Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 21:58:45 -0500
Subject: COMICS-L Digest - 18 Jul 1994 - Special issue
To: Recipients of COMICS-L digests <[COMICS L] at [UNLVM.UNL.EDU]>
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Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 21:58:30 CDT
From: "Wayne A. Wong" <[S--W--N] at [ARIEL.LERC.NASA.GOV]>
Subject: Convention Sketches.
A thread was started in rac.misc recently by several people who were
interested in obtaining sketches by comics professionals at conventions,
but who weren't sure how to go about doing it. I thought Comics-L
readers might be interested in this topic as well, so I'm attaching
my response. For those interested in other responses, and who have
access to it, I'll refer you to rac.misc, although the original thread
is at least a week old (I didn't have time to reply til now.)
- Wayne.
ps. the thread shot off into other tangents best left ignored.
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From: [s--w--n] at [ariel.lerc.nasa.gov] (Wayne A. Wong)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc
Subject: Asking artists for sketches at cons - REALLY!
[t--mp--n] at [clipper.robadome.com] writes...
>I know that *I'm* interested in an answer to the ORIGINAL question,
>and I would bet the original poster is, too.
> ....
>Anybody want to relate experiences they've had at American cons with
>sketches?
Having been on both sides of the table, as an arist and as a fan, I
thought I'd throw in my two cents.
Free Sketches and Doodles:
First you have to decide what you want at a convention. Most
artists will be happy to do small quick doodles for free, time
permitting, but these doodles are usually *very* loose and do not
show a lot of detail. Often, these are head shots that the artist
has done numerous times before.
For my freebies, I usually do head shots of the characters from my
SKY Comics projects, STAR POLICE and DARKNESS CHRONICLES. As Steve
Lieber has mentioned, he does quick free sketches of Hawkman (full
bodied, I should add). As another example, Norm Breyfogle does a great
Batman head shot (or at least he use to - maybe he does Prime now?).
Sketche$:
If you want something nicer that will take longer than a few minutes
for the artist to draw, the artist will most likely charge for it.
Usually (but not always), the more in-demand an artist is, the more
the sketch will cost. The catch-22 is that the in-demand artists
are probably already making a comfortable living drawing comics for
a mainstream company, and in some cases, their traveling expenses are
already being paid for by their company or the convention. The artists
that are less in demand on the other hand, are most likely the ones
that are working for smaller companies and are struggling to survive
and who most certainly have to pay ALL of their own travelling expenses.
In other words, the ones who need the money the most, are usually the
ones who make the least. :(
John Byrne's usual mode of operation is to pop out a marker sketch at
regular intervals while he is signing. Upon finishing the sketch he does
an on-the-spot auction for the piece. For this reason, a lot of times
at big cons (I've only seen him sketch at bigger cons) you will see a
crowd loitering around Byrne. They are waiting for him to draw a sketch
so they can bid on it. Sometimes, the bidding can get fierce. Note, a
lot of other big name popular artists no longer bother, or even have time
for sketching, so if you get in a 2 hour autograph line for, say, Jim Lee,
there is probably little point in asking him if you can commission a sketch.
For myself, I've received a variety of requests which I usually list in my
convention reports, from characters that I've worked on already, to
established "fan-favorite" characters, to buyer-created characters that
the buyer wants professionally rendered. Unless the request is for a
character that I've worked on, the buyer always provides a reference of
the character (usually a comic which features the character in question
or a simple design the buyer drew). At the Pittsburgh con earlier this
year, I got stuck on a Wolverine sketch because I wasn't sure how a detail
on his costume looked. Luckily a person in a Wolverine costume was at
the con entertaining the kids so I tracked him down and refreshed my
memory on what he looked like.
The artist:
Unless it happens to be the first time the artist has ever had a table
in artist alley, the artist will know what to do and how to handle the
situation, so there is no need to feel embarrassed when talking about
money. Most artists have signs indicating their rate. If they do more
than one type of sketch (perhaps they also ink, or color, or do even
larger more elaborate pieces), they will have these listed as well. If
the artist doesn't list a price, just ask.
At the larger conventions, there are usually a WIDE variety of artists in
attendence, so regardless of your "style" of preference, you should be able
to find someone who will be to your liking, from realistic, to traditional
super-hero, to "kewl," to cartoony, to dark erotica; from venerable
silver age verterans, to the next wave of industry trend setters.
My first time on the other side of the table, I basically looked over
at the artist next to me, saw how much he was charging for sketches and
charged the same thing. I ended up getting more requests than I could
handle because I am an irritatingly slow artist and spend a lot of time
on each sketch. I started a list and had to turn a few people away.
I even took requests on the condition that I would mail the piece to the
buyer because I knew I wouldn't have time to finish it at the con --
something that I'm reluctant to ever do again.
The Lingo (based on my limited experience):
The fan who just wants a free doodle usually hands me a sketchbook (or
piece of paper, or program, or T-shirt, or cap, or cup... I even did a
napkin once), and say something like,
"Can you draw something *real quick* for me?"
or "Could you put something in my book? an autograph or *whatever*?"
>From this, the artist will know that the fan is not interested in
purchasing a sketch, and are after whatever free doodle the artist
cares to make if any.
The buyers who want a nicer sketch and are willing to pay for it, don't
have to mince words. They'll just ask if you have time to do something
for them and then they'll describe what it is they want, handing over
a reference if it is necessary.
The Sketch Seeker:
I would classify the sketch seeker into two categories. The first is
for fans of specific creators who, upon entering the convention already
have in mind the artists that they want to obtain sketches from. Usually,
the artists that get targeted are more popular or at least have name
recognition. The other category is for the fans who are looking for
nice sketches regardless of the artist; if it happens NOT to be from a
big name, it will probably cost them less. The way this works is most
artists in the alley display their portfolio or other samples of their
work on their table. The fans wander by and flip through the work. If
the artist's style is appealing to the fan, or if the artist has worked
on a character that the fan likes, the fan will ask to commission a sketch
from the artist.
Most of the people who have asked me for sketches have never heard of
me or seen any of my work prior to the con. For me, it's a great feeling
when a complete stranger looks through my work and likes it enough to want
to commission a sketch. It really is an honor and I find it to be a nice
morale booster irrespective of the money involved.
The Money Involved:
Normally, payment doesn't take place until after the artist finishes the
sketch. One reason for this is because if the artist develops a long
list, the artist might not get to finish every sketch on the list. Also,
I think most artists want to make sure that the buyer is happy with the
art before they take the buyer's money. The exception in which the buyer
might have to prepay is if the artist agrees to complete a sketch and send
it to the buyer at a later date.
There. Hope this helps those interested in obtaining sketches at a future
convention but who have never done so before.
- Wayne, has never been to Britain and has not encountered any british
artists doing sketches at cons and so will gladly stay out of that
discussion altogether. :)
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W A Y N E . A . W O N G
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"I don't own them. I just gave them life." - BWS, Re: Archer & Armstrong.
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End of COMICS-L Digest - 18 Jul 1994 - Special issue
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