Sketch Card artist Bob Hepner accused of faking/printing/stealing art

[daxwills]

[Eissacs]

Originally Posted by kerg

When their money is involved? Absolutely. Who gets #@#@#@#@ed over when they pull or purchase a fake sketch? The collector. No surprise people are pissed off when they are taken advantage of.

[kerg]

Originally Posted by Eissacs

When their money is involved? Absolutely. Who gets #@#@#@#@ed over when they pull or purchase a fake sketch? The collector. No surprise people are pissed off when they are taken advantage of.

I'm talking about the general witch hunt attitude, screw the hobby attitude that has suddenly cropped up when there is evidence (right now) of one bad apple.

I guess I like to let things flush out and find out the truth before going off the deep end.

[Ty Hope]

Yes I'm losing my mind. I've spent BIG money on sketch cards. I got out of sports stuff because of all the controversies. Figured art would be "safe". Now, who knows?

[MankindRam]

Originally Posted by Ty Hope

Yes I'm losing my mind. I've spent BIG money on sketch cards. I got out of sports stuff because of all the controversies. Figured art would be "safe". Now, who knows?

Wow so every artist is a crook now? Wow, you guys did the impossible, I'm actually speechless....good luck filling the sketch draft after all this blows over and all of the artists are gone.

[Ty Hope]

Originally Posted by MankindRam

Wow so every artist is a crook now? Wow, you guys did the impossible, I'm actually speechless....good luck filling the sketch draft after all this blows over and all of the artists are gone.

Did I say that? No. But as I said, I own a ton of photo realistic work. How do I know what is legit with 100% certainty?

[Eissacs]

Originally Posted by MankindRam

Wow so every artist is a crook now? Wow, you guys did the impossible, I'm actually speechless....good luck filling the sketch draft after all this blows over and all of the artists are gone.

One of the things I noticed after all the Bob stuff came out is how many people spoke up after the fact with something along the lines of "I always thought something didn't look right, but I didn't say anything."

Maybe the artist need to self-police the industry with their livelihood to a degree. I know in my industry if we think somebody is doing something shady we speak up and put a stop to it. I understand this is a major pain in the ass for the artists, but at some point you guys need to protect your livelihood's as well. See something, say something. Because if all artist are too afraid to point out when they think something is amiss, it gets to this point.

Us, the collectors, didn't mess anything up for you guys. One, maybe more, of your own did that. Be pissed at them, not the people who spend their hard earned money on art.

[jadams]

There is no chance of a self policing of the artists.
Two reasons.

It's a huge clique.
Feelings get hurt pretty quickly.

And I wouldn't worry about artists leaving sketchcards. There will always be someone there to take the place of anyone leaving.

I'm not doing cards for Upper Deck anymore. But they'll easily find someone to fill their quota. Easily.

Sketchcards will be around as long as the companies want them.

Originally Posted by Eissacs

One of the things I noticed after all the Bob stuff came out is how many people spoke up after the fact with something along the lines of "I always thought something didn't look right, but I didn't say anything."

Maybe the artist need to self-police the industry with their livelihood to a degree. I know in my industry if we think somebody is doing something shady we speak up and put a stop to it. I understand this is a major pain in the ass for the artists, but at some point you guys need to protect your livelihood's as well. See something, say something. Because if all artist are too afraid to point out when they think something is amiss, it gets to this point.

Us, the collectors, didn't mess anything up for you guys. One, maybe more, of your own did that. Be pissed at them, not the people who spend their hard earned money on art.

[MankindRam]

Originally Posted by Eissacs

One of the things I noticed after all the Bob stuff came out is how many people spoke up after the fact with something along the lines of "I always thought something didn't look right, but I didn't say anything."

Maybe the artist need to self-police the industry with their livelihood to a degree. I know in my industry if we think somebody is doing something shady we speak up and put a stop to it. I understand this is a major pain in the ass for the artists, but at some point you guys need to protect your livelihood's as well. See something, say something. Because if all artist are too afraid to point out when they think something is amiss, it gets to this point.

Us, the collectors, didn't mess anything up for you guys. One, maybe more, of your own did that. Be pissed at them, not the people who spend their hard earned money on art.

Actually I'm not angry with any of you. I'm angry with the sketch card police. Any artist reading this just smiled or frowned at me using that term. I've been doing this for a long time. The sketch card police (usually comprised of a group of artists who think the are going to change the world with their art) poke their noses into these types of things BUT instead of going to said companies and asking what the hell is going on they go and show their findings to the wrong people. The public making all of you feel helpless. Creating mass panic is not the way to do anything. It's how the internet does things. You guys should only be informed when the proper due diligence is used and companies investigate the allegations and announce said item might be fake. Not some group of Admins, Collectors or Artists. Otherwise it's all heresay. I've seen everything posted about Kevin and I don't pass my opinions in public. I've known Kevin for 11 years and what he and I speak about isn't for public knowledge. if you paid for any product and got something you feel isn't genuine go to the company you bought it from and tell them. Open a line of dialogue. Don't create mobs and bully people on the internet. That's what the sketch card police are bullies. The names and faces change but the damage they cause tends to be the same. If they find something then open a dialogue not hurl accusations. Im paid to create art not police others.

[MankindRam]

Originally Posted by Ty Hope

Did I say that? No. But as I said, I own a ton of photo realistic work. How do I know what is legit with 100% certainty?

Ty, I'm sure youre fine. Most of the time it's isolated incidents, I hope you still enjoy what you collected.

[Vargaman]

I'd say one possible solution would be for someone at the card company to use a microscope to check sketches which seem a little too real or away from the artist's norm, but these are the same companies that let autopens slide thru as well.

The few sketches I do buy are because they're stylized a certain way, Topps has used every photo they can from Star Wars it seems so I'd rather have something new/creative. I do appreciate photo realistic artist though, but it seems that one or maybe two artists are going to have people second guessing.

[LC2nine10]

Originally Posted by MankindRam

Actually I'm not angry with any of you. I'm angry with the sketch card police. Any artist reading this just smiled or frowned at me using that term. I've been doing this for a long time. The sketch card police (usually comprised of a group of artists who think the are going to change the world with their art) poke their noses into these types of things BUT instead of going to said companies and asking what the hell is going on they go and show their findings to the wrong people. The public making all of you feel helpless. Creating mass panic is not the way to do anything. It's how the internet does things. You guys should only be informed when the proper due diligence is used and companies investigate the allegations and announce said item might be fake. Not some group of Admins, Collectors or Artists. Otherwise it's all heresay. I've seen everything posted about Kevin and I don't pass my opinions in public. I've known Kevin for 11 years and what he and I speak about isn't for public knowledge. if you paid for any product and got something you feel isn't genuine go to the company you bought it from and tell them. Open a line of dialogue. Don't create mobs and bully people on the internet. That's what the sketch card police are bullies. The names and faces change but the damage they cause tends to be the same. If they find something then open a dialogue not hurl accusations. Im paid to create art not police others.

Sounds like a sinister cabal.

[MankindRam]

Originally Posted by LC2nine10

Sounds like a sinister cabal.

LMAO I like that BUT nah they are just misguided youth......we all were there at one point.

[jadams]

Originally Posted by MankindRam

BUT instead of going to said companies and asking what the hell is going on

You know what happens when you give actual, credible proof to companies?

They tell you that "further communication will be forwarded to legal" so you stop communicating with them. Because let's face it, artists doing sketchcards for $3, $5, or $15 a card don't have legal council on retainer. And a major card company and it's team of high priced lawyers would win 99 times out of 100 against a freelance sketchcard artist. Every contract an artist signs to do sketchcards protects the company and it's money. And when you call them out that they've missed something, they get pretty defensive.

The card companies don't care. The license holders don't care about sketchcards. (well one in particular) They care about the bottom line on the P&L statement.

This isn't a rant. This is real life experience.

[Eissacs]

Originally Posted by jadams

You know what happens when you give actual, credible proof to companies?

They tell you that "further communication will be forwarded to legal" so you stop communicating with them. Because let's face it, artists doing sketchcards for $3, $5, or $15 a card don't have legal council on retainer. And a major card company and it's team of high priced lawyers would win 99 times out of 100 against a freelance sketchcard artist. Every contract an artist signs to do sketchcards protects the company and it's money. And when you call them out that they've missed something, they get pretty defensive.

The card companies don't care. The license holders don't care about sketchcards. (well one in particular) They care about the bottom line on the P&L statement.

This isn't a rant. This is real life experience.

Which leaves only the community to look out for stuff like this. We've seen it with Panini when the pressure didn't let up on the Dak and Shaq autos. They had to do something to acknowledge it. If the collectors would have let it die down nothing would have happened.

[jadams]

Originally Posted by Eissacs

Which leaves only the community to look out for stuff like this. We've seen it with Panini when the pressure didn't let up on the Dak and Shaq autos. They had to do something to acknowledge it. If the collectors would have let it die down nothing would have happened.

This x1000

[xtwinstarx]

Your two bottom photos only show primary colors. I don't really see any areas of the cards that are primarily just blue red or yellow. What parts of the image are they from?

Originally Posted by mf1971999

So I'll share some of the close ups of Kevin's TWD card that I own and I'll also share my opinion why we all need to be careful on this whole bandwagon.

First, here is the card:



Next, let's look at the blank section of the card itself, and acknowledge the inherent issue with looking at this particular card:



That's the tan area of the card. The tan color of the stock, as you can very clearly see, is printed. So on any section of the card where there is only light work done, we run the risk of seeing the underlying dots that already exist. I searched the edges and the best example is the bottom right corner where the hair goes to the edge:



When you look at the more solid colors it's paint all the way down.





Are there light areas on the face where you can see dots underneath? Yes. But again, given that there is a baseline of dots on the stock itself, I have to say that after all of this my card is just not a good example. You really need someone to do this on a pure white stock with no underlying printing.

But based on my own review, I remain confident in Kevin and his product, and I will not hesitate to grab a card of his if it becomes available.

[Eissacs]

Originally Posted by xtwinstarx

Your two bottom photos only show primary colors. I don't really see any areas of the cards that are primarily just blue red or yellow. What parts of the image are they from?

I'm guessing the shirt.

None of the proof provided was from TWD set btw.

[MankindRam]

So.........being Eric Issacs wants to keep talking about Kevin in a place where he can't defend himself I went and got this statement from Kevin. He has been waiting since this all happened for Blowout to approve his account. So if someone could usher Blowout to approve Kevin he will come here and explain more. I'm not responding to this manner at all anymore, I'm just trying to help a long time friend explain his method.

Kevin Explained:
"Yes I sometimes transfer my art but its not by any means of printer. When I have to duplicate cards. In the case of the Leia and Jyn, he asked me for cards I didn’t have anymore but he wanted just like them so I took the original painting and made screens of them to airbrush the colors, thats why you see fading on some edges. They are made up of C/M/Y/K like a printer. I never kept my art before but on many sets I would make duplicates. So I paint the original and sometimes make screens if I needed to duplicate them. This was mostly just recently because I’m losing the ability to use my hands so it was the only way I could repeat drawings like Topps made us do. With the deadlines we had their was no way I could redraw each and do that highly detailed without finding a faster way to transfer the originals. However the final art is almost all oil paints and not the original transfer. They are Not printed by a printer. I don't always use this method but he wanted the same cards after I said I didn't have them. I'm not showing my screen technique, nobody asks David Copperfield how he does his tricks."

This is all Kevin can say here because he's not a member here and and I'm tired of wasting my time speaking and then people repeat the same things. He asked me to pass along this statement and I have. If you want more from him tell Blowout admins to approve him and he'll come around. I'm out of this mess before I offend someone and they tell me to private message them if I have a problem them with them, again.

[Eissacs]

Originally Posted by MankindRam

So.........being Eric Issacs wants to keep talking about Kevin in a place where he can't defend himself I went and got this statement from Kevin. He has been waiting since this all happened for Blowout to approve his account. So if someone could usher Blowout to approve Kevin he will come here and explain more. I'm not responding to this manner at all anymore, I'm just trying to help a long time friend explain his method.



This is all Kevin can say here because he's not a member here and and I'm tired of wasting my time speaking and then people repeat the same things. He asked me to pass along this statement and I have. If you want more from him tell Blowout admins to approve him and he'll come around. I'm out of this mess before I offend someone and they tell me to private message them if I have a problem them with them, again.

First of all, he had the ability to share this in the Facebook group and did not. It's not like he didn't have a way to communicate this to people when it was coming up. Don't get all butt hurt that this is being discussed. I'm not the only one talking about it. It keeps coming up because we don't have any answers, or even a response until now. Go ahead and blame me if you want, but there are other people who dropped the ball before I was involved in the first place.

Second, thank you for getting him to comment on this. Everybody has been waiting for an explanation. Hopefully his communications with the administrators from the Facebook group provide the answers and explanations to the photos that have been provided.

I understand that he is a good friend of yours, and I understand why you are defending him. In my opinion that does not mean you are burying your head in the sand, but treating a person you care about right. Thank you again for providing his comments, and your's previously.

[cmixer]

On Facebook there's a group called The Sketch Card Fanatics.

Tim Shay just called out Bob & did some fantastic videos back-and-forth.
Well worth watching.

[Eissacs]

Originally Posted by cmixer

On Facebook there's a group called The Sketch Card Fanatics.

Tim Shay just called out Bob & did some fantastic videos back-and-forth.
Well worth watching.

Tim had been doing some great work digging into Bob.

[Jackg1980]

I am confused. So he only does this when he needs to make duplicate? Not for when he only does 1 of each.

I am also confused by the method. So he makes 4 screens and for each screen he sprays one of the 4 colors.. isnt this called full color print screening? Forgive me if I am wrong.

[Faulkenburg]

Originally Posted by Jackg1980

I am confused. So he only does this when he needs to make duplicate? Not for when he only does 1 of each.

I am also confused by the method. So he makes 4 screens and for each screen he sprays one of the 4 colors.. isnt this called full color print screening? Forgive me if I am wrong.

What you're saying is like screen printing. However, I don't think that's what's going on. I'm also not convinced that this is only on duplicates as one of the cards and question is from Terminator 2.

As someone else mentioned, this is a very sad situation. It's completely different from Hepner. I have zero doubt that Kevin Graham is a phenomenal artist. I also see him post about his health concerns. It seems to me that he started taking shortcuts as his health deteriorated. I certainly feel for anyone who is facing a debilitating disease that's taking away their primary source of enjoyment, as I'm sure it would for any artist who loves to create. So instead of being the semi humorous Trainwreck that is Hepner, this is a much more sad and tragic scenario.

[baytowntex]

So his Terminator sketches are transfers from his original paintings also?