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Giclee on Paper | Giclee on Canvas | Lithograph
Giclee is from the French word meaning 'fine spray', which is the printing process used for this type of art. An original painting is digitally reproduced and then carefully adjusted to match the original's colors. A very advanced (and expensive) version of the desktop ink-jet printer is used to put the image on a variety of papers or canvas. We typically offer our Giclee prints on archival quality watercolor paper. The printer uses minute droplets of ink to create prints that cannot be duplicated by other printing techniquesÖ there is no visible dot screen pattern and the resulting image has all of the subtle colors of the original art. This produces exceptional museum quality prints. Although the giclee movement is only a few years old, with the development of stable inks that are said to last over 100 years, it has become an accepted archival printmaking process.
Stone Lithograph top
This is a printing process based on the fact that oil and water don't mix. It originated in Solnhofen, Germany where in 1798, Alois Senefelder discovered that when a greasy crayon was used to draw on a smooth limestone surface and then the surface was covered with water and then with ink, the ink would only stick to the stone where the greasy crayon had drawn marks. Paper could then be pressed on this surface and a print made of the drawing The process was soon refined and rapidly became a favorite printing method of and for artists. It was used by such greats as Goya, Daumier, GÈricault, Delacroix, Degas, Munch, Toulouse-Lautrec. In the twentieth century it has been used by such artists as Picasso and Miro.
Lithography top is sometimes confused with the photomechanical printing method of Offset Lithography. This is a very big mistake. The process of traditional lithography is a very time consuming and delicate work. The photomechanical process is the one used for almost all printing today from magazines to newspapers to the fine art prints sold in most galleries. The only difference between the fine art printing and the newspaper is the quality of the paper and the care given to the printing process.
Lithography top A printing method based on the principle that oil and water do not mix, but remain separate when added together. It was invented in 1798. The 'litho-' part of the word means stone. The '-graph' part means writing. So lithograph means stone writing. A flat polished stone was used when lithography was first invented. Modern lithography uses a printing master instead of a stone. The printing master is similar to a printing plate except it is made of thin flexible sheets of metal or fiber. A finished printing master is flat in appearance. It does not have a raised image as would a rubber stamp. It is flexible so it can be wrapped around a cylinder or drum that rotates. (See the diagram below)
A printing master can be made by using photography. The photographic process can be chemical or electrostatic* (see definition below). The photo process creates a printing master where the image is divided up into two kinds of surfaces. One surface contains clear areas that attract water, but repel oil-based inks. The other surface contains areas that attract the oil-based ink, but repel water. LITHOGRAPHIC OFFSET PRINTING PRESS: top
1. First water, then the oil-based ink is applied to the surface of the printing master while it is rotating on a cylinder or drum.
Poster Signed top A Poster signed by the artist. Usually signed and numbered.
Poster A printing technique whereby ink is spread on a metal plate with etched images, then transferred to an intermediary surface such as a rubber blanket, and finally applied to paper by pressing the paper against the intermediary surface.
Serigraphy top A stencil method of printmaking in which an image is imposed on a screen of silk or other fine mesh, with blank areas coated with an impermeable substance, and ink is forced through the mesh onto the printing surface. Also called silkscreen process and screen-printing. A serigraph is a print made by this method.
Signed and Numbered top Refers to a print from a limited edition run. Generally, all limited edition prints are numbered as a fraction with the top digit being that particular print's number and the bottom digit being the total size of the edition. For example, the number 45/50 means this is the 45th print from a total number of 50 prints produced. The artist will generally sign in pencil at the bottom of the print as well. An "AP" on the print means artist's proof, or the first of the prints made, often with changes to colors being made between the proofs and the numbered prints. |
