Chances are, if you’ve purchased original art you got the ‘autograph’ of the artist with it, since most artists sign their works. As far as I know we own one original painting – a watercolour of a cat – and it is indeed hand signed by the artist.
But buying original art can get expensive very quickly, and may not even be possible with some (especially digital) artists. So it ends up being a challenge the same as any other sort of autograph.
We don’t have many autographs of artists, but the few we do include a couple of very special ones. As you’ll read, all of these were obtained in different ways as well. Here they are…
Fifteen years ago, at New York Comic Con, we were lucky enough to meet Simone Legno, creator of the brand Tokidoki. His star was still rising, and he was actually signing autographs! Not only did we get the above poster autographed, but he also drew a character on it. In addition he autographed a Tokidoki purse Kristin was using at the time:
What makes this special is I videoed him signing, and you can watch it on YouTube. How’s that for provenance! Incidentally the poster has been framed and hung on our wall ever since, and likely always will be.
Since I was a child I’ve loved the fantasy art of Chris Achilleos. About 30 years ago I bought a pack of trading cards of his work, and to my surprised found a redemption card for an autograph. I dutifully sent it off, and sure enough some weeks later received the above in the mail. It’s been a treasure ever since, and even more so now since he passed away a couple of years ago.
I can thank Adam for all of the above (I think). He obtained these signed basic land cards at Magic The Gathering events he went to, and gave them to me since he knew I collected the lands. The 11 cards are the work of 4 separate artists, and they’re all ‘real’ cards and not artist proofs. I believe he even prepared in advance and brought the cards with him. Now that’s a man that knows how to obtain an autograph!
Incidentally I said ‘I think’ because I have a dim memory of being inspired by him to do the very same thing, and bringing some cards to NYCC one year to get them signed. But did that actually happen? Who knows!
I have Olivia De Berardinis.