Aerospace art in print form

Before I got suckered into going out to Maryland last year, I started selling prints of “Aerospace Projects Review” artwork… not artwork that I’ve published in APR, per se, but artwork created specifically for APR: http://up-ship.com/blog/art/index.htm

I just got things going when the corporate world tricked me back in, causing me to shut the project down. Well, despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that my vaguely similar idea of selling prints of my photos was a complete failure, I’d like to restart that effort.

The two I originally released were a 10X30 inch Project Pluto poster and a 12X16 version of the APR issue V1N4 cover. I’d prefer to release a second edition of the Pluto poster… 12X36 inches, with (hopefully) updated art and more data & diagrams. Being larger, it’d cost more… probably in the range of $30. And along with the V1N4 cover art, I’d like to do the same with the V2N2 cover art, and perhaps the V1N5 cover as well (with or without the APR cover text).

If this is of interest to anyone, feel free to let me know.

Additionally, I was directed to the eBay store of some feller who is selling “blueprints,” many of which appear to be cheap prints of many of the aircraft and spacecraft drawings I offer for sale. Someone simply printed ’em off and ran a bunch of copies. Not sure that there’s anything I can, or even should, do about this; while I tend to put a lot of effort into preparing the drawings (I’ve been working for months on some, cleaning them up and repairing them and making them generally presentable… you have no idea how much meticulous eye-strain goes into preparing some of these), they are of course not *my* drawings, as such. So it’s annoying to watch someone copying my effort this blatantly, but what’re-ya-gonna-do. Still, it brings up a thought.

This guy on eBay wants fifteen bucks minimum (with seven bucks shipping) for a single sheet, 24X36. Shown below are two photos of his version of my Saturn V inboard profile.

Now, I don’t know if this guy is actually moving product. But clearly he thinks he can. And if he can swipe my business *products, * I can swipe his business *model.* So… opinions on the idea of selling prints? There are three distinct variables:

1) High quality photo paper in color, as with the posters discussed above… and with equivalent prices. The Saturn V done 36 inches wide ( and about 7 inches high) would run about $15-$20.

2) “Meh” quality paper in color… about sixty percent as expensive. Call it $12-$15 or so for the 36-inch wide Saturn V.

3) “Meh” quality paper in black and white… relatively dirt cheap. Probably something along the lines of $5 for the Saturn V print (with additional shipping… probably around $5 for up to a dozen-ish prints of various sizes).

The Saturn V would look good printed up to six feet in length. I know this for a fact as the original is framed on my wall. A six-footer in color would be impressively expensive (somewhere north of $60), but in B&W it’d be quite reasonable… $12-$15 or therabouts.