Canvas art of Comic Covers?!?!?

rychehitman · 12-11-2005, 11:06 PM

I saw some canvas pieces as a con not too long ago....reproducing the classic Silver Surfer cover with Thor on it, and some Spiderman covers as well as a Joe Q Spidey climbing a building shot...all on canvas.

I have never seen these on the bay, or online anywhere....does anyone know what I am talking about here? Anyone know where these can be viewed online? HFA has zilch....they arent giclees or anything...but painted reproductions on canvas!

I would like to know more about these.

HFA · 12-11-2005, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rychehitman

I saw some canvas pieces as a con not too long ago....reproducing the classic Silver Surfer cover with Thor on it, and some Spiderman covers as well as a Joe Q Spidey climbing a building shot...all on canvas.

I have never seen these on the bay, or online anywhere....does anyone know what I am talking about here? Anyone know where these can be viewed online? HFA has zilch....they arent giclees or anything...but painted reproductions on canvas!

I would like to know more about these.

Where did you see them? I think you are looking at two types of products.

Choice Collectibles out of NJ hires artists (average artists at best) to "re-create" some classic covers...they are HUGE, "original art" pieces and they charge a couple K for some of them.

There are also a couple dealers at some of the Wizard shows that have stretched canvas prints of some cool covers (by the actual artist) and they are perhaps $100 each (sometimes less).

I have "ZILCH" because these are simply bootleg prints. They may look cool, but the guy that was making them out in Southern Cal was feeling the heat and dumped them all to a couple different dealers.

Bottom line: if you like the quality on some of them, go for it. Some of them looked much better than others. Many looked horrible (pixelated, poor color-balance, etc).

If you have any other questions about those I would be happy to answer them, but you likely won't ever find them online. If DC or Marvel finds out, the site would probably get shut down.

Aarrgghh!! · 12-11-2005, 11:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HFA

Choice Collectibles out of NJ hires artists (average artists at best) to "re-create" some classic covers...they are HUGE, "original art" pieces and they charge a couple K for some of them.

I'll second that, it was most likely Sheldon "Shelly" Moldoff for the old cover reprints. He did them for CC on the cheap ($400 for a cover I think) and he charges 3 to 4x that.

Sam Wilson · 12-12-2005, 12:10 AM

James, what about that Simonson piece you sold me and joe, and that steranko you had? Those were real nice...

And even though they weren't mounted on a frame, they had that same texture that the giclees have, what are those exactly? Is it like a litho/giclee hybird or something?

Damn that simson piece is freakin' sweet...

rychehitman · 12-12-2005, 12:24 AM

James, the "Zilch" comment was not intended to insult, but rather point out that these were NOT the high quality stuff you deal in (as you noted)...they were the $100 or less variety you mentioned, although the Joe Q. Spidey was NOT a cover reproduction...more like an intended large scale shot.

So, these are hard to come by then?

HFA · 12-12-2005, 05:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rychehitman

James, the "Zilch" comment was not intended to insult, but rather point out that these were NOT the high quality stuff you deal in (as you noted)...they were the $100 or less variety you mentioned, although the Joe Q. Spidey was NOT a cover reproduction...more like an intended large scale shot.

So, these are hard to come by then?

No offense taken whatsoever. These are not necessarily hard to come by, but you see less of them now that this guy got into a little "trouble"...some guy makes them in his garage. Just like with any new technology, eventually the price comes down a bit to where people can buy printers (similar to giclee printers) that will print on canvas...then they get ambitious and scan comic book covers, posters...whatever they can. They are simply bootleg prints...some look pretty darn good, but most look pretty cheesy. It's probably only a matter of time before someone else starts making them.

As for Sam's question, the pieces I have are officially licensed pieces (Steranko, Simonson, etc) and are printed on a textured fine art paper. Jim Lee and Wildstorm Studios produced them when they had the Marvel license. They are called "Iris Prints", which uses the fine art photography process as well as a digital process (like a giclee). The original black and white line art (and/or photostats...whatever was available at the time they were made) are photographed, scanned into the computer, and then Wildstorm digitally re-colored the pieces to perfection. The color is faithful to the original covers, but so much better in many ways. They are then printed similar to giclees. THEN they were signed and numbered.

Sam Wilson · 12-12-2005, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HFA

As for Sam's question, the pieces I have are officially licensed pieces (Steranko, Simonson, etc) and are printed on a textured fine art paper. Jim Lee and Wildstorm Studios produced them when they had the Marvel license. They are called "Iris Prints", which uses the fine art photography process as well as a digital process (like a giclee). The original black and white line art (and/or photostats...whatever was available at the time they were made) are photographed, scanned into the computer, and then Wildstorm digitally re-colored the pieces to perfection. The color is faithful to the original covers, but so much better in many ways. They are then printed similar to giclees. THEN they were signed and numbered.

Thanks james. Yeah, that BRB simonson piece is looking SWEET ever since I got it framed, I'll take pics once I get the whole room up and running...

Babytoxie · 12-12-2005, 12:38 PM

Check the wall in this pic (Donald Duck, Tales of Suspense, and Mister Miracle) - sorry for the poor quality of the image, but do these look like what you are talking about? I think a Dallas artist did these, and he sells them through an LCS. They are painted on canvas, and framed. Great work, let me know if you are interested and I can get you the store's contact info. They have many more.

Car50n · 12-12-2005, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Babytoxie

Check the wall in this pic (Donald Duck, Tales of Suspense, and Mister Miracle) - sorry for the poor quality of the image, but do these look like what you are talking about? I think a Dallas artist did these, and he sells them through an LCS. They are painted on canvas, and framed. Great work, let me know if you are interested and I can get you the store's contact info. They have many more.

i was gonna get into this type of work myself. i had a few people ask me about recreating covers on canvas, either oils or acrylics. i started an amazing fantasy 15, but it fell thru and was left in the sketch phase. personally, as an amatuer artist, an LCS manager and a fan, i don't see a huge problem with a recreation that requires this much work and/or talent. As long as it's not being peddled to the masses as legit, licensed or 'original.'

all this is making me consider finishing that AF#15 or starting some others.

HFA · 12-12-2005, 02:24 PM

"Original" art pieces are not the problem...scanning the covers and printing them on canvas is the issue, and that's a violation of copyright. More power to those of you that want to make and/or buy "original" re-creations...personally I would commission a piece from someone such as yourself before I would buy one from a "dealer" who would mark it up 400%.