All About Buying Fine Art Prints
Why Do Art Collectors Buy Fine Art Prints?
Let’s face it: buying original art is expensive! While you may have the budget to purchase original art, many people prefer to buy high quality fine art prints that look like originals. These aren’t mass-produced prints like you see in big box stores.
These prints are still unique and exclusive when they are limited series (a cap is put on the number of prints that will be released—ever). A certificate of authenticity accompanies the print that has the artist’s signature and the print’s number, such as 5/10 (print number five out of a total of ten).
An exciting type of fine art prints are limited series embellished prints. What is meant by that? It’s a limited series of prints that are hand embellished by the artist, creating a totally unique piece. The hand embellishment can be something like pops of metallic color or mark making with a pen, crayon, or texture. I’m excited to offer my first limited series embellished prints later this year—I love the fact that each one will be unique in the world, with a creative touch made by my hand.
When it comes to buying fine art prints, the buyer is sometimes able to select the size they want as well as the substrate (such as printing on gallery-wrapped canvas, paper, or metal). This kind of customization gives the buyer a lot of choices.
On the artist’s end, selling fine art prints helps them share their art with a wider audience and get more revenue from their original art. It creates a more affordable option for the artist’s audience.
What Exactly Is a Fine Art Print?
In order to create a fine art print, a top quality, very high resolution image needs to be captured of the artwork. This can be done by a professional photographer who specializes in photographing art or by a company that offers high-res scanning of artwork. One such company is Candela Fine Art in Oakland, California.
Often the same company that is doing the high-res image capture can also do the printing. In my local area, I’m working with Imperial Frame Gallery in North Palm Beach, Florida for both these services. Some artists take their high-res art images and offer prints through an online storefront such as Pixels.
Fine art prints are created with museum-quality inks and a specialized inkjet printer. The prints can be referred to as giclée (sounds like zhee-CLAY; it means “spray” in French) or as fine art prints or archival prints.
In the case of limited series embellished prints, the artist uses her creativity to hand embellish each print in a unique way, so each print in the limited series is a bit different from the others. What a fun way to make a print very original!
Fine art prints can be made in a variety of sizes including very large. I’ve seen a smaller-scale original become a large statement piece in the form of a large fine art print. Interior designers often order fine art prints on behalf of their clients because it allows them to dictate the size, the substrate, and the framing to perfectly fit the space they’re designing.
Fine Art Prints are a Win-Win
Fine art prints benefit both the collector and the artist. The collector is able to get more bang for their “art buck.” For less money than they’d spend if they were buying an original painting, they’re still able to get an excluding (limited series) piece of art that can grow in value just like originals do. In the case of limited series embellished prints, the collector can select a print that is unlike any other in the world, which only adds to its value.
Fine art prints allow the artist to diversify their offerings and make more revenue from the artwork they’ve invested so much time and materials into. If there’s an artist whose work you love, see if they offer fine art prints—or ask them if they offer them! I can’t wait to share my embellished limited edition prints later this year. Want to get notified when they are released? Join my mailing list and you’ll be the first to know!
Caryl