Hello, all.

Are you new to the forum?
Introductions, goodbyes, vacations, reunions...people stuff.
Post Reply
Pixel
Kishin - Fierce God
Posts: 310
Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2017 6:22 pm
Contact:

Hello, all.

Post by Pixel »

Hello.

I enjoy both Western and Japanese animation, as well as 3D video games. While I consider myself a fan of the anime style, I'm a bit picky about what I watch. I actually got my start in anime from video games with Japanese voice acting. I also am interested in voice acting/actors (both Western, and seiyuu), though my voice isn't suitable for such things myself.

I'm pretty good with computers, I built the one I'm using now. I've ran Linux on it since I first turned it on in January, though I can put Windows on it should I choose to do so.

While I'm not a formally trained artist, I love drawing art and fanart with my PC. I'm not sure I'm that good an artist, but I'm trying to learn.

I hope it's okay if I ask this here, but where is the best place on the forum to ask about authenticating production drawings/genga, cels, etc?
User avatar
JWR
Kitten Rescuer - Moderator
Kitten Rescuer - Moderator
Posts: 2821
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2005 9:40 pm
Location: Eagle Rock , California
Contact:

Re: Hello, all.

Post by JWR »

Welcome aboard.

We have a few sections people can tap for info on artwork, the forum most questions are posted is in the Technical Cel Q&A threads.

We also do have a section Fan Art/Original art where you can share some of your own work if you like.
"Like the wind crying endlessly through the universe, Time carries away the names and the deeds of conquerors and commoners alike. And all that we are, all that remains, is in the memories of those who cared we came this way for a brief moment." Harlan Ellison
User avatar
cutiebunny
Yosutebito - Hermit
Posts: 1936
Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2005 1:55 pm
Location: Rockin' da Cats-bah
Contact:

Re: Hello, all.

Post by cutiebunny »

Welcom to Beta :)

For the most part, there really isn't an authentication service. There are some topics on the board relating to production artwork, so those might be useful to you.

My best advice to you is to look for sequence numbers (usually in the top right hand corner of any cel or sketch) and standard production holes in any cel or sketch. There are some exceptions, like oversized artwork or times when the sequence number might have been written on the bottom right hand corner, but for the most part, buying on Yahoo Japan or Mandarake is completely safe. Few people would take the time to counterfeit production artwork from less popular series because they're not going to make a lot of money from doing so.

Now, sketches drawn on things like shikishi boards that are attributed to very famous artists are consistently counterfeited. My advice is to not buy anything claimed to have been drawn by people like Miyazaki and Eiichiro Oda on Yahoo Japan and eBay. If you really want something from these artists, save your pennies for when they appear on Mandarake's Big Web Auction.
Pixel
Kishin - Fierce God
Posts: 310
Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2017 6:22 pm
Contact:

Re: Hello, all.

Post by Pixel »

Thank you :)

I understand about this not being formal authentication. I placed a more detailed reply over in the related Technical Cel Q&A thread.
User avatar
sensei
Moderator and Admin-in-waiting
Moderator and Admin-in-waiting
Posts: 4997
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2004 6:55 am
Location: Cephiro
Contact:

Re: Hello, all.

Post by sensei »

A newbie! A newbie! Open the banana closet!

Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image

Welcome aboard, Pixel! Feel free to ask about issues that interest you, as you'll find a wide range of interests here. I too have a limited list of series that I feel strongly about, some of which are fairly popular, other of which I seem to be the only fan left on earth. (Dang, didn't anybody watch Asatte no Houkou??) And all of us have our peculiar reasons for liking our little spectrum of series. As a professional folklorist, I find the ones that build on folktales and legends to be the most compelling, and I've found some series (notably Princess Tutu) to be important works of art in their own rights.

Concerning authentication, I've already responded to your other thread. So long as you know that none of us are certified to be any more than experienced eyes that have seen a lot of animation material, most of it genuine, feel free to raise any and all questions in forums. I think you'll find people quite willing to give their opinions, though you'd need to keep in mind that they are just opinions. And sometimes the authenticity question can't ever be resolved finally. Consider this item in my collection, from a well-received CGI-based series for which all the original production art was (supposedly) destroyed down to every last last pencil-on-paper scrap.

Every last one ... except ... maybe this sheet and the next one in the gallery? Alas, with no attested genuine art to use for comparison, there's no way to prove it one way or another. All one can say is that they are nicely done, with no reason to question them -- except the very big reason that they should not even be in existence.

All one can do is look at them and ask if you love them. I do, and that's enough.
Image
User avatar
Keropi
Bishoujo art collector
Posts: 5602
Joined: Fri Jul 04, 2003 2:10 am
Location: Southern California

Re: Hello, all.

Post by Keropi »

Welcome to Anime Beta! :cheers :jump
User avatar
GuyvarIII
Kuwabarakuwabara - Oh My God!
Posts: 681
Joined: Mon Feb 21, 2005 12:01 pm
Contact:

Re: Hello, all.

Post by GuyvarIII »

Hi,

I mostly collect cels from 1980s-90s OVAs, but I try to have a bit of everything. I really enjoy the old Streamline dubs, and I can recognize some voice actors, but I've been more interested in trying to follow directors, character designers, and creators.

I built my computer as well. 8) It's a little more than a couple of years old now... but, it's an FX-9590 with 32GB of DDR3-1866 RAM, and two FirePro W7000 cards. I have used Red Hat and Unbuntu years ago, but GIMP is not Photoshop :P , so my computer is running Windows 7.

I think if you really want to authenticate anything you should ask the seller where they got it. After that, contact the person they got it from, and find out where that person got it from. If you continue doing this, with Anime cels and sketches, at some point it'll either lead to the production or a known dealer/shop. However, like others have said, generally, it is just accepted that most cels and sketches are genuine, and dealers only rarely issue anything like a Certificate of Authenticity.

If you're just looking at a rough sketch with no other information, other than it possibly looking old, that it is covered in notes, that it came with many other drawings from the same production, that there's a cut bag or timing sheet, and/or that in some other way it looks used, I don't know how you would even try to guess it was used in production. Early layouts and roughs don't need to match anything in the final production, because they could be a scrapped or changed idea.

Production cels from the 1980s-90s are a bit easier to identify, because they were made with Xeroxed pencil lines. The Xeroxed pencil lines look different than the hand inked lines of fan cels or early anime cels. They're more prone to fading and chipping, and usually there are places where the transfer lost the line. Also, they have more variation in the line width, because with a pencil it is easier to control the line with pressure and the transfer picks up some of these nuances. With hand inked lines on plastic, the lines are usually darker and more uniform, because the ink is darker and to change the line you would need to change nibs or pen point sizes (If you just added pressure you would put down too much ink, and the line would begin to bleed and you'd make a mess.)
Image
Pixel
Kishin - Fierce God
Posts: 310
Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2017 6:22 pm
Contact:

Re: Hello, all.

Post by Pixel »

I'm just starting out in animation collecting. I don't really know how deep into it I'll get. I figure classic Disney and such would be well out of reach were I to look that direction, for example.

Most of of my stuff is video games and related to this point. Mario is my favorite video game character, easily.

I've built a number of computers over the years. I remember upgrading a Gateway 2000 Pentium 75 PC with an OverDrive 200MHz MMX CPU upgrade, only to find that the CPU upgrade would only run as fast as 133MHz due to a quirk in the BIOS. I've built both PC's with both AMD and Intel CPU's. Those dual FirePro cards of yours are workstation cards if I'm not mistaken.

This computer I'm using now was designed primarily for graphic production, but should also be a serviceable gaming PC if I get into PC gaming. The CPU is an Intel Core i7-6850K (Broadwell-E), and it has 16 GB DDR4 RAM. I ran an ancient GeForce GTS 250 in it until a couple of weeks ago, when I finally managed to get a GTX 1080Ti. I looked at AMD Vega 56/64, but I was worried about heat production and power consumption.

I went with Broadwell-E over Skylake/Kaby Lake, in part because as far as I know, Broadwell-E is Intel's last desktop CPU to fully support Windows 7 without tricks like USB 2.0 ports only during install and such.

I don't have to have Intel CPU's, but when I found out AMD's newest line would support only Windows 10 (not even 8.1, 10 exclusively. I just wonder who talked them into that. :x ) AMD made the decision for me. I HATE the idea of installing Windows 10 with the bravado of a million 10000RPM hard drives. The attitude with which Microsoft crammed it down end-user's throats galls me to this day, and the side effects of the entire debacle are a reluctance to even install Windows 7 now.

Sorry about the Microsoft rant, back to animation and art. I've done some graphic design work over the years, I wish I was better at it than I am. The fault lies with me on that though.

In the way of Western-style comics and animation I love Peanuts - Charles Schulz was a genius. Also Garfield is one cool cat-the old hand drawn Garfield, not the CGI junk of today. CGI has it's uses, but Garfield isn't one of them in my opinion.

I enjoy a number of Hanna-Barbera's cartoons. The Yogi Bear movies in particular, though other classics like Huckleberry Hound and QuickDraw McGraw are good. One show you don't see too much these days is the Hillbilly Bears. Pa Rugg's low-pitched mumbling is hilarious, Ma Rugg and the kids are great also. Having his family translate his words for the audience was brilliant.
Post Reply