No, I can't remember how to spell the word and google is dumb today and can't suggest anything closer than that, but you know what I mean.

I'm trying to research high end museum quality printing and I'm having trouble. I don't know about any of that stuff.


I'm looking for the way painters make limited edition prints that look like the real thing on real canvas like when you buy a $$$$$$ painting in a gallery.

- I'm looking for the correct spelling of the word so I can google it.

- I'm also looking for a source to make em'.

- I'd like to know all the nitty gritty in the difference in all the different canvas printing options out there.

Specifically - There are a lot of consumer options out there now (not to bash any of them) that may be geared more toward consumer and price rather than "gallery quality painting, whatever the cost". I don't know if these will really last or how all that works.

I am brainstorming up a few ideas that have been simmering for a long time in what basically amounts to creating some fine art. Real true "fine art" that people without budgets would buy, and I want the painting / print / canvas / whatever to last 500 years and not a day less and meet every bit of "museum quality" you could ever ask for. We'll see how attainable all that is, then work backwards to compare to the more consumer directed products out there.

Thanks.

Kevin -

I used to offer this service to artists, it's called "Giclee" or simply, Fine Art Reproductions.
It's French for "Spray" or something like that.

Basically, any Epson Pro printer is a Giclee printer.
Artists like Kinkade hire a staff of student artist to paint details on the Giclee to give it a 3D look.



Feel free to call or email me if you want more details.

Thanks man! That's just what I needed.

http://www.pauldudagallery.com/giclee.html - great guy, great service, great product. My father is a painter and used him for some reproductions of his watercolors - they came out amazing. He took 8x10 watercolors and printed them 6 feet high - gorgeous and looks like the real thing. I just had him print some stuff for me and I was uber impressed!

-Jessica

WHCC prints on "fine art velvet" are Giclee. They're amazing!

Ok Kevin. You opened the box - I'm answering! *grin*

Giclée (IPA: /ʒiˈklɛɪ/ or /dʒiˈklɛɪ/, from French /ʒiˈkle/), commonly pronounced "zhee-clay," is an invented term for the process of making fine art prints from a digital source using ink-jet printing. The word “giclée”, from the French language word "gicleur" meaning "nozzle", was created by Jack Duganne, a printmaker working in the field, to represent any inkjet based digital print used as fine art. The intent of that name was to distinguish commonly known industrial "Iris proofs" from the type of fine art prints artists were producing on those same types of printers. The term, originally applied to fine art prints created on Iris printers in a process invented in the early 1990s but has since come to mean any high quality ink-jet print.

...from Google. And it's exactly what we at Pixel2Canvas do. How fortunate!

Now, the inks and materials have been tested by the Wilhelm Institute to last over 100 years - so the 500 year mark may be a bit steep - if your great-great-grandchildren's kids want to call us, we'll be happy to help them out if the canvas fades.

These are NOT a print/transfer like what Museum Bond does. I'm not bashing - just saying that the picture is printed directly onto the waterproof canvas as opposed to a print being stripped and then applied to a canvas substrate. It then sits for 24 - 36 hours (depending on the size) to "outgass" *burp*. This is a crucial step to ensure total ink saturation into the canvas. A UV protectant & additional waterproofing coating is then applied, then stretching over the frame. Every canvas vendor - labs included - does it a bit differently. I would suggest that you get a bunch o' questions together and call a bunch of canvas vendors - us included - and then use whom you feel most comfy with. I'm all about breaking with the knowledge and educating people about how canvas is NOT intimidating, and is just such a cool medium - something that once your clients see, will want more and more of.

Which leads me to another sideline - canvas is probably the most expensive thing your clients will purchase from you. A 16x20 will cost you around $85.00 - but you'll charge your client at least $250 for it - make sure you get it from a company that represents YOU well. Finished backs. Tight corners. Hanging hardware installed. YOUR images are on the canvas - this represents YOU - make sure that the finished product is worth your clients' money.

Another thing you're asking for - "remarking" - is the technique where after the print is made (art paper or canvas) a painter goes OVER the print with acrylic paints to mimic the look of an original painting. OR - swirls or whatever brush strokes you wish can be applied with a clear material as well. Yes, it can be done - just ask.

I'd be happy to talk with you - and anyone on the board - about the process and what we do. We're not a big photo-processing lab - all we do is canvas & fine art paper. And photo banners. Had to throw that one in!

So there's my Canvas 411 on the cheap. I'd be delighted to answer ANY other questions - call or post!

All the best,
Roxanne (that's just my FAV smiley!)

Johnny... you are too helpful and too knowledgable... but mainly too sweet!

+1 This is exactly what I used to do for my clients (painters included).


Ditto - Thanks!

I'm glad you answered, Roxanne! What a lot of information in an easy to understand way I didn't realize that it's not just ONE type of art (there are many ways of making a piece that fits into the same category). Since we're exploring this option, I wonder if a serigraph is a giclee?

We have original oil paintings in our home. Once we got started with them we can't see going any other way. Giclee's are an alternative to the high price tag, originally to acquire the pieces and then again to insure them, and they look pretty darned good. The ones we've seen present them the same as the originals with high quality framing and a lot of times have something hand-applied to distinguish it against just a copy (either a few swishes of watercolor, oil, the clear goopy stuff or pastels).

Hey Shannon! Thanks for your kind words - much appreciated!

Nope - a serigraph is not the same as a giclee. A serigraph is more of a silkscreening-type process.

And YEARS ago, before kids and before Pixel2Canvas, we started collecting art. (Now we have twins and no money!) *grin* Warhol, Erte, Haring, Lichenstein, Kostabi, along with a couple of Picassos and Chagalls thrown in for good measure. Most of them are signed, numbered serigraphs. We love them! We have a Christian Lassen that's been "remarked" to make it look like the original oil painting - it's really cool, and the kids love pointing to all the fish & the dolphins. And did you know that "clear, goopy stuff" is a technical term? *snerk*

All the best,
Roxanne

Right on! Thanks Roxanne!! (I was actually hoping you'd reply if I threw out some bait).

That sounds really good and that points me in the right direction. I may be interested in that "fine art" paper look also.

The short story is that I'm dreaming up some new types of art blending computer generated elements with actual photography. It's a ways out there, but wanted to start researching ways of putting the work out and available mediums before jumping in.

Is it customary for a shop such as yours to send out sample kits? Or are they available for puchase? I think it would be cool to have some strips of the actual printed materials to feel and select from. I found another big giclee producer that had lots of substraits to choose from but I wouldn't know where to begin. Maybe I can buy a sample from you at some point when we get closer to pulling some completed work together.

Thanks again for the great explanation!!

(And thanks to others who responded also!)

Why yes, I did. That's why I said it

Yep - you got me - hook line and sinker! *snerk*

Sample kits. I have a sample set with our canvas, banner vinyl & art paper that I'd be happy to send you - along with our new little mini-catalog. And I'm sure we'll be having a sale of SOME SORT before the holiday season gets into full swing and we're just jammin' full-tilt boogie until the new year! I'll post it here when we do, so you can git yerself a sample of our rockin' canvas. We really DO rock at this. Yes, I have fun and am lighthearted here on the boards, but I'm VERY SERIOUS about the quality of our work.

Send me a PM with your 411 and I'll put them in the mail to ya. And anyone else who wants one - send me your 411 and off they'll go!

All the best,
Roxanne

too funny I was just wondering about this myself and couldn't spell anything close enough to get a hit on google....