Mike Debalfo "Revised" Original Art?

[JadeGiant]

That's a bush league move IMO. Making a print out of a piece is completely fine but recreating an original commission is all kinds of reason to be disappointed.

Now, I think you HAVE to bring it up to him as a way of giving him the benefit of the doubt and letting him explain. My gut tells me he won't have a good reason but who knows. Don't read him the riot act or anything but let him clearly know that you aren't pleased that your original art was reproduced. Think about it like this - wouldn't you want to know if you were the other collector? I would let them know as well.

You have nothing to lose here if you go public. If he doesn't provide any communication on this topic or tells you tough luck, I would ask for a refund. That's me.

[risingstar]

I would be very disappointed if an artist reproduced my commission, especially if it was a pricey one, but I wouldn't be very surprised, sadly.

[DiscoCougar]

The wording that the OP used in his post kinda has me confused.

Did Mike take your art and literally create a new pencil drawing, using the original as a template, to resell? Or did he take your art and create a (black and white) print?

Mike's always been a nice guy to talk to, so I wouldn't hesitate contacting him to find out exactly what he did. However, I do know from past comments he's made that he feels that he's in that "lower artist rut" where he wants to make as much profit from his drawings as possible, and he's said that he's all for artists earning any kind of money from older commissions that they can get (whether it's from art being sold between collectors who then have to pay percentage of their sale back to the original artist, or reusing images for prints). But he's always sounded ethical about never recreating original art, so I'm real curious to know if he did kinda screw you over.

[Lucky Baru]

edit....

[Ghost9]

That really stinks, and I do believe you should contact Mike and make him aware that you're disappointed in thinking you had an original to find out someone else out there has pretty much the exact same piece. This happened to me several years ago with an eBay artist that I befriended. I had a lot of input on the commission, and then found out he did almost the exact same one for someone else who wanted basically the same thing. I was polite, but basically told him it wasn't cool, that I commissioned something original, etc. I don't think he was even aware that something like that would be frowned upon. And yes, I think he's a light-boxer also.

Mike is a very friendly guy; really personable and I think a talented artist. I don't think it would hurt to at least give make him aware you're not happy here.

[Wah]

well guys i just decided to write him and when he writes back i'll let ya'll know what he said. essentially i just wrote that i think what he did was unfair to me and just wanted to let him know what i thought. i told him i'm sure he has whatever right to do what he did but doesn't change the fact as a fan of his and a collector of original art that i felt i got wronged in this incidence.

[carlito1978]

good call wah. stinks that it happened to you but I think that's the right approach. you never know it could yield a positive outcome for you.

[Ghost9]

Glad you did it. If for nothing else, at least it's off your chest and even if you hear nothing back, you can move on knowing you said your piece.

[Wah]

thanks guys. yeah it does feel better to just write him and tell him my thoughts. and in the email it was totally non-aggressive and i was extremely polite. i just ended it that all i wanted out of this email was to let you know the perspective of the other person.

[galactus]

At the Heroes Con art auction a few years back, I purchased an "original pencil and inked Colossus" by Dominic Stanton (Domo) which, after looking closely at it, ended up being an inked blue line piece. As if that didn't suck enough, after showing it on here, it was a blue line print of another SF members commission from him. I offered it to the original commissioner (free of charge), but in the end, just tore it up and tossed it out. At least the money went to the con and not Domo.

Stuff like this is the sign of a crappy artist with no work ethic. I hope you get a satisfactory resolution of some sort.