Spoilers - Halloween sketches by Pete Zies!

[Joe G.]

Our own Roughwriter Pete Zies has asked me to share some of the spooky, kooky and down right awesome sketches he did for the new ANS - Halloween edition set! So here they are:

[mikecho]

Our own Roughwriter Pete Zies has asked me to share some of the spooky, kooky and down right awesome sketches he did for the new ANS - Halloween edition set! So here they are:

Shouldn't that have been "...kooky, spooky and downright ooky..."?

[quas]

Nice!

[Corndog]

WOW GREAT WORK!!!!

[bandaches]

Actual sketches, love it! Not sure why sketches evolved into being colored artwork and now with a large % of the "sketches" being colored full on artwork, perhaps sketches are the rarity now?

[roughwriter]

Actual sketches, love it! Not sure why sketches evolved into being colored artwork and now with a large % of the "sketches" being colored full on artwork, perhaps sketches are the rarity now?

Thank you for getting it! That is exactly my position. I leave the pencil lines in so you can see the creation of the piece. Sketches are supposed to be quick captures of an idea or feeling. They are more "spur of the moment" than full on paintings. Call me a literalist, but I provide what was requested!

[koduck]

Actual sketches, love it! Not sure why sketches evolved into being colored artwork and now with a large % of the "sketches" being colored full on artwork, perhaps sketches are the rarity now?

Hey Marc, thought I'd offer a slightly different perspective for your consideration: To  me, a sketch card is a blank canvas. Whether its a quick 5 minute doodle or a full color painting, i think the nature of it depends on the circumstances. My pack-pulls will almost always be quick black & white inks. That's mostly due to time constraints. But with artist return cards, I'll always try and take advantage of the extra time to paint them. It's a rare opportunity to create something you might not otherwise be able to do. For example, i had several leftover Halloween Wonky ideas that I thought would be fun, but because there wasnt any room in the regular set for more, i thought it would be fun to paint them on my returns. I'm not trying to weigh in on what makes a better type of sketch card,  just offering some food for thought....

[bandaches]

Hey Marc, thought I'd offer a slightly different perspective for your consideration: To  me, a sketch card is a blank canvas. Whether its a quick 5 minute doodle or a full color painting, i think the nature of it depends on the circumstances. My pack-pulls will almost always be quick black & white inks. That's mostly due to time constraints. But with artist return cards, I'll always try and take advantage of the extra time to paint them. It's a rare opportunity to create something you might not otherwise be able to do. For example, i had several leftover Halloween Wonky ideas that I thought would be fun, but because there wasnt any room in the regular set for more, i thought it would be fun to paint them on my returns. I'm not trying to weigh in on what makes a better type of sketch card,  just offering some food for thought....

lol not marc...artist return cards are exactly that, return cards which can be as elaborate as desired.  Sketches as it relates to inserts in newer wacky packages was definitely pencil sketches early on until "color" became fanitically sought to the point now where "color" is the norm. 

[koduck]

Oops! Sorry Ernie! No wonder Marc didn't reply, lol!

[bandaches]

Oops! Sorry Ernie! No wonder Marc didn't reply, lol!

All good!  No matter what, the work cranked out by the artists is great!  There is demand for all the different directions these sketches go!

[Corndog]

Not that I am anything more than just a consumer of Wacky Packages and a Blunder Bread fan....I would like to point out (from a fan's perspective) sketches are more special when the artist provide their personal version/spin on the wacky character/item. Another asset of a quality of sketch is the detail...color has nothing to do with it. I love to see and receive unique versions of the same character. For example like this series has a nice Halloween theme..so the scary spin on the character makes it more likeable.

Early on I feel sketches were clearly sketched repeatedly by the same artist with very little difference between the look to them. Today we have many artists that provide their own style and technique that makes sketches more sought after.

I have seen and received some sketches that were clearly quickly drawn or sloppy colored...possibly by someone that had a deadline to make or just didn't care. However, those are rare and not the norm...but in a strange way worth still keeping depending on the artist.

I just hope there will be a master list or book in the future with displays of all the sketches for each series. Not that it will ever be possible to snag them all, but have an idea on how special/rare particular sketches actually are, but to see all the styles of all the artists.

...that's my two cents... 

[koduck]

I just hope there will be a master list or book in the future with displays of all the sketches for each series. Not that it will ever be possible to snag them all, but have an idea on how special/rare particular sketches actually are, but to see all the styles of all the artists.

We've actually discussed that on many occassions in the past. Unfortunately, there's a couple of things that prevents the idea from moving forward. First and foremost, record keeping for past sketch card projects has been pretty spotty and it would be an enormous task to track down good quality high res scans of so many sketch cards.

 The other obstacle is finding all the different artists involved over the years. I'd guess that less than half of the wacky sketch card artists from 10 years ago are still actively involved today. As with any compilation, topps would likely want to get their permission to use their names and biographies.

But i dont think the idea is impossible. If topps did a "best of" publication and focused on a few artists (or even one at a time), it might be possible to pull off an official sketch card publication, so never say never...

[quas]

Not that I am anything more than just a consumer of Wacky Packages and a Blunder Bread fan....I would like to point out (from a fan's perspective) sketches are more special when the artist provide their personal version/spin on the wacky character/item. Another asset of a quality of sketch is the detail...color has nothing to do with it. I love to see and receive unique versions of the same character. For example like this series has a nice Halloween theme..so the scary spin on the character makes it more likeable.

Early on I feel sketches were clearly sketched repeatedly by the same artist with very little difference between the look to them. Today we have many artists that provide their own style and technique that makes sketches more sought after.

I have seen and received some sketches that were clearly quickly drawn or sloppy colored...possibly by someone that had a deadline to make or just didn't care. However, those are rare and not the norm...but in a strange way worth still keeping depending on the artist.

I just hope there will be a master list or book in the future with displays of all the sketches for each series. Not that it will ever be possible to snag them all, but have an idea on how special/rare particular sketches actually are, but to see all the styles of all the artists.

...that's my two cents... 

The sketches for Old School 2, Old School 3, and Old School 5 seemed to allow for the most creativity, as the artists were each limited to only 20 or so Wacky characters, and each artist could then draw multiple versions of the same character.

[vahsurfer]

Let jump in and try to make all happy here:

Some care more than others and understand the importance of the Long Game, their reputation.  I have cards from the same artist, but the Return Cards, for obvious reasons are 10 fold better.

To be VERY fair to these awesome artists, Topps pays them pennies to do them and that is why we sometimes have less than stellar cards, in my opinion.
So I do not get me or anyone into trouble (artists) I will not divulge the pay for these cards as I was once told.

Many of the artists have created a name for themselves because they placed that extra care into a regular card and they are the ones that tend to get more commissioned work behind the scenes and can garner a larger amount for their work.

I have restricted the sketches here to B&W only and in part because 256 shades of gray is sometimes more defining than color, in my opinion.

Just my opinion....... Marc - Here are some Cards from the Old School series with lots of creativity and detail - No particular Artists were harmed in the making of this post! 

Richard
#StayWacky

[quas]

Nice collection, Richard!!

[RawGoo]

Very nice sketch collection Richard!  Someday I must do some scans of mine, other than the Halloween postcard sketches, which I already posted when I first retired.  I have a room dedicated to Wackys and other non-sports cards now, so maybe I will get around to it!  But first I need to finish unpacking........

[Corndog]

Richard thanks for sharing!!! You have proven my point exactly! Color does NOT make a sketch card awesome....there are MANY in your post that are so much better than many of the colored ones I've seen here or on other sites.

Thanks again for the time of posting all of those to share. 

Here are a few of my favorites in the color.

[vahsurfer]

Since you were not hotdoggin! HAHAHAHAH Here are some great COLOR Blunderbreads for you and you alone!

Richard
#StayWacky

[crackedjerk]

We've actually discussed that on many occassions in the past. Unfortunately, there's a couple of things that prevents the idea from moving

But i dont think the idea is impossible. If topps did a "best of" publication and focused on a few artists (or even one at a time), it might be possible to pull off an official sketch card publication, so never say never...

While I can see how difficult, for the reasons you've mentioned, it would be to make a "best of" (or, geez, even "really great of") book that is representative of the artists and their work, I think it would be absolutely amazing.  There have been so many excellent and creative homages to the work we loved as kids, as well as the new work that artists continue to create, that a book of this sort would be a prized possession for sure.

[Corndog]

Since you were not hotdoggin! HAHAHAHAH Here are some great COLOR Blunderbreads for you and you alone!

 

Thanks for the tease....so jelly!!!

[vahsurfer]

SO...... I am going to show you come of my prized sketches - MAYBE one day I will create a link to all of them - These are definitely prizes from a Cracker Jack Box!

In no particular order or by Artist

Richard
#StayWacky

[lucidjc]

How many of these were pulled vs bought?

[vahsurfer]

NOT Pulled - Artist Return Cards

Some are mine and others from friends and trades.

Richard
#StayWacky

[crackedjerk]

SO...... I am going to show you come of my prized sketches - MAYBE one day I will create a link to all of them - These are definitely prizes from a Cracker Jack Box!

In no particular order or by Artist

Richard
#StayWacky

How great would it be to have a set of, say, 55 top notch sketch cards?  I love seeing all these amazing examples, but I want to have them as actual regular cards.  I know a book might be cost prohibitive (as Neil has stated before), but would it be cost prohibitive for Topps to make a set of just sketch cards made into "regular" cards?  Maybe the owners of the cards wouldn't love it, but I think it would be hugely popular.