Giclee Printing Standards and Fine Art News

NEW APPLICATION FOR CANVAS PRINTS

2007-11-30T17:25:00.000-08:00

As technology and innovation continue to evolve, there’s an ever-increasing need for innovation and unique applications. Harvest Productions is proud to introduce the new “sticky Giclée”.

The first use of Giclee canvas might have come into practice with the development a new retired canvas called “BullDog Blue Dot” canvas. That canvas was very expensive because it was made to be used with delicate dye inks and required gelatin emulsion surfaces to be applied by machinery which was literally erected in 1894. that canvas had the unique quality, at that time, to be able to resist cracking when stretched. Stretcher bars evolved into custom profiles that allowed the canvas to move back and forth as the humidity and temperature changed. Subsequently the stretched canvas was always framed and had a cost reflecting that. Perhaps it was the launching of Michael Godard Fine Art Giclee Prints that popularized the contemporary “gallery Wrap” look. These products were made on a newer canvas technology and allowed the art piece to be stretched around the sides and adhered to the back. The traditional. ¾ “ stretcher bar didn’t’ give the art piece enough substance so thicker stretcher bars were employed. As time has gone on, the most common stretcher bar thickness for gallery wraps is 2”. Again, these have customized profiles, ad the cost of the product that hangs on the wall is reflective that there is no glass and no frame needed.

As it turns out, frames and glass is a big part of the overall cost, often times much greater than the giclee itself. So, we’re introducing a new product to the market called “Sticky Giclee” which is simply a Giclee print that does not require any stretcher bar at all. Of course, it doesn’t require any frame or glass either. The sticky giclee print is simply a new innovation in canvas called Lime Dot, which allows a self-adhesive back to be applied to the canvas. With the adhesive in place, the canvas is simply peeled and applied to the wall. It’s more a very economical design problem than a fine-art requirement. But it certainly does open up whole new opportunities for how to give ambiance to a room without making such a large financial decision. The maximum sizes for these décor art Giclee’s are 60” b 80” with the most economical size being 30” x 60”. The surface of these sticky Giclee’s are washable with mild soaps but can be abused through sharp abrasion or exposure to strong solvents. As this is a totally new product line, I encourage you to talk to your Harvest sales representative about how it may serve you. We hope it’s a contribution to the entire industry for which we remain a grateful part.

Giclee Canvas Options

2007-11-30T11:40:00.000-08:00

In a quick count that I took before I began this writing, I found over forty different possible selections of something called Giclée canvas. One might wonder why these different canvases are available. I don’t’ have all the answers to that question, but I can help.

To begin with, many of the canvases are redundant. That is to say, they are the same or similar in construction and printability. Some of them are actually the same product with different names. I’m not intending this to be a “tell all” book, but I do think it’s worthwhile to understand what the purposes of these different categories of canvas are. You’d want to know because like every consumer, you’re interested in optimizing the quality of the product that you’re producing; the longevity of the product you’re creating, and the price that you’re paying for the different products.

Let’s talk about quality in Giclée canvas. The correct approach to an evaluation of quality in Giclée canvas has to be relative to the original piece of art in question. As an example, if the original being reproduced was a watercolor on paper…..canvas wouldn’t be appropriate at all. A watercolor produced on canvas is generally unappealing because it has that unconscious quality of fake. By this I don’t mean a forgery, I mean an inappropriate usage of the technology relative to the artist’s original intent. That’s an easy example. A more difficult one would be a choice of Giclée canvas for an oil painting. But still, there’s good reason for thought and selection.

Oil painting originals have their variegations and differences intentionally. An artist who’s beginning a creation deliberately selects a canvas weave, a canvas material content, a canvas size, a canvas weight and a canvas white point. It’s correct that in the artist’s reproduction process, he would again select the substrate that was appropriate for the look and feel that he put into the original. Of course it’s correct that any piece of art, in theory, can be printed on any piece of canvas. So, there’s a lot of room for overlapping and for casual concern.

However, some simple guidelines in choosing your giclee canvas for the reproduction of oil original would be:

Is your original a deeply saturated brilliantly colored work of art?

If it is, you’d surely want to lean in the direction of using a high gloss, high luminant canvas such as BullDog’s Platinum Dot Canvas. I don’t’ mean to plug this particular product, but I’m very familiar with it. It represents the highest capability in the category of luminance and saturation. That is to say, the light reflects back more through the inks and makes the colors appear as though looking through a stain glass window: it holds the maximum amount of ink load which allows the saturated areas to be faithfully reproduced. You’re welcome to seek any canvas in this description for your reproduction of highly colorful and bright oil original. This type of canvas is routinely used with a super gamut ink on typically a Roland printing machine.

But what if your original didn’t require all of that luminance?

Perhaps your original is a neutral piece, where the effect that you’re trying to achieve is more subdued. Perhaps a landscape of a shaded glen; In this case, a canvas that carried a lower ink load and that didn’t provide the transparence of light being reflected further away from a brilliant white base would be completely acceptable. An example of that canvas might be a Red Dot canvas printed on a Mutoh printer with OEM Mutoh inks. The color range of this canvas and this machine is completely suitable for a neutral original. The Mutoh printing machine is fast and it runs fairly easily. So why go through the extra effort for super gamut inks when the Mutoh OEM inks are just fine?

A third category of Giclée canvas needs might be for high key images, or images that don’t have a lot of saturated colors. A great example would be an image of a Snow Fox in a Snow Storm. It doesn’t take a lot of special inks or canvases to produce this type of an image, although the texture of the canvas itself would wind up being a very important element. This type of image could be easily printed with a water resist canvas. Water resist canvases are desirable because they don’t require post coating to protect the ink placement. That is, if you didn’t want to coat the print because you didn’t have the facility, you’d be well advised to print these prints on a Green Dot canvas, because it would be easier and less expensive, and at the same time, the surface of the Green Dot is a smooth chalky, all together pleasing surface.

So, if you know what you’re going to print, and you’re going to print it consistently, then it’s wise to go through the process of matching your giclee canvas and ink to the original. If you don’t know just what images you might be printing, in almost all circumstances, you’d be fine in choosing the widest gamut, highest ink load, best white point, completely luminant glossy canvas Platinum Dot. For the absolute best result, it’s really best to consult your printer relative to how the image reproduction should be handled, as there certainly are other considerations such as the way the image is captured to begin with, the particular person who’s doing the color matching, and the type of post treatment a giclee might get before it goes to market.

Handmade Frames // Chocolate Finish

2007-11-27T14:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Chocolate day and we finished the first of these frames; half which are floating and half which are standard. A second coat of chalky flat black paint was applied by brush, giving the frames a deep thick black surface. Varying grades of steel wool are now rubbed across the black surface for two purposes: one is to further dull the black so it looks even deeper. The second is to rub away enough of the black so that the red undercoat shows through. We don’t really want to see red here. We really just want to give the black deep warmth and a red undertone. The degree of red which is brought through is determined by the art that will be placed in the frame, in order to compliment the oranges and browns of the Giclée art. These frames are coated with the same clear overcoat to project from dirt and scratching. They look fantastic. I’m really pleased with what’s been created in the frame shop. I’ve enclosed some pictures of the final frames. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to secure the customer’s permission to show the frames with the art that has been created for them. These pieces won’t be distributed at all. They’re site specific creations and the client hasn’t invited a public viewing.

Handmade Frames // Silver Finish

2007-11-26T17:08:00.000-08:00

It’s been six days since my last report on the closed corner hand-made frames. This project of twenty-six frames will be made both standard and floating. For those not familiar with floating, floating means that the outside frame material does not come in direct contact with the image, thereby making the image appear to be unsupported or floating in the frame. The final finish will be broken down into two different types of finishes. A silver Borghese finish and a hand rubbed Chocolate finish. The previous selection and milling of wood, as well as the filling and sanding and preparation of a black matte base are common to all the frames we’re making in this project. For the Borghese, they brush on an adhesive, and hand apply the silver leaf, covering the entire frame. Particular attention has to be paid to be sure that no gaps occur; an1/8 inch overlap is necessary. Hand rubbing is done with cheesecloth, giving the silver a burnished appearance with the irregularities that denote hand processes. Now that the silver is well affixed to the wood, we need to bring out just the right amount of black undertone. Silver and black seem to compliment each other, in that black absorbs all light (that is reflects back no light) giving us the absence of color – which is black. On the other hand, silver reflects all light, capturing or filtering none of it; thereby giving us back the full spectrum of light, such as a mirror does, which we call silver. These two extreme treatments of light dance with each other to the tune created by the craftsman’s hand. The craftsman uses different grades of steel wool, with varying amounts of pressure and different grades of cloth, in order to be able to bring out the appropriate balance between the overcoat of silver and the undercoat of black. Now that we have it just where we want it, we tack rag the entire piece – remove any dust – and take it into the spray booth. A clear protective solvent sealer is spray applied one thin mist at a time until the buildup creates a scratch and dirt resistant surface. I really love it and cannot wait to put the art in; hopefully day after tomorrow.

The Giclee Printer and "handmade" frames

2007-11-19T13:29:00.002-08:00

The roll of a Giclée printer seems to be expanding. Giclée printing began somewhere in the late 80’s, well before the name Giclée was introduced. This unique printing process has the sole objective of helping artists, galleries and art publishers, supporting a myriad of printing facilities. The evolution has been through a number of printing technologies, starting with the IRIS and most recently coming to UV Curable flatbed inkjet technologies. The Giclée print houses have adapted to their individual markets with different processes and technologies, such as in-house scanning, automated coating, hand stretching and framing.

At Harvest Productions we’ve added yet another service. Last week we began our first “hand made – closed corner” framing project. We’ve been encouraged to develop this by two customers for some years, and only recently had the good fortune of hiring two experienced craftsmen. For those who aren’t familiar with the terminology “closed corners” this type of framing is best described by me as “old world craftsmanship”. Surely when framing began to surround original art pieces, each frame was made specifically for that piece of art. That is to say that the frame was built, joined and then finished to reflect the needs of the individual piece of art. Today that’s not practical for the vast majority of framing needs. There simply couldn’t be enough people, enough shops, or enough sanders time to be able to manufacture all the frames that the world requires on daily basis. But for the lucky few who have an art piece which deserves the quality of a “closed corner - handmade frame”, it’s truly a source of satisfaction. We haven’t figured out how or if this will be a profitable process at Harvest, but we feel fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in respecting Giclée as an art form. That is to say, Giclée has to be pretty valuable to deserve this much attention in framing. Our progress so far on the frames we’re working on, is that we have had milled 500 feet of bass wood (that’s Brazilian pine like hardwood). This material was post sanded and inspected to be free of flaws. We have joined this material in to ten rectangles to the exact size requirements of the one of a kind Giclées that are being manufactured as I write this. These unusual frame profiles would not fit into the chopping or joining machine, consequently they had to be hand cut and hand joined. The second step is to seal all cracks nail holes and any variations with automobile bondo-like filler and then sand, sand, sand. Thirdly, the soon-to-be frames were hand rubbed with a custom color mixed solvent paint. This gives the framing material a dull patina that is only achieved from hand rubbing. So far, the pieces look like they have great potential. Perhaps in the end, their final finish will compliment the Giclées in a way that demonstrates their value. Of course, we have no way of knowing until it’s done. I’ll keep you informed as we progress on these frames.

Who would have thought that a Giclée printer could ever need to make hand made frames?

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