Marcon Commissions Continued

But wait, there's more! Ezra Blue hired me to do this lovely tatoo design. I am tickled with the way it came out and I am planning to turn it into a digitally colored piece. Thanks Ezra!

Marcon Commissions

As promised, here is my first Marcon post. Me and Mark had a lovely time at the show this year, chatting with old friends and making new ones. I want to send out a big thank you to Tim and Mala, who gave us a lot of help at our booth. It's always a relief to be able to get out from behind the table for a bit when I feel the call of the wild cappuccino!

Thanks are also due to the folks who commissioned me to do artwork at the show. I've posted one of the pieces below: It is Paragon, a super hero character created by Charles T. Many thanks for this commission and the others, Charles!

More from Comic Con

Moring, all. I'm still blogging a little slower than I would like--but this time I have an actual reason for delay. I'm just back from Marcon, which came a week after Novi Comic Con this year. Today I've got more from comic con. Later this week I plan to chat a bit about Marcon.

Today's post comes courtesy of Traci V, who commissioned this head shot of her character Ran-Qui at Comic Con. I like the way the fur texture came out, as well as her flowing hair. Thanks, Traci.

Speaking of Novi Comic Con,

I want to thank all of the return customers coming by to chat and buy and new patrons who make first purchases from me. I had a great show and a lot of fun. Here's one of several commissions that I finished at the show. Thanks to Jacklynn K. for hiring me to do this lovely image.

AROC group

In several of the last few posts I have shown pieces sponsored by the AROC gaming group. Here's a photo I took of the group at Novi Comic Con last weekend. Group members' name, going from left to right, are Kyle, Jay, Doug and Seth. Thanks again guys.

This is a long image; if you want to see more clearly what the guys are up to, click on the image.

Magic Card Signing

In addition to a patron whose emails inspired me to do a post about copyright--see the previous post--I have recently received a fair number of inquiries asking how fans can get my signature on Magic Cards I have illustrated. These questions have spurred me to write another FAQ, this one about my policies regarding Magic Card signing.

I own Magic cards that Sue has illustrated. Will she sign them for me?

Yes, but only under certain conditions.

What are the conditions?

1. If you bring your cards to a show I am attending, I will sign up to five of them for no charge. I will sign more cards than five if you make a purchase.

2. If you make a purchase on my web site or through Etsy, I will sign Magic cards that you send me via the Mail.

I'm going to be attending a show where Sue plans to appear and I have more than five cards that I want signed. How much do I have to buy to get my additional cards signed?

I suggest a purchase of at least 5.00. I prefer a purchase of at least 20.00 if you want 10 or more additional cards signed. In general, the more cards you want signed, the larger the purchase should be.

I want my cards signed by mail. What should I do?

First, send me an email telling me that you want to mail Magic Cards to be signed. Let me know how many cards you plan to send and your country of origin. I will reply with an email letting you know how large of a purchase you will need to make to get your cards signed. Again, the more cards you want signed, the larger purchase I will request. Once you know the amount, go to my website and make a purchase of that much or more. When the order arrives, I will send an email giving you my shipping address where you can send your cards. When your cards arrive I will sign them. I will then pack them in the same package as your order and send your order back to you with signed cards enclosed.

Will you mail my cards back to me via insured mail?

Regretfully, no. Additionally, I do not accept any responsibility for damage to your Magic cards, either during shipping or when they are in my possession. I will to handle them with care but, if you mail them to me to be signed, you do so at your own risk.

I believe I've covered everything; if you have any additional questions please send me an email as svancamp@mac.com or leave your inquiry as a comment to this post.

Copyright FAQ

Good morning. Today's piece was inspired by a patron who commissioned a digital art portrait of his character. He was unfamiliar with my copyright policy on commissioned artwork and he asked a number of good questions about it. Answering his inquiries inspired me to write this post.

I want Sue to do a commissioned art piece of my character. I own copyright to my character. Who owns copyright to the picture she does?

When I do a commissioned piece, I own copyright to the artwork. I claim no rights to characters I illustrate, just to the image I have created. If you want to buy copyright to my commissioned artwork, just let me know when you make the commission. It's likely I will be happy to sell you full or partial rights to the art.

If I don't purchase copyright, what can I do with commissioned images Sue has created for me?

I allow my patrons a number of uses of commissioned pieces I've done for them under my 'personal use' policy, unless otherwise specified. By personal use, I generally mean any use not intended to make a profit or be part of a commercial enterprise. Posting my artwork online with a description of the character, using it at an avatar in a chat room or sending digital copies to a dozen friends are all personal use, as far as I am concerned. In return for personal use, I ask that you give me credit for my art--ideally on the piece itself. Should the piece be too small for my name to appear on it, adding a tag or putting up a blog post giving me credit will do. If possible, a link to my web site, Art by Susan Van Camp, is always appreciated.

I want to post a picture I've had you do of my character and put my copyright notice on it. In this case, how should I give you credit?

Add my copyright notice next to yours. I suggest wording similar to this:
Goony copyright by Paul Patron
Artwork copyright by Susan Van Camp

If I want to purchase copyright, how much will it cost?

That depends on what you want to do with it. The more limited your uses of the final image, the less I will ask. For instance, if you want to self publish a book of stories about your character and include my art, the price for that is likely to be low. If you want to buy all rights, including my right to do prints of the final piece, display it on my website and use it as anything but a sample of a commission I have done, that's going to be quite a bit more. As with many things, you get what you pay for.

Do I have any control over what you do with the artwork? Can I ask you not to alter the image from its original form, for instance?

Not unless you buy copyright to the image.

If you post the image online, will you give me credit for my character?

Yes, if you will provide me with character name and how you want it attributed when I make the commission. I like giving my patrons credit when they hire me to do work.

Will you post me a digital copy of the final piece for my personal use?

Usually I will. Depending on the piece, I may charge for this service.

May I make prints of art I have commissioned from you under terms of personal use?

You may make up to twenty physical prints of a commissioned image, on a printer you own, and only from a file that I have provided to you. You may not make physical prints from your own scan of one of my artworks unless you have gotten permission from me. If you want more than twenty prints or if you want higher quality prints than you will be able to make from the file I send, I will usually sell prints of my commissioned artwork at a discounted price to the patron who hired me to do the original piece.

I hope I've covered everything. If this topic has brought up questions for you, feel free to post your inquiries as a comment or drop me an email at svancamp@mac.com

All April posts on the first of May

Yow--April went by in a flash. I am often very busy this time of year, working on commissions and preparing for the summer season. This year I was especially busy, so much so that I neglected my blogging. No posts in April means that I have a lot of catching up to do. The following is a catch up post containing a sampling of some of the pieces I've finished recently.



This piece was commissioned by Bit at Furry Connection North. It shows Bit, Swann, Alkali, Steele and Rak as adventurers. Many thanks to Bit and co. for the commission--it was a blast.



Here's a lovely piece commissioned by Earl McClaw at the same show. It shows Earl and Ms. Chevious sharing an intimate moment at a diplomatic affair. This is a follow up to a piece that Randy Zimmerman did earlier for Earl. Thanks muchly, Earl.



This is the Sword of the Skeleton Duke, another piece from the AROC project, which I talked about a couple of posts ago. I am very happy with this piece, particularly the hilt.



Here's a piece done for David L at Home Con earlier this month. All adventurers need a break once in a while.



This is a WIP sketch from an ongoing project that I'm doing for Mark M. The final piece will be an acrylic painting that I hope to display at Gencon.

Okay, that's it for the moment. I'm taking a week off, then I'll be back to work--and hopefully posting more often. Happy spring, everyone.