Why are prints signed in pencil

Do they all have to be the same size? Do they have to be framed the same? Do they have to be printed on the same media? Do they have to be signed in the same place? Do they have to be signed with the same color? In other words, if I have 3 paintings, is it okay to limit one to 10 prints, another to 50 and another to ? You don't have to print all at once, right? You can basically do it on demand?

Do you have to start with 1, and then 2, etc? Or can you go out of order? I think the source of your confusion is that that you are talking about reproductions and I am talking about fine art printmaking.

A lot of people get confused about this. Here's the answers to your questions 1 Say you have an original painting, and you are making limited edition prints. You can't make a limited edition print of an original painting - because it is a painting, not a support for creating hand-pulled fine art prints. You can create giclee print reproductions of a painting and you can do these any size you like but you should NOT confuse these with a proper limited edition fine art print. When you sell a fine art print, you sell the print - it's up to the owner to decide how they are framed.

Like I said you're not creating limited edition prints in the conventional sense, you are creating giclee print reproductions.

You can have as many as you like anytime any size. A limited edition in the true sense of the word is done once only in one size. Let's say you are not going to make more than reproduction prints of one painting - which is what you seem to be suggesting you want to do. If you're creating giclee prints you can print as you go and many people do - however they are also very careful to call it a giclee print reproduction. When making a fine art print, the convention is to break the plate at the end of the print run.

That would mean no more prints could be made. Anybody anytime anywhere can make a reproduction of the image if they can get hold of a decent size image - or even a halfway decent image. A giclee print can be plagiarised very easily whereas it's much more difficult to plagiarise a strictly limited edition fine art print eg an etching, lithograph, linocut etc etc etc.

Thank you Katherine. You're right, that is the source of my confusion. A fine art print that is actually unique, vs a reproduction which a modern printer can make exact copies. I was ignorant to this distinction before For example, there is a local art show once a week here. The funny things is, if you make a painting, you are only allowed to sell the original; no reproductions at all.

But then you have the photographers. All digital photographers. Because their work is all digital, and there is no "original," they are actually allowed to sell as many of the same piece as they want.

Because they aren't considered "reproductions," because there is no original. That doesn't seem fair does it? But they might technically have to make them limited editions.

Or maybe they don't even have to limit their editions. They might be allowed to truly sell unlimited reproductions. I'm not sure. So what are the guidelines for those folks? They are just using a printer to make exact reproductions of their original digital image. What are your thoughts on my original 4 questions as it relates to those folks doing digital photography?

Painters are painters and photographers are photographers - and they're different The point is fine art prints are different as well - and they are the ONLY media which can genuinely state that they produce a limited edition ie if they destroy the plate or whatever the print is produced from at the end Everything else is down to an artist's or painter's integrity.

Hello all, I wondered if I could ask some advice regarding repro prints? Apologies in advance for my vagueness! Currently I am working on a series of quality hand painted works on wood panels which are reasonably unique to my skill-set. My material options are: 1. Digitally Printed Stretched Canvas, 2. Digitally Printed Paper. Screen Printed Paper. My queries are: 1: Signed Limited Prints: -Are any of the above materials not considered appropriate for a signed limited edition print? Assuming the limiteds are priced higher than the online repros -Would selling through a Crated be detrimental to my work's "Value"?

Many thanks everyone, and again sorry for my question bombardment! Cheers :- John. Well first of all a Limited Edition of something that isn't a proper fine art print is a debateable asset - for the very reason you outlined It simply isn't a limited edition if you are going to make any other sort of copies in other ways at other times.

So first of all I'd forget about calling anything a limited edition if you contemplate multiple methods of sale. Next there are any number of sites that do exactly the same thing as the one you mention which is basically printing images from a digital image that you upload You don't ever see the product sent to the customer let alone get to sign it! Frankly I'd worry less about what you are going to produce and worry more about how you are going to get people interested.

The simple fact is that sites like the one you mention rarely bring any traffic. Those that do well are those that have already developed a following elsewhere and are just using the site for creating prints in one form or another. Bottomline, creating prints - in whatever way you choose to do - does not mean you will sell them.

Would it not be proper to create a limited edition of, say, an abstract digital print if the original file is deleted upon creation of the desired number of prints? Would a certificate help support that? I'm assuming a personal print service would be used, not a "sales site.

The question with digital prints and limited editions is essentially whether the buyer trusts the artist. I don't think a certificate would make much difference. I am still unsure as to what type of print I am creating, and how to sign it. I'm a watercolour artist. I use an artisan photographic inkjet printer to create prints of my work, which I sell.

I print each one individually on a fine setting. I use high quality paper and high definition dye ink, a combo that gives the print a year lifetime given archival conditions. I reject the ones I am not happy with. These are not limited edition prints. Since I print each one myself, and then dry and cut them myself, what type of print is this? Also, do I sign the front? I have only been initialing the back of the prints as a form of approval , and often the front has my initials and date signature from the scan of the original watercolour, but not always since I need to sometimes crop the image to fit a print format.

Should I have both the original signature from the painting scan , as well as a print signature on the front, or just one signature, or none? I have tried to find this information online, and this is the best post I have come across about it, however I am still unsure how and if I should be signing the front. I also struggle with the wording for this type of print. Any suggestions would be well appreciated!

You are creating a reproduction - albeit with a little more care than some who create reproductions do. If you signature on the painting is visible another signature on the reproduction would seem to me to be just duplication as you are not indicating any additional information - such as edition number I'd sign on the back and also provide them with a printed card for the back of the frame with information about yourself, your website address and how to contact you.

That way if they want to buy more of your work or have somebody who admires it they have your details readily to hand! It was of particular interest to the German Expressionists including Ernst Ludwig Kirchner , and it continues to be relevant today — artists such as Donald Judd , Damien Hirst and Helen Frankenthaler have all used it.

Although printmaking involves reproducing an image, a print is more than just a copy of an original. Fine art prints are something else entirely, resulting from a close collaboration between the artist and the print studio. Printers — the people who work with the artist to produce an edition — are highly skilled technicians, and are often artists in their own right. Philip Guston , Gemini G. Set 1 , The complete set of eight lithographs. Prints are not made in large production runs intended solely for commercial sale.

A limited number known as an edition are produced, with prescribed routes for initial sale — either through the artist, a commercial gallery or a publisher. As a result they are true works of art, and as important to the artist as drawings or other works on paper. Artists make prints for a variety of reasons. Lucian Freud would create etchings only in black and white following his days in the painting studio, while Ellsworth Kelly applied the same fastidious understanding of colour and form to his editioned work.

Some artists consistently make prints for their entire career — Jasper Johns and Pablo Picasso are famously prolific examples —while others come to printmaking in bursts of activity, such as Barnett Newman. Typically these periods can be aligned to working with a particular print workshop. Here again, fractions may be used to indicate the total number of proofs, and the print number e. Other proofs may be made at an earlier stage, as the artist and printer develop an image or test different compositions.

These are known as state proofs, trial proofs or colour proofs. These can be unique, with differences in colour combinations, paper types or size. When the image is perfected, a proof is made and signed B. Aug 23, 9. Thanks to everyone for you're replies. Aug 23, Messages: 3, Pain old-fashioned 2 pencil. You must log in or sign up to reply here. Show Ignored Content. Your name or email address: Do you already have an account?

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The hand signed signature signified the integrity of the print, that it is original and distinctive from a reproduction. Whistler charged twice as much for his hand signed pieces than he did his other pieces from the same edition, even though there was no difference in the quality of the art.

Seymour Haden would sign his name to any of his earlier unsigned etchings for a guinea. Picasso sold signatures for the Vollard Suite. Unfortunately, the hand signed signature no longer has this same meaning since many artists sign and number their offset lithographic or giclee reproductive prints. Nor is this a new phenomenon, Kathe Kollwitz signed photolithographic reproductions of one of her aquatint series.

Still, the implied message has remained and pieces that are hand signed generally are more valuable than ones that are not. What makes all of this very confusing is that it is possible to have a fake signature on an authentic work of art and an authentic signature on a reproductive work of art.

Sometimes, instead of hand signing the art or signing in the plate, an artist will use a stamp of their signature and apply it to the art, usually in the lower margin where you would normally find the hand signature.

A stamped signature will sometimes be confused for a hand signed signature. Heirs and estates have been creating posthumous editions or reproductive editions that bears a special signature.