New Stevie Drawing...
 

I have a friend who is an incredible artist. His name is Conan, and I couldn't pass up the oportunity to have our girl drawn professionally. I am paying $220.00 for a 17" by 22" drawing.

I know some of you might find the double-chin a bit of a turn off, but this is my all time favorite photo, and I just couldn't choose another. :shrug:


Here is the first progress shot:




And the original of course:

I'm sure it's gonna turn out beautiful Liam. Do you have a special place in your house to hang it when it's finished? Have you thought of what type of frame you will use? I'd love to see the final product.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...haron/fa54.jpg

I think so too!

And yes, as of right now I plan on hanging it behind my bedroom door. The segment of wall is the perfect size...I'd post a picture if I had access to a camera.

I haven't looked at frames yet, I'll do that after I get the drawing.

But I'll surely post the finished product. :D

That really is good. I think that is one of THE ONLY artist representations that I really like.

That artist has MAD talent! Can't wait to see what it looks like all done! It's beautiful so far.

Wow Liam, it looks amazing!

This doesn't really look like it was drawn by hand to me at all. It really looks like something done on a computer to be honest. The details in the completed sections are identical to the original, I mean even the veins on Stevie's wrist, and on the baby's breath. Not to be cynical, but I would suspect that the original photo was imported into a program like Photo Shop or something, the color was removed, contrast adjusted and a filter was used to soften the lines a bit. Also, it just looks odd the way they have completed whole sections of the drawing in complete detail while leaving the rest barely touched. I've never seen an artist work like that. I could be wrong I guess. Just wouldn't want anyone to pay over $200 for what they think is a hand drawing, when it may be something many people could do with a computer and the right software.

I think it's great! Looks like a charcoal drawing. I can understand what paleshadow is saying about it being photoshopped (so many things are now) but I actually know someone who is that gifted his work looks fake but it's not ~ I've been present when he's started a project so I know it's legit.

I appreciate your concern. But completely trust Conan, and I know that he is talented enough to draw what I posted. If you would like to see some of his other work just as comparison, you can see his gallery here:

http://lordavatarz.deviantart.com/gallery/

NAAAAH, I don't really see the resemblance between the two.


KIDDING!!! KIDDING!!! :D Your friend is very talented, and I think he really "nailed" it! It'll be awesome to see the final product.

I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer but I have to agree with Paleshadow on this one. This is definitely recreated in Photoshop or a program like it. Artists will always have their different methods of finishing a piece but this does not feel legitimately rendered, particularly with the baby's breath. And anyone that was at this level of skill would be charging a hell of a lot more than $220 for an original piece at that scale. Again, I really don't mean to bum you out but I really don't think this is legit.

I'm not going to argue. :shrug:

Liam, really just trying to save you some money. I used photoshop to check this out and it's definitely not a drawing. I combined the original picture with the "drawing" you have and sized them so that they are the same proportions and then overlayed them. You can see that the lines match up perfectly. I don't care how good of an artist you are, you wouldn't get the lines identical. Here is a copy of both images overlayed with the opacity adjusted so you can see both images lining up. Anyone who doubts this can try it themselves, it's pretty easy. I looked at the artists page, but without seeing the images he rendered the other "drawings" from, you can't tell if those are legit either. There is nothing wrong with enjoying this type of art, or even buying it, but to spend 200 bucks for something that claims to be a drawing, when you can get this kind of thing for 20 bucks at six flags or the mall, or I'll do it for you for 100 bucks and with the other 100 you can get another one. Just saying.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c6...rawingfake.jpg

Well **** me! I sent him an email, we'll see if he comes clean...:shrug:

Thank you though. :thumbsup:

Even if he doesn't, I wouldn't give him $200, unless he is including a frame that costs $175. You mentioned that he is a friend, so hopefully it won't be a problem. If you want a nice Stevie drawing that's authentic, I'd check out Johannna Pieterman's site. I'm not sure if she does commissions, but you could check. Good luck!

I understand your concern for there ARE indeed a lot of frauds nowadays. If this can convince you, I don't even know how to use photoshop that good...yet.

Please tell that "friend" of yours to get out of that rock he/she's been living under and start taking a good look at what artists can achieve just with pencil.

Why would I wait for so long to finish your piece when I can simply go get a photocopy of that picture which would only take a few minutes?

If you are still unconvinced, I can bring this Work in Progress to school just to let you smudge it a bit, and see if there's any graphite transferred on your finger. The consequence, of course, is to bend the paper and smudge up the drawing, which I would never recommend. However, you are not able to do so once I finish the drawing because I will apply a protective spray over it, after which you can't get your finger dirty no matter how hard you smudge. But I'm sure you'll be able to see some pencil strokes, after all, my technique is not perfect.

Tell me if you want to do that.


I'm going to continue with his services, and pay him the full price. I have faith in him, and would gladly do this over again.


Thank you though, once again...I truly appreciate your concern. :)

hi liam that is a good picture. do you have anymore that he did?

Not of Stevie, but if you want to see more of his work, you can click the link I posted earlier in the thread.

Yeah. Totally not worth 200 bucks.

I clicked on that link and looked. He is very talented. Some beautiful drawings there!

To each their own. :shrug:

I guess. But for 200 bucks I will make you 10 of those drawings. This guy gave me some ideas. I can become rich!

as always...i'm with paleshadow ;)

Does this guy normally charge $200 a drawing? And he's still at school?

yet is probably the keyword here...practice makes perfect.

He's my age, and yes, a Junior in High School.

Odd.
You know if he's charging $220 I don't think it's an outrageous request to ask to see him actually working on the picture.

I don't understand how that would possibly work. He would have to bring it to school, where it could possibly be smudged or wrinckled OR SOME STUPID DAMN kid will mess with it. All very risky.

i think she meant go to his house.

idk, i tend to be very trustworthy too and be loyal to people i believe in. But it's kinda difficult to argue with writing on the wall. it's kinda obvious so i'd do whatever I could to make sure it was legit :o even if it seems kinda lame or dumb.

good luck.

Couldn't you go round to his house?
I dunno. I guess it's your $200. I can't even imagine having that much money to spend on a drawing when I was 16 though. Actually I can't even imagine the most talented 16 year old charging his friends that much for his pictures!
It's certainly very pretty, authentic or not, although I think I'd prefer to spend the money on a vintage poster or even a concert ticket myself.

I'm confident its legit. Its obviously in charcol, which means he's obviously drawing.

That would be such a pain in the ass. I trust him, and that's really all that matters. I don't think HE charges that much, I think he's part of a group or class that specifies how much something should cost. :shrug:

another possibility...
 

I'm a graphic designer and use Photoshop almost daily, and I agree with the earlier posts.

OK, so the artist kid says he's not skilled enough in Photoshop to have done it that way. However, another way to kind of "cheat" is to basically trace the image by projecting it onto a wall. Obviously you still need artistic skill to create the line strokes, shading, etc., but when you see art that's this photo-real, it often originates from a trace.

It's a lot of money, as others have said.

Just sayin' ...

Well, here's the thing. The finished parts of the "drawing" are created on the computer. It doesn't have to be photoshop, and someone saying they don't know how to use it doesn't mean it's true. If I wanted someone to think I was doing a hand drawing, I would also take my time to finish it to make it look like I was really drawing it. I would also give you a "work in progress" photo of it which is easy to do, you just erase parts of the photo and hand draw in some rough lines. I respect your decision to stand by a friend, that's cool. My concern though is not just for you, because clearly you have made up your mind, but for other members of these boards. I just hope that your original post isn't taken as an advertisement for your friend and that anyone here who would be tempted to buy from this man based on thinking that these were truly hand drawn can make a more informed decision before buying from him, or similar people. I also hope your friend is very careful how he words things when he does sell them, because he could get in trouble for fraud.

Liam - it's your money and your picture. however, I have to say that before anyone said anything, when I first saw this, my first thought was that it wasn't really a drawing. the links in her bracelet, the vein in her arm, the shadows of the mic stand and baby's breath, etc. if you're willing to pay the money either way, that's your business, but I think everyone just wants you to be aware and consider it, which you have. and now that I haven't really added anything to this conversation (lol), let me say that his deviantart page says he's spent 6 hours so far on this. now, I'm no artist, but I have taken several art classes in college and I just can't imagine he's done all that in 6 hours. :shrug:

just food for thought.

It's a nice picture.

My 22 year old daughter does the block-grid thing to get the proportions right and then does the drawing. She gets commissioned to draw *kid* pictures which are 3" x 5" and she has to blow them up to poster size (24" x 36"). She does the picture in sections, block by block.

She charges $75 per picture, but local artist friends say she's way too cheap. It takes her 3 days to complete one. It is time consuming.

Liam, if you're happy with the quality, happy with the knowledge that it is your friend doing it for you, and happy with price, then you're happy.

But, I think it also needs to be said that you have a lot of friends here on the Ledge, who are looking out for you and don't want to see you get ripped off...and THAT is quite a compliment.

It certainly looks like a copy to me. But as others have said, it's your money and you're free to do with it as you see fit. Seeing the two images on top of each other and seeing that they are identical seems to be enough proof that it's a copy. Most artists have their own unique touches here and there and this particular drawing has zero unique qualities to it.
But again, it's your money and if feel it's worth it, then go for it. Do be careful though. It's no different than people who will pay $40 for a CD copy of "Buckingham Nicks" because it's the "official Australian version". Or the Brazilian "Mirage" tour DVD. Neither of these have ever been officially released anywhere in the world, they are bootlegs, but if you want to pay good money for a fake item, go for it.

In your case, I would ask if you could stop in and see how your artist friend works. If he says no, or that it really wouldn't be possible for whatever reason. You should really reconsider the situation.

Eh, I've come up with a solution. Conan is in an advanced art class at school, and I'm going to print the progress shot and the original, bring it to his teacher, and ask if he could possibly draw that without help from a computer or projector. I guess we'll see how that goes next week when I go back to school. :shrug:



I do appreciate this. And I think other fans will too.


For solution -- see above.



If questioning the art teacher is fruitless, I think I might just stop in and see how its coming.

I am sure Conan will be thrilled!

Lmao, I can only imagine.

Well, Liam, you could just tell this guy to f**k off and buy this exquisite portrait instead!

http://tiny.cc/Gjg3d :D