fred.ian Sketch Cards Thread

[fredian]

Originally Posted by DynaEtch

Wow those Masterpieces sketches are superb.

If I ever open a box of 2023 Masterpieces, I would absolutely love to pull any of those!

Thank you very much, good luck with your pulls!

[fredian]

MARVEL UNBOUND BASE CARD #89 ORIGINAL ART : ODIN .

Week #89 of Marvel Unbound will be available on Upper Deck e-Pack® this Monday, on 08/14/23 at 9:00 am PT.




The sketch cards are no longer an achievement at the end of the Upper Deck Marvel Unbound set but are randomly inserted each week in a pack, with a chance of it being an oversized 5x7 Sketch Card.
Please note: the Sketch Card may not match the specific character for each week.
The featured Marvel characters this week is LOKI.

[fredian]

Third part of my sketch cards for 2023 UPPER DECK MARVEL MASTERPIECES
Peinture à l'huile et encres sur carte - 6,5 X9cm/ oil painting and inks on cardboard - 2,5" X 3,5".

[fredian]

Fourth part of my sketch cards for 2023 UPPER DECK MARVEL MASTERPIECES
Peinture à l'huile et encres sur carte - 6,5 X9cm/ oil painting and inks on cardboard - 2,5" X 3,5".

[sketchopolix]

Am I mistaken, or did you not create a sketch almost exactly like this (in my memory they are identical) for a set like Marvel Premier or Black DIamond?

Being sold on eBay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/12605884761...Bk9SR9Th75rCYg

A different artist's work...

[fredian]

You're right! This was for my first collaboration with Upper Deck for Marvel Premier 2017.
It's always flattering to be copied
I was myself inspired by a photograph of Elizabeth Taylor

[mjohnatgt]

Odd, that it's a Bill Crabb from a 2016 set. May have been a commission on a blank.

[fredian]

Originally Posted by mjohnatgt

Odd, that it's a Bill Crabb from a 2016 set. May have been a commission on a blank.

Probably, because I can assure you that I haven't copied anyone.

[fredian]

MARVEL UNBOUND BASE CARD #90 ORIGINAL ART : WARWOLF.

Week #90 of Marvel Unbound will be available on Upper Deck e-Pack® this Monday, on 08/21/23 at 9:00 am PT.




The sketch cards are no longer an achievement at the end of the Upper Deck Marvel Unbound set but are randomly inserted each week in a pack, with a chance of it being an oversized 5x7 Sketch Card.
Please note: the Sketch Card may not match the specific character for each week.
The featured Marvel characters this week is WARWOLF.

[fredian]

Last part of my sketch cards for 2023 UPPER DECK MARVEL MASTERPIECES
Peinture à l'huile et encres sur carte - 6,5 X9cm/ oil painting and inks on cardboard - 2,5" X 3,5".

[DynaEtch]

Originally Posted by mjohnatgt

Odd, that it's a Bill Crabb from a 2016 set. May have been a commission on a blank.

If you look at seller's other items, there are a lot of sketches with that same signature, including various on 2007-2008 Masterpieces stock. Surely these are aftermarkets on blanks by the artist, not pack pulled- at least that's what Im guessing.

If I recall correctly, fred.ian's Black Cat (the original) was 5x7 in size, and the one on ebay is standard 2.5x3.5. I vividly remember when fred.ian's was on the market, such a beautiful work. I put in an offer but it was way outside my price range.

You see sketches after published works like comic covers or other trading cards, like the legacy sketches in Masterpieces 2016 after Jusko, but I have to say it's unusual to see a sketch after another sketch (if that's what this is...I guess it's possible that he just used the same Elizabeth Taylor photo and happen to use the same character Black Cat, but that's rather unlikely plus glancing at both, they seem to be basically the same, so does look like an imitation. Surely that's a compliment to fred.ian )

Edit: assuming this was the Elizabeth Taylor photo inspiration, which appears to be a still from one of her movies..or something close to it.



Edit 2:
There are more examples of this among the sellers other items. For example a Marvel Gems Elektra sketch after Greg Horns Elektra that appeared in Rittenhouse Women of Marvel series 1. Probably would be a good idea for the artist to note 'after artist XYZ' on the backs in this case.

[fredian]

Originally Posted by DynaEtch

If you look at seller's other items, there are a lot of sketches with that same signature, including various on 2007-2008 Masterpieces stock. Surely these are aftermarkets on blanks by the artist, not pack pulled- at least that's what Im guessing.

If I recall correctly, fred.ian's Black Cat (the original) was 5x7 in size, and the one on ebay is standard 2.5x3.5. I vividly remember when fred.ian's was on the market, such a beautiful work. I put in an offer but it was way outside my price range.

You see sketches after published works like comic covers or other trading cards, like the legacy sketches in Masterpieces 2016 after Jusko, but I have to say it's unusual to see a sketch after another sketch (if that's what this is...I guess it's possible that he just used the same Elizabeth Taylor photo and happen to use the same character Black Cat, but that's rather unlikely plus glancing at both, they seem to be basically the same, so does look like an imitation. Surely that's a compliment to fred.ian )

Edit: assuming this was the Elizabeth Taylor photo inspiration, which appears to be a still from one of her movies..or something close to it.



Edit 2:
There are more examples of this among the sellers other items. For example a Marvel Gems Elektra sketch after Greg Horns Elektra that appeared in Rittenhouse Women of Marvel series 1. Probably would be a good idea for the artist to note 'after artist XYZ' on the backs in this case.

At first I took it as a compliment.
Then, yesterday, I was shown this on a Facebook group.



I was able to consult the sale on Ebay, and the back of the card.
The 'artist' (William 'Bill' Crabb) signed with his own name without mentioning his inspiration.

And it turns out he's used to it, he copies everyone (including my friend and compatriot Effix (Art of Effix) who found one of his cards that had been copied, without his authorization and probably without mentioning it too.





challenged on Instagram, Bill Crabb assumes completely, does not apologize and discards on the big companies of the sector which would not pay enough according to him and hides behind a smoky theory which says that in any case everyone copies everyone , so why would he bother.

I let you enjoy his prose:









And it goes on like this over and over again.
I'll spare you the rest.

[DynaEtch]

Wow, thanks for posting all that.

I completely agree with you, and think the artist inspiration should definitely be mentioned on the back of these cards, at the very least. Especially since we're talking about using other people's sketch cards. I also think 'inspiration' is a generous term.

The mention about Spider-Man and Ditko...when a sketch artist creates their own new image of Spider-man, yes even using the costume created by Ditko, it's still their own, so I dont get that comparison. Now if someone copied Jack Kirby's iconic Amazing Fantasy 15 cover onto a sketch card, looking just like that cover, then I do think that should have a reference on back 'after Kirby's AF 15'. And that's a famous cover that everyone knows...it's even more needed for mimicking sketches, since an unsuspecting buyer who isnt aware of the original sketch could easily not know the mimicked art is a copy- and surely that matters to many people.

[fredian]

Originally Posted by DynaEtch

Wow, thanks for posting all that.

I completely agree with you, and think the artist inspiration should definitely be mentioned on the back of these cards, at the very least. Especially since we're talking about using other people's sketch cards. I also think 'inspiration' is a generous term.

The mention about Spider-Man and Ditko...when a sketch artist creates their own new image of Spider-man, yes even using the costume created by Ditko, it's still their own, so I dont get that comparison. Now if someone copied Jack Kirby's iconic Amazing Fantasy 15 cover onto a sketch card, looking just like that cover, then I do think that should have a reference on back 'after Kirby's AF 15'. And that's a famous cover that everyone knows...it's even more needed for mimicking sketches, since an unsuspecting buyer who isnt aware of the original sketch could easily not know the mimicked art is a copy- and surely that matters to many people.

Ebay is parasitic with this kind of copying, to the point that some people wonder (above) if it wasn't me who copied Bill Crabb, and not the other way around. That's something!

[fredian]

MARVEL UNBOUND BASE CARD #91 ORIGINAL ART : RONAN THE ACCUSER.

Week #91 of Marvel Unbound will be available on Upper Deck e-Pack® this Monday, on 08/28/23 at 9:00 am PT.




The sketch cards are no longer an achievement at the end of the Upper Deck Marvel Unbound set but are randomly inserted each week in a pack, with a chance of it being an oversized 5x7 Sketch Card.
Please note: the Sketch Card may not match the specific character for each week.
The featured Marvel characters this week is THANOS.

[fredian]

2022 MARVEL UNBOUND BATTLE SCENES QUARTERLY ACHIEVEMENTS (#79-91) ORIGINAL ART: GHOST-SPIDER vs VULTURE.

[PurplesaurusRex]

Top quality work? This guy must be trolling. Look at the face on that Spider-Gwen!

Originally Posted by fredian

[mjohnatgt]

Bill does some nice work. His Batman stuff is really good.

[PurplesaurusRex]

Originally Posted by mjohnatgt

Bill does some nice work. His Batman stuff is really good.

He's a good colorist, but all of his poses are swiped from movie stills or other artists.

[DynaEtch]

That achievement is stunning! Top notch stuff.

[DynaEtch]

Originally Posted by mjohnatgt

Bill does some nice work. His Batman stuff is really good.

Dont you think he should be putting sketch artist's name of the work he's using on the back of his cards though.

Not a fan of the whole mimicking sketch cards thing...sketches are supposed to be 1/1s, and if you look at some examples above, there are now multiple of very similar looking sketches out there (not really in the case of fred.ian since they look quite different), but I could see someone try to perfect an almost same-looking copy of other sketches. Just opens a can of worms, and it's an issue when an unsuspecting buyer buys one of the sketches thinking it was true original art (how would they know if they didnt see the original sketch and there is no reference on the back). At least with sketches after famous comic covers or movie stills, you know by just looking at it, but that's not the case with sketches since people are not generally aware of any given sketch out there.

Anyway not to derail the thread. Just brings up some questions to think about with sketches. Is there a fundamental difference between artists creating sketches off movie stills (which seems common among sketch cards), and someone using another artwork. I think there is...but a topic for discussion perhaps in a different thread.

[PurplesaurusRex]

The nerve of this guy to brag about how much faster he works compared to other artists. Everyone knows the hard part of drawing is figure posing and composition. He relies on others to do the hard work for him and doesn't even have the courtesy to give credit.

[mjohnatgt]

Originally Posted by DynaEtch

Dont you think he should be putting sketch artist's name of the work he's using on the back of his cards though.

Yes, I think he should be adding "After _______" on the cards where he is taking someone else's unique sketch design and replicating it.

[fredian]

Originally Posted by DynaEtch

That achievement is stunning! Top notch stuff.

Thank you!!!

Originally Posted by DynaEtch

Dont you think he should be putting sketch artist's name of the work he's using on the back of his cards though.

Not a fan of the whole mimicking sketch cards thing...sketches are supposed to be 1/1s, and if you look at some examples above, there are now multiple of very similar looking sketches out there (not really in the case of fred.ian since they look quite different), but I could see someone try to perfect an almost same-looking copy of other sketches. Just opens a can of worms, and it's an issue when an unsuspecting buyer buys one of the sketches thinking it was true original art (how would they know if they didnt see the original sketch and there is no reference on the back). At least with sketches after famous comic covers or movie stills, you know by just looking at it, but that's not the case with sketches since people are not generally aware of any given sketch out there.

Anyway not to derail the thread. Just brings up some questions to think about with sketches. Is there a fundamental difference between artists creating sketches off movie stills (which seems common among sketch cards), and someone using another artwork. I think there is...but a topic for discussion perhaps in a different thread.

I also think there's a difference, a big one.

Inspiration is inspiration, photos, films, art exhibitions, anything can be inspiration.
Some influences are even unconscious.
But it becomes copy when you redraw what you've seen line for line (or at least you try to) without reinterpretation.
and it becomes dishonest when you don't quote the copied artist

Bill blithely copies the work of other artists, unscrupulously, without question, blaming the system while using it for his own ends.
He sows doubt about the very origin of the drawing, as I pointed out above.
It's an attitude unworthy of a 'real' artist.
As far as I'm concerned, he's a fraud.

[fredian]

Originally Posted by PurplesaurusRex

The nerve of this guy to brag about how much faster he works compared to other artists. Everyone knows the hard part of drawing is figure posing and composition. He relies on others to do the hard work for him and doesn't even have the courtesy to give credit.

I don't think courtesy is one of his objectives, any more than decency or honesty.
Sad...