Erol Otus Commissioned Work by the Acaeum • Page 2 • Collecting General • The Acaeum

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Erol Otus Commissioned Work by the Acaeum
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Poll: What kind of artwork would you have Erol Otus Commission for the Acaeum?

I have no interest in any Erol Otus artwork.	9%	[ 11 ]
I prefer a color, 11x17 print.	15%	[ 18 ]
I prefer a black & white 11x17 print.	5%	[ 6 ]
I prefter a color, 17x24 print.	59%	[ 69 ]
I prefer a black & white 17x24 print.	6%	[ 7 ]
I prefer something else larger.	5%	[ 6 ]

Total votes : 117

Author

stratochamp
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 9:50 pm

i think this is a great idea! definitely color, and larger (18x24 or whatever the common size is). now taking it a step further, i think we should a) put more money in so that we can acquire the original as well and essentially have a raffle (maybe determined at gencon) and one lucky contributor would get to keep the original; or plan two, we again contribute more to acquire the original, and give it to scott as a thank you for this website. but again, great idea benjoshua!

benjoshua
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 10:24 pm

stratochamp wrote:i think this is a great idea! definitely color, and larger (18x24 or whatever the common size is). now taking it a step further, i think we should a) put more money in so that we can acquire the original as well and essentially have a raffle (maybe determined at gencon) and one lucky contributor would get to keep the original; or plan two, we again contribute more to acquire the original, and give it to scott as a thank you for this website. but again, great idea benjoshua!

Ooo! I hadn't thought about what to do with the original. Hmmmm. I will add to the list of ideas,

1)we could submit it to the auction floor at GenCon and divide the sale to everyone who purchased a print thus reducing our overall cost.

2) We could auction it off at GenCon and give the proceeds to Erol's favorite charity(thus improving our chance of scoring the artwork to begin with).

The bottom line is that we'll need to come kind of consensus about this matter too. And by the way, we're almost to the 20 mark!

Whether we can find 20 who all agree on every parameter is a whole different animal.

Truth is worth finding and life is too short to work for money.

dbartman
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 10:55 pm

I'm in as well.

carrejo
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 11:01 pm

I am in as well...great idea....

copycat
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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 1:05 am

Do we all get a print, or does one person get the thing? I ain't paying for someone else to get original art...

Those who can, don't. Those who should not, do.

Rakeesh sah Tarna
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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 1:36 am

serleran wrote:Do we all get a print, or does one person get the thing? I ain't paying for someone else to get original art...

somehow think saying will cut into 20 + expecting 19 to say no have the original wont work here :twisted:

mbassoc2003
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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 4:03 am

I'd be up for this, but how do you manage the layout/design etc.? How do you decide on the subject matter, tone and feel of the image?

serleran wrote:Do we all get a print, or does one person get the thing? I ain't paying for someone else to get original art...

This issue alone would suggest that layout out $250+ would be better for an individual as he would have an original pieve of artwork at the end. That piece of artwork is gonna continue to rise in value provided the person deciding the subject matter and proofing had a good eye and were a good communicator.

This week I've been mostly eating . . . The white ones with the little red flecks in them.

PaulKM
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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 5:28 am

mbassoc2003 wrote:I'd be up for this, but how do you manage the layout/design etc.? How do you decide on the subject matter, tone and feel of the image?

This issue alone would suggest that layout out $250+ would be better for an individual as he would have an original pieve of artwork at the end. That piece of artwork is gonna continue to rise in value provided the person deciding the subject matter and proofing had a good eye and were a good communicator.

As I wrote, I'm in. An auction for the original piece is a wonderful idea, and if one of the members here buys the original and the value goes up, so be it--I'd just be happy to be part of the commission. Being one of twenty suits me just fine.

The only aspect concerning subject matter I would offer is that the words Acaeum appear somewhere in the work. Perhaps the runes on the sword read, "Acaeum" or the piece looks like an old school module cover entitled, "The Lost Tomes of the Acaeum" and shows an adventuring party in a sprawling library fighting something that scares collectors.

A dragon would work: flames setting all those precious books alight. Something along those lines.

I think, if the piece is commissioned, it's best to have a general theme on which the twenty (if that is the set number) agree and let the Otus worry about the art.

Best,

Paul

Even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day, and for once I'm inclined to believe...we are indeed drifting into the arena of the unwell.

benjoshua
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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 8:08 am

Lots of good questions and concerns. I am by no means set as the administrator of this thing, but I will continue to make proposals to keep things moving so that we can hopefully get a consensus of at least twenty people. If we get forty people willing to shell out $50.00, then that raises our bid to $2,000.00, and the chances of success just got twice as good. And frankly, I think it's going to take forty, but that's another issue.

As far as the original goes, I'd much rather have a Limited Edition Print copy and let the artist keep the original, than not have a Limited Edition Print Copy at all. For me at least, the terms of the original are negotiable. Of course, for our prints to be limited editions, that means there has to be some legal language that indicates he won't run off any more print copies. And since he'll sign and number each one, even if someone else buys the original and makes copies, he/she won't likely be able to forge his signature easily(or legally).

For what it is worth, I have written Goodman Games to see if they are willing to serve as an intermediary/messenger to Mr. Otus. And, for those with any kind of experience in these things, I'm sure you realize a long-than-you-might-think legal contract has to be created and signed which means the person creating the contract has to get their cut, and then there are postage fees, etc... Still, the bottom line is that we have good support already, and interest might indeed reach the 40 mark before it's done.

Going back to mbassoc2003's concern about the art concept. I initiated a proposal and PaulKM added a wonderful addition to the idea. Now is the time to register your interest on the art concept. I think we all want something that clearly represents Dungeons & Dragons and a dragon in a dungeon is, in my mind, a classic image. Other ideas are welcome for now, but that window will close unless we hear other ideas. Just realize that the more options we have the greater the likelihood we can't achieve our original goal of at least twenty people of the same mindset.

Please, let's continue recruiting people and honing our proposal and parameters. As of this post, we now have 24 people voting they want in!

Truth is worth finding and life is too short to work for money.

Magelin
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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 8:27 am

Count me in, as long as it's $50-$75...

Original 28mm fantasy gaming miniatures at http://www.centerstageminis.com

jasonw1239
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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 8:37 am

I believe that Joe Goodman has posted here in the past under the user name of goodmangames.

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Kingofpain89
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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 9:15 am

benjoshua wrote:Now is the time to register your interest on the art concept. I think we all want something that clearly represents Dungeons & Dragons and a dragon in a dungeon is, in my mind, a classic image. Other ideas are welcome for now, but that window will close unless we hear other ideas. Just realize that the more options we have the greater the likelihood we can't achieve our original goal of at least twenty people of the same mindset.

I dont know what Erol is willing to do but it might be worth it to ask if he could produce more than one piece of artwork and then we could have a vote to see which piece is the most popular and go with that one.

I am also going to assume that a B&W print is going to be considerably less expensive than a color print. So it may be best to go with the B&W option. In retrospect, I actually prefer his B&W artwork to the color anyway.

As for the depiction of the art....I would be happy with just about anything. I really prefer his artwork from the Basic & Expert sets over the stuff he did in Deities & Demigods and other books. Those Cthulhu images are downright freaky. :wink:

I like a lot of the covers he did for the DCC line but a few of them I was indifferent about. I particularly didnt care for the cover he did for DCC #50.

You don't like your job, you don't strike. You go in every day and do it really half-assed. That's the American way. - Homer Simpson

deimos3428
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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 9:59 am

benjoshua wrote:Lots of good questions and concerns. I am by no means set as the administrator of this thing, but I will continue to make proposals to keep things moving so that we can hopefully get a consensus of at least twenty people. If we get forty people willing to shell out $50.00, then that raises our bid to $2,000.00, and the chances of success just got twice as good. And frankly, I think it's going to take forty, but that's another issue.

If somebody wanted to commission the artist to make an original full-color piece on their own, they could shell out the massive amount of dough and do it. Limited edition B&W prints make much more sense for those of us with only $50 to burn.

I'm in if it's smaller and B&W...it's not like I'm going to frame and hang a full-color 17x24" print of a dragon (or whatever) on my living room wall.

Of course, for our prints to be limited editions, that means there has to be some legal language that indicates he won't run off any more print copies. And since he'll sign and number each one, even if someone else buys the original and makes copies, he/she won't likely be able to forge his signature easily(or legally).

Nah, he just has to mark the "limited edition" in some fashion to distinguish it from any later editions.

mbassoc2003
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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 10:55 am

Maybe someone (someone with a bit of real publishing experience in the RPG market) could ping EO, let him know we're having this discussion, and sound out how much colour and BW artworks are likely to be. I'm sure there are peeps here who have an idea on costs of reproducing artwork professionally (eg. PPP & AGP). Would a colour commission from EO cost us $500 or $2500? At the moment we have no idea.

This week I've been mostly eating . . . The white ones with the little red flecks in them.

Prufrock
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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 11:03 am

Count me in. This is a great idea.

Martin

benjoshua
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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 11:13 am

mbassoc2003 wrote:Maybe someone (someone with a bit of real publishing experience in the RPG market) could ping EO, let him know we're having this discussion, and sound out how much colour and BW artworks are likely to be. I'm sure there are peeps here who have an idea on costs of reproducing artwork professionally (eg. PPP & AGP). Would a colour commission from EO cost us $500 or $2500? At the moment we have no idea.

Right. I'm guessing at this point there's lots we don't know, but we are creeping close to thirty people now interested in this endeavor (and that's just for the 18x24 color print). And the more people we get behind this, the greater amount of money we have to offer and money can solve lots of problems. I'm not interested in throwing money nilly willy here, but as this discussion matures, and more information comes in (no word from Goodman Games yet

), we might just be able to piece together a workable deal.

I will be the first to admit there's lots I don't know. Let's keep growing interest and hope we can stumble down the right path. There is one thing I do know, the bigger our interest, the better our chances.

Truth is worth finding and life is too short to work for money.

Prufrock
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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 11:38 am

As for determining what type of artwork (image), we simply ask the artist to provide two rough sketches (pencil) and then we vote on which we want him to produce.

Ask him to provide two pencil sketches of a dragon fighting a group of adventures below ground. We scan them in and vote here. Then turn the artist loose.

Also the suggestion that "Acaeum" appear somwhere on the print is a very good idea.

Martin

benjoshua
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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 11:42 am

Prufrock wrote:As for determining what type of artwork (image), we simply ask the artist to provide two rough sketches (pencil) and then we vote on which we want him to produce.

Ask him to provide two pencil sketches of a dragon fighting a group of adventures below ground. We scan them in and vote here. Then turn the artist loose.

Also the suggestion that "Acaeum" appear somwhere on the print is a very good idea.

Martin

While that sounds reasonable, I'm not sure if that's how the industry (or Erol) works. I like your idea and hope we can do that.

Yes, including the word "Acaeum" is a great idea.

Truth is worth finding and life is too short to work for money.

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