Neal Adams, John Beatty & Conan

The sketch above comes from the Zablo vault with a bit of a story.  The sketch was a copy of a Neal Adams original.  The colors [by John Beatty] were done on a copy of the sketch.

I was at an OrlandoCon back in the late 70’s.  I was just starting to collect original art.  I was approached by a guy about my age who had a pencil sketch of Conan by Neal Adams that he was offering me.  The sketch was in a mat covered by acetate.  It was a really nice sketch, even if it was a bit costly.  I showed it to my buddy John Beatty.  John looked at it and then took a closer look.

“It’s a xerox.  It’s a good copy, but it’s definitely a copy.”

The guy acted surprised… with acting being the key word.  I couldn’t swear that he knew the piece was fake, but you’d be hard-pressed to convince me otherwise.  Needless to say, I didn’t buy the piece, but I think the guy gave me a copy because I’m pretty sure that’s it posted above.  The colors were added to the copy on one of Beatty’s visits to my apartment in Orlando when I was still in college.

At least that’s how I remember it.