Art Reproduction Giclees & Art Note Cards From Your Original Art

Q. Describe the most common types of jobs you do for your clients.

A. Photographing artwork for the purpose of printing them as note cards & fine art giclee reproductions on watercolor paper, matte paper &/or canvas.

Q. What important information should buyers have thought through before seeking you out?

A. #1 Thing: Art reproduction is not just a matter of hitting print. Skill, patience, experience, attention to detail, knowledge of the artistic creative process, knowledge of how to manipulate pixels, having the ability to jump technical hurdles as unique as the artwork that is in front of us at any one time, is the short list of what is involved with producing, museum quality, fine art prints. We do not make "color copies." That is what Kinko's & Kwik Kopy does. We produce fine art reproduction gilcee prints that come with certificates of authenticity, on medias that are archival, using inks that are colorfast for 200 years, that are appropriate for serious collectors, exhibition venues, galleries, & museum gift shops...that are also equally appropriate for the living room walls of family, friends & admirers.

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

A. Because we are first & foremost artists, who have skill, expertise & training in digital graphic technology, which means that we understand the process that our clients used to create their works, which allows us to do the computer work that will honor that process & get a color match of their original.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. The clients. The artists that I work with are as interesting as the works that they create. Collaborating with each unique artist personality to create a finished product that makes all involved proud, is the most rewarding part of what I do.

Q. What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A. Probably the 2 most common questions are about giclee print sizes (as in, "can you print...") & pricing on services & products. To answer those questions, I have a size chart of standard possibilities, with the caveat that custom sizes are very possible...and...I have a pricing grid that provides cost information.

Q. Do you have a favorite story from your work?

A. The repeated favorite story is the response from people who are seeing their artwork reproduced for the very first time. The squeals of joy, amazement (& sometimes happy tears) never grows old.

Q. What do you wish customers knew about you or your profession?

A. I would want customers to know that I am ridiculously committed to honoring the intent & essence of their original artwork when creating a reproduction. I will dissect sections of their work as required to get just the correct shade of hues & tones that were part of their original palette. I coined the phrase "art reproductionist," which I think sums up my particular profession...that of someone who--simply stated--reproduced art.

Q. How did you decide to get in your line of work?

A. About 10 years ago, a friend & business associate, who is also an artist, asked me (since I had computer expertise) if I could make some prints of his artwork. In attempting to honor that request for him, I became immersed in the phenomenal possibilities of producing accurate color reproductions of artwork. This led--of course--to acquiring all of the toys that go along with this type of endeavor: cameras, scanners, printers, etc... As my friend began to put the work that I had done for him out before a broader public, I began to get requests from other artists. Well, one thing let to another...

Q. If you have a complicated pricing system for your service, please give all the details here.

A. I don't think that our pricing system is complicated. In its simplest form, we have a "setup" fee, which covers the work that it takes to get the art submitted by the client output to the product requested (we also sometimes refer to this as the "proofing" process). That wold include photography or scanning (if originals were submitted) or color tweaking to make our printers agree w/ what our monitors are showing (if the work was submitted to us digitally). From there the cost involved would be for the actual products themselves.