Thursday, July 31, 2014

Sketchy-ness: A humbling experience

The other day, I drew Derek Jeter and Mike Trout sketch cards, each highlighting an amazing catch they have made in their career. I don't know why, but I feel like these types of moments aren't captured on cardboard very frequently, although Gypsy Queen has been doing a good job with their Wall Climbers and Glove Stories inserts. No qualms there. Credit where credit is due.
There are some amazing sports artists out there who make a living drawing and painting. I've always been envious of their skill. So, I did something I've never done. I put these cards on eBay.

I didn't expect big bucks. There are far better sketch/painted cards that don't even fetch much money. I'm talking very beautiful masterpieces. There are some very established artists that churn out sketch cards pretty frequenty, and do sell for $30-$40 each. Not bad. Being unknown, I figured mine might sell for a few bucks each.

The Jeter went for just north of $5, while the Trout went for a little over $3.

I don't have much of a right to be disappointed since I was expecting much. It's a humbling experience. Gratifying to know that someone would fork over a few bucks for something you created from scratch, but also a bit disappointing that it was "only" worth a few bucks.

Will I keep doing this? Maybe. I know I'll never make much money doing this, it's not why I do it. But it is a nice way to add a few bucks to the Paypal account while doing something I enjoy. Mostly, I just need practice so I can improve my skill. I love drawing and painting, and while painting is currently something that takes a lot of time and space, sketch cards don't. It helps my relieve my artistic itch.

9 comments:

  1. I really dig the Trout card. Nice job!

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  2. I would have bought them both. They look great. Had you advertised the auction a little I bet they would have gone for more!

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  3. Both great, but Trout in particular is very well done.

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  4. AJ great drawings. Pretty cool that you could get a few bucks for them.

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  5. Yeah, you should have plugged the auctions on the blog! Those are pretty sweet. I've made like 4 or 5 sketch cards this year (just sent off a couple today to a couple lucky bloggers), but just as surprises in card packages. Maybe one of these days I'll try my luck on eBay. But maybe not.

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  6. I'm with the rest of these guys, AJ -- plug the auctions here and on Twitter more and your values would increase greatly.

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  7. I saw them on eBay, they look great. They both came out really well.

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  8. Awesome AJ! I think you found a new way to fund your Tino Martinez collection!

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  9. Thanks for all of the kind words. I didn't feel right about advertising the auction on my blog. Everyone here has been so generous to me and my collection, it didn't feel right to say, "hey, buy some cards I drew!"

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