To me it looks totally real, the sketch looks typical of how he would draw (the 'wispy' strokes in the hair for example) and both the drawing and autograph look to flow perfectly.
I know his art is pretty much OOAK and I would imagine very, very hard to duplicate, added he is a niche artist but as I said I don't know enough myself.
The seller is reliable, anyone have any feedback on the authenticity of this piece that would be great
HJ Hodgson
Me and my twin sister
'Love me when I least deserve it, for that is when I most need it'-Proverb
I kinda scratch my head as to why there is a picture of, presumably, the seller handing a book to Amano, but no actual picture of Amano drawing/signing the item. I'd be more comfortable if there weren't any con pics of Amano rather than one that just shows him being handed a book. Then, you could always assume that perhaps the artist did not want to be photographed.
I know that whenever I go to conventions, I take pictures of the person signing the item. Even though I do not plan to sell any of the items, it's always nice to have some kind of physical proof that so-an-so did actually sign/draw on that item. And I kinda get a kick out of putting together a little montage of photos of the artist. And, also, for those artists that won't let you take pics, having a reference pic of another artist from the same convention can also help for authenticity purposes. Then you can safely say that you took pictures of all the artists that permitted photography during their signature sessions.
I've seen a few other items around RS signed by Amano and they seem to match up. But, with signed/drawn items, unless you personally receive them from the artist, there's always a chance that what you're buying is a fake.
Amano has been to a number of conventions and always seems to draw D along with his signature. I'd imagine that this item is real, but the price seems a bit high. Amano is not exactly reclusive when it comes to his signature.
However, if you don't attend conventions, this would be a nice way of picking up his autograph, a nice sketch, and a great art book!
Honestly, unless you are desperate, I wouldn't buy that ebay sketch. As talented as Amano is, its just not worth the price the guy is asking.
Amano frequently goes to many US conventions so I would say just wait and see if you can get someone going to a con he is at to just get you a sketch that way.
