Maxima

In 2011 Ben produced 25 copies of a sketchbook called “Cuties,” for the 2011 Denver Comicfest, with a sketch being done on the back for the buyer.

After the con was over Ben put his remaining copies (four or seven; I’m afraid I’ve forgotten the exact count) up for sale on E-Bay. I’d been collecting comic art for 13 years at that point, but all I’d purchased was published pages and commissions on full-sized boards. It actually seemed weird to me to buy anything else, and had to convince myself to think of it as an oddity in my collection to convince myself to purchase one

I was so pleased with the sketch when it arrived I went to buy another sketchbook, only to find it had sold out. This disappointed me, as the style (primarily the facial features) is different from any other piece from Ben I’ve bought or seen. I attribute it to him working in the smaller dimensions of the sketchbook, and would have liked to have had another example in my collection.

For some reason my camera isn’t properly displaying the true color of the sketchbook, which is a pinkish-orange color. I also feel the need to share that the day after I found this in my art storage I found the container Ben shipped it in. For several years Ben was the unequivocal master of shipping art, and I’d kept the package all these years in case I had to ship a piece out.