Back in 2013 (blimey, didn't realise it was that long ago) I commissioned the much missed Nigel Dobbyn for an Illo of Kid Knee.
Nigel was an absolute gent throughout the process and once the final work was complete -- all digital remember -- Nigel sent me a couple of different resolution copies as well as a fantastic hi res print that he made sure showed his art off to its full glory.
Last time I saw Nigel we were chatting and he just casually told me that he'd deleted the files to the commission once completed. I was aghast but he laughed it off and said as far as he was concerned it was the best way to make sure that the single print he did for me was as close as possible to an original page.
His reasoning was that he viewed the piece as work for hire. He completed his part and passed the work to me as the owner to do as I wished.
Another view of this is the wide variety of covers commissioned for Zarjaz. As I'm sure I've bored you all before Zarjaz is a not for profit zine, so I can in no way afford to commission the glorious works on the cover at market rate, but I offer the droids a gratuity to cover oil and bribes for Mek-Quake to look the other way.
This has resulted in some of the most astounding work to grace a fanzine but the point is that all I'm asking these artist for is first use. What they do with the work afterwards is their business.
Nigel was an absolute gent throughout the process and once the final work was complete -- all digital remember -- Nigel sent me a couple of different resolution copies as well as a fantastic hi res print that he made sure showed his art off to its full glory.
Last time I saw Nigel we were chatting and he just casually told me that he'd deleted the files to the commission once completed. I was aghast but he laughed it off and said as far as he was concerned it was the best way to make sure that the single print he did for me was as close as possible to an original page.
His reasoning was that he viewed the piece as work for hire. He completed his part and passed the work to me as the owner to do as I wished.
Another view of this is the wide variety of covers commissioned for Zarjaz. As I'm sure I've bored you all before Zarjaz is a not for profit zine, so I can in no way afford to commission the glorious works on the cover at market rate, but I offer the droids a gratuity to cover oil and bribes for Mek-Quake to look the other way.
This has resulted in some of the most astounding work to grace a fanzine but the point is that all I'm asking these artist for is first use. What they do with the work afterwards is their business.