Sunday Mailbag- Subjects for your Prints?

Q: I’ve just come from noseying around your blog where I’ve been greatly enjoying your “The Game is Afoot!” Sherlock Holmes series. This sparked me off thinking: when creating something like this, is the subject matter primarily chosen by your own enthusiasm and tastes (I know you’re a big Holmes fan), or are you keeping one eye on what might be a popular seller when it comes to limited edition prints?

Also, I was wondering whether you have all of your prints made in one go – or if you have a few smaller runs done periodically, to minimize the risk of being left out of pocket with boxes of unsold stock? I’m just curious to know your approach.

A: As to the first question…a little of both. So far I have not had too much trouble finding subject matter for a limited edition print that satisfies both my creative interest and that will appeal to an audience as well. I don’t think I would ever do a print where only one of those factors is paramount. The Holmes print is probably as close to being one-sided in favor of my interest in the subject over its commercial potential as any I might do, but one can argue that between the Robert Downey Jr. movies, the Benedict Cumberbatch BBC series and the “Elementary” TV show here in the U.S., Holmes’s popularity is at a high point right now. I figured this one would sell much slower than my others did, and I was right on that. It’s selling well but not crazy well like the Bond and Doctor Who prints sold. In fact, I am thinking about doing another print for Comic Con in a few weeks that I’d sell alongside the Holmes print… one that will appeal to the comic book crowd a little more.

As for the printing, I get them all done in one single run and then delete the high res full sized file so a reprint, even if I would be so lame as do do one, is not possible. I keep a high res, reduced size (about 50%) file in case I want to include the art in a book or something someday, but the actual file used for the print is gone and the original art is sold. Limited edition means limited edition. The printing I do is not cheap but it’s not ridiculously expensive like a giclee either, so I am not worried about being stuck with stock. 450 prints sounds like a lot but that stack is only about 8 inches high and the investment is not that gigantic. I actually order 500 prints, so I have some extra in case of any being damaged or my screwing up numbering or personalizing them. It might take a long time to sell them all, but eventually they will sell out.

Thanks to Mike Giblin for the question. If you have a question you want answered for the mailbag about cartooning, illustration, MAD Magazine, caricature or similar, e-mail me and I’ll try and answer it here!