Translation request for physical note

[Jarmel]

So I won a sketch in an auction and I'm trying to determine if the sketch is pre-printed or not,compared to it being an original, and it came with this note. I'm not great at Japanese(I can read and translate bits and pieces) and so I was wondering if anyone could help as I wouldn't be familiar with the kanji for original. I'm not even sure if in a note like this that there would be a specific mention of it being original(they might just leave out the kanji for replication and that might mean the same thing). Again any help is appreciated.



I can upload a bigger image if needed. Thank you.

[Killua]

If you look very closely at the front or back of a sketch that's hand drawn you should be able to see indents where the pencil or pen made the lines. Of course another way to find out for sure is to take an eraser to some insignificant part of it and see if it erases...

[Keropi]

Wouldn't there be tiny printing dots showing if it was printed?

I use my Microscopic Vision and a loupe to check for the dots when I'm not sure. My Kanon (2002) background sketches were mixed like that. Some were pencil copies and some were original pencils.

[sensei]

This might help: "autograph" (i.e., original hand-drawn sketch) = 直筆

"copy" (i.e., photocopied sketch) = コピー

Google Translate also gives you a handy dictionary list of kanji strings that likewise mean "facsimile, duplicate, forgery," etc.

And Keropi is right. If you use an 8x loupe (or scan the page at the highest resolution available on your scanner and view it at 100%) you should see "sand" if it's a copy and "skin" if it's original. That is, the pencil will hit the ridges of the paper and skip the valleys, producing a mark that looks like "skin" at high magnification. But the photocopy process reduces the image to tiny dots that are fused onto the paper by heat, producing something that looks like a pile of sand at the same magnification.

See this demo that I did for examples. A really good color copier can produce a photocopy "sketch" that is nearly impossible to tell from an autograph without a good magnifier at hand.

[Jarmel]

Thank you for all the help. The note above seems to not mention that it's a copy but also doesn't mention whether it's an original. The sentence that begins on the second line just states that it's a creator signed sketch.

Now for the sketch itself, it's on a shikishi. By all accounts I can see pencil indentations and there are little marks on the side that give me confidence. Also the watercolors looks pretty original. I asked a framing professional and they said it looks pretty original to them as they can see something like 'verticality', however I'm not confident on their experience in that they could tell the difference if it was a really good copy.

[cutiebunny]

Sorry it took me so long to respond on this topic - The note wasn't showing on my other computer.

Anyways, while Sensei is correct about the kanji for autograph, what is commonly more used is the katakana for "sign" ( サイン ) . Occasionally, the katakana for "illustrate" ( イラスト ) will also be present. In the case of your letter, both words are present. However, just because the katakana characters for "sign" are present in an auction does not mean that it is a real signature, or the item solely contains a signature and not an original drawing. This is one reason why it can be a pain to try to find these things on YJ.

Huh..They also use katakana to spell out "creator" too, which, I find interesting because most of the time they're just referred to as 'sensei'. Sorry, just the ramblings of a total nerd

These letters are typically sent out with contest winnings. Yours says that it was for the Animedia July Contest.

I'd love to see the shikishi. I love looking at these things.

[GuyvarIII]

アニメディア 7月号 = Animedia July
人気クリエイター イラスト 色紙 = Popular Creator Illustration Shikishi

I think it came from this magazine
http://www.e-animedia.net/archives/8435164.html

Here's someone's blog from 2011, showing featured shikishi:
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/rorschach5110/4842456.html

[Jarmel]

Thank you both. Yea I did some background research and was able to isolate it to either 2005 or 2006. I can't take a photo or scan of it right now as I'm getting it framed however I did analyze it under a microscope and had an art professional look at it and we both agree that at the minimum, the coloring itself is original, both the watercolors and the color pencil stuff, and there seems to be small pencil marks which imply corrections of a sketch.

The actual auction stuff is below:
http://aucfan.com/aucview/yahoo/r77518931/

[klet]

The note doesn't say anything, but the auction says it's an original by the main animator of Eureka 7, Nakada Eiji. It was a prize celebrating the 25th anniversary of Animedia magazine. The original winner's name is in pen on the back of the shikishi. They also sent you the envelope that the shikishi originally came in.

[Jarmel]

I'd love to see the shikishi. I love looking at these things.

Well I finally got it scanned, so here it is:



Much higher resolution and quality scans:

https://i.minus.com/inIv1IVTbe8pI.jpg

https://i.minus.com/ibptZp3JyGnLZr.jpg