Hang with Big Picture Framing

So who’s that guy on the right and what’s he got to do with somebody’s wife being awesome? Any comic book aficionado will tell you that’s Alex Ross, probably the most successful and widely recognized comic book artist working today. He’s worked for all the major publishers, depicting practically every hero and villain in his signature style. Ross does not illustrate comic books in the traditional fashion – he paints them realistically, often using life models who dress in superhero costumes so that he can capture every wrinkle, muscle, and arched
eyebrow. Due to his popularity and the time it takes for him to complete a piece, he primarily does cover art these days. Original drawings and paintings by Ross are highly sought after and treated as serious items of artistic merit and value. And they’re cool. Our Milford store manager and self-professed nerd, Jake Johnston, takes it from there. “One of our customers brought in a couple of comic books to be framed as a gift for her husband. I recognized them right away and told her how I was a fan. She said that I ought to really appreciate the other item she wanted framed with them: an original sketch that Alex Ross had done as a rough draft for the books’ covers. It was in pencil on a thin sheet of paper, smaller than a sheet of copy paper. But it looked exactly like the finished covers – just as detailed and just as impressive. She laughed when she saw the look in my eyes. I’d seen pieces like this for sale at conventions and knew its significance. Investing in a piece like this was noteworthy enough, never mind even finding one that shows all of Batman’s major villains and allies. If you were an Alex Ross fan or a Batman fan and you were going to own just one piece of art, this would be it. She also had a small, chrome bat logo – like a belt buckle – that she wanted to include. I told her that we’d definitely come up with the best design for such a special piece. I asked her more about it and she said that it was a gift that had been in the works for a while. She was giving it to her husband, a huge comic book fan, for his 50th birthday. I looked at her and said that she’d done good and wouldn’t have to get him anything else for a loooong time.” The customer kept the drawing with her while we prepared the rest of the design and made the frame. When everything else was ready, she brought it back and Jake mounted the drawing and fit the frame in front of her. “She was truly thrilled with how it came out and I know she appreciated that it was done by people who loved the art just as much as her husband would.”
The sketch is archivally mounted; everything touching it is acid-free and we used photo corners to attach it. This way, everything is reversible – if the owner ever wanted to remove it, the sketch would be completely as it was, untouched.
We used conservation glass to filter out any light that might harm the images. The blue mat on top is a suede fabric mat and the black detail around the edges is a suede bevel accent – it adds an impressive sense of depth and keeps the glass up off of the chrome bat insignia.