Spider-Man (Black Suit) by David Finch

While last year was insanely busy with conventions, I convinced my girlfriend to go to CCPX Cologne in Germany (June 2019) with me. One reason was Mike Deodato Jr.; the other was the legendary artist David Finch, known for "Batman", "New Avengers", "Wolverine" and so much more.

We did everything right and drove there very early. We were among the first 50ish to enter the convention centre at 10 am. We were almost completely alone in the Artist Alley and had the best shot at meeting David Finch. David's commission prices were a bit too steep for me - $350 or $1250 - so I was hoping for a remark if he had the time.

Unfortunately, David was late & even when I had gotten most of my other art by 12 am, he wasn't there yet. So we decided to wait before his booth, all alone. People from the organization were very kind to both me & my girlfriend, telling us multiple times they didn't know when he would come and that we shouldn't wait, necessarily. I said it was fine.

At around 1 pm, David and Meredith arrived and started setting up. I talked to his art rep Doug from "Comic Sketch Art" about my idea and already paid for my signatures upfront. Doug said that my best shot was to just ask David himself.

So I did. I told David about my love for his "Fallen Son: the Death of Captain America" #4 especially, which features an unmasked Spider-Man during the "Back in Black" era, visiting Cap's grave and fighting an unwilling Rhino at the graveyard. So I asked him for a black suit Spider-Man, of course. But I quickly changed my mind and asked if he could do an unmasked Spidey.

Smilingly he said: "Are you sure?".

David started working on this 9x12 piece, and kept adding details and kept doing more elaborate lines. Normally, this kind of remark is a lot smaller and a lot less detailed - and definitely wouldn't include a bust! But you could see David enjoyed doing it and wanted to do this for a fan who waited for him there.

While David worked and worked, the line behind me grew and people started swarming me: "how much did you pay? Can I see it more closely? How did you get this?". Doug from "Comic Sketch Art" also said that this kind of sketch is extremely rare.

You can still see my baffled face on the picture I got with David, who was so insanely nice and kind.

Thank you so much, David & Doug - and to my amazing girlfriend who was a trooper throughout the convention!