I was a guest at the Motor City Con in Novi, MI this past weekend. It is a wonderful con, and I had such a great time. The people there were terrific. One great pleasure I had was getting to know Mouse Guard creator David Petersen a lot better, and getting to meet members of the Usagi Yojimbo Dojo website.

Whenever I return from a con, I log on over at e-bay to see how many of my free sketches wind up for sale. Yes, I do still draw free sketches, but that will change. I demand four things for these sketches: 1-you supply the paper; 2-it has to be personalized; 3-I don't do requests; and 4-one drawing per person. I think my demands are very reasonable.

After Mega Con a couple of months ago, there were about a dozen drawings for sale. Even the personalization did not stop people from selling them, or from buying them.

Here's a link to one of my drawings from the Motor City Con, with a BIN option of $45.99 plus $7.99 for mailing the sheet of typing paper:

http://cgi.ebay.com/stan-sakai-original-art-usagi-yojimbo_W0QQitemZ330122485809QQihZ014QQcategoryZ972QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

a href="http://pics.livejournal.com/usagiguy/pic/00054ax4/"></a>

Except it is not completely my drawing. Someone (the seller I presume) has drastically altered the art , using a broad marker to darken the border and drawing some grass to obliterate the personalization. Drawings usually fetch a higher price if they are not personalized to someone. I assume it is the seller that did the alterations, because he is selling a piece by another artist with the drawing drastically cropped to leave out the personalization. I don't know if it technically it is counterfeit, but it certainly is fraud.

Most cartoonists will not do these free drawings anymore because of dealers reselling them. I think I will have to join this majority.