"Paintings With Personality"

Saturday  Afternoon at the Park, 22x30. 120 lb. arches coldpress watercolor paper.

I began this painting as a demo for Essex Watercolor Club. I didn't do a lot to it after I got back home, just put in some more color. The woman was sitting on a bench, resting her tired feet and enjoying a few quiet minutes while she watched her two boys play. 

When I was in school (a few years ago) I learned that Johannes Gutenberg invented the first printing press. Just recently, I learned that a Chinese man named Bi Sheng invented the first moveable type between 1041 and 1048, centuries before Gutenberg was born. However, Gutenberg was the first European to use a printing press. His was the first mass produced printed work, but not the first book printed, that was done in China. These days, most Americans can print anything they want right in their own homes on their desktop printers. They don’t even have to be near the printer, if they have Wi-Fi.

Our home computers are limited in what they can do, which brings me to the confusion about art prints and art reproductions. Art prints are original works of art, created by drawing or carving an image onto a hard surface (called a matrix) like wood, metal or stone. The matrix is used to produce prints of original work, then it is destroyed. This produces a limited edition print. The print is the actual work of a graphic artist, not a copy of work done in another medium. Some fine art printing techniques are etchings, lithographs, serigraphs, silkscreens, and linocut.

In the past, mass production of an original work of art created by an artist, involved a dot matrix system. At times, the dots were visible to the naked eye, denser areas needed a magnifying glass to see the dots. The plate became a little worn with each print made, until it finally had to be destroyed. Artists numbered and signed the prints based on the first printed to the last, enabling the buyer to know if their print was at the beginning or the end of the run.

Many painters today are having “giclee” (zhee-clay) reproductions made of their original work. In a giclee, there is no printing plate, but a digital image which never becomes worn and can be kept indefinitely. So, there is no reason to number a giclee although one signed by the artist is more desirable to buyers. Some artists enhance their giclees by drawing or painting in the margin of the reproduction, or painting over the print completely, making them even more enticing. Giclees are elevated by calling them prints, because no one wants a copy. Any way you look at it, they are still reproductions, not fine art prints, and the buyer deserves an explanation.

A large inkjet printer that uses 8 to 12 archival ink colors and prints onto various archival substrates including canvas, and watercolor paper. The result is greater color accuracy than ever seen before and a perfect copy of the original painting. No screen is used, so there is no visible or microscopic dot pattern. A giclee has the color, clarity and feel of the original painting, but it is still a copy. There really isn’t reason for an artist to purchase giclee reproductions unless their originals are selling so well they can’t keep up with the demand.

It is important to explain, to buyers, the difference between the original art, an original signed and limited edition art print and a giclee reproduction computer print of art done in another medium and produced by a commercial company. You must also mention that the ink has not been proven, but is said to last for at least 35 years before fading or becoming discolored.

By the way, it isn’t known if Gutenberg knew about Bi Sheng’s moveable type, but there is no doubt that his press mimicked the movable type mechanics.

Please comment below, Judy

http://judyballance.com/