Do you guys prefer Production pieces or Commissions?

[ratchet]

Absolutely Published pages - I think they are better for a few reasons - but one is because the page can contain a whole bunch of characters - and for you to commission that would cost a fortune.

And like Drew said - you know what you are getting.

[MrYac]

my reason for loving production pieces is i love knowing that something i own has been seen by millions (i know a bit of a high number considering the shrink in comic readers these days) of people, but i'm the only person who can ever own the original.

and as much as i love seeing an episode of a show and finding the exact moment my cel was used it's just as cool to flip through a comic and see one of my pages colored up and displayed to the world

[insomniac]

It is strange that people are moving from commissions to OA due to the cost savings. I have always thought that equal quality published art will almost always cost a lot more. If you are comparing commission art to panel art it is not a fair comparison. A published splash or cover will usually sell for more than a similar commissioned piece.

I like commissions. You have a say in how it comes out. Poses and such. You are the one being creative as well, and using your imagination. Where else would you see X-23 fight Draken? Or Chewie giving Yoda the Fastball Special? lol That don't sound right. You see it here first.

[joefixit2]

Like OA the best, commissions only in regards to going to conventions and getting something there.

[Immovable Blob]

I started with only OA but the couldn't pass the chance up to get a Byrne commission. I now have a number of commisisons but I strictly limit myself to my favorite artists who are available and cost. I don't see me getting many more at this point and will just get the odd page as trying to cut down.

[risingstar]

Given the choice, original art. Sadly, quality splash pages are either too expensive or too hard to come by. For a while, commissions were a reasonable alternative. Unfortunately, over the past couple of years, commissions have been getting a bad rap, in part because the costs of many of them have become comparable to that of actual published pieces. Also, it doesn't help things when some artists (emphasis on "some") have proven to be unreliable, if not, unscrupulous.

Nowadays, when fans pay in advance for a commission, they half expect deadlines not to be met, update-request e-mails to be ignored, and refunds to be very hard to get unless some public venting is made. Perhaps the scariest part is discovering you don't like the final product, or feel it's a half-assed job. It doesn't help that commissions generally do not seem to carry much of an investment value.

Verdict -- If you have 1k to spend on something, why not wait for your OA piece to pop up?
Of course, if you have a genuine shot at getting a stress-free commission from one of your favorite artists, go for it.

P.S. If you truly want to buy a commission, the BEST thing to do is to ask around about the artist. Chances are someone has dealt with him/her before. Some experiences have been described as amazing while others have been deemed a disaster. You owe it to yourself to do some homework so that you can avoid the heartache/headache.

[hypno]

OA hands down. I like owning art that has been published, each page is like owning a bit of history. Like others have said I like seeing what I'm spending my money on. I also like the art of visual storytelling, page design, seeing several shots of a character...etc.

With commissions, to me there are too many negative factors to deal with. And frankly it's harder than it should be just buy a finnished page of art directly from a penciler who rep themselves. Most I've encountered don't return emails or take a month or two to get back to me. I can only imagine the nightmare it would be trying to get a commissioned work from them.

[xraysteve]

Published pieces. Since commissions have risen to the price of published original art and the quality is variable, getting a commission is a gamble, and you are often throwing your money away.

[Royd]

I treat myself to the occasional commission (with a focus on my Shanna theme) but most of my purchases are either published artwork or unpublished pieces by favourite artists.

I have also found commission prices steepling upwards but some artists are worth the extra cost, particularly if they rarely do commission work (eg. Dave Gibbons Rorschach commission).

While published pieces are naturally attractive for the reasons others have stated, I also love unpublished works (prelims, design pieces, unused pages) because they're unique and not had a wide circulation in print. Here's a couple of examples of unused or promotional pieces by Adam Hughes -

Unused splash page for Team Titans - http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryP...=2875&GSub=303
Promotional splash for Indiana Jones comic - http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryP...73638&GSub=303

Best,

Royd