Friday, May 23, 2008

Jim Lawson dino puzzle

One thing that I have been doing for fun at some recent comic conventions I've gone to are what I call "original art puzzles". I make these by buying puzzle blanks from a craft store (these are blank white puzzle-thickness boards which are pre-cut with a die which leaves enough cardboard in the spaces between the pieces to allow the puzzle to hold together, but little enough that it is easily broken apart when desired), drawing Turtle head sketches directly on each puzzle blank with a large marker, and then breaking the pieces apart and packing them in a small plastic bag with a header card (below).


It's something fun and different from the standard sketch on paper or print, and I think it appeals to those people who like Turtles and puzzles.



At one of our joint appearances a couple of years ago, I had some blanks with me that I hadn't drawn on yet. Jim Lawson took one and drew a cool dinosaur on it, and gave it to me. Nice, huh? -- PL

13 comments:

Splinter's Iroonna said...

Very nice indeed. And lucky East Coasters who get to attend such conventions and get such things.

Poppy Robbie said...

Fun!

~ tOkKa said...

-->> ..d4mm unique..

i really like the PALEO one especially .. that actually gives me some tight gift ideas.

Thanks.. >v<

Ondi said...

Sensational Idea Pete!! I really like it. So when are you visiting the land down under so I could get one of these Puzzles??? ;o)

Buslady said...

I would buy one of those, I'd hafta ask for a Raph- cos he is the focus of my collection, put it together, glue , and frame it. I like that!

PL said...

Some of your comments make me think it might be a good idea to offer a few of these things for sale via the Mirage TMNT website. (At shows, I've been selling them for $10 each.)

If I did decide to do this, it would probably be a good idea to reiterate that these are head sketches, not full-body sketches, so if you wanted a specific Turtle you would have to imagine that the one you get is the one you want. (Although it might be fun to throw in an occasional full-body sketch for the heck of it!) Also, you wouldn't know the exact nature of the sketch until you opened it up and put the puzzle together.

What do you think? -- PL

Roseangelo said...

I'd love to see Mirage directly sell more current, art-related items in general.

The two prints that you and Steve Lavigne sold at NYCC just last month just fetched an insane amount of money on eBay (#1 & #2). I was lucky to get them for a much more reasonable price, but I would much prefer for my money to go directly to the artists than to dealers on eBay.

I really love the puzzle idea, although I'd be more inspired to get one if it were something more unique than a head sketch (although I'm sure I'd get one anyways). :)

~ tOkKa said...

-->> hey, Rose.. i know it's the nature of the beats, but isn't a tad disinegnuous (sp) if that's the word ..when people do that. Get in line to get a signed print or piece of art only to go on ebay or whatever and try to make a profit. It ahppens all the time.. but yeh i'd rather, also have the artist themselves profit from the purchase and not some opportunistic ebay guy. I don't know. Wonder if that's even ethical. But then again, when do people care about ethics anymore. :(

Anyway ..this is why i told Steve i want to save up for a personalized commissioned piece from him, summin' special made specific for me.

Am i making sence ? ?

>v<

Roseangelo said...

Oh yeah, it's totally the "nature of the beast," as you put it, and nothing that this guy did was at all illegal. But I doubt the seller expected to get as much as he did. I think that speaks to the demand for this type of TMNT item.

~ tOkKa said...

-->> ..yeh not illegal at all.

But kinda a bummer.

I mean if i sold a painting to a guy for say like 50 bucks and then he took it slapped it on ebay and it sold for 300 ( not that my art work commands that price range, i should be so lucky ;p ) ..i'd feel a bit odd about it and kinda bummed. Dumb example. But well .. so it goes. :/

At this point tho' ..outside of donating artwork or gift art, i've had several pieces at this point basically taken from me, and the people got free art essentially. They promised they'd pay me or compensate somehow, they never did. And i never see those people or artworks again.

So i mean.. it's kinda tough subject, huh. Gee.

>v<

Buslady said...

if you do it Pete, I'll take one & frame it like i said. :D

Brookslyn said...

Pete,

This is an absolutely fantastic idea. I've been to the SDCC the last few years and have never seen any of the artists with such a creative idea. I walked around asking artists to doodle random items in a little sketch book, but this would be really fun and maybe a new craze!

Capital Chay said...

$10?! For Original Laird art? Are you kidding me? Multiply by ten and that would still be lowballing the price. Maybe I'm just a fan that would value something like this more than others.