Digital to Traditional art 1 1

[NC101]

13 hours ago, Hal Turner said:

Well, then, how do you see this? I was told that a cover I liked was available. The artist did a rough, which was approved, but then completed the published artwork digitally due to time constraints. Afterwards, the rough was finished to match the printed cover.

It's being sold as the original cover art. Yes or no? I haven't yet pulled the trigger.

Is the artist making it clear in the general selling of the cover that it isn't actually the original cover art, or is he marketing it purely as the "original cover art?" The latter seems kind of fraudulent imo

[Mighty Hal]

2 hours ago, NC101 said:

Is the artist making it clear in the general selling of the cover that it isn't actually the original cover art, or is he marketing it purely as the "original cover art?" The latter seems kind of fraudulent imo

It's being sold as the original cover art. I don't feel there's a blatant attempt to "trick" me into buying the art, though, because I've been given the details I shared with you.

If the artist hadn't been open with me and I found out later, then I'd think it was a little dicey. 

[John E.]

Digital art is like a Ouija board. Is It real? Is it not? I don’t know. But I’m not gonna mess with it just to be safe. 

[cstojano]

6 hours ago, Rick2you2 said:

but the artist might misconstrue.

I have found any attempt to "talk down" something to anyone in the art world (artist, dealer, flipper, whatever) never goes well due to the inherent emotional attachment in all of this. I recently learned the lesson of never offering less for a piece in relation to a comp because its smaller. The result - emails are now ignored.

Edited May 24, 2020 by cstojano

[Rick2you2]

2 hours ago, cstojano said:

I have found any attempt to "talk down" something to anyone in the art world (artist, dealer, flipper, whatever) never goes well due to the inherent emotional attachment in all of this. I recently learned the lesson of never offering less for a piece in relation to a comp because its smaller. The result - emails are now ignored.

You should not talk down a piece, but facts are facts. The question of what it is vs. what you would pay for it are two different questions. If you like it, buy it. If you later decide to resell it, accurately start the facts and let potential buyers decide.

[thethedew]

On 5/23/2020 at 2:51 PM, Stefanomjr said:

Creating original traditional art off original digital images.  What are your thoughts?

To me, the critical point is if the piece is published.

If it's unpublished, considering the digital as a prelim seems acceptable to me.

If the digital version is a published version, then any traditional version created afterward can only be considered a recreation. 

My 

[Yorick]

I really like Fiona Staples' Saga work and she did the whole thing digitally.  I didn't know that when I went looking for some of her art, but ended up buying some nice large 11 x17 prints of some of the covers signed by her.  In my opinion, the actual comic books are the original art and anything printed later (such as my nice large signed prints) are reproductions/reprints.  The same situation with Tocchini working on Low.  I love his work, but it's all digital (nearly all).

In these situations, having high grade slabbed copies of the books is the closest you'll get to "original art".

Would you buy the digital file?

[thethedew]

52 minutes ago, Yorick said:

Would you buy the digital file?

I have had that option floated to me, and it personally is not of interest.  Others clearly have no problem with it. #setinmyways

[Skizz]

22 hours ago, Hal Turner said:

Well, then, how do you see this? I was told that a cover I liked was available. The artist did a rough, which was approved, but then completed the published artwork digitally due to time constraints. Afterwards, the rough was finished to match the printed cover.

It's being sold as the original cover art. Yes or no? I haven't yet pulled the trigger.

The artists can call it what they like, you know what it is. It’s not the final version that was used to create the published comic. It’s part production piece and part recreation. 

You should probably ask yourself a few questions to decide if you should buy the hand drawn piece. First, are you comfortable with the asking price, irrespective of the label of cover or recreation. Second, is the traditionally drawn page as nice or nicer or at least nice enough for you be okay with it in comparison to the published digital version. And third, is there another way to get a traditional drawn of paper version of this cover or art. If you feel the answer if is yes to the first two and no to the last of these questions, I’d say go ahead and buy the page; you likely enjoy and cherish it. 

Just my 

Edited May 24, 2020 by Skizz

[Skizz]

1 hour ago, Yorick said:

I really like Fiona Staples' Saga work and she did the whole thing digitally.  I didn't know that when I went looking for some of her art, but ended up buying some nice large 11 x17 prints of some of the covers signed by her.  In my opinion, the actual comic books are the original art and anything printed later (such as my nice large signed prints) are reproductions/reprints.  The same situation with Tocchini working on Low.  I love his work, but it's all digital (nearly all).

In these situations, having high grade slabbed copies of the books is the closest you'll get to "original art".

Would you buy the digital file?

The actual first print comic, slabbed or otherwise, or the signed prints, these are all cool collectibles to have. They may even be valuable and indeed increase in value over time.

But I would say that neither of these are anywhere close to resembling or approaching “original art”. 

Unfortunately for something like Saga, there simply IS NO ‘original art’.

Which is why I thought the approach adopted for East of West was so ingenious and had the best of both worlds - it allowed the artist to work in a convenient way to get the book out digitally and also gave the collectors a way to own something that was traditional art on paper.  I wish more artists who work digitally would do something like that.  That said, I do understand why many artists don’t. They’ve already drawn the page once for publication. It’s too boring to do it again. And if that artist (like Staples)  doesn’t need the art sales, they have even less incentive to do so. *sigh*

Edited May 24, 2020 by Skizz

[Yorick]

21 hours ago, Skizz said:

Which is why I thought the approach adopted for East of West was so ingenious and had the best of both worlds - it allowed the artist to work in a convenient way to get the book out digitally and also gave the collectors a way to own something that was traditional art on paper.  I wish more artists who work digitally would do something like that.

I am unfamiliar with how the artist (Dragunas, right?) worked on this.  Did he do the covers traditionally and interiors digitally?

[Skizz]

50 minutes ago, Yorick said:

I am unfamiliar with how the artist (Dragunas, right?) worked on this.  Did he do the covers traditionally and interiors digitally?

I’m not sure about the covers.  But I believe the interior panel pages were done digitally for publication. However, post publication you could buy a page from the book. The artist Nick Dragotta would then do a recreation of this page on the stipulation that he would never re-create this page again. So this would be the sole existing traditionally drawn version of the page. 

[Rick2you2]

22 hours ago, Skizz said:

Which is why I thought the approach adopted for East of West was so ingenious and had the best of both worlds - it allowed the artist to work in a convenient way to get the book out digitally and also gave the collectors a way to own something that was traditional art on paper.  I wish more artists who work digitally would do something like that.  That said, I do understand why many artists don’t. They’ve already drawn the page once for publication. 

All he had to do was to draw it digitally in almost complete rough form, then trace (maybe even auto-trace in Illustrator) and finish in final form for submission. Then, the buyer would be getting the original published art and he would save the time by doing most of it digitally. 

Edited May 25, 2020 by Rick2you2

[Skizz]

2 hours ago, Rick2you2 said:

All he had to do was to draw it digitally in almost complete rough form, then trace (maybe even auto-trace in Illustrator) and finish in final form for submission. Then, the buyer would be getting the original published art and he would save the time by doing most of it digitally. 

I can’t speak for the artist of East of West. But as someone who draws comics (albeit on a much much smaller, indie and local level), I can say that when you’re trying to get a book done, the last thing on your mind is selling the OA; the digital process has so many little advantages that add up to making the process of getting the book out SO MUCH more convenient and efficient.  Even more so when you’re sending drafts and small but meaningful amendments between artist, writer, editor (also add In colorist/lettered) and especially when working to deadline.  And getting the book out on time and in its best iteration really is, and should be, the primary objective. 

That said, a lot of artist ARE doing exactly what you’re suggesting.

But I can’t really complain if an artist uses whatever tools they must to get a great comic book out - one that I love enough want the OA from - even if it means that that process leads to no OA actually existing. At that point, if there is a choice between the Fiona Styles / Saga situation or Nick Dragotta / East of West situation, at least the latter gives AN option of having something traditionally drawn (that closely resembles the published version)

Edited May 25, 2020 by Skizz

[Rick2you2]

2 hours ago, Skizz said:

I can’t speak for the artist of East of West. But as someone who draws comics (albeit on a much much smaller, indie and local level), I can say that when you’re trying to get a book done, the last thing on your mind is selling the OA; the digital process has so many little advantages that add up to making the process of getting the book out SO MUCH more convenient and efficient.  Even more so when you’re sending drafts and small but meaningful amendments between artist, writer, editor (also add In colorist/lettered) and especially when working to deadline.  And getting the book out on time and in its best iteration really is, and should be, the primary objective. 

That said, a lot of artist ARE doing exactly what you’re suggesting.

But I can’t really complain if an artist uses whatever tools they must to get a great comic book out - one that I love enough want the OA from - even if it means that that process leads to no OA actually existing. At that point, if there is a choice between the Fiona Styles / Saga situation or Nick Dragotta / East of West situation, at least the latter gives AN option of having something traditionally drawn (that closely resembles the published version)

OA sales can add up, particularly when considering what a publisher pays (and which I realize varies). Some artists also mix it up and only use the traditional approach on splashes and other interesting pages while going digital on the others. That maximizes their return.