Why Do People Get Mad When Artists Make Money?
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- Опубликовано: 9 фев 2025
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Lest we forget there are jackasses who bought 100x100 pixel NFTs for 10x of what Jim Lee is asking.
Lest we not forget someone paid 72 million dollars for an nft that was comprised of a single pixel
@@_StarlightRose_😮 wth
@@melinda-elisatatar4253 yeah im not joking
Literally a red pixel on a white background
They pay for nothing and they got nothing. Sounds like to me you'd be better off getting a commission from a comic book artist and get something, then wasting your time getting an NFT.
It’s hard for people to wrap their heads around the difference between being paid for your time vs getting paid for your value you provide.
well said
We see this when people get mad over sports athletes. There's also when someone makes money through IP of all types.
The story of the Pied Piper.
He gave a price to rid the town of all the rats infestation without leaving dead rat bodies around the town, nor any rat-guts, no rat-blood or anything else. Everyone agreed to the price. He removed ALL the rats in one day.
Some people saw that it was easy and refused to pay. They wanted to pay for the work. They didn't want to pay for the value.
He got stiffed. So he let all the rats back into the town. And, he stole all their children.
DON'T STEAL FROM THE WORKER IF THE WORK IS GOOD.
Remember back in the day, you could go to a music festival and Michael Jackson would write you a personalised song for a couple bucks? remember that? No?
Thats because it never fucken happened!
Jim Lee is a master at his craft. He has earned the right to charge 20k a pop.
you pay for the fame mainly. you can find artist with better quality and cheaper, but you pay for his fame.
but if you think in terms of art, there is abstract art were people charge 10 to 1000 and more times more for having no skills, so there is that. So art is relative, you pay what the person is worth as in the market or what they put their price to.
My Jim Lee story. I was at San Diego as a young man. My first time there as a pro. Jim was signing and sketching for FREE. It was close to the end of the show when I got in line. The dude behind me was the last one allowed in line. Jim stayed after the close of the show to make sure everyone in line got their signatures and free sketch. He drew a Grifter for me, outlined it and then asked me, in the interest of time, would I want ink the rest. He told me to sit down, handed me a sharpie and I inked the rest of the Jim Lee sketch sitting next to him.
I've worked with DC for 9 years. The whole office has a very open, exciting vibe. I can't say it's because of Jim, but I wouldn't be surprised.
Love that story. I would have been afraid to touch some Jim Lee pencils but if Jim says it's ok... then it's OK. :D
There is a strange perception that art is easy, hence low prices.
Sadly, I think AI is going to make the perception worse. I've had online arguments with AI image sellers who resent that artists put hours of work in to develop their craft and skill when AI (in the person's words) "equalises my worth on the market..."
It was at that point I walked away in the argument.
@@fablewalls Even if generative AI didn't run on the wholesale theft of real artist's work, I'd still hate it for this alone.
@@fablewalls Agreed. People have forgotten how to appreciate the arts, thus forgotten how much work goes into not only the work itself but also improving your skills over a LONG period of time, so they don't see the value in it. Also, the misguided belief that because it's fun means you shouldn't have to be paid as much (or at all) is so full of BS I'd exceed the character limit and probably rile myself up, so I'll just leave it at "That's a load of nonsense".
And even *without* all that, I charge what I charge because if you want me to spend a few hours making something just for you, to your specifications, it's only fair to be compensated properly!
@@AnimatorZeeVIDEO More power to your arm mate. Never let people underpay you for the hours of practice you put in.
A certain subset of society hates artists specifically and doesn't believe they should be paid anything. I'm not kidding, it's a thing. They think artists are lazy and that they should get a real job. It's a bigger group of people than you might want to believe, too. These people never used to question where art comes from. Now they have AI, they feel even more confident about hating on artists.
Usually the ones behind "piracy is OK".
@@brodriguez11000ehh dunno about that
@@brodriguez11000nope.
@@brodriguez11000I’m an artist, I pay for every piece of art I consume, and I live off of my art. I believe piracy is ok. Either I’m a paradox or there’s a hole in your logic
a ton of people don't see art as work, it's baffling
Those YT videos showing how things are made is so interesting.
AI made ppl stupid.
Also ppl can be very conceited
The pixiv crowd f.e. seem to think "if its not overpolished, its worthless"
Uh. no ?
They're jealous and resentful of artists who can make a living from doing something they're passionate about.
a lot of modern art isnt . eg a banana taped to a wall. lees prices are out of my range but he is good
You love doing it you do it at your free time anyway, so you should do it for free, that's how most of people think.
Many people lack hobbies or interests, which leaves them with too much time to get upset over trivial matters.
As an artist it is important to get paid for what you do just like anyone else. Art is one of the only professions where everyone thinks you should just give away your work for free. The pricing to me is right on its Jim Lee for god sakes he is a legend in the industry.
Not only. That family member that provides free services, like tech support, or legal services. etc.
I think a lot of people see making art as just something fun and resent people doing something they perceive as fun and getting paid large amounts for it.
Your cooking analogy was spot on. I used to make jewelry as a hobby and really enjoyed it. People kept asking me about my jewelry and admiring it and started commissioning pieces. I was making pretty decent money at it, but it sucked all the joy out of it over time so I stopped doing it altogether. Work is work, and from my perspective, commodifying creativity really does drain it of a lot of joy. Artists earn that money and aren't just getting paid for playing around.
That’s why I personally shifted from pursing illustration to get a linguistics degree. I feared a career in art sucking the joy out of it.
That said, I wish I could go back to school to get the formal instruction to help me improve my craft.
Artists deserve much more than they get paid. I recently tried doing digital artwork and it was HARD! So I am also on the team 'go get that bag!'
Seriously. Same with sewing. We need to get rid of negative assumptions especially when it comes to peoples livelihoods.
I've been saying this for years, people want to consume art but don't want to pay for it. They feel entitled to it.
They get just as mad when athletes get money too... Look, you could make a lot of money just selling old junk as collectibles. People will always resent that
Antique Roadshow was the "common man" making the money.
@@brodriguez11000 I’ve watched that show so many times. My dad also loves it, so is his mother, my baba (paternal grandmother).
I understand being bummed out if you can’t afford an 11”x17” Jim Lee original. Get something at a price point you can afford, even if that’s just buying a comic book. The status of owning an original one of a kind will always come with a hefty price tag. However he is not limiting your access to his work. There is nothing ethically wrong with his pricing.
From what I've been able to gather is: If people think a job looks low effort? Then those who work physically demanding jobs or several jobs to make ends meet? They get very angry at that kinda thing.
I got family that was annoyed few years ago because fast food workers were getting raises "They make more money than nurses and teachers! They should be paid less!"
That kind of mentality instead of "Hey, these OTHER jobs could use more money"
I've been doing commissions for a while and I'm no Jim Lee but people have freaked at $90 for a full color illustration, but on the flip side others have happily paid, no questions asked and even tipped me.
Folks don't get art, they think it's 'just for fun' and they think or even INSIST that kinda thing while using their phone that was designed by an artist, with icons and backgrounds and such made by artists. It's a real job, but 'you just sit around all day drawing' is somehow not work when there's a lot of job sitting around doing a thing.
Work is work. Jim gets paid this because his work is legendary with history, so it's worth it.
I personally think it's jealousy: people wish THEY could command such price for what THEY do, and get snarky when they see someone command the prices that they can't.
It's either that, or they truly don't understand the art market, or bespoke pieces in general: if some people will pay X for something you do, you should get X!! Just because someone ELSE doesn't want to pay you for your hard work, doesn't mean it's WRONG to get that amount of money from someone who does!
I think you have a point. There’s tons of starving artists just as good as Jim Lee but they don’t have the name recognition so they don’t get as much money for their work.
The word is envy, not jealousy. They are completely different.
God forbid artist get paid what someone is willing to pay for their art 😱. "It's just kids stuff and we should die poor and be happy that we might become famous after we die." At this point, if someone isn't mad about what you're doing, you probably aren't doing it right.
Artist here
The problem we're seeing is something you mentioned in the middle of the video.
Removing the middlemen who are trying to bank off artists work are at risk of no longer making money.
They don't want artists to know that they can sell their work for alot more, and are trying to get them scared of doing it by shaming them publicly. Or at least trying.
Artists have to understand that they're worth alot more, the industry keeps treating them like dirt, giving them cents on the dollar. Most artists are scared to charge more, because they believe they'll recieve less. But we have to remember, art is a type of luxury, art can be fun for viewers. Don't sell yourself short, people who truly support art who have the funds will help you, because they truly believe in the creative process.
A bit of both. Reason there are middle-men is because the talent doesn't want to do the grunge work (or don't know how) involved in growing a business.
It's the same with artists lucky enough to have a business relationship with an agent. Sure the agent does take their 15-30% cut off the whole deal, but the artist in exchange frees him/herself of dealing with the ugly "business" stuff and just focus on what s/he's better at - I think that's fair.
I think that it all boils down to jealousy. When people who have to work a job they hate for a salary, see someone making their annual income or more with something fun, they get reminded that it's POSSIBLE to make money doing something that you actually like. But that's the thing, it's POSSIBLE, not EASY, becoming a famous artist is a lot harder than having a normal job, and riskier, and most people can't handle that, so they resort to bashing on those who could.
This is a person that has been in the comics industry since the 80's and one of the most popular and influential artists in the industry. People have paid way more for his work through auctions and like you stated in your video by reselling on ebay to make a large profit. Keep in mind, some wouldn't bat an eye if this was a different type of artist selling work like Banksy, but because this is a professional comic book artist people automatically assume the level of work isn't "fine art" or high level work when in fact it's what people are willing to pay and clearly people are willing to pay high dollar for his work. Maybe the people are mad because they won't be able to cash in on his success by reselling the commissions.
I could never afford to pay an artist that much myself, but like... this is their job. I don't understand why some people don't get that.
They deserve all of it, Art nowadays is Brain Draining and Laborious task 😊
Imagine having people think they should get a cheap price on an original work from a living legend in an industry.
Ironically, the same folks will be the first in line to auction off those pieces for more than the artist's asking price. Everyone but the person whose creativity and talent is being used deserves a paycheck, as fking always. The entire point of spending decades honing your craft and gaining recognition for your excellence is to increase the value of your creation and the worth of your time. But even at high levels, nontraditional artists still have to apparently continue the grind.
It's Jim f-cking Lee.
As an artist who also represents other professional artists, the thing that particularly drives me crazy is seeing fellow artists get upset at artists being paid well for their work. That sentiment among artists is unfortunately way too common. What is also too common is how many talented artists make next to nothing due to being worried about being perceived as greedy or delusional.
As an illustrator I get it. For years everyone has crapped on the artist. Jack Kirby didn’t get the love he deserved at the time. Ideas have been stolen from the artists at times and made the property of the big 2 for practically pennies while those companies made bank. It was the entire point of the start of Image Comics. Even writers all the credit and not the artists that brought the idea to life in living color. I have followed not only Jim, but Marc, Rob, Whilce and many more since the late 80’s and happy to see any of them succeed as they have more than deserved it. Many people feel that art should be free and I think that is why AI generated art is so popular now. I can never afford a Jim Lee illustration, but still support his success in every way. Illustrators should applaud when one of us makes it. Also, if i want a drawing, I put in the time and effort and learned how to draw it myself. There is no greater feeling than being able to pull an image from your head and put it on paper. Hell, I even taught myself basic procreate and am messing around with animation in toon squid. As much as I would love an original piece from an artist as great as Jim, it would not hold as much value to me as what i created myself🤷🏻♂️
If they discover Beeple made 40 Million $ with one NFT...
Their mind's gonna explode!
Art is only worth as much as people are willing to pay for it; there's nothing to relate price of art to, it's a luxury not a need. We can complain about prices of housing, water, electricity, food, that's a need that we should have easy access too; custom piece of art? Bro know your place, it used to be domain of the kings.
+People will always complain, be it 20bucks or 20k bucks (I know from experience in with the 20$ lol)
I consider art an absolute need, but owning original is definitely not a need, u can experience the same art in his comic books , looking online or watching movies
I'm pretty sure Jim Lee's net worth is in tens of million dollars. Man was working his a** off, he is in his 60's his time worth a lot. Get that bag, Jim!
You’re not paying for the art; you’re paying for the artist’s skill, ability, and reputation. As well you should!
Yes exactly, He's been drawing his whole life and he spent his whole life to get to the level he's at now
Because art is perceived as a hobby only, something that you only do for the pleasure of it.
Now, it can be like that with regards to your personal work, but someone's gotta eat.
Anyway most of the bad comments come from
envy.
If you want it, you pay for it, if you don’t, don’t pay for it,
Louder for the people in the back please.
Furries have literally paid $20k for art before... Getting art from the artist was basically a "rich furry" status symbol. The art was cool, yes, but they really only bought it for the status. The bid started at $800 and then a bidding war broke out. They paid $20k for a digital art piece of a character that was pre-made.
Have a link to the piece?
If you're considered top of your game by the fanbase of your field, seems normal you'd get paid well.
Top emcees get paid a lot to turn up and do their thing. Top football players get paid a lot to play a match.
If this guy is too in the comic scene, not surprised his work can fetch these high prices.
Those of us that dont have 20k just have to settle for his work in a published comic or a print.
....as typing this, it's basically the point you made at end of video anyway 😊 supply and demand. There are people who will, probably happily as they're rich, pay this for a collectable from someone they rate highly
Glad someone smart made a video about this. I can't believe there's actually some kind of controversy over this. Jim Lee can set those prices because he's worth that much. Did people forget he literally helped revolutionize the comic industry. That companies have used his art in merchandising without paying him for years. Now he is in position where can he sell his art for those prices. He should be charging that much. This is a dream for most artists. People are crazy and greedy. These aren't covers or just simple sketches. These are full private commissions.
All I'm really gettihg from this is twitter is being twitter and getting mad at literally everything
Related / unrelated… I worked for DC very briefly and it’s when Jim Lee Launched Batman Hush & it got me hooked on DC comics. Was a long long long time Marvel fanboy. Free comic books every week was unreal + being paid
Honestly as somebody who values their own time and work and charges what I think is an appropriate amount for my commissions, I hate when I see people who I think are far more talented than I am charging so little for their own work. I'm almost tempted to DM an artist if they are doing gorgeous full body pieces for like... $25. But at the same time, maybe they just like to draw for other people and money is beside the point? It's not my business. But I do get tempted sometimes to tell other artists to not devalue what they contribute to the world, whether it's beautiful landscape paintings or comics about Sonic getting pregnant.
Haha, same! I usually tip artist and tell them their prices are too low. Honestly it's possible they're from country where one dollars worth more, and 25 dollars at a day is more than teachers can get, as example.
And there are people who buy/bought ugly and lazy "artworks" for exorbitant prices (NFTs).
Fellow child of the 80's here, and working in animation.
Even though I grew up in Europe, and had almost no direct contact with American Superheroes comics, I was at least familiar with Jim Lee's work through a workaround : The Capcom X-Men fighting game, and all the subsequent X-Men Vs Street fighters & Marvel Vs Capcom (which re-release have been announced very recently in a Nintendo Switch after having been in jail for the past decade, so it's the talk of the whole videogame industry right now !), some of the games that made me fall in love with videogames and animation, to the point I later got into my animation studies, then worked in the industry for the past 15 years (whenever I'm not unemployed, of course), and these games were HEAVILY inspired by Jim's artwork. So in a sense, even if I haven't read a lot of his comics, he was most certainly among the people who inspired me to become an animator, so I fully well know the impact he had on the art & comic industry as a whole, and YES ! Absolutely ! The more you advance in time and career, the more your art is worth.
After all, there is this joke about Picasso being commissioned by someone to draw his dog, Picasso draws the dog in 30 seconds, charges $1M for it. Customer is pissed, says "hey, you just drew it 30 seconds". To which Picasso replies : "Yeah, and I drew 50 years prior so that I could draw it in 30 seconds".
People don't realize they're not just paying for the time spent on the art, but time spent on the time, craft and experience acquiring said art to this level, which can only be exponential !
Imagine asking Miyazaki to make you a drawing for 20 bucks, the man will literally spit at your face (before chewing you out about how anime was a mistake and you're such a failure as a human and an insult at life for basking in it, making you shrink 'n' shrivel in your pants while you're reevaluating your life).
So you go, Jim !
Also, the ragers who don't want art people to make big bucks are probably the same talentless Tech bros hacks who wish the death of all artists by starvation through the mass use of AI, so not much to talk with them.
A very thoughtful take on the subject. The monetary value of work is always defined by what people are willing to pay. If someone was willing to pay be $20k for a day's work, you better believe I would take it.
I wonder if the twitter people also realize that this is an investment with the possibility for larger returns for the buyer. They do this all the time with fine art, why not with a really well-known artist in the comic space. This is Jim Lee after all.
Legendary artist sells gorgeous sketches that he draws live? $20k doesn't seem that strange.
All that aside though. People need to realize that Jim Lee isn't the only person responsible for these prices. If the demand wasn't that high, I'd no one was willing to pay that amount, then no one would. The fact that he can set prices at $20k+, and still potentially have to pick and choose which ones he takes, goes to show just how high of a demand there is for his work and time.
Jim Lee deserves that and more. He has contributed so much to comics. He was my idol in the 90s and his story is so inspirational. So yes Jim Lee. Get that money. You are worthy!!!
A lot of people undermine artists, they view art as a career that isn’t supposed to make much money especially for comic artists, illustrators and animators.
It’s a shallow perspective that has to be changed.
Art is a very professional career and we as artists shouldn’t be looked down on, cause we bring people’s ideas to life, That isn’t something that it’s easy to come up with.
Jim Lee is running DC comics the time he takes away from doing that to draw a commission is easily worth 20k probably much more.
There are times when the backlash is warranted, like the infamous Butch Hartman commissions from back in the day (where sometimes he would just trace other artwork, but would charge hundreds lol)
It's freaking Jim Lee. Of course it's gonna be expensive. This is like hiring Lebron james for a pickup basketball game at a party and only expecting him to ask for $200
I think the other factor of this is that if you want Jim Lee art and can't afford a commissioned piece (like most of us), you can buy $20 poster of Jim Lee art. It's not as if the average person is being priced out of the opportunity to appreciate and display his art. It's just the rarity and specialness of original, hand drawn work that's prized.
If haters think 20k is ridiculous, wait till they hear how much that banana on a duct tape was sold.
Yea I remember that I think it sold for $120,000 .
I've met Jim Lee at Comic Con
He was so nice. He's my favorite artist, i love his art style. If it was a famous painter people would say they price is too low, but because its comics i think people dont see it as high end art for some reason
I agree that Jim is a good artist. However, the problem with your statement is the word “famous”. Just because someone is famous (and Jim Lee is famous, along with Todd McFarlane and Rob Liefeld), people think that the art is worth more money. There are artists that I know whose work is much better than Jim Lee and they don’t get paid nearly enough for their work - and they will never get paid enough, simply because they are not “famous”. It’s very sad that people put such high value on that over the actual piece of art. And I disagree that today comic art is undervalued. It is more valued today than it has ever been in the last hundred years. If you ever go on Heritage Auctions, comic work sells for crazy amounts of money, especially when, again, the artist is “famous”. There is also a huge difference in pricing for what people consider fine art and illustration. Because someone is categorized as a “fine artist” they can charge more money than someone that does illustration work, even though in many cases illustrations can take much longer and be much more complex than a fine art piece, especially an abstract art piece.
People are so used to artists to underselling that they can't wrap their head around this.
Sean Gordon Murphy also charges thousands of dollars for commission work for this same reason, he's also a super star like Jim Lee and has people willing to pay for it. It's ridiculous that there are people out there who believe artists, especially established veteran artists, don't deserve not just a livable wage but also a comfortable wage
Fair points! It sucks for his fans who aren’t rich, I get it - but maybe they could find other artists who’s work the admire - that they could spend less on.
you pay for the fame mainly. you can find artist with better quality and cheaper, but you pay for his fame.
but if you think in terms of art, there is abstract art were people charge 10 to 1000 and more times more for having no skills, so there is that. So art is relative, you pay what the person is worth as in the market or what they put their price to.
There are a lot of people out there who just don't make very good money at their jobs. So when they get a peek into what someone who's at or near the top and what they're being compensated, it's shocking. Same goes for movie stars, pro athletes, CEOs, etc.
art is like language. we all can learn it and speak it, but each person has a unique way of speaking. Yes, you can mimic it, you can even be somewhat successful in perfectly saying the same words, but the individual will eventually morph to what they know best, and it's no longer the same language. So, in other words, no one can be the original since their upbringing, experiences, personality, beliefs, lifestyle, etc are what influence their language,, their art. And this guy is willing to sell his original, authentic hand-drawn art for a well-suited price. Cuz once this guy dies, those prices that so many are complaining, about are gonna skyrocket. I'm not saying buy as much as you can from the guy, but appreciate the man himself and all that he has done.
If he is the original creator he deserves the money. I get mad when I see people on etsy drawing copyrighted images and getting a lot of money. Yes they draw wonderfully but they don't own the ip!! If you see they also get millions of views drawing things that don't belong to them! Be creative!!
I wouldn't mind if Brad continues to cover art drama more often
100% agree. So long as people are willing to fork over hundreds of thousands of dollars to have someone "play a game" (looking at you pro sports) then why can't some of the most talented artists make profit from those willing to pay for the privilege? I can understand people scoffing at the price of art, I do it all the time as someone who is capable of replicating it for minimal to no costs, but like you said, "It's Jim Lee, an icon in his field."
Man, you wouldn’t believe how many times I said "exactly!" out loud while watching this video. You explained it so well. Jim is a very in-demand artist and only has so much time to dedicate to making art. Of course he's gonna charge a lot for it! Crazy how hard it is for people to wrap their heads around that.
This reminds me of that story about Picasso charging 10k for a portrait done in 10 mins. You are not buying a drawing, you are buying the blood, sweat and tears of a guy who gave what not everybody is willing to give to get where he's at. My respects to Jim and all the artists who are giving their all.
People are so dumb. Jim Lee is a comic book art superstar. Some of his comics sold millions of copies in the 90s. He's as close to a comic book celebrity we have. He has a right to charge that much because as others have pointed out some buy his art for hundreds of dollars then resell it for thousands. Jim lee is a legend who can command those prices. Regular celebrities who are worth millions charge hundreds of dollars for their autographs but Jim Lee can't charge a few thousand for a PRIVATE COMMISSION. I swear people just don't want their favorite artists making money.
Meanwhile, I'm still struggling working as digital artist, and think about how to be wealthy by working as an artist.
Well, the main thing, don’t be just a digital artist. Do traditional work. Lots of it. There is no value in something digital, despite what the internet tells you with NFTs and all that nonsense. A physical piece of art, created by the hands of a real artists can never be replicated be a digital AI bot. Ever. A physical piece of original art will always hold value over anything digital that you cannot hold in your hand and feel the texture of the paper it was created on (or canvas with actual strokes of paint). If you create art traditionally, you can scan it in and make prints and other things from it to sell, while still having the original piece to sell for much more money. But if you only create work digitally, you have nothing to fall back on. William Stout told me that a long time ago when I met him in the 90s.
Life without The Arts is no life. There is no upper limit for talent.
If I had $20 laying around for a Jim Lee commission, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Jim Lee and Scott Williams were my favourite artist/inker combo in the comicverse. Followed his work to Image, got out of comics (life, cashflow) soon after college and was shocked to see him head up DC when it happened - but his work is STILL freaking amazing. That man has so much raw talent that it's scary. But I'm not going to begrudge him for charging that money. You're not paying for the time it takes to draw stuff - you're paying for the DECADES of skill that make you want his artwork.
And also Jim Lee is the CCO of DC Comics! His time is money.
I think people love art and appreciate it but they don’t appreciate the artist. Normal folks I think don’t consider how much effort, commitment, and tears it takes to grow as an artist. Jim Lee is one fantastic example of this. The guy has been at it since he was very young, developed his skills, his style, and as such developed his worth, and has been in the industry a long time and is known.
Normal people have seen his work even if they don’t know his name. So in my mind him charging that much seems about right. Yes, it’s a lot of money, but it isn’t just the art you’re getting, it’s the name behind it too.
15 years as a graphic designer and illustrator taught me that MOST people do not want to pay a skilled artist what they are worth. It’s a sad fact.
As an artist who used to do conventions - the whole shebang of getting a table, setting my art supplies up, setting up prints and merch with my art on it, and taking on-the-spot commissions, as well as take-home commissions, I really relate to this, and.....sooooo many artists undercharge themselves, and undersell themselves. Yes, you'll get fans out there that will complain about such-and-such artist charging a lot for their work...BUT! There are also people out there who are ready and willing to pay for their work, because those people believe that artist's work is worth it. I've literally seen a crayon drawing by a well-known artist I knew years ago, must've taken him 5-10 seconds to draw up a stick figure, and it sold for $500. It was the talk of the convention, and probably is to this day. So many people didn't think it was worth it, but the guy who won that auction thought it was, and more to that artist for getting $500 for a simple crayon stick figure he whipped up in no time flat, LOL. That's more than I ever made at a convention weekend. Ever.
I hear you on the burn out too. I tried raising my prices to accommodate getting better known in my fandom community, as well as trying to make it worth my time. I was on the opposite part of the spectrum, though...when I raised my prices (still considered undercharging myself at that time), people thought I was too expensive, but would be willing to toss hundreds of dollars to top-name artists because...why have one of *my* art pieces, when they can have one of *top-name artist''s* pieces? Art was beginning to feel too much like work for me. Add that, on top of doing the same things over and over with no real challenge, with not-yet-diagnosed depression and anxiety added to the mix, and...I burned out pretty bad.
These days, I'm going back to school for art. I'm learning that art can be fun again, and I'm not worrying about wanting to sell art or take commissions. I'm happy to do art for a small handful of my friends, as well as make art in the current community I'm in, and I feel happier not charging for it. Will I ever get back to doing the convention scene? Maybe. I'm just not there yet, though.
Like you, I have been a fan of Jim Lee since the 1990s. I met him at a Comic Con, which I went to because he was there. He is the nicest person. He takes the time with each fan who comes to his table and gives his undivided attention. You are buying art from the artist, not a reprint. I see those rates, and all I think is that they are well deserved. He is an icon in the world of comics.
Artists, and definitely comic book artists, more often than not have gotten historically shafted by the industry, setting up Gofundme campaigns just to cover their medical bills. It's awful. Jim’s got the name, the cred and the pent-up demand -a position most every artist would be rightfully jealous of. It would be foolish on his part to not grab that bag. After all, likes don't pay your bills - cold, hard cash does.
I was at Dallas Comic Con back in the 2010s and he gave a live demo of his work and it was incredible. Jim is amazing, and I really am part of "grab that bag" too.
The cooking analogy is pretty good
Jim has always been so giving when it comes to art. He has done livestreams, he’s done art education for free. He’s been in this industry for DECADES.
Look at Alex Ross. He sells sketches, SKETCHES, for between 2-4k a piece. He sells his originals for five figures. These guys are MASTERS in their field. They deserve to charge what they want.
I hope you make that Jim Lee money someday Brad
People who are mad at the price are the uneducated ones. Most don’t know he’s basically the father of many characters we know and love today (Wolverine, etc.)!
Simple as that.
if you want an original from a famous comic artist. you got to be willing to give away a kidney. 20k is still pretty generous tbh
I guess because comics are cheap and available people don't understand how much work and time went into doing one full panel sketch that looks like a final print.
These people are freak out as if Jim Lee is raising all of the price of his works up to ten thousands dollars, while in fact, you can still got his comic book in a relatively normal price, this commission artwork is one of a kind that client specifically ask him to draw, it is a priceless piece to be fair
I think (mind U i have the smoothest of brains) that "If ppl worried as much about themselves as they do everyone else, the world wud have a lot less problems and who has so much time on their hands to actually complain about what other ppl are doing.!?" 🤷♂️ [.......but what do i know about knowing stuff] THANX for this bit 'O Drama' in the art world (as stated above) i have a life and even if i had time to be upset about a "Professional getting 'paid for their work'... (the actual DEFINITION of the word 🤦♂️), I'd spend it doing Anything Else, other than what 'Those Ppl' chose to do. Great Vid Brad, C U N the next 1! 👊🖍
I get shocked how many people don't understand why the original monalisa, is worth more than a copy centuries later.
Art in general is worth the same all across the board to these people, from a grade 3 drawing, to a Jim Lee sketch.. that's why they are like "WTF who does he think he is"..
Me personally it's not my job to convince people of the value some art has over others, cuz look, we all tried to explain the value, but AI art still happened, some of us still make riches of art but ALL of us need to be on board...
I don't like Jim Lee, BUT I understand his value.. and this is only because I'm an artist as well, not I can only imagine how many people don't get it.
It doesn't help that most creatives have a terrible relationship with money and genuinely think that they are supposed to do work for the lowest possible value cause it's "not about the money" or "I'm not good enough". Also, some artists are so insecure about their low self-worth that they shame other artists for daring to make real money off their work. If most of us don't take ourselves seriously, then how is society supposed to?
You always nail it! Great post. You do not only do reviews. You are a great analyst of what happens in the artist-illustrator world.
something else to think about. maybe Jim Lee really wants to know that the person buying his artwork is going to keep it. A lot of artist took commissions at cons only to see it turn up on Ebay. Theres a story around a 20k Jim Lee original piece. if i could i would try to get one.
That's a really really good point. I would feel taken advantage of if I created something for someone only to find out they only wanted it to flip for profit.
My favorite artist is Jim Lee and his value as an artist is high. People are willing to pay alot for his work and an artwork by him that was bought by a fan in the 90s sold for over half a million dollars i believe. I actually won one of his drawings at a comic convention for free. It was just a sketch but other people tried to buy it off of me the same day lol.
There are two factors in art : competence and luck. If you only have the first one, good for you, you are just like any other artist and no your art won't sell well. If you have the second well you can charge a lot. It just depends on the fact that your art is liked during your lifetime and not after or never. If you sell high prices and nobody buys your stuff, your prices are too high. If you are selling at high price good for you, your art is appreciated in your lifetime. There should not be such a thing as a monthly payment for artist or anyone can say they are an artist and just draw and be paid
Go get that bag!
BTW, Midjourney is $10 a month if you have an issue with Jim Lee's prices. Art school is a lot more than what he charges
I grew up reading comic books and Jim Lee was one of the artists that made me want to study comic art at The Kubert School in New Jersy... didn't end up going and went to Sheridan College instead... because of the costs, it was in the USA... and New Jersy on top of that.... But always loved comics and animation. 😊
I think the same as you. He has a busy life and he wants to limit how many he does.
This is what artists are truly worth, but if you see that someone is actually working to the true value it can make the always mistreated artist feel envious.
I wonder if you could do a video about Jim Lee or another artist you enjoy. I actually didn't know who he was until this video. Love your videos! They are so measured and calm, especially when everyone else is trying to be outrageous.
I, for one, became a lot happier personally when I took the stance that any artist making money is a good thing & stuff like crazy commission rates not necessarily reflective of skill or artistic value are a good thing because hey at least the artist is making money & not another bloody corporation. Like, getting mad at another person securing the bag is such a strange thing to do. It’s not a zero-sum game, everyone should be able to make money from their art, that’s the ideal!
Totally agree with you Brad. He can charge that much because he is worth that much
personally i would never commission someone for 20k, but if the artist wants to price their art that way, and the client wants to buy it, why would *you*, a completely irrelevant third party be mad about it. It's like that "isn't there someone you forgot to ask?" meme
4:15 I was following the whole fiasco and I think your "don't know how many people were actually mad" is the proper assessment. There were like 3 or 4 random ppl that complaining while the rest are generally positive -- and you can find a handful ppl on Twitter/X complaining about ANYTHING -- and then like the entire artist community came to Jim's defense from like... whom? There wasn't a strong criticism to begin with (like 0.1% of original reply) and the whole thing got blown out of proportion (and confused a lot of ppl).
It's Jim Lee. He's one of the comicbook industry veterans. You're not paying to get a realistic drawing of your commission. You're paying for a drawing by Jim Lee. It's a brand. You don't ask Gordan Ramsey to cook you a hamburger with Mcdonald ingredients and expect to pay only $20.
To to quote Matt LeBlanc, "If you're in a position in any job, no matter what the job is -- if you're driving a milk truck or installing TVs or an upholsterer for a couch -- if you're in a position to get a raise and you don't get it, you're stupid,"
That applies to commisioned artists too, if you can get $20k for your work, outstanding. But you're buying the drinks tonight. Beside if I had $20k to commision Jim Lee I absolutely would, I'd take some of his work over half the paintings in the National Gallery.
This just shows how much people view comic art. Fine art gets sold by MILLIONS and most of them aren’t as technically good as Jim Lee. His prices are reasonable.
On the supply side of this transaction, there's nothing wrong with what Jim is doing here. People are willing to pay him that money, and he's willing to take it.
What's worth criticizing here is that people are getting sucked into the celebrity trap and are falling over themselves to spend $20k on one piece of art from this rock star artist, rather than spending that $20k on 100 artists in the dealer's area / alley. $20k for Jim is probably a nice paycheque to add to his pile of cash, but spreading that $20k over 100 small-time artists who are just struggling to get noticed or break even on their weekend will make you the hero of the convention and fill your suitcases with all kinds of art in an amazing variety of different styles.
Here's the thing naysayers who spoke very terribly about Jim Lee asking for this amount - This was the SAME guy who gave us the most comic books sold of an ISSUE of a beloved Icon of Marvel that has inspired not only the movies and video games based on IP but also inspired the SAME 90's cartoon that spawned the sequel 'X-Men 97'
Not to mention, there was a reason why DC gave him work like Batman: HUSH and others and he's now running DC Comics.
Heck, I'd pay 30k (if I got the money) to give Tadayoshi Yamamuro to draw me a SSJ3 Goku fighting Janemba and Buu at the same time because he was the guy who gave use the style to the Buu arc from Dragonball as an example. That's how HUGE Jim Lee is.
I constantly see people under-price their rates because "people won't pay higher than that" and it's because people don't understand how much time and work drawing really is. It'll take me hours to finish a piece and if I only charged $100-$150 it'd work out to less than minimum wage. Original art is a luxury item and should be priced accordingly.
My two cents. Random kid tracing art usually charge 15-35$. A little more experienced and talented kid charges 50$. People who can do some neat drawing but still not to a publishing level ask 100-150$. Well-known published comic book artists charge around 350$-500$. Now why a legend like Jim Lee shouldn't charge 1000$ as a starting tier?