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Great Artist, Terrible Art: Would You Buy?
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Started by BuraddoRun,

31 posts in this topic

BuraddoRun

BuraddoRun

Posted
Posted (edited)

If you found a piece by an artist whose work usually goes for a premium and/or you really love their art, but that piece was terrible, would you buy it? Like many (most? all?) of us, I love Byrne's work, and would love to acquire a piece someday, but I'm looking at Fantastic Four # 282 and some of the artwork looks...just wrong. Really it's the kids in the issue, especially Franklin. He doesn't look like a child at all. He looks like an adult with dwarfism. His head is too big, his body is too wide, and his clothes are 2 sizes too large. I know artistic interests are subjective, but to me, Franklin looks awful throughout the entire issue. I would not buy, say, Page 1 of this book, were it to become available to me within my budget, except to either flip for a profit or put up for trade, despite Byrne being on my wishlist,

How about you? Would you buy bad pages from good artists?

 

*Edit: Hmm...I just realized this is similar to the other topic. LOL. I guess it's a bit more specific. I just saw that Byrne art and was inspired. LOL

Edited by BuraddoRun
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Rick2you2

Rick2you2

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Posted
55 minutes ago, BuraddoRun said:

If you found a piece by an artist whose work usually goes for a premium and/or you really love their art, but that piece was terrible, would you buy it? Like many (most? all?) of us, I love Byrne's work, and would love to acquire a piece someday, but I'm looking at Fantastic Four # 282 and some of the artwork looks...just wrong. Really it's the kids in the issue, especially Franklin. He doesn't look like a child at all. He looks like an adult with dwarfism. His head is too big, his body is too wide, and his clothes are 2 sizes too large. I know artistic interests are subjective, but to me, Franklin looks awful throughout the entire issue. I would not buy, say, Page 1 of this book, were it to become available to me within my budget, except to either flip for a profit or put up for trade, despite Byrne being on my wishlist,

How about you? Would you buy bad pages from good artists?

 

*Edit: Hmm...I just realized this is similar to the other topic. LOL. I guess it's a bit more specific. I just saw that Byrne art and was inspired. LOL

Sure. I have, and I will do so again. Hell, I'll buy bad art from bad artists if there is something about the piece which interests me enough and the price isn't nutty.

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sfilosa

sfilosa

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Posted

Nope. 

1) I will wait to find a piece from that artist that I like or

2) I will find a piece from another artist

In the case of Byrne, cost would be too much to pay for something I don't like much. And there is enough supply to find something I would like.

And a perfect example is art from an artist I really like, but they make the character do something silly. Or the character is just someone dressed up as the character, not the "real" person. Can't stand those pages.

 

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stinkininkin

stinkininkin

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Not in a million years would I buy bad art from a favorite or respected art hero. The point of my collection is to collect great art that I love and that speaks to me. I've never understood buying art just to check off a box. If anything, it would be a huge bummer to own something from an artist I know and respect who was just having a bad day artistically or that was way early in their career and still figuring things out on the job. For those who buy lousy art because you know you can flip it or use it in trade and it's never meant as a keeper, well that's a different conversation (and does not fit my collection strategy but I at least understand it).

Edited by stinkininkin
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Rick2you2

Rick2you2

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53 minutes ago, stinkininkin said:

Not in a million years would I buy bad art from a favorite or respected art hero. The point of my collection is to collect great art that I love and that speaks to me. I've never understood buying art just to check off a box. If anything, it would be a huge bummer to own something from an artist I know and respect who was just having a bad day artistically or that was way early in their career and still figuring things out on the job. For those who buy lousy art because you know you can flip it or use it in trade and it's never meant as a keeper, well that's a different conversation (and is not fit my collection strategy but I at least understand it).

To answer your question, I have a few reasons. First, I simply like to see what different artists do with the same character (and where possible, at different times in their careers). Second, I like to compare what different artists do with the same character. If an artist were to consistently draw the same character badly, I would definitely want it (although, I have yet to see it among long-time professionals). While actually a good job, I looked for years to find Adam Archer’s work in Scribblenauts Unleashed because it included a “ warm and cuddly” Phantom Stranger in it. For weeks, I had it next to a  Sekowsky page for comparison. There isn’t a whole lot of Phantom Stranger art out there, so sometimes, I buy things to fill gaps until something better comes along. But, I at least get to admire (or not) different styles. 

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Matches_Malone

Matches_Malone

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Generally I would say No , but many years ago I did buy an abysmal McFarlane Spawn, because there were no other McFarlane Spawns around at the time.  I end up selling it shortly after.  You  know why I sold it?  Because It was ugly.  

Im actually glad that I bought it, and then sell it.  I was able to make that decision  after holding the art in my hands for some months and getting a true feel for it.  Sometimes you just have to go through the experience.

My 2c

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christosgage

christosgage

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I buy what I like, so if I consider something "bad" I wouldn't buy it. I could see being a big enough fan of an artist that a page of their early work, when they were still finding their feet, that many might consider inferior, is desirable as an example of how their process evolved. Also, nostalgia is a big part of our hobby, so a page that might not represents the artist's best work might have special memories for a particular collector, if they read it as a kid. But ultimately, "bad" is in the eye of the beholder. I once owned a BWS page from Conan #10 and got it signed by him at SDCC. He lamented that in one panel he'd drawn Conan, in his words, "totally bloody cross-eyed." And when I looked, yeah, he had a point (it wasn't glaring, but it was there)...but I still loved the page. The heart wants what the heart wants.

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Rick2you2

Rick2you2

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Posted (edited)
8 hours ago, cloud cloddie said:

I wouldn’t say I’ve bought terrible art, but I have bought some basic, mostly uninteresting art when it was part of a larger bundle directly from an artist. 

That’s when you make a donation to charity and take a nice deduction. Same thing applies when you get a group of pages at auction.

Goodwill Industries takes everything.

Edited by Rick2you2
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jjonahjameson11

jjonahjameson11

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Posted

 I’ve done it in the past, particularly with McFarlane and Keown‘s early artwork. I just wanted to study their early style and see the evolution of their work preceding their breakout runs on the Hulk.

Upon owing the pieces for a short time, I sold the artwork and purchased better examples of their work.

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PhilipB2k17

PhilipB2k17

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Posted (edited)
On 8/20/2020 at 11:46 AM, stinkininkin said:

Not in a million years would I buy bad art from a favorite or respected art hero. The point of my collection is to collect great art that I love and that speaks to me. I've never understood buying art just to check off a box. If anything, it would be a huge bummer to own something from an artist I know and respect who was just having a bad day artistically or that was way early in their career and still figuring things out on the job. For those who buy lousy art because you know you can flip it or use it in trade and it's never meant as a keeper, well that's a different conversation (and does not fit my collection strategy but I at least understand it).

I‘m not a flipper, but buying it to flip makes sense. Unless you really like the page. 

Edited by PhilipB2k17
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