Arrrgh! | The Rob Granito Swipe File

So I have been following the stories that have been unravelling around Rob Granito.

Don’t know him? Well.. You’re not alone. And that’s part of the problem. (But if you want to get a little caught up, check out the post earlier this week).

After attending dozens of conventions over the years, I have walked up and down aisle after aisle of artist alleys passing by many unknown artists hoping to make it big, or at the very least sell enough art to pay for their table that weekend. So as meander along, checking out art, I tend to drift towards the name artists and occasionally stop by up-and-comers because every so often you can hit gold.

Part of the problem for these new artists is that a lot of people do what I do. They tend to not stay very long at a table if you are an unknown. So maybe Rob Granito got tired of people passing by his table and decided to start looking the part of the big time. Maybe someone who is in the same boat as Granito feels that he )or she) needs to start looking the part of the big league to get noticed. And of course this is where part of the problem lies.

It would seem to me that a quick and easy fix to want to get the attention (and thus cash) from fans is to look like well-known artists. Draw like them. Be like them. This may be easy for a quick fix, but if you want to have ANY lasting power in this industry, you have just shot yourself in the foot.

Now, before I get all kinds of comments about ghost artists and cover re-creations, I know that these exist. And I also know that things like cover re-creations can cost a lot of money especially if they are done by the artist who originally drew the art. BUT even then, usually the artist wants to change it some how. Here is an excerpt from Mike Zeck (artist of The Punisher, Secret Wars, etc).

RECREATIONS… I finally said ‘yes’ to recreating one of my covers back in 2000, and that prompted quite a few requests. I was able to do about 40+ recreations before having to close my request list. My general rule for recreations is to make each one unique and collectible. Multiple requests for a same cover should have at least some change whether it be costume, character, or other. I had avoided recreations for a good while, but clever collector requests made them enjoyable to do. Hopefully more to come once I’m able to get back to commissions.

So maybe you can’t afford or more likely, can’t get the original artist to do it. Then hey why not someone else? Usually the artist will at least give credit to the original creator.

Rob Granito doesn’t seem to want to do that. Over on Facebook a group called Rob Granito is a Fraud has posted a number of pictures showing the original artist’s work and then Granito’s. No credit is given anywhere on any of his pieces.