Friday, July 30, 2010

Interview with artist Chris Henderson


How did you get involved in sketch cards?
I saw how much the Battlestar Galactica Sketch cards were selling for on Ebay so I thought I would try selling some PSCs. This was around 2004. Someone at Rittenhouse Archives, I think it was Robert Kohlbus, contacted me about submitting some samples for the Xena Art & Images set. I didn't get approved for Xena but I was later approved for the Battlestar Galactica Premiere set. I did 300 each of 3 different images of number 6 that were used as case toppers.

Do you have an education in the art field?
I have about 3 years of a 4 year college degree. Other than that I'm mostly self taught.

How do you feel about working on such a small surface?
I still struggle with it. If I'm working directly from a reference I do okay. When I'm creating an original image I usually have to work out the details at a larger size and then reduce it.

How do you feel about the entire process?
There are always things that could be done better. Each job is a little different and I just try to look at each one as a new challenge.



You have been doing cards for several years. Have you seen a lot of changes in the sketch card business?
More artists, more companies and more sketch cards. I'm curios to see how some of these smaller companies do but I'm not crazy about the sketch card only format. I grew up collecting cards and I like the base cards. I think Sadlittles has a good format with the complete base set plus a sketch in each pack. I'm really curious to see what The Sketchlords do. They appear to be a truly artist friendly company.

Do you have a lot of contact with collectors regarding your cards?
I do off and on. I've had a lot going on recently and haven't been on the forums much. I will be at CECE in September. This will be my first show appearance and I'm looking forward to it.

How do you feel about some collectors wanting more detailed cards versus what sketch card artists are paid to work on the cards?
I can't really blame them. It's our fault. The artists are the ones who raised expectations. There's no way I can do highly detailed cards all the time but I try to do some for every set.

Have you had any bad experiences with collectors?
Nothing major. I've had a few disappear after commissioning something. I just wish they would let me know if there is a problem instead of just disappearing. I'm pretty easy to get along with and I understand that things sometime happen that we can't control. I would rather know what's going on than have to try to figure it out.

Bad experiences with companies?
Nothing we weren't able to resolve.

Would you say your career as an artist has benefited from doing sketch card work?
I've learned how to work faster. I can do in a few hours what used to take me several days.



What was the most difficult sketch card set you have worked on to date?
Probably the second and third Indiana Jones sets. Crystal Skull was the first pre-release movie set I ever worked on. I agreed to do 525 cards and then was given about 25 watermarked reference images to work from. I ended up doing a lot of repeat sketches and a handful of 1/1 sketches. When I started on Indiana Jones
Masterpieces I still had 14 of 16 returns from the first two sets and didn't see much hope of making money on a third set. It made it difficult to get motivated.
I also wasn't crazy about the watermarks on some of the recent Star Wars sets.

Are there any cards that you are particularly proud of?
I'm most proud of the fold out sketches I did for The Doctor Who Big Screen Additions set, the Amidala sketches I did for the Star Wars Galaxy 5 set and the eyes sketches I did for the Epire Strikes Back 3-D sets. I'm also very happy with the sketches I did for the CECE Treasure Chests.
As far as over all sets go I'm probably happiest with my Lord Of The Rings Masterpieces II sketches and My Heroes 2 sketches. The blue Heroes cards were terrible for color sketches but I really liked them for my graytone sketches.

Some companies provide return cards or artist proof cards for working on sketch card sets. What do you do with yours? Do you still have any?
I always intend to sell mine. They are my main payment for most sets and I can't afford to keep them.

Do you see yourself continuing with sketch card sets?
Yes but but I will be doing fewer cards for each set. I'm really enjoying these smaller sets where I only have to do 20-40 cards a set.



Is there any advice you would like to give to people wanting to break into the sketch card ‘biz’?
Be persistent and be realistic about what you can do. It's real easy to over commit yourself. Especially when just starting out. Be professional. Pay attention to the terms of the contract and stick to it.

Where can people see more of your work?
Soon they can see my work at
HendersonArtGallery.com but at the moment it's under construction.
They can usually see some of my work on Ebay. My ebay ID is andyh681.
They can also see my work at
Artfire.com. My user ID is HendersonArtGallery.

Are you open for anyone interested in commission work?
Yes. Anyone who is interested in commissions can reach me at hendersonart@bellsouth.net.

Are you on any recent/current sketch card sets?
Cartoon Sketches
Star Wars Galaxy 5
Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back 3D
Sci-Fi & Horror Movie Posters 2
The Pro

Upcoming sets include:
Hammer 2
Woodstock Generation
2010 Topps Football



What are you currently working on?
I'm currently working on sketch cards for Femforce and The Clone Wars:Rise Of The Bounty Hunters. I just finished up a large sports card project that includes about 150 base cards and I'm about to start another project for the same company. I have a few other things in the works that I can't talk about yet.

Thank you, Chris!!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Re-posting of sketch card artists at SDCC


This list is tentative and will be updated (edit: Thanks to those that sent me info to update the list!).

Artist Alley:

Alexander Buechel - GG12
Justin Chung
Katie Cook
Joe Corroney - GG08 (and the World Famous Comics booth 5560)
Renae De Liz
Ray Dillon

Michael Dooney
Otis Frampton
Randy Green
Gabriel Hernandez
Tom Hodges - GG01
Mark Irwin
Leah Mangue - CANCELLED
Randy Martinez

Bill Maus
William O'Neill

Ryan Odagawa
Bill Pulkovski - GG16
David Rabbitte

Josef Rubinstein
Jamie Snell - GG13
Cat Staggs - GG04
Denise Vasquez
John Watkins-Chow


Dane Ault- Small Press Table N13

Zorilita-Mary Bellamy - Small Press Table N04
Spencer Brinkerhoff III and Russell Walks- Wildstar Tempest booth
Sean "Cheeks" Galloway - Exhibitor
Mark Brooks - Exhibitor
Matt Busch - Exhibitor booth 4419
Adam Hughes & Allison Sohn - Exhibitors
Dean Yeagle - Exhibitor

Mel Uran - Exhibit A Press booth 1909 Friday and Saturday
Scott Zirkel - Exhibitor booth J-7
Jeff Carlisle - Booth 433

Feel free to let me know if I have left anyone out (as I'm sure I did). Again, this sketch card artist list is tentative and will be changing.
http://www.comic-con.org/cci/

*updated 7/19/10

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Interview with artist Irma Ahmed


How did you get involved in sketch cards?
If I remember correctly, I first started drawing sketchcards in 2006, mainly for my own satisfaction. The primary reason is of an economic nature; I love using markers, particularly Copics, but where I am they were expensive and harder to procure back then. So by drawing in a smaller space, I could still indulge in marker art while keeping costs low. It's ironic though that because of my professional involvement in sketch cards, I've spent quite a bit on expanding and maintaining my art supplies. As the saying goes though, you can't put a price on the things you love :)
My first official sketch job was for Topps' Lord of the Rings Masterpieces II. For a LOTR movie fan like me, drawing the characters and scenes I love from the film trilogy was a dream come true, to say the least.

How do you feel about working on such a small surface?
At first it was quite challenging trying to fit the details and composition in such a tiny space, but it gets much easier with every official set and personal commission that comes my way. It has definitely trained me to become more careful and patient especially when rendering the final work, and also more adventurous with colour schemes. I've gotten so used to it that I sometimes have a harder time planning large format artworks.

Have you been asked or would you like to work on the larger incentive cards?
I haven't, but I would be interested if I was given the chance.

Do you have a lot of contact with collectors regarding your cards?
Yes, I do. I'm quite humbled that there are dedicated collectors of my cards out there, and I appreciate the support that they give. They are an invaluble source of advice as well as insight on trends in the collector's market.



Do you feel that your cards are consistently collectible or does it depend on what set you do?
I think it's a little bit of both? In the case of official trading card sets, while I try to consistently draw sketch cards that I would be happy to pull myself, I notice that the demand for them varies according to a licence's popularity. In the end, I try to have fun with all the cards I work on, especially on PSC commissions.

Has your career as an artist benefited from doing sketch card work?
Yes, it definitely has. 2010 has been my busiest year yet!

What was the most difficult sketch card set you have worked on to date?
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Animated Motion Picture Trading Card Set in 2008. The movie was not out yet during the sketch card production, and images/media related to the new property was not easy to find, hence there was a lack of reference material to work from. But limitations give opportunities for creative solutions, so I drew quite a bit of decorative motifs and puzzle cards to add variety in the bunch.

Are there any cards that you are particularly proud of?
It's a toss between Indiana Jones Masterpieces and Star Wars Galaxy 4; The former because I tried various decorative techniques and constructed fun puzzles, the latter because it was the first time I could draw the Original Trilogy officially.

Some companies provide return cards for working on sketch card sets. Do you keep any of the cards returned to you?
The only one I am adamant in keeping is my last return card from the Lord of the Rings Masterpieces II set; I'm particularly fond of the one I did of The One Ring, so that's being kept for sentimental value.



Do you see yourself continuing with sketch card sets?
For the foreseeable future, yes. It's too much fun to stop.

Is there any advice you would like to give to people wanting to break into the sketch card ‘biz’?
I think that I was very lucky to get the opportunity to enter this biz, but if there's one thing I felt steered me towards this direction, it would have to be keeping one's mind open to diversifying. For many years I was a stubborn, self-taught manga-centric artist, but after an epiphany that had me break out of that mold, I started to get all kinds of results and attention that I wanted as a professional artist. Being open to cater to different tastes definitely keeps me on my toes in figuring how to improve my technical skills.

Where can people see more of your work?
People can see my work at my personal gallery at
www.aimostudio.com, or from my DeviantArt page at aimo.deviantart.com.

Thank you so much, Irma!!!

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Interview with Glen Ricardo Fernandez Sardi


How did you get involved in sketch cards?
I got involved with sketchcards after I stumbled with the Scoundrel art community, did my research about what a sketchcard was since they are not known in my country and thought it was something I could hop in, so I got to make several PSCs and commissions. But I stopped for over a year until I was contacted by Steve from 5finity after a Zombies vs Cheerleaders pinup I made and got my first two official jobs, ZvC and P’ups.

Do you have an education in the art field?
I went to a cartooning school owned by a former spiderman inker called Julio Lopez, I learned the basics about how to draw and comics with him, then I went to study Illustration where I learned mostly about technical illustration for advertising with strong influence in graphic design which was more about copying photos (that’s the main reason I don’t want to use photo references or make photo real work).

How do you feel about working on such a small surface?
When I began it was a challenge since I had been drawing children cartoons digitally for a few years and wasn’t used to drawing on paper anymore, even less in such a small size so my first few sketchcards consisted on face close ups (lol).
But I feel I have learned a lot since then and I’m getting used to the size to the point I see a lot of space to work with.



How do you feel about the entire process?
The most difficult part is getting the blanks on time since I live in a foreign country and the mail is very slow and I end up with just a few days to work and mail the package back. I have to use UPS to meet the deadlines so the little money I get from making the sets goes to the UPS shipping… (lol), but I feel that working in sets is more like a medium to get noticed as an artist out there and not a real source of income (unless I manage to sell my returns or AEs).
Also I love the freedom I get when drawing sketchcards, I just do my research on the subjects and then hop on the drawing table.

Do you have a lot of contact with collectors regarding your cards?
I did when I started a few years ago but things slowed down so I stopped for a while, I’m practically starting over so at the moment I haven’t had that many contacts from collectors.

How do you feel about some collectors wanting more detailed cards versus what sketch card artists are paid to work on the cards?
I think I understand them to some extent, not confusing detail with realism, I personally would feel terrible just to know I created a sketchcard in a rush or just to fill one more card quickly. I like having fun while creating them and I constantly think about how the collectors would feel if they get one of mine without thinking if they are paying me 1$ or 100$.
So I totally understand collectors' frustrations when they receive a card where no effort was put in the card at all, and I have seen many cases.



Have you had any bad experiences with collectors?
I haven’t, but every time I mail something to a collector I’m afraid it might get lost in the mail, so it’s terrible when I get a message from a collector about not receiving their sketchcards, though most times the collector wasn’t aware that I’m overseas and don’t know that international packages take longer than two weeks to arrive, but other than that I’ve had cool experiences with collectors.

Would you say your career as an artist has benefited from doing sketch card work?
Absolutely, focusing on the small area has made me take another perspective on how to work and I think I have improved a lot because of this.

What was the most difficult sketch card set you have worked on to date?
The most difficult where my first two sets, ZvC and P’ups. I received them at the same time but the mail was so slow I only had four days to draw and return the 40 cards (my limit is about 6 per day), so while I was working on them I injured my hand and was quite stressed since I didn’t want to diminish the quality as they where my first sets and had to meet a very tight deadline with a hand under heavy pain. In the end I was happy with the work.

Are there any cards that you are particularly proud of?
I finished a couple of weeks ago the “mixtape” set from 5finity which I’m very proud as a whole. I’m also proud of most of my latest commissions.



Some companies provide return cards or artist proof cards for working on sketch card sets. What do you do with yours? Do you still have any?
I haven’t done many official sets yet so I’m not exactly a known artist so I’m kind of collecting my own work (lol).
And I’m kind of between both sides of the coin. I would like to keep them but I would like for others to enjoy them… plus I need the money. So I’ll sell them if people want them.

Do you see yourself continuing with sketch card sets?
Absolutely, they are quite fun to create and I love the challenges and freedom I get while doing them and just the thought of someone getting a piece created by me is superb.

Is there any advice you would like to give to people wanting to break into the sketch card ‘biz’?
Never lose hope, keep working and improving your work but most of all, love what you do.

Where can people see more of your work?
I have a blog at
http://glenfx.blogspot.com/ I update it quite often an there I have many sub-blogs dedicated to my web comics, sculptures, toys and other places I’m on the net, and I have a Deviant Art gallery which I also update frequently at http://axigan.deviantart.com/.



Are you open for anyone interested in commission work?
I do. I recently received my new blank sketchcard stock where I can add an extra drawing on the back (I’m kind of proud of the little feature ^^) but I’m not limited to sketchcards, I’m open for any kind of commissions (posters, covers, pinups, etc.).

What are you currently working on?
I just finished work for a children’s yearbook + poster. I’m also working on a 4 page comic for a competition, an adventure videogame and I’m also creating artistic toys in resin and wood for an upcoming local convention. I like to flow between artistic fields.

Thank you so much for your time, Glen!!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

From 5FINITY's Steven Frank

The Female Persuasion

Starring Sabrina the Teenage Witch!
Featuring Nara Kilday and Hazy Foss!
With Mandy and Domino Lady!
Also, pin-up girls and much more!

Artist line-up:

Thursday, July 1, 2010

March of Dimes Sketch Cards

From Steve Frank:

"Hello. This is the third year of our annual sketch card drive to raise money for March of Dimes. We have had a lot of success in the past and we hope to continue. We are asking artists to do five cards each (any subject matter). The cards will be auctioned on eBay with all of the proceeds going to March of Dimes. This is not a 5FINITY project, so whatever you donate is completely up to you. We will send the blank sketch cards to you. The cards will be sent out soon for an August 15 deadline. Please let me know if you can contribute. Thank you for the consideration.

Steve"

For anyone interested, please contact Steve at steve4mod@gmail.com