Sites for Buying Original Art

[Wood]

Lots of original art chatter going on lately   which makes me all sorts of giddy.

That had me thinking it might be helpful to start a thread where we can share sites to buy said original art. This is a very disparate industry where even the primary dealers usually only handle a handful of artists. I know I'm ALWAYS looking for new places to check out, and there are probably a ton more I haven't yet discovered. Between us, we can probably get together a nice collection that I can maintain on the first post in a list form.  

• Albert Moy -- One of the longest running OA vendors, he's got a collection that ranges into the very high end stuff
• Anthony's Collectibles -- Another one of the legends, Anthony Snyder, who sells boatloads of OA ranging in price from cheap to uber expensive
• Art & Comics Original -- Pretty sure he's mainly a re-seller, but some interesting pages including a lot of European and Latin American artists
• The Art of Comics -- Another primary rep for show faves the likes of Mahmud Asrar, Bryan Hitch, Khoi Pham and Yildiray Cinar
• The Beguiling -- Amazing rep specializing in indie and small press creators. Includes Ba/Moon, Becky Cloonan, Paul Pope, Jason, Jeff Lemire, Kagan McLeod and many more!
• The Artists Choice -- Spencer Beck's site featuring a massive collection of repped artists including Coipel, McNiven, Romita Jr, Epting, Cheung
• Big Wow Art -- Another great selection of pages. It appears he's a rep for a few artists exclusively but most of his stock is secondary.
• Black Line Fever -- An admittedly annoying old school HTML website design, but if you can get past that he has some amazing pieces for sale/trade including some legendary indie/underground stuff
• Cadence Comic Art -- A personal show fave that reps the likes of Mike Norton, Gabriel Hardman, Ryan Stegman, Rafael Albuquerque, Tom Fowler, Declan Shalvey, Khary Randolph, and MANY more!
• Comic Art Collective -- A hub for finding original art from many alternative comic creators, takes you directly to their creator sites
• Comic Art House -- Site with collection of artists including some (like Andy Tong and Chris Moreno) that I haven't seen featured at other spots
• Comic Art Ink -- Barrows, Benjamin, Boschi, Tocchini, Guara
• ComicArtShop -- A hub that does a nice job of highlighting OA art available for sale at places like eBay and Heritage and via classifieds
• ComicBook-Art.com -- A site that caters to some of the forgotten stalwarts of the bronze age including Keith Pollard, Arvell Jones, Frank Springer and Herb Trimpe
• Comic Book Art Gallery -- Not the best looking site,but he reps Mike Perkins and sells lots of other art,too
• Comic Book Pros (Alex Ross Art) -- Uncle Sal's site where he sells Alex Ross' art exclusively as well as reps Bill Sienkiewicz, Angel Medina, Texeira and Ernie Chan
• Comic Con Art -- Exclusive rep for Ed Benes and a host of other artists including Andre Pepoy and Tony Akins
• Dave Karlen Art -- Reps the likes of Eduardo Barreto and Butch Guice
• Cool Lines Art -- Broad based rep who re-sells art from all eras
• Distinctive Original Art -- Another old school website that could use some updating, but he has great pages for sale from the likes of Byrne, Alan Davis, Pacheco, Ploog, Rude, Grell and others
• Essential Sequential -- Home of Sean Murphy, Eric Canete, Mark Chiarello, Matteo Scalera, Dave Johnson, Stephane Roux and others
• Fanfare Sports & Entertainment -- Michigan based store that sells all kinds of merchandise, but has a HUGE collection of secondary original art for sale too, including Stuart Immonen
• Fog City Art Exchange -- Very small site but noteworthy in that it appears to be the rep for Art Adams
• Got Super Powers? -- Mike Allred and other goodness
• Graphic Collectibles -- I've never used this site but they have a ton of different pages from lots of artists and the prices vary from very affordable to super high end
• Koch ComicArt -- Wide variety of art ranging from comic books to strips to indie stuff
• KwanChang.com -- Another site I just recently discovered. He is the exclusive rep for Clayton Henry and Leinil Yu, but has lots of secondary pages for sale on top of that
• The Interior Pages -- Jason Palmer, known as Frank Castle to many on the comic forums, is building up a nice roster of talent including Joe Eisma, Rahsan Ekedal and our very own Steve Bryant
• Lewis Wayne Gallery -- Lewis Wayne Gallery is a high end dealer who carries everything from comic art to pulps to vintage original movie art. In spite of being a jack of all trades, Lewis Wayne has an EXCEPTIONAL collection of classic comic art, ranging from the EC greats to MAD Magazine original pages to the likes of John Buscema, Ernie Colon and John Severin.
• McConnell Art -- Relatively new OA dealer in Canada focused on a number of local indie creators like Marion Churchland and Brandon Graham. Also happens to be the host of the InkStuds podcast.
• Michael Alexander Art -- Set up shop on ComicArtFans and acts as the rep for the likes of Jason Pearson, Jonboy Meyers, Tyler Kirkham and Mike Henderson.
• The Mighty Nib -- Not as active in their promotion and harder to find, but I came across them when Paul Pelletier told me he was repped by them. Also reps Stelfreeze, Jeanty, Hamner and others
• Nostalgic Investments -- Carries VERY high end comic art, in the tens of thousands of dollars

• Red Sector Art -- Just discovered this site when looking for Eduardo Risso art. He reps Risso and a handful of other European artists
• Rojay's Original Art -- The site is a bit old school in look and feel, but there's a lot of interesting original art available, both new and old.  Rojay is a re-seller, and has something that probably appeals to every collector
• Romitaman Original Art -- Claims to be the largest original art dealer in the world, and certainly it's hard to argue against it. Has a MASSIVE collection of secondary art from some of the very best to ever work in the business. Deals in pricier stuff so few "bargains" here
• Scott Eder Art -- Deals in indie comic artists including the likes of Johnny Ryan, Peter Bagge and Milo Manara
• Serendipity Art Sales -- Broad collection of art including some artist alley faves
• SplashPageArt -- Reps a boatload of artists including Adlard, Ottley, Cliff Chiang and Jock

[Chris]

So how do these work?  You grid off how you want the piece, then artists will draw in it while you wait for little or no $$$?  I was thinking of getting some relatively short sketch books and doing those with themes - but I may do these instead.

It's a cool way to get a lot of artists on one page. I decided to do it because I was running out of wall space, but still wanted to get work from a lot of these artists.

The cost.... varies. Sometimes an artist will do a small square for free. Sometimes they can actually be pretty expensive. I've never paid more than $60 for a square, and that was for one of my art heroes (you'll see that one on my JLA piece).

The average price for each square is probably $15.

[Wood]

My only worry about jam pieces is that the idea seems to be taking off like wild fire. It may become so ubiquitous that artists start charging as a rule. I hope not.  To Chris' point, I have two working currently and got more than half for free, and haven't paid more than $20 for any single square (and that was only one of them).

[Chris]

My only worry about jam pieces is that the idea seems to be taking off like wild fire. It may become so ubiquitous that artists start charging as a rule. I hope not.  To Chris' point, I have two working currently and got more than half for free, and haven't paid more than $20 for any single square (and that was only one of them).

It seams like most artists are asking for $20. That was my experience this weekend.
I paid $25 for the Perez. Sienkiewicz is the most I've paid, and that was $60.

I think Neil Adams would probably be $175 - $200, and I'm just not going to do that.

[Wood]

It seams like most artists are asking for $20. That was my experience this weekend.
I paid $25 for the Perez. Sienkiewicz is the most I've paid, and that was $60.

I think Neil Adams would probably be $175 - $200, and I'm just not going to do that.

Yeah, and $20 to me is pushing it. I mean, it's a few inch square, so if that becomes the norm the jam piece turns into a $300+ commitment in most cases. Not that I blame the artists though, particularly if 20 people a day at a con are now rolling up and asking for a "quick" piece in a jammer.

[BobBretall]

The cost.... varies. Sometimes an artist will do a small square for free. Sometimes they can actually be pretty expensive. I've never paid more than $60 for a square, and that was for one of my art heroes (you'll see that one on my JLA piece).

The average price for each square is probably $15.

Wow.   Out of the 30 2" squares on the jam piece I had done at WonderCon, 28 were free.  I paid $10 for 1 and $5 for another.   So I paid $15 for the entire thing.

But I was the only guy walking around with a jam piece like that.  That's what happens at a con with a crowd of 11 O'Clockers wandering around, jam pieces in hand     If there are too many people asking for 2" sketches artists will start charging........  

Larger show ==  less chance of getting jam squares at low/no cost, I guess.

EDIT:  I just thought of another explanation of why I was getting most of mine for free:
  --> I typically was asking a creator to draw a character that they themselves created or have a strong relationship to.  For instance, Gabe Hardman drew Doctor Zaius from his labor-of-love Planet of Apes book, I didn't ask him to do a Marvel character.    If I was asking everyone to draw a Marvel or DC character they may very well have wanted to charge me.  I was also not asking the big hot artists who had lengthy commission lists for $100s of $ a pop that I was tearing them away from.    So, apples-to-oranges comparison.   If I was asking Mike McKone & Ethan vanSciver to draw me Avengers or Justice Leaguers, I'm guessing I would have gotten charged.

[Night (Travis) Nurse]

Well at ECCC I was the only one (besides Chris Campbell) rolling with a jam piece based on what artists were telling me. Many artists had not seen one and were fascinated with the idea. With that said I paid a lot more then anyone else it seems. For a total of 25 squares I paid $180 with $20 being the average. Gabe Hardmen charged me the most with $40 but his is beautiful. So after paying for the few that did charge I still got 16 done for either the price of a book I picked up from them or nothing but conversation. I'm OK with spending $20 if there's some time involved and the square looks decent. If there throwing down something for free I'm a little more hesitant with my criticism.

Travis

[Chris]

Wow.   Out of the 30 2" squares on the jam piece I had done at WonderCon, 28 were free.  I paid $10 for 1 and $5 for another.   So I paid $15 for the entire thing.

But I was the only guy walking around with a jam piece like that.  That's what happens at a con with a crowd of 11 O'Clockers wandering around, jam pieces in hand     If there are too many people asking for 2" sketches artists will start charging........  

Larger show ==  less chance of getting jam squares at low/no cost, I guess.

EDIT:  I just thought of another explanation of why I was getting most of mine for free:
  --> I typically was asking a creator to draw a character that they themselves created or have a strong relationship to.  For instance, Gabe Hardman drew Doctor Zaius from his labor-of-love Planet of Apes book, I didn't ask him to do a Marvel character.    If I was asking everyone to draw a Marvel or DC character they may very well have wanted to charge me.  I was also not asking the big hot artists who had lengthy commission lists for $100s of $ a pop that I was tearing them away from.    So, apples-to-oranges comparison.   If I was asking Mike McKone & Ethan vanSciver to draw me Avengers or Justice Leaguers, I'm guessing I would have gotten charged.

Yeah, I think there are a few things going on to differ the pieces.
I have 20 spaces on my sheet, so the area for each artist is a bit larger. Not much, but probably enough to matter. Most of the sketches I get on these take around 20 minutes, so they're more like mini commissions instead of quick sketches.
I think these are becoming more popular, and artists are charging less than their normal sketch rate, but they are charging. I think $20 is becoming the going rate from what I'm seeing.
Show size is going to make a difference as well. NYCC & SDCC are going to have artists charging max fees because of the cost of attending the shows as well as the amount of money being made there is larger.
I think you're right about drawing creator owned or passion characters. I always leave it up to the artist what character they want to draw from the team, but it's not the same. Geoff Darrow would draw a Shaolin Cowboy for me for free, but he has no interest in drawing batman, even if I paid him.

[Lawrence]

The one thing I will I say I don't like about the jam piece is that a lot of artist have pricing on their table already. Then you walk up to them with something that doesn't really fall into those categories so the artist is put into a situation where they have discuss pricing. I still do it but sometimes I feel awkward about it.

[erikh42]

It seams like most artists are asking for $20. That was my experience this weekend.
I paid $25 for the Perez. Sienkiewicz is the most I've paid, and that was $60.

I think Neil Adams would probably be $175 - $200, and I'm just not going to do that.

Just for reference, Leifield charged $ 60.00 last year at NYCC.  Brian Bolland wanted $ 75.00 two years ago (I didn't get than one though).  I worry about the same thing that Wood mentioned, there seem to be a lot of people doing these recently.  When I started my first pieces a few years ago most artists had never seen one.  Now I just feel like another one of those guys running around with a page of little boxes.

One last note, if you really want to get them for free, go to the publisher booths when they have artists that are sketching.  They do not charge there and you can get some nice quick sketches.  In fact, Cliff Chang wouldn't sketch for me at his table and recommended that I grab him at the DC booth.

[whirlwindx]

Wow.   Out of the 30 2" squares on the jam piece I had done at WonderCon, 28 were free.  I paid $10 for 1 and $5 for another.   So I paid $15 for the entire thing.

That's been my experience. I did buy something from just about every artist that did something for my jam. The squares are pretty small with 25 squares so sometimes they quote higher until they get a good look at it. I have two going but only ask for them to do one but I've been asked if they could do a square for both pieces before.

[Christopher Stark]

I feel bad about being another guy with a "jam" until I talked to Bill Sienkiewicz.  After seeing what Chris got and Bill just sitting there, I went up and asked how much he was charging.  I hold me his costs and I asked if that was the same price for a small sketch on my DC Jam.  He was curious on size so I showed him all the ones i had going.  He actually took a general interest and we started talking about all of them.  He was really excited about contributing as soon as I answered his question why I was doing it.  I told him that it was because i love original art and want art from so many artists I can't fit it on my wall.  This way I can get 20 guys in the space one page would cover.  He was generally happy that i was doing it for the art and gave me a really REALLY good deal.

Hester was free because he said it was so small and I told him I already had some of his art on my wall (an Ant-Man page).  Gleason dropped his price because he remembered me from prior NYCCs buying his art when he had no one at his table.  Savuik only charged me $10 because I bought a page from him as well.

My most expensive ones are Amanda Conner and Ben Templesmith at $50 a pop, and they are slightly bigger squares.

Right now, the costs on each are
Avengers total - $90
DC - $80
JL Gen Lost - $130
Cobra - $60

I actually foresee spending $20 per square.  Sometimes i am surprised if its lower. Sometimes its higher than I want and just politely say, "that's more than I was looking for" and that either is responded with the artist saying "Well what were you looking to spend?" and we work something out or "Hey, that's cool. I'll be here"  It never gets ugly and they completely understand costs.

[David]

So we pull into the driveway tonight and Renee notices our mail's on the stoop and not in the mailbox.  She hands me a package from Hack Shack Studios.  I open it and find a letter:

After my oh, shit! moment I open the sleeve containing the booty (apologies for the quality, I was hovering over the pages while snapping the shots):

#1, page 11:

#2, page 11

#3, page 11

#4, page 11

[Christopher Stark]

Oh, hella badass!

[legion of daves]

nice.  free art ftw.

[Wood]

Free effing Deathstroke pages.

Holyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy sheet!

[Night (Travis) Nurse]

What an awesome present and such a great momento.

Travis

[Lawrence]

That is really amazing guys. It has to be kind of surreal to realize sometimes that so many professionals are listening. What a sweet present.

[legion of daves]

just fyi, through tomorrow Michael's is running a 60% + additional 15% (off the discounted price) off deal for their custom frames.  they're still relatively expensive, but it's just about as cheap as it's gonna get.  i got a couple prints framed, one was a jordan crane that was a wedding gift, so it's just been waiting for 18 months for the bargain price to get it done.

[BobBretall]

I was browsing around on Romitaman.com last night while chatting with some comics friends on Skype and came upon the following Gene Colan 2-page spread from the B&W Tomb of Dracula #1 magazine.

I have a couple Gene Colan pages; a page from Daredevil -1 with Matt Murdock, a page from Detective #538 with Batman, and the page from Spectre (1987) #4 but all these are "regular" inked line art. 

I love the tonal work Gene did on this spread, which was made to be reproduced in B&W.  It's like a colored piece even though it's just shades/tones/textures.  Even without any major 'known' characters, it's my favorite Colan piece, very moody, very "art".

[Wood]

After four years of trying, I finally got an Alan Davis page in one of his semi-annual sales:



Sam Wilson by Alan Davis for the MOFUGGIN win!!!