Revolver Gallery - Marilyn Monroe Complete Portfolio
Here at The Lifestyle Guide, we've begun our exciting journey into the world of art collecting. The walls of our office have taken on their own "personality" and as we look around our thoughts and senses are truly engaged. Some of our pieces are thought-provoking, aesthetically pleasing, even motivating and others just give us a cheeky chuckle. Any way you look at it art seems to be the gift that keeps on giving. These days you don't need to spend a small fortune to own your own piece or start a collection. There is a wide variety of options and different price points to suit everyone's budget and lifestyle.
Original pieces of art can be very expensive but there is a more cost-effective solution... "prints". An art print is a printed reproduction of an original work of art. Art prints can be printed using a number of different printing methods and on a variety of different print materials. These factors, including the quantity that is made available for printing, contribute to the final price of the art print.
When deciding on what prints to buy, or invest in, it can become a bit confusing as there are a few different types of print teniques. Lucky for us we have our resident art enthusiast & blogger: young_art_collector - who has put together a great educational piece on this topic so we can all gain some valuable knowledge about "art prints" and we hope you take away a few key points when making your next purchase.
Education: So you’re keen to collect prints, but which ones?
Hey all, for my second blog post, I thought it would be appropriate to inform everyone about the different type of prints and editions available on the market. When you first start collecting prints, it can be a bit of a minefield out there. There are lots of different types of ‘printing techniques’, lots of different types of paper, different sized editions and importantly just lots and lots of jargon to throw everyone off. In light of all this, I thought I would break down some of the different types of print editions here and also make some suggestions as to some recent new releases which present great examples of each different type.
Screenprint:
When you talk about prints, you simply can’t not start with the screen print. Made famous by Andy Warhol and his army of workers at the ‘Factory’, the ‘screen print’ is in many ways the most common type of print found on the market. The process involves creating a stencil, which can be made from a whole host of different things, including paper or plastic. This stencil is then placed against a wire mesh to create the ‘screen’. Ink is then pushed through the stencil and the image is replicated on the paper below.
A recent example of a new ‘screen print’ are the editions released by David Shrigley and Nicolas Walner https://editions.nicolaiwallner.com/products/to-hell-with-zoos
Etchings:
Perhaps one of the first types of printmaking, an etching involves an artist carving their image onto a metal plate covered in wax. The plate is then dipped into acid and cleaned. Once cleaned, the artist applies ink into the crevices left by the original scratching. When the plate is then pressed onto paper, an ‘impression’ of the image is left as the ink transfers from the plate to the paper.
A recent example of a new etching is the gorgeous Rashid Johnson released with Hauser and Wirth of his iconic ‘anxious man’. https://secure.actblue.com/donate/rm-prints-johnson
Digital Print:
These are becoming increasingly popular and represent a good point of access for anyone not keen on spending a huge sum of money. The truth is that a digital print is essentially just the work of a very good inkjet printer. Increasingly, artists are relying on digital prints to create beautiful copies of their work from a digital file.
Lithograph:
Another absolutely classic print making technique is the ‘lithograph’. The process involves the artist drawing straight onto a stone with specially designed lithograph friendly utensils. The stone is then mixed with chemicals to ensure that the image on the stone attracts ink. A roller then applies oil paint to the stone and a lithograph press is used to ensure that the image on the stone is printed evenly onto the paper. If the image involves several different colours then it is likely that several stones were used in the process.
Recent examples of this technique include Amoako Boafo’s debut editions with Marianne Ibrahim Gallery https://marianeibrahim.com/editions/
Now that we have covered a few of the most popular types of printmaking, it's important to clarify a few further points regarding collecting prints.
Framing:
Firstly, the single most important element of print collecting is how you frame your pieces. Prints are delicate pieces of art and require top quality frames. One lesson I learnt, in particular, was that how you ‘mount’ a print and what type of glass your frame has are very important. In terms of ‘mounting’ your print, it should never be spray mounted to the backboard and it should always be a reversible process. Usually, hinges are used to ensure that the paper sits appropriately in the frame but is not stuck down. In terms of glass, it is vital that you have UV protected glass. There is simply no point paying a lot of money for a print and watching the sunshine ruin it.
Edition Size:
This part of print collecting can prove to be quite complicated. The size of the edition refers to the number of prints from the release. For example, if the edition size is 100 then that means there are 100 versions of that print. Unfortunately, it isn’t quite that simple as there are also Artist Proofs, Printers Proofs and occasionally Test/Working Proofs. Artist proofs tend to be very popular with collectors as these are the versions of the print that the artist has created to be used as a point of reference for the printers to create the rest of the edition. A Printers Proof is very similar to the Artists Proof in its function as it is usually used by the different printers in the room to create the same image. Lastly, a working or testing proof is an initial version of the print as a work in progress. On occasion, these proofs can be gifted by the artists to the printers or they can be sold to VIP collectors.
That's a crash course in print and edition collecting, I hope you enjoyed it!
Thanks!
The Lifestyle Guide has some amazing "hand painted vintage paperback with silkscreen varnish" by The Connor Brothers for sale on website. Please visit here to find out more.
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