{"id":610,"date":"2009-12-16T21:40:59","date_gmt":"2009-12-17T02:40:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=610"},"modified":"2009-12-17T12:14:39","modified_gmt":"2009-12-17T17:14:39","slug":"on-making-prints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=610","title":{"rendered":"On Making Prints"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"Framed<\/p>\n

A framed print of To the Joust<\/em>.\u00a0 My cat studies its intricacies for hours.<\/p>\n

I’d like to talk about my experience with making prints.\u00a0 Let me begin by making clear that I’m not claiming to be any kind of expert in this area.\u00a0 There are plenty of professionals who know more about the ins and outs of printmaking than I.\u00a0 So, to show good faith, I’ll provide some links to a few more learned people at the end of this post.\u00a0 My purpose in writing about making prints is simply to give an account of my own experience — and to try explaining why the decision to make prints has re-shaped the way that I see and create art.<\/p>\n

What first set my dials to printmaking?\u00a0 Thinking about presentation methods was the initial baby step — and then beginning to explore various ways in which fractal\/digital art could be showcased.\u00a0 All artists (with a capital A) have multiple means of presentation.\u00a0 A musician’s song can be recorded, played live, played “unplugged,” be utilized as background music in a film, be transformed into a visual narrative using video, and so on.\u00a0 Likewise, a poem has similar possibilities for being displayed — read privately, read aloud, performed, slammed, audio recorded, video recorded, inserted into multi-media, and so forth.<\/p>\n

Fractal\/digital art is no different.\u00a0 Such art can be viewed on a\u00a0 home monitor, be uploaded to a Fractalbook repository to take its place amidst the socializing and tabulating, be printed (on either paper or canvas) and hung in a home-business-museum, be displayed digitally on a hi-def, large-screen state-of-the-art television, be printed in a book, shared as a par file, reduced to a navigational thumbnail, and — as we’ve seen from past OT posts about Phase Two thinking<\/a> — be sculpted or painted or blown or constructed or imprinted on t-shirts, mugs, balloons, frisbees, and thongs.\u00a0 The paradigm shift for me occurred when I made a conscious decision to present my work offline as well as online.<\/p>\n

The first thing I vowed to do was to take presentation seriously — as seriously as I do my own art.\u00a0 I began to research and quickly discovered that to make decent prints I’d have to render images at much larger sizes — and so I did.\u00a0 I found it was not too difficult to render fractals at larger sizes, at least in the fractal software I use, but the extensive post-processing I commonly do could be a problem.\u00a0 I began to experiment pushing the size constraints of my “studio” to discover the comfort boundaries of the computer I use to make art.\u00a0 Each time I can afford to build a new machine, I try to make sure it packs affordable maximum firepower to enable me to work larger and faster.\u00a0 I first stepped up to images sized at 1800 x 1200 pixels, and now I can work and post-process at the notorious BMFAC-required sizes of 8000 x 8000.<\/p>\n

But not quickly.\u00a0 Everything slows down considerably once you go large.\u00a0 Render times drag.\u00a0 Working in graphic programs like Photoshop take patience and medication\/meditation when effects and adjustments slow to a snail’s crawl.\u00a0 One side effect, although not necessarily a bad one, is that the time lag corresponds to less output.\u00a0 I probably (mercifully?) now produce 1\/4th the amount of work than I did in the same time frame when I first discovered fractals.\u00a0 Although I hope I’m more discerning about the work I now make public, it’s also true that it takes me substantially longer to finish individual pieces.<\/p>\n

There is another side effect.\u00a0 My canvas is now six to eight times larger than it used to be — and, consequently, I’ve become much more particular about how that space is filled.\u00a0 Artistic concerns — like texture, balance, highlights, dominance, unity, overall composition, and (especially) perspective — become more integral (and more time-consuming) in the process of shaping and finishing a given work.\u00a0 In fact, in previous OT posts<\/a> I’ve described the effect of increasing the digital canvas as a significant mental shift moving from perceiving work in “monitor mode” to perceiving work in “wall mode.”\u00a0 In other words, all through the composing process, I envision a work displayed large (wall mode) rather than small (monitor mode).<\/p>\n

Once I made the conversion to wall mode, I then began searching for a professional Printer (I’m using the capital “P” to designate a person and not a machine).\u00a0 Finding a good one turned out to be a difficult, hit-and-miss journey.\u00a0 I’ve had no experience with places like Zazzle or the printing services provided on some Fractalbook sites like deviantART, but my experiences with online printing sites were frustrating.\u00a0 The prints just looked funky — colors appeared over- or under-saturated, depth seemed washed out, and one image even came back exploded and reassembled as a neo-cubist collage.\u00a0 Even several local print shops could not reproduce images to my satisfaction, although the turnaround time improved.<\/p>\n

Finally, one afternoon, I saw a series of prints of nature photographs in a local museum.\u00a0 The prints were breathtaking — exhibiting a clear sense of depth and a stunning clarity.\u00a0 I called the artist for information, and he told me that he did the prints himself, and that he ran a print shop as a commercial venture.\u00a0 I asked if he’d work with me, and he agreed — mostly, I think, because he’d previously worked exclusively with photographers, and he wanted to get some hands-on experience printing original, “pure” (his term) digital art.<\/p>\n

I believe having a proficient, trusted Printer — one with an artistic eye — can make a noticeable difference in the quality of prints.\u00a0 My Printer is exacting and takes pride in his work — making small test prints to see if color and resolution look right, or trying trial runs on various grades of paper to better obtain an ideal reproduction.\u00a0 Again, taking your printing endeavor seriously is non-negotiable.\u00a0 I insist on using the highest quality, archival inks and papers to try to produce professional Gicl\u00e9e (ink-jet) fine art prints. I was fortunate to find a Printer who is also an artist — and one capable of skillfully pulling off the sizable magic trick of bringing a digital image into the physical world.<\/p>\n

You also have a decision to make at this point.\u00a0 Should you use paper or canvas for a background?\u00a0 In general, paper is the preferred choice for making archival, museum-quality, Gicl\u00e9e fine art prints.\u00a0 Paper prints are de rigour<\/em> for galleries and collectors, but they also come with their own set of problems.\u00a0 They are delicate and can be easily damaged.\u00a0 Smudging and sun-fading can occur, and liquids are their mortal enemy. So, paper prints must be matted and framed under glass to keep them safe — and, depending on the size of the print, the glass and frame can quickly become quite heavy.<\/p>\n

Your other option is to print on canvas — although such prints seem to be less desirable for collectors and regarded by museums to be near-gauche.\u00a0 Canvas prints, not surprisingly, are much more like a painting and are even stretched and mounted on a wooden frame — which means even large canvas prints are considerably lighter than small glass-enclosed paper prints.\u00a0 Canvas prints, especially if covered with a protective lacquer, are certainly much more durable.\u00a0 To my eyes, canvas prints tend to flatten out an image and degrade texture, but they retain more color richness and hue.\u00a0 Paper prints, on the other hand, tend to lose bright colors a bit, or start to develop watercolor-like traits if the paper isn’t well suited, but they preserve both texture and depth far better.\u00a0 In a good paper Gicl\u00e9e, textured forms can become visibly embossed and take on distinctive 3-D qualities.<\/p>\n

So, now you’ve worked large and made your print — what next?\u00a0 Admit, as a digital artist, you are working with a generally agreed upon disadvantage.\u00a0 You have no original — no concrete, tangible masterwork — no unique physical object, like a painting or sculpture, that can be shown or sold.\u00a0 A painter, too,\u00a0 can make high-quality fine art prints — but she or he also possesses the original painting — the mold from which copies, even Gicl\u00e9e prints, can be made.\u00a0 Naturally, as a fractal\/digital artist, you also have a master, as does, say, a digital photographer.\u00a0 But such masters cannot function in the same ways as do paintings or sculptures.\u00a0 (Or can they?\u00a0 More on that later.)\u00a0 Therefore, facing such an inherent shortcoming, how can you try to insure that your prints will have value?<\/p>\n

You limit the number you make.\u00a0 From what I can tell, practices on limited-edition prints vary widely.\u00a0 You’ll have to decide what idiosyncratic approach and commercial specifics best serve your needs.\u00a0 What I eventually settled on doing was limiting each image of mine to a Variant Edition (V.E.) of 25 prints of any type or size.\u00a0 That means only 25 prints — large or small, canvas or paper — will be made of any given image.\u00a0 Once the 25th print of an image is made, I ask my Printer to delete the “master” file of that image from his computer.\u00a0 I also allow making up to 2 “artist’s proofs” per image — that is, running off a small number of prints for the artist’s use that are set aside from the edition prints.\u00a0 Artist’s proofs, because they are more scarce, tend to be more valuable.<\/p>\n

To further insure the legitimacy of the print edition, I sign, number, and date each print — and, of course, keep records of the printing history of each image.\u00a0 I also provide a “certificate of authenticity” to be included with each print.\u00a0 These are made using my production company stationary and include background information on the print — title, year it was made, edition number, Printer info, Framer info (if applicable), ink and paper stock information, caring for the print notes, process\/composition notes, and background notes (when appropriate).\u00a0 Some artists go further and take the step of having their print certificates notarized to further bolster authenticity.\u00a0 I even saw one artist display and discuss his prints while wearing white gloves.\u00a0 That might seem like overkill, but the gloves made an impression that stuck with me.\u00a0 It was obvious he considered his work to be valuable and acted accordingly.\u00a0 I stress again, there’s no point in undertaking making prints unless you do so in a professional and earnest manner.<\/p>\n

I have a challenge for you.\u00a0 Work on an image you want to print.\u00a0 From the start, make it larger than you usually would.\u00a0 Reflect carefully about texture.\u00a0 And perspective — squint at the image with your nose to the monitor, then stand across the room and see how it looks in complete darkness.\u00a0 Take your time until you are satisfied with every detail.\u00a0 You aren’t making this image for a desktop background.\u00a0 You aren’t making this image to upload to a social networking site.\u00a0 You’re making this image for a physical space in your home.\u00a0 When it’s done, print it.\u00a0 Print it — seriously.<\/p>\n

Seriously — as in not at home on your PC’s HP deskjet or whatever.\u00a0 No, take it to a shop.\u00a0 Print it at a larger size than your home printer can handle.\u00a0 Choose paper carefully.\u00a0 Use archival materials, if available.\u00a0 Title, date, and sign your print using a graphite pencil.\u00a0 In fact, make it an “artist’s proof” (it is, after all, isn’t it?).\u00a0 Then, frame it — seriously.\u00a0 At a minimum, buy a frame set that includes glass and a functional matte.\u00a0 Better yet, have your print professionally framed.\u00a0 Carefully choose the frame and style and color of matte.\u00a0 Take your matted and framed print home.\u00a0 Find a suitable space.\u00a0 Hang it.\u00a0 Let it be.<\/p>\n

For at least a month or two.\u00a0 And see what happens.\u00a0 See if you don’t develop a different relationship with your image — or come too see it in a new way.\u00a0 Does it fill space in a manner unlike viewing it on your monitor?\u00a0 Do the other surroundings in the room help determine its effect or shape its meaning?\u00a0 Do guests or family members react to it?\u00a0 Take my challenge and see if changing the way your work is presented changes the way it is perceived — by you and by others.<\/p>\n

Making prints has certainly changed my own perceptions — both of my work and my process.\u00a0 As I said earlier, I am only relating my own experience of making prints — but I hope you can tell it’s been exciting and pleasurable.\u00a0 I have many prints nestled in around my home, and I have also been fortunate to place some into shows, as well as to sell some.\u00a0 But, again, I’m not claiming any high level of expertise.\u00a0 So, if you’d like to know more about prints and printmaking, you might want to check out these knowledgeable folks:<\/p>\n

Here’s an interesting conversation<\/a> from MOCA<\/a> on “Printmaking: Traditions and New Trends” between Professors John Antoine Labadie and Ralph Lee Steeds of the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.<\/p>\n

Thinking of doing your own professional printing?\u00a0 Also from MOCA, you might consider following the example of J.D. Jarvis and his account of printmaking in his three-part essay<\/a> entitled “From the Box Up: Life with a New Printer.”<\/p>\n

About.com has articles<\/a> defining Gicl\u00e9e prints, explaining how they are made, and advice on how to sell art prints.<\/p>\n

Wikipedia<\/a> on Gicl\u00e9e prints.\u00a0 Authoritative as written by who knows who can be.<\/p>\n

There are, of course, numerous books you can buy on this general subject — like Mastering Digital Printing<\/em><\/a> by Harald Johnson and (for those with Phase Two leanings) Digital Art Studio<\/a>: Techniques for Combining Inkjet Printing with Traditional Art Materials<\/em> by Karin Schminke et. al.<\/p>\n

~\/~<\/p>\n

And, yes, I know what some of you are thinking.\u00a0 I can hear you clearly across the vastness of cyberspace.\u00a0 Fractal art is a digital medium.\u00a0 It’s an art of light and code.\u00a0 It is best presented and viewed digitally.\u00a0 If it’s not, so much is lost.\u00a0 Colors dry up.\u00a0 Depth is scuttled.\u00a0 Distinctive elements, like lighting features, evaporate when placed outside a digital environment.\u00a0 Moreover, there’s no quarter given on this point of view.\u00a0 Intrinsically, it’s a disservice not to display and view fractal art in a digital milieu.<\/p>\n

Well, I agree.\u00a0 Digital art does become something else removed from digital space and reconstituted in physical space.\u00a0 But, remember, I’m not advocating one presentational method is preferable to another.\u00a0 I’m only pointing out that there are various avenues from which to present one’s work.\u00a0 Each has advantages and disadvantages.\u00a0 Frankly, I think the future looks promising for digital purists.\u00a0 That’s probably because I had another eye-opening experience recently.\u00a0 I took the master copy of one of my images, burned it to a DVD, and carted it over to a friend’s house in order to view it on a high-def, 65 inch, flat screen TV.\u00a0 And, yes, its pixels jumped and buzzed in a visceral way that no print I’ve ever made could match.<\/p>\n

So, don’t lose hope, digital true believers.\u00a0 The days of Total Recall<\/em>, wall-sized, high-definition, digital screens or “frames” are not science fiction.\u00a0 I think museums and collectors will soon have to come to terms with the imperative of sometimes presenting digital\/fractal art in digital space.\u00a0 They’ll feel compelled to invest in high-end screens and to meticulously set the ambiance for an optimal viewing experience.<\/p>\n

I only have one caveat for digital experience enthusiasts.\u00a0 Be consistently serious.\u00a0 Treat each image of yours as an individual work — a work deserving its own screen\/frame.\u00a0 If you’re thinking of just sticking a flash memory card into a digital frame and rotating through 1000 of your images with overly busy wipes and squiggle special effects, you’ve already cheapened yourself as an artist by settling for a screensaver on steroids.\u00a0 Worse, by suggesting that your work is obviously disposable and replaceable — a Fractalbook<\/a> mindset that implies today’s mass-produced “masterpiece” is as awesome as yesterday’s — you lost the war being fought to present your work as fine art.\u00a0 In the end, after your many labors and tears, doesn’t your vision deserve better than a hokey digital billboard?<\/p>\n

~\/~<\/p>\n

Tags:<\/strong> fractal<\/a>, fractal art<\/a>, fractal blog<\/a>, digital art<\/a>, digital prints<\/a>, giclee prints<\/a>, on making prints<\/a>, printmaking<\/a>, monitor mode<\/a>, wall mode<\/a>, who are you to say my hokey digital billboard sucks<\/a>, cruelanimal<\/a>, orbit trap<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A framed print of To the Joust.\u00a0 My cat studies its intricacies for hours. I’d like to talk about my experience with making prints.\u00a0 Let me begin by making clear that I’m not claiming to be any kind of expert in this area.\u00a0 There are plenty of professionals who know more about the ins and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/Printof_TotheJoust.jpg?fit=350%2C263","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":338,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=338","url_meta":{"origin":610,"position":0},"title":"Fractal Printmaking","author":"Tim","date":"12 August, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Hey fans. Welcome back to the award-winning Image of the Week series here on Orbit Trap -- your one stop clearinghouse for all things fractal.Today's King for a Week is none other than the famous Mr. Velocipede, an artist of many mediums and styles of which Fractal Art is just\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=338#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":412,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=412","url_meta":{"origin":610,"position":1},"title":"The Road Stops at Digital","author":"Tim","date":"21 September, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Several questionsIs the entire digital art medium just too new and different for the art gallery world? Has the art world, that great destroyer of cultural norms and traditions, found a free-flowing, anarchic, internet-based digital medium too ab-normal and un-traditional to dive into? Is it because digital art can't be\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=412#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/31708753-6676072162113849126?l=orbittrap.blogspot.com","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5001,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=5001","url_meta":{"origin":610,"position":2},"title":"More on Making Prints — and on Remixing","author":"cruelanimal","date":"14 July, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Two Prints: Geisha Remix (2012, Left) and Cleopatra Worries Remix (2012, Right). \u00a0 I've written before about making prints. I don't want to rehash what I said previously. However, my thinking has \"evolved\" a bit since I last opined on the subject in 2009. The photo above shows two prints\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/OfficePics2_sm.jpg?fit=450%2C338&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2566,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=2566","url_meta":{"origin":610,"position":3},"title":"BMFAC: “We Are All Winners Now”","author":"cruelanimal","date":"20 February, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"This does not look like an art exhibition. Two photographs of the exhibition of the Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest in Hyderabad, India, 2010. Photographs released by Esin Turkakin. Photographs of the showcase exhibition of the 2009 Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest (BMFAC) have been released by one of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"BMFAC in India","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/BMFAC_India2_sm.jpg?fit=450%2C300&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1260,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=1260","url_meta":{"origin":610,"position":4},"title":"The BMFAC Exhibition Begins? Who Knew?","author":"cruelanimal","date":"3 June, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm just like the Olympic torch.\u00a0 I travel the world, and no one knows my route in advance. [Promotional poster for the 2009 Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest Exhibition.\u00a0 Image seen on Sandra Reid's blog.] Apparently, the 2009 Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest Exhibition has begun. Of course, you'd never\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 3 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 3 comments","link":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=1260#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"BMFAC in San Sabastian","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/BMFAC_SanSebastian.jpg?fit=450%2C300&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":342,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=342","url_meta":{"origin":610,"position":5},"title":"Fractal Art is Worthless","author":"Tim","date":"4 September, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Why? Because you can't sell it!Why not? Because Fractal Art, like all digital art, is easily reproduced, that is, displayed on a monitor or printed out -- again and again!Need some more explanation? Digital Art is really a computer file. An oil painting is really -- an oil painting!That's not\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=610"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":636,"href":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610\/revisions\/636"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}