Buying an original from Barry

Buying a giclée from Barry

What is a Clean-edge Canvas?

What are Originals, Prints, Limited Editions etc.?

Buying an original from Barry

Remargués

Buying a giclée from Barry

What is a "Clean-Edge" Canvas

Canvas is normally stretched onto a wooden frame and fastened by stapling the edges. The staples are hidden from view when the painting is framed.

Many high end art works are framed using a clean-edge technique. Here the canvas is attached to the back instead. The artist paints the clean, staple free edges as part of the piece. The painting can now simply be hung "as is", without having to invest a lot of money in an expensive frame. It gives a very nice contemporary look to the painting. Very artsy! If you prefer your paintings framed, they can still be done as easy as before. A great idea!

My standard canvases are 30"x40".  As part of the image is on the edges, the frontal surface dimension becomes 28"x38"

Caring for your artwork:
Acrylics are easy! I use only the very best light fast and archival quality paint and materials. The colors on these paintings will not fade even when hung in bright or sunny locations. Cleaning is also easy. Simply dust with a feather duster or hairy brush attachment of your vacuum cleaner. If something spots the surface, just wipe clean using a soft cloth and plain water. (Acrylics are 100% waterproof). If the spot is stubborn, try warm soapy dish water. Like most acrylics and plastics, do not use cleaning products with ammonia, such as Windex.

What is a giclée?

What are Originals, Prints, Limited Editions, Remarqués Etc.?

The following is a brief description of some common but mystifying terms artist use to describe an art piece. If you have a question on this subject, please email me and I will add it to my list.

Original Paintings: This is a one-of-a-kind art work that has been fully created and produced by the artists themselves. With original paintings, subtle nuances of color, paint application and surface texture can be seen when compared to even the best of reproductions. This is always the most valuable form of two dimensional work. Good points: best visual appeal, most prestigious, best color light fast ratings, best investment value. Poor points: most expensive

Original Prints: Determining if an art piece is an original or not is obvious if the painting was produced with a brush. It becomes much more difficult when originals are created through a hand done printing process. An artist may produce one or several near identical original prints using a number of printing techniques. The main criteria here is that each print is individually produced, one at a time. Good points: excellent visual appeal, good investment value, valuable as an original, less expensive than hand painted work. Poor points: an original work can look like mechanical print to the untrained observer, tonal and texture range are often simplified or limited.
There are many methods for producing hand made prints. Most follow the concept of:

1. creating one or more three dimensional patterns,
2. applying colored ink to the pattern, and
3. pressing the colored pattern against a paper (like a giant stamp) to reproduce the image.

How the original pattern is made usually determines what the print is called. Here are a few of many techniques:

Etching: A technique where the pattern is made by painting a resistive agent onto a metal plate, then washing the plate in a corrosive solution to remove the unpainted areas. This gives the metal plate a slight three dimensional property.

Block and Lino Print: Here a wooden block, piece of linoleum or other similar product is hand carved to produce the three dimensional relief.
Contact Print: Various three dimensional objects from Oak leaves and body parts to actual fish are rolled in ink and pressed against the paper.
Serigraph: The patterns in this process are not etched, cut or carved but painted onto a series of fine silk screens. When dry, paper is placed under the screen while colored ink is applied to the top surface. Ink is transferred onto the paper in the areas not originally painted.

Remarqués: The word literally means to re-paint or to re-mark . In the art world a remarqué is where an artist takes one of his prints and does something to it by hand to somehow enhance it. Typically an artist will add some extra detail - a flower or boat etc., or perhaps paint onto the mat or frame.

My remarqués are very different. I have developed a special technique of using a combination of clear acrylic polymers to hand paint each print up to seven times. I purposely leave the brush strokes on the surface to give the piece a very hand made appearance. Best of all, my remarqués are waterproof and don't have to be framed behind glass! Eliminating the glass eliminates all the reflection and glare one gets from a normal print or watercolor. A fabulous idea!

Art Prints: This form of reproduction is done more electro-mechanically than the hands on methods above. Numerous methods for reproductions exist these days. The biggest differences between them are print quality and longevity. Prints are a great way for people to get some nice artwork at very low cost. Prints however do not go up in value as readily as originals or remarqués. Although some specialized prints like certain giclée's have excellent light fast ratings, it is generally better not to hang most prints in very brightly lit locations. Avoid hanging prints right next to a large sunny window for example. Here are a few common printing types and terms:

Art Print or Open Edition Print: This simply means that any number of copies can be made of the image - it is not limited. Personally I like to see a lot of variety and change so I usually make only a small number of prints from my images.

Limited Edition Prints: This is a print where the total number of prints to be made has been predetermined or limited. Numbers from 250 to 1000 are the most common. With a Lithograph limited edition like mine, 4 large (and expensive) metal plates are etched and used in a very large press to print the image. After the proper number of prints have been produced, the plates are destroyed guaranteeing no future prints can be made. Good points: excellent investment value, moderate price. Poor point: possible long term color shift or fading in strong light.
Giclée Print: This is a new and exciting printing process which produces some very impressive results. Prints can be produced onto watercolor paper or even canvas. They look and feel very close to an original. Although more expensive, some special printers can even produce giclée's with excellent light fast characteristics that will last more than 100 years. I have access to this type and will soon be offering it for sale. Good points: most original like, excellent investment value, long lasting color. Poor points: expensive.

Laser Print, Color Copying: Color printing technologies are advancing extremely fast. Some professional printers can produce pretty good reproductions from one's artwork quickly and at very reasonable prices. The problem is that most low end "color copy centers" do not have the equipment, knowledge or the skills to produce an acceptable print for framing. I use professional printers for my open edition prints and use special color matched acid free papers brought in from Vancouver BC. My newest prints for 2002 will be enhanced with a color protecting UV acrylic finish. Good points: least expensive, good quality. Poor points: tends to increase in value the least.

About Color & Light Fastness

Everyone has noticed colors fading on things - clothing, furniture, old Coca-Cola signs. But nowhere is it more important than in art work. Does all art work fade? Do watercolors fade more than oils or acrylics? How about prints? How can you tell if an art piece you own or are about to buy will last?

Paint manufacturers can't "make" the primary colors. When they need red, yellow and blue, they have to go out into nature and find things that are those colors. Everything from iron oxide (rust) and dirt to exotic plants and semi-precious gems are ground up to make artist paint. Depending on the pigment, some paints are naturally very color fast or "permanent," as it is called in the art world, and others are not, and are termed "fugitive". A red made from ground up rubies, for instance, will likely last forever. Yellow ochre and lamp black, which are simple, permanent pigments used by Neanderthal artists, have lasted thousands of years.

Pigments used by themselves would not stick well to anything, so a carrier, or "glue," must be added to the pigment to make it useful as a paint or drawing medium. When the carrier is oil it becomes oil paint; gum arabic creates watercolor paint; wax makes wax crayons, and acrylic polymers, acrylic paint. As it is the pigment characteristics which determine the light fastness, and not the carrier, all painting and drawing mediums have the same permanency for a given pigment.

Unfortunately, some non-permanent, fugitive colors are used in paint today, even "artists grade" paint. Some artist grade paint pigments will show noticeable fading or color change in just a few weeks or months!

When you purchase a painting from an artist, try to ensure each and every color they use is light fast and permanent. This is extremely important, especially if the work will be hung in a well lit environment. It is your right to know about your art investment. Light fast rating numbers of 1 or A and AA are used by manufacturers for their best paints. If an artist doesn’t seem informed or concerned about such things, it is probably wise to leave the piece in spite of its present appeal.