Meeting one of your favorite artist.....and they end up being a jerk. 1 1

[Unstoppablejayd]

6 minutes ago, stinkininkin said:

Gotta admit, if I'm asked to take a phone call for art direction on a commission, I'd probably bail. Not saying your request is unreasonable, but I really just need commissions to be as easy as humanly possible.

 

This... and I would also note @stinkininkin is one of the nicest easy to deal with guys I have some across... whether buying or meeting .. so MAYBE OP went a bit to far..

[Blastaar]

1 minute ago, Unstoppablejayd said:

This... and I would also note @stinkininkin is one of the nicest easy to deal with guys I have some across... whether buying or meeting .. so MAYBE OP went a bit to far..

You son of a gun I thought we were bros! That's the last 5% discount I give you! 

[Unstoppablejayd]

1 minute ago, Blastaar said:

You son of a gun I thought we were bros! That's the last 5% discount I give you! 

HAHAHA- of course we are friends.. that is why I am not afraid to say you maybe went a smidge over the line here. 

[stinkininkin]

8 minutes ago, Unstoppablejayd said:

This... and I would also note @stinkininkin is one of the nicest easy to deal with guys I have some across... whether buying or meeting .. so MAYBE OP went a bit to far..

I don't think the OP went too far, as I indicated in my post. Its just not how I want to handle commissions at this point. Taking it further, I'm considering starting out the convention season by not taking commissions per se, but rather just doing cool drawings when I have spare time and offering them up on a first come first serve basis when I hit shows.  Would anyone be up for that, or does the personal customization aspect of commissions trump getting a good representative example of an artists work?

Edited February 6, 2020 by stinkininkin

[Blastaar]

1 minute ago, stinkininkin said:

I don't think the OP went too far, as I indicated in my post. Its just not how I want to handle commissions at this point. Taking it further, I'm considering starting out the convention season by not taking commissions per se, but rather just doing cool drawings when I have spare time and offering them up when on a first come first serve basis when I hit shows.  Would anyone be up for that, or does the personal customization aspect of commissions trump getting a good representative example of an artists work?

I'll give you call. 

[Unstoppablejayd]

Just now, stinkininkin said:

I don't think the OP went too far, as I indicated in my post. Its just not how I want to handle commissions at this point. Taking it further, I'm considering starting out the convention season by not taking commissions per se, but rather just doing cool drawings when I have spare time and offering them up when on a first come first serve basis when I hit shows.  Would anyone be up for that, or does the personal customization aspect of commissions trump getting a good representative example of an artists work?

It depends.. for me part of the reason I buy commissions is for a uniqueness to it... but I tend to get lesser known characters or some differentiated to the character so it is not just one of 800 batman/wolverine drawn by the same artist. That being said Larry Stroman always has pre-drawn stuff when at a show and I do like being able to see the finished product and choose.. but he always has a wide range of characters doing a wide range of things. 

[AnkurJ]

Happens all the time. Artists can be a quirky bunch. Many times I’ll simply ask if a rough or initial sketch can be provided so we are on the same page. After that I leave it to them. When signing up for a commission there has to be a level of trust that it won’t be a dud. But as prices have jumped I can understand why that’s difficult. It’s one of the main reasons I have transitioned to finished or published pieces for the most part. I will get a commission here or there but only if it’s inexpensive or a well known artist is willing to do a fully rendered piece.

[comix4fun]

5 hours ago, Blastaar said:

Just had an odd experience. I was working directly with one of my favorite artist on a commission request. Not a cheap one.  Had a few back and forth emails on concepts and each response included a snarky remark. I asked if we could hop on a quick call to make sure we are on the same page and he responded with a "You are becoming a little too high maintenance for my taste". I wrote him back canceling the commission (he hadn't started yet). I'm not going to name names because this isn't about the quality of his work it's more of meeting your heroes and it goes bad. Has anyone had this happen, did it ruin your appreciation for their body of work? I'm able to separate the man from his work, maybe he was having a bad week or I was being too sensitive, but it's still disappointing. It's like seeing Jeter kick a puppy. 

If you'd like a palette cleanser to restart your commission engine I suggest working with Kevin Nowlan. 

He'll treat you like an Editor in Chief from the Big Two, and make sure you're both on the same page and happy. 

He's polite, professional, and overly concerned with making sure the commissioner is happy and gets exactly what they want. He was so much so like this with me that several times I kept telling him he knew far more than I did about what makes a commission special and well done. 

He was also the clearest communicator of anyone I've ever worked with. 

Edited February 6, 2020 by comix4fun

[Blastaar]

4 minutes ago, comix4fun said:

If you'd like a palette cleanser to restart your commission engine I suggest working with Kevin Nowlan. 

He'll treat you like an Editor and Chief from the Big Two, and make sure you're both on the same page and happy. 

He's polite, professional, and overly concerned with making sure the commissioner is happy and gets exactly what they want. He was so much so like this with me that several times I kept telling him he knew far more than I did about what makes a commission special and well done. 

He was also the clearest communicator of anyone I've ever worked with. 

While we are throwing out plugs Cary Nord is taking commissions for the next week and he is a STUD. 

[Rick2you2]

It sounds like you wanted to give him moe direction than he wanted, and he didn't want to have his artistic freedom compromised. Why did it take more than one email after the introduction? What sort of details were you giving him?

By the way, a phone call is not a good idea for a different reason. If the commission doesn't come out the way you want it, you can't point to a specific email and say this is what I asked for. His response to a phone conversation would be "that's what I undersood from the phone call", and then, where are you?

If you can't do it in writing, not a good idea to do IMO.

 

[eewwnuk]

2 hours ago, Blastaar said:

While we are throwing out plugs Cary Nord is taking commissions for the next week and he is a STUD. 

Whats his phone #?

[cloud cloddie]

4 hours ago, Blastaar said:

Just curious...why is that? It's a few seconds out of your life to clarify discrepancies. Could be that I have been in sales my entire life and like to interact...I guess some could see that as off putting. I'm a hugger....what can I say?

I was in sales for a while, and now that I’m not I’m fine not interacting. Lol. 

I rarely find phone calls to be a few seconds. People tend to babble, and it annoys me to be on the phone for 5 minutes for something I could have read in 10 seconds over text or email. That and I tend to zone out pretty easily on the phone. 

Or it’s just I like dogs more than people. Who knows. 

[cloud cloddie]

3 hours ago, stinkininkin said:

I don't think the OP went too far, as I indicated in my post. Its just not how I want to handle commissions at this point. Taking it further, I'm considering starting out the convention season by not taking commissions per se, but rather just doing cool drawings when I have spare time and offering them up on a first come first serve basis when I hit shows.  Would anyone be up for that, or does the personal customization aspect of commissions trump getting a good representative example of an artists work?

I prefer the personalization but I’m sure there are several characters that people always request that you could have ready

[dichotomy]

4 hours ago, Blastaar said:

I will say...buying someone else's commission that they fall out of love with is a win/win. Much cheaper and you see the end result ahead of time. 

I picked up a Barda piece yesterday from Comiclink for a nice price that is exactly this. 

[cstojano]

I too hate talking on the phone. Can't explain why, just do. 

I had an artist tell me to email him next year because he was too busy to deal with me. That was after two emails, the first resulting in a "let me see what I have" response. Well its next year now and I can't bear to email him again. I was't rude or pushy so who knows.

I also strongly favor the reps now. Although it surely kills any sense of finding a honey hole, the uncertainty of trying to get a response just drives me nuts. I spent about 14k with an artist selling his stash from work he did in the 80s and 90s. Months of emails, no reply. Then a reply comes, we do two deals in quick succession. Awesome stuff. I want more. Then I made an offer on a piece that was already sold. Damn, my secret is out. Urgency ensues. And we are back to silent mode. Did I annoy him? Did I lowball the two previous offers? I have no clue. There is no dialog just me sending offers some of which are accepted and others completely ignored. Even worse, emails that lack a specific offer (I will give you X for this jpeg) are almost never responded to, including the "Hello, are you interested in working on another deal?" emails. Did he get a crazy offer for a piece and feels I didn't pay enough (market is slim to non existent, there are no comps). So I wake up every morning and check my email first thing hoping for a response. I send the query email every 3 weeks. He posts daily on instagram as well. I sound more neurotic than I am (I swear).

 

 

Edited February 7, 2020 by cstojano

[Bird]

4 hours ago, stinkininkin said:

I don't think the OP went too far, as I indicated in my post. Its just not how I want to handle commissions at this point. Taking it further, I'm considering starting out the convention season by not taking commissions per se, but rather just doing cool drawings when I have spare time and offering them up on a first come first serve basis when I hit shows.  Would anyone be up for that, or does the personal customization aspect of commissions trump getting a good representative example of an artists work?

I used to be annoyed when artists had predrawn stuff and were not doing specific characters, but got used to it and prefer it now (mostly, some exceptions). Jim Starlin is a great example, he would arrive and throw out a few sketches and take it or leave it. More the next day. By and large I bet he will get the same character requests anyway though. Lots of guys do it this way. You could show them off in advance to market it up as well.

[dichotomy]

4 hours ago, stinkininkin said:

I don't think the OP went too far, as I indicated in my post. Its just not how I want to handle commissions at this point. Taking it further, I'm considering starting out the convention season by not taking commissions per se, but rather just doing cool drawings when I have spare time and offering them up on a first come first serve basis when I hit shows.  Would anyone be up for that, or does the personal customization aspect of commissions trump getting a good representative example of an artists work?

If you had fun doing it and it coincides with something I like then this would be an epic win - vs the complete uncertainty of a commission and whether it even gets done or not at the con. 

[tth2]

5 hours ago, Blastaar said:

5 hours ago, cloud cloddie said:

Same. Phone calls are anathema to me. 

Just curious...why is that? It's a few seconds out of your life to clarify discrepancies. Could be that I have been in sales my entire life and like to interact...I guess some could see that as off putting. I'm a hugger....what can I say?

This is a comic message board.  You can safely assume that the social skills of some members are not so, er, well developed.

[Blastaar]

2 minutes ago, dichotomy said:

If you had fun doing it and it coincides with something I like then this would be an epic win - vs the complete uncertainty of a commission and whether it even gets done or not at the con. 

As mentioned earlier Stroman does this now and he seems to be doing well with it. I think commissions were piling up on him for a time and he needed to try a different approach. 

[tth2]

Maybe in an artists' message board somewhere, there's a thread called "Dealing with a customer ... and they ended up being a jerk".