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I recently bought this piece from the personal collection of a comic book shop owner.
It just got back from the framers. I went with a simple black frame and a white matte. I wanted to keep it consistent with the other prints in the room, the white matte helps the color to pop but unfortunately the strong blue on the wall mutes it a bit. Overall though im very pleased.
Here are a couple of my favorite sketches from the hardcover collections, I am really hoping in the future to make it to a comic con an obtain some more art!
Last edited by SHAMSKI on Sat Oct 10, 2009 16:32 -0700, edited 1 time in total.
morna-san, Thanks I like the fact that Usagi fans can appreciate and view other fans collections. My sister in law was recently visting and it was the first time she saw the new room. "Whats with the Karate bunny stuff ?"
"Whats with the Karate bunny stuff ?" says the sister-in-law.
People either understand or they don't. My girlfriend didn't understand at first but now she is enjoying Usagi with me. I recently got an original Kitsune drawing framed and she now refers to it in third person. i.e. "where are we going to hang her?". She has also taken a kind of ownership of "her".....tellling me "she" belongs in her quilting room.
My father is going to be coming to my house soon and he has not seen any of the framed Usagi's I have (6 in all) and I expect the same reaction from him that you got from your sister in law......If not worse.
Your color Usagi with the moon/sun behind him is a real GEM!!! Oooohh, oh, oh jelousy.
Your color Usagi with the moon/sun behind him is a real GEM!!! Oooohh, oh, oh jelousy.
Crookerdog, that is a replica of the cover from Fantagraphics issue # 37 that my wife did for me. (See Jei and Usagi + 2 covers in Fan art and Fiction ) I forgot to mention in that post that the Jei and Usagi were done from the inset of hardcover volume 3. Luckily the majority of my family is well versed in Usagi and my sister in law was quickly educated by my boys on the finer points of Usagi Yojimbo.
finally met Stan after 25 years of reading Usagi ! His reputation as the nicest guy in comics is well deserved.
I was very excited to finally be able to buy art directly from him instead of battling on EBay for it.
I was able to get a couple nice pieces as well as an original cover ( issue 117). I also picked up some HCs I was missing as well as a few other goodies.
Fanfan, Stan had several great covers for sale. Most being recent issues, I wanted all of them but finally narrowed it down to 3. 116, 117 , 118. Here was my difficult dilemma, I actually had 118 set aside. Like everyone else I think its an incredible cover. Stan's work is at its best in black in white but I thought 118 was one of the few covers that color was necessary for the overall composition. What I mean is the different depths and layers needed color to separate them. The black in the trees the green of the bushes the grey in the steps were all important to delineate the layers.
In contrast I think 117 was the exact opposite in that the detail and crispness of the line work looks better in black and white and the final color does not add, infact might even take from the final composition. Also being one of the few covers I might ever own I wanted it to be Usagicentric and the attitude on Usagi's face is classic.
The guy behind me let out huge sigh of relief when I put back cover 118 and he quickly snapped it up as well as 116.
He then turned to me to ask why I had passed on 118 and I explained my reasoning.
My initial thought was to get 118 for bragging rights but in the end I went with something I thought summed up the series in a single image as well as the aesthetic value of the piece framed and matted on the wall.
I could keep 2nd guessing my self but im pleased with my decision but just for fun please check out the cover gallery(Comics and Storylines) and compare both 117 and 118 in both B&W and color.
SHAMSKI wrote:Fanfan, Stan had several great covers for sale. Most being recent issues, I wanted all of them but finally narrowed it down to 3. 116, 117 , 118. Here was my difficult dilemma, I actually had 118 set aside. Like everyone else I think its an incredible cover. Stan's work is at its best in black in white but I thought 118 was one of the few covers that color was necessary for the overall composition. What I mean is the different depths and layers needed color to separate them. The black in the trees the green of the bushes the grey in the steps were all important to delineate the layers.
In contrast I think 117 was the exact opposite in that the detail and crispness of the line work looks better in black and white and the final color does not add, infact might even take from the final composition. Also being one of the few covers I might ever own I wanted it to be Usagicentric and the attitude on Usagi's face is classic.
The guy behind me let out huge sigh of relief when I put back cover 118 and he quickly snapped it up as well as 116.
He then turned to me to ask why I had passed on 118 and I explained my reasoning.
My initial thought was to get 118 for bragging rights but in the end I went with something I thought summed up the series in a single image as well as the aesthetic value of the piece framed and matted on the wall.
I could keep 2nd guessing my self but im pleased with my decision but just for fun please check out the cover gallery(Comics and Storylines) and compare both 117 and 118 in both B&W and color.
Thanks for the explanation.
It is just that I asked Stan for this cover long time ago, in fact when we were able to see the preview here, and Stan told me he didn't sell anymore cover art, in order to have enough pieces for an upcoming expo on his artwork. It is what I was a bit suprised...I really wanted to acquire this piece...
Fanfan I wish I would have known I would have grabbed it for you. Maybe we should start a thread of most wanted collectibles for dojo members so we can coordinate. For example I noticed in your video of the 25th anniversary exhibition I saw the original cover for Seasons hanging on the wall that is my favorite cover of all time!! I do have some good news for you..... The guy who bought 116 and 118 gave me his card. He owns a comic book shop. He said he's a huge fan of Usagi but I saw many store owners buying original art to sell in their shops. If your interested I will PM you his info and you could contact him directly about obtaining it.
I think Stan put the covers back on sale when they returned from the exhibition in early July; certainly many of the more recent examples were available for sale at San Diego. I think I could have bought #117 and #118 there if I'd had the money (I put it towards the original coloured stuff instead).
Speaking of which I might send Stan a PM regarding something similar...
With a breeze comes a storm, but then you'll all be washed away...
His reputation as the nicest guy in comics is well deserved.
http://www.darkhorse.com/Features/Deskt ... gi-Yojimbo
