Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Batman, dc, flash, harley quinn, joker, statue, wonder woman

Cole Drewes – The DC Prints On Kickstarter With A Statuesque Quality (UPDATE)

Published Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:55:37 -0500

Last updated Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:39:22 -0500

Cory Drewes is an artist running a Kickstarter to fund the production of a number of graffiti-style prints. From a $3000 goal, he has raised over $10,000. And work looks pretty impressive. Except of course, the origins of the art aren't that clear. He writes;

I am producing fan art through this Kickstarter project and my artwork is not licensed or produced by or for D.C Comics. These prints will never be available through any online retailers and will only be available through this Kickstarter project.

I'm not sure that will protect him. Especially when the work is so obviously based on DC character statues, produced by DC, Diamond, Sideshow and the like.

I'm creating this art series to help fund my booth for the New York Comic Con so I can display my artwork this year.

Something tells me a lawyer has already seen the Bat Signal.

And it seems he has had trouble with Marvel before.

UPDATE: Cole writes to a Little Bleeder;

Thank You. As my project states none of these prints will be available online. they are only available on this kickstarter project…much like the fan made films that sell the dvds of copyrighted characters. They do not sell those Dvd's online….I will never sell these prints online. As far as tracing D.C statues in photoshop…I use illustrator to make a stencil of the image…similar to what I did with my graffiti artwork.

So i have gone the steps to ensure that my project falls within the same guidelines that D.C approved fan films do…meaning I will never profit from this prints ouside of the Kickstarter project. I won't be selling my prints on society 6 or etsy or anything like that.

I have already reach out to D.C for permission through the legal department via email and fax.

I sold the graffiti stencil artwork of movie characters and comic book characters last year at Comic Con…and I never had a problem. And Yes I'm aware of the community…I reached out to my friends who work with Marvel, D.C, and Indie to ensure what I was doing would be ok.

I'm not taking artwork from a comic book and recreating it. I'm taking a toy or statue I personally own…turning it into a picture..and then furthing turning it into a piece of abstract art….so I'm changing its medium to ensure that what I'm doing doesn't take from someone else….Granito took directly from a comic book page…that's crazy….he took actual artwork and faked he did artwork for D.C…I'm using toys and turning them into a very different medium. I have never said I worked in comics…and I don't plan on working for comics. But he took artwork right off the pages and redid it. Do I use the toy as a reference…yes I do…do I just trace and throw some filters on the piece…no its a little more complicated then that…each print takes me about 2-3 hours to complete.

I use the same process Banksy uses for graffiti stencils…same process I used when I did my own graffiti artwork…I'm just doing it digitally instead of using spraypaint and a knife to cut the stencil out.

I'm sorry but again this project falls within the same guidelines as the fan films produced on here. Superman and Batman fan films on Kickstarter contain characters under copyright by D.C…and in those project they give away Dvd's in pledges. It's the same concept with these prints…those Dvd's can not be purchased online.So with this project…the prints on Kickstarter will stay on Kickstarter….no where else.

Before you went to Kickstarter or posted my project on community websites why wouldn't you come to me first…why come after the fact?

Thank you for your concern…and when the D.C Comics legal department responds back to my request…whatever their decision is towards my project I will comply.