Usagi Yojimbo DojoBoard

Hello everyone. I have been an admirer of Stan's well, since I bought the summer special back in the mid 80's, but I have not been actively seeking to collect "all things Usagi" until recently. For those of you who have original art...Where is the best place for me to start looking? I mean, I know the usual suspects- Ebay, Amazon, etc., but I guess what I'm asking is where did you guys get your art? Thanks for your help.

Ian Sharp

Sharpish wrote:Hello everyone. I have been an admirer of Stan's well, since I bought the summer special back in the mid 80's, but I have not been actively seeking to collect "all things Usagi" until recently. For those of you who have original art...Where is the best place for me to start looking? I mean, I know the usual suspects- Ebay, Amazon, etc., but I guess what I'm asking is where did you guys get your art? Thanks for your help.

Ian Sharp

Best places to get original art by Stan Sakai:

1. From Stan himself, at conventions and book signings. Being in California, you have an advantage in being relatively near Stan. Stan attends CCI San Diego every year, as well as doing frequent local book signings for Heritage Source, various libraries, and similar sponsors.

2. Dark Horse Comics occassionally sells original artwork, which Stan has contributed to in the past by offering original cover art for sale.

3. Charity auctions are another place where Stan's artwork occassionally appears, such as the Lea Hernandez Benefit Auction which was just recently held in Texas.

4. Ebay is also an option, with convention sketches appearing frequently for sale, as well as the more detailed piece of art appearing occassionally.

If you want an original from Stan and plan on attending a convention where he will be a guest, he will frequently accept commissions in advance so that they will be ready at the show, depending of course on his schedule.

Stan has stated that he does not do commissions or sell artwork by mail.

I have a couple convention sketches by Stan from the Motor City Con I attended in 1994, and I have an original piece of artwork (1986) which I bought off ebay a few years ago.

Original pages are next to impossible to acquire because as a practice Stan does not sell them. Original drawings from Stan's portfolio are typically acquired from Stan at Conventions across the globe. Ebay offerings are usually folks who previously purchased some Sakai art and are now trying to sell it, for whatever reason. Original covers are for sale from Stan, again typically at conventions. These usually go for much higher prices than portfolio pieces because of the complexity of the piece. Commissioned art is also available from Stan, again at conventions. You have to get to Stan fairly early at the con to sign up for a commissioned piece, in case demand gets fairly high.

Thanks for the info. I am attending CCi San Diego next year and WonderCon in San Francisco (I'm in NorCal). How far in advance can one commision a piece? To what degree does the "commisioner" have say in the subject of the drawing?

Please excuse any silly questions. As I stated earlier, I'm new to this. Another guilty confession I have is that I'm not really a "comic book person". I fell in love with Usagi as a kid and really just collect Stan's stuff. There are a few other one's I enjoy, but for the most part, I just want Usagi!

Depending on the complexity of the commission desired, you might want to give Stan as much advance notice as possible.

The artwork that eventually ended up being used for the wrap-around covers of Usagi Yojimbo 46 and 47 (as well as released as the "Kite Festival" promotional poster) was commissioned in advance and took a couple years to be completed.

http://usagiyojimbo.com/other/images/uy ... back46.jpg
http://usagiyojimbo.com/other/images/uy ... cov46c.jpg
http://usagiyojimbo.com/other/images/uy ... back47.jpg
http://usagiyojimbo.com/other/images/uy ... 3cov47.jpg

Dojo member Wily Pueo describes this commission in the (old) Dojo forum message below:
http://www.usagiyojimbo.com/other/wwwbo ... /4133.html

Of course, you need to contact Stan for more precise details regarding commissions.

Thanks for the advice. Is there a prefered way of contacting Stan regarding a commission?

Try sending Stan a PM through the Dojo forum.....

Roughly how much does Stan charge for a commission?

Hello,
and welcome to the Dojo, btw.

It depend heavily on the type of art he is asked for, I think (colored or not, size, how many characters). As stated before, the sures way to know is to send Sensei a PM or email via this forum, specifying what you've got in mind and waiting for his reply.

Please keep in mind that this man has to do a comic book regularly, and he may get more than one request, and he travels a bit...

So it might take a while for him to answer and to actually finish your commission.

Thomas Froehling wrote:Hello,
and welcome to the Dojo, btw.

It depend heavily on the type of art he is asked for, I think (colored or not, size, how many characters). As stated before, the sures way to know is to send Sensei a PM or email via this forum, specifying what you've got in mind and waiting for his reply.

Please keep in mind that this man has to do a comic book regularly, and he may get more than one request, and he travels a bit...

So it might take a while for him to answer and to actually finish your commission.

Okay thanks for the advice Thomas!

I do not sell story pages, but I do sell almost everything else--covers, pin-ups, endpapers, convention drawings (like those on the outside back covers of the comics), and I accept commissions. As a rule, I do not sell art though the mails, so it is best to see me at a convention.

I usually start a "What should I bring?' thread a month before every convention I go to. You can request a particular commission at that time, unless it is particularly complex in which case, I would need more time. You can also request particular books, comics, merchandise, or anything else.

Prices for original art generally start at about $100 for a single figure.

I used to do free sketches at cons, but have had to discontinue that. I will sign almost anything of mine with no charge.

Stan Sakai wrote:I do not sell story pages, but I do sell almost everything else--covers, pin-ups, endpapers, convention drawings (like those on the outside back covers of the comics), and I accept commissions. As a rule, I do not sell art though the mails, so it is best to see me at a convention.

I usually start a "What should I bring?' thread a month before every convention I go to. You can request a particular commission at that time, unless it is particularly complex in which case, I would need more time. You can also request particular books, comics, merchandise, or anything else.

Prices for original art generally start at about $100 for a single figure.

I used to do free sketches at cons, but have had to discontinue that. I will sign almost anything of mine with no charge.

Thank you for replying Stan - I will be coming over from the UK next March to attend the MegaCon in Orlando and would definately love to get a commission for myself and possibly a friend. I'll be in touch nearer the time!

Douglas Fir wrote:
I will be coming over from the UK next March to attend the MegaCon in Orlando and would definately love to get a commission for myself and possibly a friend. I'll be in touch nearer the time!

I will be in London in about 3 weeks, though only for a day, on my way back from Spain. Sharon and I are looking forward to seeing some of the usual tourist sights--Buckingham Palace (we did get to see the Queen once), Big Ben, Tower of London, etc.

Stan Sakai wrote:

Douglas Fir wrote:
I will be coming over from the UK next March to attend the MegaCon in Orlando and would definately love to get a commission for myself and possibly a friend. I'll be in touch nearer the time!

I will be in London in about 3 weeks, though only for a day, on my way back from Spain. Sharon and I are looking forward to seeing some of the usual tourist sights--Buckingham Palace (we did get to see the Queen once), Big Ben, Tower of London, etc.

I'm from Liverpool (home of the Beatles!) but I get to London every so often and enjoy seeing the sights - I'm sure you'll have a great time!