the vynsane asylum

so i'm working on a new function of the site to allow people to purchase the original art or commission a new piece just like it and pay immediately through paypal. just wanted to pick your brains on whether i'm wasting my time (read: no one wants to buy your crappy bullshit chicken scratches, vyn) and whether or not i could run into legal troubles, since i'm basically going to get paid to draw a character i don't necessarily have the rights to reproduce.

it's my opinion that if i put a reasonable price on these things, i might get some bites. what would you think is a reasonable price? bear in mind that the larger ones are 9x12". i don't think i'd even bother trying to sell the smaller ones. i was thinking in the $15-$25 range. maybe more if i do some inked stuff, but so far it's only been pencils, so that's what i'm looking at in terms of pricing. also, as commissions are a relatively hallowed tradition of the comic community, i don't think i should have problems. i mean, if ryan ottley can do a commission of spider-man, i should be in the clear. not like i'd demand the kind of money he could get...

and for those of you who don't know who ryan ottley is, he's the artist on invincible, the book you should all be reading, and his website is http://www.ryanottley.com

A lot of other artists do it. I think it's one of those things that technically are in violation of trademarks and copyrights, but no company will take issue with it since it's essentially free advertising.

Being a relative unknown, though, you may have to charge less. I'd say $15 on the high end, unless they're more finished. It's not much, but people are more likely to buy from an "unknown" for a cheaper price. And, when you're famous, it makes a cool bragging piece. (Like the sketch of Psylocke I got from Casey Jones for $5, or the now amazing deal of a two-page 'Ringo spread from The Flash for, IIRC, $20.)

Can I commision a vampire sketch? Maybe this ancient SOB who is the only person who can honestly claim to have worked for Vlad Tepes, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Adolf Hitler?

anarky wrote:A lot of other artists do it. I think it's one of those things that technically are in violation of trademarks and copyrights, but no company will take issue with it since it's essentially free advertising.

that's what i was thinking, too...

Being a relative unknown, though, you may have to charge less. I'd say $15 on the high end, unless they're more finished. It's not much, but people are more likely to buy from an "unknown" for a cheaper price.

i was basically thinking that, too... just wanted to get a feel for what others thought.

or the now amazing deal of a two-page 'Ringo spread from The Flash for, IIRC, $20.)

fuckin' amazing. i want his ultimate spider-man heroes initiative sketch variant so bad, but i bet it's like a brazilian and a half dollars.

Can I commision a vampire sketch? Maybe this ancient SOB who is the only person who can honestly claim to have worked for Vlad Tepes, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Adolf Hitler?

haven't you done so already? i know, i suck. december's just fuckin' wrecked me, as evidenced by my last scribble being posted on the second!

i have a freelance web design gig coming up, too, but i'll do my best to get you something after the new year. the next week and a half is going to be frantic.

No prob. I've been wondering how to work a request like that into the Daily Scribble forum, and this was my golden opportunity!

I'll see if there's a way to scan my 'Ringo spread to show to you. He used to go to all the cons in VA and NC, and my pal and I would always see him, Chuck Wotjiewicz (who never hit it really big, but is damned awesome in his own right), and a few others (such as Casey Jones long before he had any published work). We actually watched him draw the one Flash cover with Aquaman. I bought a spread at the Heroes Con in Charlotte of Flash and Nightwing discovering Starfire tied up in some kind of compound. The way it's laid out, it's two panels, most of it being the compound, but the other panel is an awesome close-up of Wally and Dick.

I got him to personalize it, which technically would make it worth nothing. But even if he had never become one of the biggest names in the industry (and, sadly, passed away), there'd still be no way to get me to part with it.