Q: I'm planning to do a series of watercolors, and I'd like
to sell prints of the series. Although I've been painting for years,
I've never reproduced my work for sale. Where do I begin?
A:
There are many ways to reproduce prints of your artwork. You must first
decide if your artwork will be mass-printed or if you prefer numbered
editions on archival paper. Mass reproductions require professional
slides of your artwork. You will need 4”-x-5” slides to produce large
prints and posters, but 35 mm slides are fine for producing cards and
smaller prints. The paper stock used for mass reproductions is usually
bright white glossy cover stock.
Limited edition reproductions are also called giclée. To produce
giclées, the artwork is usually photographed with a digital camera and
then color-corrected on a computer. The photograph is then printed on
archival watercolor paper or archival canvas. The canvas will be
stretched after it is printed, and the size and editions will be equal
in quality regardless of size of reproduction. Producing giclées,
however, will be more expensive than mass-producing reprints.
--by Camille LaPointe-Lyons