LOST KEVIN EASTMAN ART FROM 1986.... or not
 

I have a friend who knows a guy who has art from 1986 of Leonardo and wants to sale it..... I am very interested so he sent me some pictures... The story is that this guy's dad went to comic convention in 1986 in massachusetts and EASTMAN was there doing commissions for $15... The art is inscribed on the back to this guys father... sounds like a great story but I'm not sold the signature looks more like Walt Disney .... take a look and tell me what you think

http://s1280.photobucket.com/albums/...t=IMG_2896.jpg

http://s1280.photobucket.com/albums/...t=IMG_1622.jpg

It looks pretty legit to me, signatures change over the years, and while I see the Walt Disney style "i" you're talking about, I think other characteristics of Kevin's signature are pretty dead on.

ok cool thanks for taking a look.... that "i" did throw me but it's pretty early turtle art.... So next question is if it is real.... what is it worth :tlol:

I'm not sure what Kevin charges these days for a 1-character commission, $80 maybe?

It's a gorgeous piece, really shows off his early style for the turtles. How big is it? 8x11? 9x12?

9x12 I believe

A wonderful piece! I think someone would pay $100 and more for that!

What is your assessment based on?

Looks pretty legit to me.

It is based on the fact that a lot of people LOVE Eastman's art and his stuff and here we have a very beautiful vintage piece from 1986!

Funny you should say that.... I offered the seller $100 to get the ball rolling and he responded by saying it's 26 yrs old ....it's worth more than that... I told him I could go to a con later next year and get Eastman to do a commission for me for $75- $100 ... but he stated again it's not 26 years old ... I asked him to give me a ball park of where he is and am still waiting to hear back....

We all know the saying just because something is old does not mean it's worth a lot of money.... is that the case here? is a 26 year old commission worth the same as a one from this year? or should I expect to pay more?

I really don't know how the piece's oldness affects the price, I don't understand the guys reasoning when the artist is still alive. Yeah sure a Jack Kirby or Curt Swan commission piece thats 26 years old would be worth a ton, but that's because they're dead and only a limited number of sketches exist.

Yeah if he's asking $150-200 I would pass, with Kevin having such an active role with the series, I think his number of appearances at Cons is going to stay steady at what it was this past year or increase. You could get 2 pieces from him for that price.

Signature looks fine to me; my #1 first print was signed by Eastman and Laird in 1985, and Kevin's signature on that is identical to the one here bar the stylising of the first N.

As for value, it really depends on how much emphasis you place on the age. People change style over the year for starters. Stan Sakai changed the way he drew Usagi over the course of the first few years, with the result that art from 1986 looks somewhat different to art from 1990. There was also a greater proportion of coloured art too, but finding it in general is never easy and it looks different to anything from the last 20 years. Hence A3 coloured pieces from 1986 usually sell for around $800-1000 as a result.

Kevin's Signature (like everyones) has minor variations over the years. That signature is consistent with his mid-80's signature.

As for value. IMO, The Further you get away from 1984 the less valuable it is. Also, color and quality are going to factor in. This is an ink only convention quality sketch from 86. I so I would probably put it at about $150 if you love it. Less if you just like it :-)

As for what I draw my estimate from, I can only compare it to a piece that I recently purchased myself. It was a 1985 colored commission quality Raph, for which I happily paid $400.

Thanks for the responses .... The seller contacted me and said he was thinking more in the ballpark of $400-$500 .... I quickly informed him our business had concluded .... :tlol:

Good call. Your money would be better invested in a much better piece for that price.

But it's an Eastman piece...those are worth eleventy billion dollars. $500 would be a steal. :roll:

There are two issues that are common when it comes to non-fan pricing of Eastman work:

1. The aforementioned assumption that age = value.

2. People outside the fandom don't understand how accessible Kevin is at this point in time.

looks more like '88 rather than '86.

^This. Kevin is very much an active artist and frequently does sketches, so the value/cost is fairly low. BUT...his style has changed over the years, so if you like a particular style of his, it may be worth it to YOU to spend more on it. That said, $100-150 is a fair price for that 86 sketch. $400-500 is a complete rip off. Hell, I saw a Kirby sketch sell $700 and he's one of the all time greats who's no longer alive.

That dude can go back to smokin his dope.

Yeah, this is what I was thinking. Frankly, I don't care if today Eastman takes a lot of commissions or if he is very accessible or cheap, I would pay a lot more for a piece done back in the golden years of the Mirage era!