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Wildflowers Publishing was
recently featured in Art
Materials Retailer's e-magazine. here
are excerpts from the article:
More About Digital Printing
by Kari Anderson
Four years ago, Mike Hill branched out from the retail art
supply business when he purchased Wildflowers
Fine Art Publishing, a giclee publishing company. Mike says
that his store, Purveyors
of Art & Design in Boone, North Carolina, and his giclee
business make “good brothers-in-law.” “I can sell
my customers the canvas, brushes and color, then go collect their
artwork once they’re done with it, do the digital image
capture, and charge for the service.”
To capture images, Mike uses a large-format camera with a
digital scanner mounted on the back. Because he’s not using
a flatbed or drum scanner, he doesn’t run the risk of smearing
or ruining pastel artwork. With proper lighting, he’s also
able to convey a three-dimensional feel when it comes to brushstrokes,
impasto painting, and even collages.
What’s great about giclee?
Mike says that while giclee publishing is still in its infancy,
it is growing up quickly. “I think it will upset litho as
the preferred method of limited edition prints for up-and-coming
artists.” Mike offers several reasons why artists are seeking
out this form of reproduction.
First, the faltering economy has meant that art patrons are
buying smaller pieces or not buying art at all. Giclee prints
offer an economical alternative to original artwork because they
usually go for half the price of originals.
Second, an artist can charge more for a giclee print than
a litho. “You can get five times the amount for giclee as
you can a litho, which is basically just a really nice poster,”
explains Mike.
Third, instead of an artist painting the same popular subject
again and again, she can sell giclee prints of it for residual
income, thus saving her time and propping up her income during
slow periods.
Fourth, depending on the grade of materials an artist is
using, the giclee print can actually be more permanent than the
original. (If that’s the case, this would be a good opportunity
for you to regale the benefits of top-shelf artist grade materials.)
Last, as Mike puts it, creating limited edition giclee prints
“is a neat way for artists to look like a bigger deal than
they are.”
Why wouldn’t an artist do it himself?
Sure, lots of artists produce their own prints themselves
on their own printers. So why would they go to Mike? One reason
is to save time. An artist recently explained that he no longer
had time to do any real painting since he was spending so much
time looking at his Photoshop program.
Another reason why artists bring their work to Wildflowers Publishing
is because they can’t go to the local print shop anymore.
“The print shop here in town quit doing giclee because they
couldn’t stand working with artists,” explained Mike.
“If you rely on technology alone, the printed image will
not match the original 99.9 percent of the time, and you’ll
still have to compare visually and use color theory to tweak
the final piece. That’s something non-artists don’t
always appreciate.
“The challenge is that you’ve got a painting made with
all sorts of pigments and you’re trying to convert that
digitally to a printer that only has seven colors. You’re
translating from one medium to another. It’s the subtlety
of subtracting yellow and adding magenta, for example. Then you
proof and proof and proof using the color theory you learned
as an artist.”
Mike says that selling art supplies is still his favorite thing
to do, but admits that the degree of customer satisfaction and
the “you’re-a-god-among-men” accolades he gets
in the reproduction business is especially gratifying.
Still, it wasn’t an easy process to learn. “That first
year was a bitch!” he recalls. “And I’m a fairly
computer-savvy person. You don’t even know how far behind
the times you are until you get into something like that.”
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© 2 0 12, W i
l d f l o w e r s F i n e A r t P u b l i s
h i n g
112 Aldridge Park
Banner Elk, NC 28604 (800)
861-DRAW, (828) 963-7246
info@wildflowerspublishing.com |
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Located in Beautiful Foscoe
North Carolina, and convenient to Northeast Tennessee and Southwest
Virginia, Wildflowers Fine Art Publishers use state-of-the-art,
digital photo scanning combined with wide format printing to
produce the finest quality Giclee reproductions available on
the market today. Our services include: Digital Photography,
digital scanning, full color calibration, wide format printing,
conservation framing and matting, shrink-wrapping, website development
for artists and much, much more! You’ll find that our pricing
is very competitive within this exciting fine art publishing
industry niche and you simply will not beat the caliber of personalized
service and expertise offered by our team of fine artist technicians.
Call us today to schedule your free consultaion. Your satisfaction
is always guaranteed!
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Boone, Banner Elk, Blowing Rock, Ashe County, Avery
County, Watauga County, Carter County, Elk Park, Newland, West
Jefferson, Roan Mountain, Elizabethton, Fine Art, Art Supplies,
Art Materials, Paint, Pastel Paper, Brushes, Mediums, Framing,
Matting, Fine Art Giclee, Art Publishing, Fine Art Sales, Giclee
Printing, Photo on Canvas, M Graham & Co. Silver Brush, General
Pencil, Dr. Ph. Martins
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about our company