Fur In The Paint

I received an email this morning from Melanie Phillips regarding the tiger art competition. Here is what she says:

The winners have been announced!!! It is all quite exciting and you can see the thread with a link to all the artwork along with their names and who won at this link! Pollyanna had a difficult job and I have added some of her email in the thread too!

roll on the next! : )

To view the results on Melanie’s website Pet Portrait Artist, regarding the tiger art competition just click here.

These are some of the most commonly asked question we get at Wild Faces Gallery. (WFG) I am going to include what we do (in italics) to give you an idea of how we handle the process. For more information on our process and pricing you can visit our giclee website WildFacesGiclee.com

Since the post got rather huge, I divided it up into two entries. The remainder of the questions will be posted tomorrow.

What is the difference between a Print and a Reproduction? There is much debate about whether the word “print” can (should) be used as a descriptive of any reproduction created by either offset lithography or giclee. There are some who think the word “print” should be used exclusively as a title regarding photography, relief woodcuts, intaglio (like etchings) lithography (not to be confused with offset lithography) and serigraphy. Each of these methods is considered an original work of art.

For the intents and purpose of this post, (my blog and websites) I use the word print as synonymous to the word reproduction. Perhaps it is because I grew up in the industry, during the decades when Limited Edition Reproductions where having a hay-day. And they (major printing houses) adopted the word print as a descriptive of offset lithographic prints, as did giclee later on. Whether right or wrong it is how I view it, and I use the word print in a like manner.

” . . . even after all these years selling my artwork, I still don’t know which images will sell and which will languish. I can’t predict a successful seller anymore than I can predict this weeks winning lotto numbers.”

Why should I choose giclee over more traditional methods for my art? Giclee printing method is best when large quantities of prints are not required. You can choose to get only a handful of reproductions to see how well they will sell. And when they do sell, you can order more. With giclee printing there is no big financial hit, where you get a 1000 images and hope you sell enough to cover your costs.

The truth is, even after all these years selling my artwork, I still don’t know which images will sell and which will languish. I can’t predict a successful seller anymore than I can predict this weeks winning lotto numbers. So we print a few and see what happens.

Our setup fee for paper prints is $200. That includes scanning complete with a cd copy for you, color correction, proofing, and a $75 credit to go towards your initial print run. Shipping fees are additional.

How do I find a good giclee printer? The best way to find a trustworthy printer is by word of mouth. Either ask your artist friends, who does their printing and why. Or if you have a printer your interested in, you can always ask them for references. No one knows what issues arise, better than other artists.

Do I need to send my original? We prefer to have the original painting so we can create a quality scan. Also it is essential for color proofing. The average consumer grade digital camera files generally don’t provide sufficient resolution for a good quality image. So whenever possible we’d like the original.

What kind of equipment and materials do they use? Bear in mind that any print produced on an inkjet printer can probably legally be called a giclee. So ask what they’re level of experience is, as well as the equipment and materials used.

Since the equipment and papers are constantly being improved and since everyone has a different set of criteria for what they want from their prints, I can’t really tell you what is the best option. So do your homework and find out what will provide you with the best print to supply your needs.

How do they create a digital file. Do they photograph it or scan it. Is their scanner a flatbed or drum? Generally a drum scanner is thought to offer a slightly better scan. We however use a flatbed scanner. This means we can scan canvas paintings while on stretcher bars.

Do I get a copy of the digital Files? Some printers view that as their work and may not give you a copy of the files. We have done some work for one such artist whose previous giclee company went out of business. All the files that they did for her were lost and she had to start from scratch with us.

We make two copies of the files and one is given to the client. We keep a copy as a courtesy, so they can call us up and order more without shipping the cd back and forth. However the copy we give the artist is the important one. We bear no liability if we lose or destroy our copy.

Here’s the latest on Colton’s first eye surgery. He is having one eye operated on, at a time.

Once again the commentary is in Karla Sieberts’ own words. Karla is the president of IERAL (the Iowa Equine Rescue & Awareness League.) and she has been the driving force in helping Colton regain his sight.

Colton is at AEC and traveled well yesterday, despite the horrible winds/weather. Colton loaded on the trailer like a charm, and is a VERY GOOD BOY! He is now settling it at AEC, he will be there for approx. 30 days, with med’s being administered 4 times a day. He is located in the Stallion barn if any one is interested in seeing him.

I can not explain, how thrilled I am on Colton’s behavior. He is such a well mannered boy, who has probably never seen the light of day. Let’s hope that he will regain some sight in the first eye in the next few weeks, and his disposition remains as he is today, calm and very quick to learn!

Links to the other Colton posts.
Purchase Colton prints
Colton Update pre-surgery
IERAL Fundraiser
About IERAL
Meet Colton

Buy a print and help support IERAL’s efforts, to restore Colton’s sight.

Colton

50% all of print sales of this image will go to IERAL (Iowa Equine Rescue & Awareness League) for Colton’s medical expenses. With the purchase of a print, your name will be added to the list of donors (unless you’d prefer to remain anonymous) for Colton’s eye surgery.

The Colton print comes in two sizes. Just click on the image for more details.

So I spent my Sunday doing a couple of my favorite things. Painting and gaming. I’ve had this old girl drawn out for a couple of weeks and have been eying it longingly ever since. Well today is the day.

Here’s a well kept secret about me . . . I love cattle. I love cattle almost as much as horses. Not all cattle are worthy of my affections, mind you. Primarily, cattle of color and particularly rodeo/longhorn types. I have nearly as many photos of these types of cattle as I do of draft horses.

Now I’ve done at least a dozen draft horses paintings (probably more) in the past 10 years. Comparitively, how many paintings of cattle have I done in that same amount of time? One. Yup just one. Want to know the reason?

Because cattle are harder to sell than horses. While that may not be completely true in the broader sense, for me it is a fact. Perhaps it is because I have spent the past 10 years marketing horses and have become somewhat known for them that I think this. Who knows, maybe after painting cattle for 10 years in multiple works of art, the same would be true for them. I doubt it, though I’ve got no real proof as to why. It is just a feeling. (You know, like it is just a feeling that I’ll never be a ballerina.)

Anywho, this lovely lady was one of a local herd. I took this photo many years back and am finally getting around to committing her to paper. (10 1/2″ x 13″ hand made paper that is.) She had a calf on the side which is why she’s giving me the eye.

No, she is not done. But I would think one more uninterupted afternoon should she her finished. I kinda went wild with my colors. I seem to need to do that every now and again.

I received an email recently from Karla Siebert of IERAL (Iowa Equine Rescue & Awareness League) regarding Colton. They took Colton to ISU (Iowa State University) on Monday to get his eyes evaluated.

According to Karla, he did amazingly well, for never being away from foster care for the past 14 months! Below is part of Karla’s email.

“Dr. Betts, thought both eyes were candidates for the corrective cataract surgery, so we agreed to start with one and then see how that goes. Interesting enough, Dr. Betts felt that Colton has been blind possibly since birth or shortly after.

On Tuesday, the surgery was suppose to happen, however Colton’s blood work came up odd. On Wednesday they retested the blood, and they moved forward with removing one cataract from one of his eyes.

I spoke to Dr. Betts last evening and he said the cataract was extremely yellow, old, and hard, meaning it had been there for a very long time. The eye was swollen more than usual, because of the size of the cataract, but felt Colton would do well.

I will get a report from him today as well, and hope to pick Colton up on Saturday, if all goes as planned. Colton will be at Dr.Abraham’s for at least 30 days for recovery, will have a tube for draining, and drops will be administered.

This experience will be very interesting to say the least. This horse is 7 years young, and probably (according to Betts) has never been able to see. Colton is a very calm Arabian who I think will adjust fine to his new world, but we will wait to see, how things go.

We’ve been approached by an anonymous donor wanting to match “new” donations for Colton starting Monday of this week up to $1000.00. So, if you know anyone who would be willing to donate to Colton and his ability to see for the first time in his life, please have them send donation to IERAL C/O Colton, PO Box 8726 Cedar Rapids, IA 52408.

The surgery is estimated to cost $3200.00 per eye, with the 30 day recovery. We have had some donations for Colton, so thank you for supporting him prior to his first surgery, and we need to continue on with recovery and 2nd eye surgery, after the 1st of the year.

Finally the long awaited giclee posts. (Or at least the first one.)

In this first post we will discuss what Giclee is and how it differs from the most widely used reproduction method, Offset Lithography.

In upcoming posts, additional reader questions will be answered as to what to look for when choosing a printing company, the proper handling and storage of artwork and a few miscellaneous technical questions.

What is a Lithograph?
An offset Lithograph is the most common form for reproduction of artwork, (though giclee’s are gaining on it every second.) These in large part are the type of prints you would find in print galleries and produced by major printing houses like Hadley House. (Though even Hadley House is offering some giclee’s now.)

It is a mechanized process where the image to be reproduced is printed photographically to a metal plate, that is mounted onto the roller of a printing press. Ink is applied to a plate, transferred to a rubber roller called a “blanket” and from the blanket onto paper. Offset Lithography is one of the most widely used methods of printing.

So then what’s a Giclee?
Giclee is pronounced zhee-clay (urm . . . think Zha-zha Gabor, only with an “e.” Instead of Zha say Zhee. It might help put you in the mood, if you attempt to fake her accent. Yes, that’s it my daarlings)

“Oh la la, I feel like I should be sitting at a Cafe, while wearing a beret and smoking a cigarette.”

Giclee is the type of printing we do at Wild Faces Gallery. The most simple explanation is, it is a digital process of high resolution scanning, color correction and storing of information. The prints are then created using a large format inkjet printer that produces high quality prints, using archival inks and acid free papers.

The term Giclee was coined in 1990’s and has it’s origins from the French word gicler. The literal translation is “to spurt or spray”

I have a story about the origins of the term but since I cannot find or remember from whence this story comes (I think perhaps Decor magazine though I also checked wikipedia to no avail.) you must consider it gossip. The reason they came up with the word giclee is that the guys who were going to introduce this printing method at an expo in the 90’s, wanted something more exotic to call the process other than what is it, an inkjet print. And so the Giclee printing process was born (or rather coined.)

I think they succeeded admirably. I mean when you say Giclee, it sounds so mysterious and exotic. Now say it with me, only slower this time. “ggiicclleeeee.” Oh la la, I feel like I should be sitting at a Cafe, while wearing a beret and smoking a cigarette.

In the early days, giclee prints didn’t have the best lightfast quality and the prints were delicate to handle (they would run if they got wet and they scratched easily) But the technology has improved dramatically. And now depending on which printer you have, as well as ink and paper combinations, most prints will outlive you if cared for properly. In upcoming posts, we will talk about longevity and archivability.

I have been following Angela Finney’s journey with an art competition (as in, she showed me the finished pieces after they were submitted) that is right up my alley. They are given a reference photo (in this case a pair of tigers resting) and let loose to interept it as they so choose. The judge is a renown artist and author, Polly Anna Pickering.

The artwork submitted can be viewed at Melanie Phillip’s Website. Melanie has a very cool website with all sorts of information and forums for the critter artist.

The awards have not yet been posted so click here to go over and take a peek and pick your favorites.

Two Rivers Art Expo is located in Des Moines, Iowa. And yes, in case you were wondering, it was indoors.

The thing about doing indoor events, is that people get so territorial, (a $450 booth fee will do that to you.). A primitive caveman thing happens, where you find yourself wanting to club your neighbor for the slightest infraction on your space. Well I don’t, but some folks do. I bought a corner spot this year, so I only had one neighbor, (and they were great.)

About the event
This is one of those shows that seems to do everything right and yet does not bring in the big money I would expect from such a quality event. It has been 3 years since we did a Two Rivers event (that alone should tell you something.)

We will not be back next year, for the sole reason that this is the most expensive event we did this year and it was almost the least profitable (and that includes all the ones we have been stormed out of.) I had someone from Omaha come pick up their original painting and put down a sizable final payment. But if it weren’t for that, we wouldn’t have made much above expenses. (which include booth fee, hotel, gas, food and cost of goods sold.)

The odd thing is, at this point I really don’t get bent out of shape about much. Mike and I had loads of fun this weekend and spent money like we actually earned some. I know a few artists who did very poorly (as in no sales) and I feel for them. It can be crushing to the spirit to have that happen.

All the things Two Rivers does well

• Seriously high quality artwork. No buy/sell stuff here.
• It is held in a nice facility (at the HyVee Hall at the Iowa Event Center) and they decorate festively. It is also a clean show, no full trash cans or debris laying about.
• Nice award money
• Live music both inside the expo and in the hallway.
• Good storage space (which can be an issue at indoor events.)
• Artist lounge complete with tables, coffee, tea, breakfast breads and light snacks all day.
• Helpful and courteous staff. We had a small issue, which when brought to their attention, they apologized and immediately corrected the problem. (Huge thumbs up)

Downside

• Gate fee (as previously stated I don’t know that this is a negative, but I don’t feel it is a positive either.)
• Expensive event to do. My booth cost $450. Which includes a corner spot with electricity. That doesn’t include the jury fee though.
• Their load in/out has the potential to be horrible. It is well organized but the fact remains that 8 artists at a time are allowed 20 minutes to unload. They have over 130 artists. Do the math.
• Often lower sales than expected. They are really trying, I’m not sure what else they could have done. Des Moines is one of those cities that has one event after another and maybe they are just tapped out.

So I’m back, (as in just arrived home 20 minutes ago) from Two Rivers Art Expo in Des Moines. (I’ll tell you all about it next post.) But seeing as I’m hopped up on about 4 liters of Diet Coke (caffeine, my drug of choice) I thought I’d pop in for a quick post.

Hey . . . aren’t you?
I was recognised this weekend at the art expo. And while that’s not so odd (I mean I get recognised all the time as that horse painter Mona, or increasingly often from my Apples ‘n Oats column or even as Wild Faces Gallery.) But this weekend I got recognised for a different reason.

A woman was looking at my booth and then turns to me and says “Are you the artist?” I nod and say “Yes” Then she says, “Hey . . . aren’t you Fur In The Paint?” I went “Ahhhhh . . .” (because the wheels were turning, but I couldn’t quite get my mouth to engage.) After about 3 seconds of hesitation I say “Yes, yes I am.”

This was then followed by a few awkward moments (by me) because I was a little weirded out. My mind kinda flew through my blog entries searching for anything that I should feel embarrassed about. I mean this woman knows all about me. Personal and intimate stuff. While I know nothing about her. She had me at a distinct disadvantage.

You know, like when you were a teenager and your date comes to the house to get you. You make him wait a few minutes so you can make your grand entrance. And when you finally come down the stairs, you find out he has spent the last 15 minutes or so, looking through the family photo album at all your baby pictures. I was kinda like that.

None-the-less as she walked away I thought to myself, “Coooool!“