Tonight I’ve been watching “Grayson’s Art Club” with my husband and daughter. After it we got talking about art and artists, bear in mind through this that my husband and daughter are both very good photographers, so they understand images better than I do, while I as an author understand words better than they do.
So, my husband threw us a curve ball with a question about autographs. His point was that signatures on paintings are the authentication of the painting. When a book gets signed, is it about a connection to the artist? He asked me as someone who had has been on both sides of the experience, how did that need for authentication translate to books?
Now the oddity for me has always been that I enjoy the art, but can’t give a toss about the artist. So I’ll enjoy the book, but not care about what the writer went through. I brought “The Great Writers” series when I was in my teens, and as much as I enjoyed the books, I didn’t care about the authors. The books were great, the magazines were average at best.
I do have some books that have been signed, and as an author I have signed book. But the reality is if I’ve got £50 to spend and I’m torn between a signed comic and a signed book, there’s a pretty good chance I’d pick the comic.
I think the is a thing about art is the limited edition, where are books are constantly reprinting. Also I think writers pour their souls more into the word than the artist do into their pictures, but what do you think?
The Write Route 