• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Please Share The Bruce Timm Art From Your Personal Collection!
3 3

143 posts in this topic

On 9/24/2020 at 2:39 AM, ESeffinga said:

And not all markers fade the same. Some just get a bit lighter gray. Some go purple. Some red or brown, etc. Everything dye based fades. It just does. Dyes are not 100% light fast.

My wife did archival framing for almost a decade. We saw what real museum glass does and does not do. They like to tell people how it blocks 90whatever percent of UV and how it will protect the work, etc. But it isn’t foolproof. It isn’t perfectly secure.

I don’t mean just keeping a dye based piece out of direct light. I mean out of any room that gets any kind of sun. Keep those pieces in darker hallways, rooms without windows. Make sure you only use LED bulbs around them, etc. 

If you have your museum glass piece in a dark hall, lit only by a single bulb, and that bulb happens to be fluorescent or incandescent, you might as well hang it in your window. 
 

As has been pointed out, fading differs. Both in speed and in intensity. The most insidious bit is it’s generally so slow, you don’t see the change day to day. But someone else that goes years without seeing it and then sees it again can.

But here’s the part where I get a little controversial. I’m of the opinion that if the piece is protected as well as possible, and you love to see it and enjoy seeing it every day... and especially commissions or sketches... frame it. Let it fade slowly over time. But enjoy it. Getting daily enjoyment from those things IMO outstrips their historic value 9 times out of 10. 
 

Work done for publication is a little trickier moral dilemma. And a chunk of why I don’t own published marker work.
 

I do have published water color pieces. Framed in museum glass, and most of these are hanging in my basement in rooms that see little filtered sun.

My whole house was converted to LED bulbs a few years back.

 

My last bit on markers, but Alex mentioned keeping them in the dark. The worst thing about them in my experience is the solvents they use as a vehicle for the dye. It is inherent in how they operate as a medium. Older markers are worse than new ones, but those solvents migrate and break down. Some will bleed out from under colors, causing the edges to look blurry, or ghosted. It leaving a light colored halo like a faint yellow on the edge of dark shapes. And they will migrate, as I mentioned before. Keep them away from everything. If marker sits directly on anything, like in a portfolio, being transported, stacked etc. Those solvents just go.

I had a couple freebie marker drawings done by creators I didn’t really know. I Put them into a portfolio. About 5 years later, I needed room, so I tossed them into a single sleeve in that portfolio to save some space. About 20 years later I was cleaning stuff out of this portfolio and stumbled across the drawings. Pulled them out and was going to toss them in the trash. I noticed something weird though. I saw the drawing that was on top had transferred on the bottom piece. The bottom piece had a near perfect copy of the top drawing, but not in ink. In a very light yellow stain. It was the solvent that had leeched from one paper to the other.

Then I noticed something else strange. That same yellow stain could be seen in the “acid free” Mylar sleeve. It had leeched into and discolored that as well.
And the kicker was these weren’t some random markers the artists had used. I use to carry very specific acid free Bristol boards and expensive archival ink pens and permanent markers from Japan with me to shows for drawings and commissions I might get. These artists used my materials. And they failed. I had seen the old stuff go kablooie before, but not any of the modern technically advanced archival pens. That was when I first realized it was universal. All those companies like to use those words, but everything fades. Even some pigment based art materials fade. Certain colors especially. 
 

Irregardless... just be aware. That is the whole thing, IMO. Go in eyes open. Know what can happen, and be happy if it doesn’t, or just be happy if you don’t notice. Whichever. :)
 

P.s. Museum glass and some of the UV glass really does help slow down fading. My point in bringing it up is to make sure people realize it dulls the effects, it does not stop it. There isn’t any stopping it. And not just UV light (which is for sure the worst) but any light has an effect. But it’s a heck of a lot better than nothing. 

thank you for this great info. i had no idea. part of why i ask, and not to hijack this thread, is that i did some marker and pen drawings last year in a new book i released. i used tombo markers mostly along with micron archival ink pens. these are inside books so i imagine there wont be UV light issues. but i wonder if there will be migration. they were done on the title page of the book, so they are a couple pages away from any important pages with printed images on them. i don't think these markers migrate the way COPTIC markers do, but i guess time will tell, or my customers will tell me. this is not my usual medium so that's why i am so curious about it. see attached. 

Darth-Venom-sketch.jpg

greedo-sketch.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In my experience the migration of solvents isn’t super fast. Generally the kind of stuff you see over a decade rather than a few years. And the weird solvent staining is the kind of thing you see more readily in bright daylight. I suspect many people wouldn’t notice it right away. I should look and see if I still have any of the same old marker stuff in a portfolio somewhere. It might be interesting as a reference for the topic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/15/2020 at 11:23 PM, GeneticNinja said:

I need to get a Bruce Timm piece. Every time I see one I want, I'm always too late and it's sold.

I’m usually on time, but rarely is there a character that I’m gaga about. At least from the new stuff he’s been dropping. I’m in the market for a full body color piece like the ones that pop up from time to time. Just waiting on the right character!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, ZimmermanTelegram said:

I’m usually on time, but rarely is there a character that I’m gaga about. At least from the new stuff he’s been dropping. I’m in the market for a full body color piece like the ones that pop up from time to time. Just waiting on the right character!!

There's a color Harley Quinn ending on Heritage soon.  The Black Canary sold through CAF recently, was also very nice. 

I prefer his earlier color pieces, even though they had little to no background.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, rikemice said:

My one and only Timm. A page rough from Batman Adventures #1. I wish I'd picked up more of these when I had the chance.

timm.jpg

Obviously his finished work is great, but there's something equally nice about this.  Even as a "rough" it's a testament to how confident and economic Timm's line is. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
3 3