Creating a fine art Giclée print for the very first time

So I’m an artist living in San Francisco, I’m a painter, illustrator, armature photographer and dancer, all self taught (except for in dance). Most of my paintings are spread throughout friend and family’s homes, in which only a select few have actually been sold. Of course my goal in painting was never to make a living by selling, but rather to experience the pure enjoyment and therapeutic practices of creating artwork that I love and surrounding myself with it. “Why buy expensive art when I can make my own” – Piero Milani

However last year I created an entire multi media work, that many friends enjoyed which, got me thinking about reproduction for the first time. Made from scratch using a wooden frame, chicken wire, adhesive, paper, acrylic paint, graphite and charcoal. It’s about 4’x4’ and 3” thick entitled “drop”. The subject: a hand dropping a heart. Everyone who came across it seemed to enjoy and appreciate “drop”, so much so that on two separate occasions passer bys even asked about the work when it was displayed at the top of our stair case in plain view. So I thought, maybe this is a good time to create a print, since I myself couldn’t part with the original.

I contacted Mark Brady, a professional photographer and print maker based in the Portrero Hill area. He recommended that we take a photograph instead of performing a scan, because not only was “drop” too big for even a large scanner, but the glass on a scanner wouldn’t be able to get the most crisp and precise capture which only a lens of a high digital res camera can.  I left the painting with Mark, and he snapped a photograph, cleaned it up (cropping and adding color correction so that the file matched the painting exactly). And then he consulted me on sizes, paper quality and textures. We pow-wowed back and forth, both of us with our ideas and recommendations.

 I ended up ordering 11”x14” size prints so that if owners wanted to frame them, it would be an easy generic sized frame to find. Because the captured image is perfectly square, Mark and I decided to leave a one-inch white border around the picture, and an extra two inches at the bottom in case buyers preferred to cut the print and frame it in a different size frame while using matte board.

I also purchased shipping and protective supplies such as plastic sheaths from Blick Arts, and thick board from flax art to keep the glicee prints flat and sturdy. I signed and dated each print and wrote the limited edition number on the bottom left-hand corner. The result is a pretty precise replication of a work that I am pretty proud to share. The prints are high quality HP Matte Litho, UV protected, smooth textured, and satin finished loveliness. And now that I have a number on hand and on file, not only are they easy guilt free gifts, but I may consider selling a few.