keep stuff on stacks 

[Pete Marino]

I have 2 archival boxes, with art in Mylars with backing boards. 1 box is my favorite invisibles pages, the other is my favorite "other" pages.

Then I have 1 11x17 itoya with my overflow Invisibles pages, and another 2 Itoyas that are larger, for other art that's either over sized or I don't want in my other archival box.

[NelsonAI]

Thanks for all the feedback so far.  I will have to look at those ring binders in person at my local art supply store.  

[art4comics.com]

I have gone through several stages here.  I am shrinking my collection so my ideas on organizing have been changing.  Almost every piece of art I have is in mylar and then the mylars are inside Itoya portfolios except strip art and really large pieces.  So my 11 x 17 art is all in 12 x 18 mylars and they are all stored inside 13 x 19 Itoyas...nice fit.  I have mylars made to fit inside the 18 x 24 and 17 x 22 itoyas too.  The strip art I store in mylar bags that I have had custom made and stack them flat.  The larger art goes into large flat file storage cabinet drawers and I try to have those in mylar too.  I have the drawers organized by strip art, large art, giant art, complete stories, illustration art, prints and archival materials.  I usually sort by artist but I have a best of Itoya where anything goes and that way I can see my favorites all at the same time.  It is also the the portfolio I bring when visiting other collectors for show and tell.  I have a lot of art that would bore most other collectors so I spare them that...  I then have Itoyas for specific artists I collect deeply.  I do have a few character specific portfolios too like prints of Milton Caniff (3 itoyas), Dragon Lady commissions (3 itoyas), Daredevil (down to one itoya now), archie,  flash gordon, other commission themes.  I have artist specific Itoyas but as my collection shrinks, I might have more than one artist in a portfolio.  I also sort by themes/genres so there is an indie art portfolio, illustration art portfolio, jungle girl and fiction house portfolios.  I have had 2 portfolios of covers and splashes but most of those have been reorganized or moved on to other collections.  A lot of what I have been doing is going through and deciding how badly I need to hang on to stuff.  At its peak, my collection was over 5000 pages.  I am closer to 3000 now with a goal of 1000 plus extra art from about a dozen artists I'll collect more deeply.  Ideally, a smaller, more refined collection with better pieces will be more enjoyable and a better use of my time/money.  That is the plan anyways.