Cels Forum

If you want to fake an AIC cel, it is as simple as taking an AIC 
imprinted cel and removing the paint, then reapplying through 
animation xerox from a pencil sketch and repainting the cel. 
IF you want to do this. As the former poster said it requires 
a great deal of time and energy unless you are already a professional 
cel painter. 
In the old days of animation cels would be cleaned with acetone and 
repainted rather than just throwing out or selling the cels. A single piece 
of acetate could be used many many times for different movies/series, but now 
the labor to clean the cels costs more than new pieces of acetate. 

It is amusing to me that my animator friends view cels as the by-product of the 
animation. They collect pencil sketches! Any reasonably trained cel artist can recreate 
any cel from the pencil sketch. The pencil sketches are the actual /art/ in this case, 
and the cels simply what you see as a viewer. Personally, though, the colors are 
richer and more beautiful on a cel than any poster or pencilboard. This is why I continue to 
collect cels. They are lovely pieces of art to hang on your wall and constantly remind you of 
the animation you enjoy!
So my advice is, don't worry overmuch about fake cels. Just enjoy them for what they are: a 
single moment frozen from a continuum of motion through time! It is like having a photograph which 
truly captures a moment in time rather than just reflecting it.
Enjoy!
Ryo