Quote:
Originally Posted by pdenham
I've never seen any of these things up close, but Jordu Schell's Tarkin is the first time I ever saw a hyper realistic silicone bust. Blew my tiny little mind.
He's offering made to order for all these @ $10K each + shipping. Haven't seen any testimonials though, and when it comes to an artist doing reproductions of his own work, no two are ever going to be exactly the same. Each iteration may excel, or be deficient, in different areas.
He also has this disclaimer on the order pages
And this is the problem with the kind of back and forth I see with BillyCurly and others here.
An individual sample may be all they say it is, and in comparison to another individual sample may be noticeably more refined.
The problem is that comparison only applies to those exact two samples. The next custom by the same artist vs the next off-the-assembly-line by workers at QC- of the exact same property- might yield an entirely different, or more muted, reaction.
Track records are important, but the same artist that produced an A+++ effort once, may not be in a great place (psychologically. emotionally) when he's working on your commission and the piece may suffer in comparison (to the previous sample) because of that. Artists aren't machines and they do go through ups and downs that affect their work.
That's the one thing where an assembly line approach may have an advantage Spreading the work around to several other hands means the finished product isn't dependent on any one person's moods or state.
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I know Jordu as well, he is a nice guy and an outstanding artist. You get what you pay for. As for the comments of the quality not being the same because they are human vs an assembly line is better...........................that is just not the case.
You have to understand, factories that pump out mass production might be consistent or one really good and another really bad because you have different painters doing the work. Maybe the guy who does the base is really good, but then the guy who does the fine details is sloppy, and there would be more than one artist at the rate these companies are blowing these products out. The quality is not consistent. I had two of the same T2 bust because one got damaged in shipping, and you could definitely tell it came from two different batches, right down to the hair. They still looked OK, but inconsistent, one was better than the other.
As far as independents saying it may not appear the same because of monitors and detailing, thats right they are not machines, but FEELING GOOD has NOTHING to do with their work. You have to understand, these guys are ELITE, and they charge for that, and the quality they put out is there money maker, if they put out crap or are not consistent, then they lose business or will not be referred. Getting a bad rep in this business is hard to lose if you do that. These artists take as long as they want, even past that estimation. I have had some pieces take YEARS because of thier workload and if they dont feel good, or cant focus on something they will take a break or move on to something and come back. Never so much with painting at all, more with sculpting a likeness, that can get hard when your staring at it to much and can no longer be constructive. They take a break and come back with fresh eyes.
Plus these guys send WIP and if the customer is not happy with something, they will state that and the artist will change, add or improve. Any artist that just sends out crap or GOOD ENOUGH attitude, wont get returning customers and live off referrals. So that point is mute. Im a contractor myself and I feel like crap most days due to personal issues, but IM KNOWN for being the best at what I do in my profession, so people come to me because they want a job done right and im a perfectionist and anal. That can be a bad thing for me, things take longer etc, but always best for customer. I will start from scratch if something is not going well or not up to par.
I live off referrals just like these artists and havent sold my quality or installs for nearly 20 years. Im all referral work and so are these guys. I have had things im not happy with with artists, it happens, thats why there is a WIP way of working, and in the end, I always got what I wanted, ALWAYS! Got burnt for buying stuff off ebay from guys I didnt know that used great pictures and hid the bad stuff. These are elite artists, and putting out top quality is thier money maker. A company will just give you a replacement, but it has to be a major thing for them to do that and it may be worse, you dont get to look and say yes or no, you take what you get. Jordu's price is from years ago , it may be higher, but that is average for a top tier artist like him for a bust. You get what you pay for in the end like I said.