Giclee's for dummies...

[Sam Wilson]

At WW. boston I was talking to james over at HFA about what exactly a giclee is, how they are made, why they are so valuable, etc.

James, (or anyone else for that matter), if you see this can you maybe give us a quick little thing on how giclee's are made?

Also, one question I have is when did this pieces of art start becoming a "hot collectible"? Who decides what gicless get made? Any insight anyone can give into this would be most appreciated...

Giclee's are for dummies. JMO
Although, seriously, I would also be interested in knowing.

[Sniper]

giclee'd are exact reproductions of an artists original.What happens is they scan the original canvas, then use the machine they have that transposes the image and paints the exact reproduction to mirror the original. The reason they cost so much is they only make a certain run and the technology to reproduce these is $$$$$$$ so not everyone can make them. Also James has special licenses to reproduce certain marvel peices so many pieces you can only fine through his gallery.

[cblakey1]

.. and I will glue it on a canvas and slap on some glaze and viola! instant giclee.

Oh, and it'll cost you $500.+

[Zurbaran1]

This question has come up many times since way back when the forum started and even before then. I pulled this off a web site:

In Giclee printing, no screen or other mechanical devices are used and therefore there is no visible dot screen pattern. The image has all the tonalities and hues of the original painting. Giclee (pronounced Gee’clay) is a French term meaning to spray or squirt, which is how an inkjet printer works. However, it is not the same as a standard desktop inkjet printer, and is much larger. Giclee prints are a little over a metre wide and are often affectionately referred to as a “knitting machine” as they look very similar.

Do Giclee printers use ordinary printers inks?
No. They use special light-fast inks, which, if kept out of the sun, will remain true for up to 25 years. The way the image is scanned is different also. The original is scanned directly on a drum scanner, in my printer’s case, it can scan flexible images up to 500 x 700 mm. If the image is larger, or cannot be taken off the stretcher frames, then a large format transparency must be taken of the piece, and this is then scanned. I have done one this way, and find that it works quite well, but you must factor in the cost of the professional photograph, and the additional time it takes.

What kind of printing paper is used for Giclee prints?
Giclee prints can be produced on any paper as you wish, and printers generally have several specific ones to choose from. I chose to print on to canvas. My original paintings are on canvas, and I wanted the Giclee prints to be as close to the originals as possible, not only in colour, but also in texture. And canvas prints are much more durable than paper as they do not crease when rolled for mailing.

How many Giclee prints did you have to make?
One of the advantages of Giclee printing is that once the scan is made, you can order as many or as few as you wish. My printer has a minimum order of one metre (they usually do charge by the metre as canvas is expensive, and generally comes on a roll a metre wide). I could easily have gone larger, but I sized my giclee prints 11 x 11” (28 x 28 cm). The main reason for this is that this particular size would fit standard Ikea frames which are the best I could find for the money and are very popular here. And as there was spare canvas left over, we printed small ones too…5 x 5” (12.5 x 12.5 cm) to use up the extra canvas. My original intention was to use these small Giclee prints as samples, perhaps to someone who was considering purchasing an original, but surprisingly they have become very popular, so I have included them in the limited edition count. Again, they fit in standard frames.

I also found this:

Giclee Prints
First, I'll start off with a short history of giclee prints, then, if you are interested, I'll tell you why I chose giclee prints over lithographs below.

Giclée - pronounced "jee-clay" - in French it means sprayed ink
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A Short History of Iris Giclée Printing
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Artists have been appropriating commercial printing technology since it was first developed. When Durer produced etchings of his images, and used the prints as individual works of art, it was as outrageous as Warhol or Lichtenstein appropriating color lithography to produce Pop Art in the early 1960s. Iris technology was first developed as a proofing process for digital prepress applications, and remains the ultimate soft proof in the digital workflow. The high quality of the process was noticed in the mid 1980s by pioneers of Giclée printing like Graham Nash and Jon Cone, who then developed inks that expanded the color gamut and longevity of the print. Iris printing became a viable fine arts medium because of their seminal work.
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The list of artists using Iris Giclée technology is diverse. It includes artists who have always pioneered in the use of new printing technologies like Robert Rauschenburg, who produced Iris prints for his Guggenheim New York show in 1997, artists associated with painting such as Chuck Close, traditional printmakers like Vija Celmins, and photographers including William Wegman, Harry Callahan, Joel Meyerowitz, and Lee Friedlander. The attraction of a new medium that permits experimentation in the digital realm without compromising the quality of the resulting print is a powerful draw for artists of our time.

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The Iris/Giclée Print
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With the advent of the Giclée, the art of fine art printing has become even more precise. Because no screens are used, the prints have a higher apparent resolution than lithographs. The dynamic color range is like a serigraph. In the Giclee process, a fine stream of ink - more than four million droplets per second - is sprayed onto archival art paper or canvas. The effect is similar to an airbrush technique but much finer. Each piece is carefully hand mounted onto a drum which rotates during printing. Exact calculations of hue, value and density direct the ink of four nozzles. This produces a combination of 512 chromatic changes, (with over 3 million colors possible) of highly saturated, nontoxic water-based ink. The artist's color approval and input are essential for creating the final custom setting for the edition.
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The latest advancements in the Giclée process are the work of a sophisticated fine art production facility that utilizes the highest resolution digital printers. This edition of fine art prints is a collaboration between the artist and a specially trained printing craftsman. They have extended the boundaries of current technology by customizing their equipment, designing new programs, and offering protective coatings to ensure quality standards for the collector.
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Displaying a full color spectrum, Giclée prints capture every nuance of an original painting - be it watercolor, oil or acrylic and have gained wide acceptance from artists like David Hockney and Robert Rauschenberg to major institutions like the Chicago Art Institute and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

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Why I chose giclee prints over lithographs
Let me first say this, I am no expert on printing and don't claim to be, this is just my opinion on my findings, compare for yourself.

When the time came to publish limited edition prints, I did some research, which I urge you to do. Basically, I compared reproducing my art with giclee prints vs. lithographs. There is no doubt about it, lithos are less expensive to produce than giclee's on a per print basis, but I believe the giclee prints are the better value in the long run. The biggest difference is that with lithos, you have to print and buy all of the prints at the get go, which can get costly if you have several paintings you want to reproduce. With giclee prints, you can print as many as you want, you can just have them printed as you sell them, no inventory, so your startup costs are much less. Most giclee printers scan a transparency and print from that, I went one step further and had my paintings scanned instead and stored onto a cd. Not only did that save a couple generations of my image, but the image on the cd will last forever, unlike a transparency. With cutting down on how many generations it is until your image makes it to the printing paper, you of course get a sharper image, and that is what reproducing art is all about. Plus, the folks that do the scanning plug-in the type of inks my printer uses to make the color separations even tighter. With giclee prints, you also have the option of offering a print on canvas, unlike a litho. So I am a believer in giclee prints, I believe the image is sharper, the colors are more precise and deeper and the overall quality is far superior to a litho (see the short history of giclee prints above). I am not against lithos by any means, they still have a place in fine art reproduction and I plan on doing some lithos.
Well that's the deal, my view of it anyway, but I urge you to check it out yourself, there is too much money involved to take any one persons recommendation. Get samples of each, giclee printers are more than happy to provide you with samples, both on paper and canvas. Your best bet is to ask other artists in your area who they use, because not all printers are created equal, I have heard some real horror stories. If you don't know of another artist that has used giclee prints, ask the printer for some references, but do it nicely, just be upfront with your concerns, good printers will understand where you are coming from.

[HFA]

The high quality of giclee prints is undeniable...there is NOTHING better. There will continue to be ignorant people that don't understand the difference between a giclee print and a 10-20 dollar poster, but the key ingredient that makes these things "expensive" is LICENSING and DEMAND.

Alex Ross giclees are "expensive" because he is simply one of the best artists on the planet, and sales reflect that.

DC comics giclees are "expensive" because more people want them (don't cry, Marvel fans!). DC also charges the highest licensing fees to use their characters. Though this may hurt the wallet, it also makes sense because more people want to see a Batman piece than an Ant-man piece (sorry, Ant-man).

Who decides what gets made? The people who hold the rights to produce giclees. Right now, that is Clampett Studio Collections (for DC material) and Upper Deck (for Marvel material). Dynamic Forces had the Marvel license prior to Upper Deck...THEY decided what to produce. Sometimes its simply a guessing game. What will sell? Hmmm...Alex Ross??

The nice thing about DF having the license was I know the owner personally, so I could get project done that I wanted to do, be it for fun, potential profit, or hopefully some of both. I don't know if that kind of relationship can exist with Upper Deck, but its possible.

I've had a hard time doing a DC "exclusive", based almost solely on cost. Too expensive. The hidden factor is that DC is very snotty about what character is used, how they are presented, etc so it can be a nightmare to get anything done. This should be "fun", and they kind of take the fun out of it.

WHAT MADE THESE "HOT"?? Limited availability (only 100 on canvas...for the WORLD?? Not very many, folks), the characters...and Alex Ross. Period. Giclee prints for comic art have been around less than 10 years. The WB stores experimented with it early on and had success. The other thing about giclees is that you can ENLARGE the piece ridiculously. Have any of you seen the canvas for "Batman: Today and Tomorrow"? It is nearly 4 feet tall. Sorry to disappoint, but Alex simply doesn't paint that large! One of the few exceptions I found: I was visiting DF in their offices and I saw the "Marvel: 1970s" original painting there...it was HUGE. I had wanted to do my exclusive as a large 24 x 36 piece anyway, and the original was only an inch or two smaller! WOW.

Anyway, all of the "complainers" out there can blame Alex, I guess. You can pay $1000-$1500 or more for a gorgeous canvas giclee of a multi-character DC jam piece or JLA painting, or try saving your pennies and try to get the original multi-character piece for $25,000 (probably MORE).

Just watch the market...I've noticed many of you don't understand that original Ross covers often sell for 10K...and fairly quickly! That makes a giclee "cheap" by comparison, right?

I'll hop off the soap-box now...BUT...

There really isn't much debate. If you're happy with a poster and you don't have a refined eye, you're set. If you want something better, something with "value"...here it is. Many of the artists that see their stuff reproduced as a giclee (Alex included) have told me they look BETTER than the original!! Imagine that.

So the same people that are satisfied with a "poster" can also continue to be satisfied eating at McDonalds instead of Ruth's Chris.

[Sam Wilson]

thanks zurb and james. Definately very informative.

I'm definately glad I got that girls of marvel giclee rather than the poster by the way...

[JDH]

I'm sad to hear I don't have a refined eye. Is there an operation I can have?

[Sam Wilson]

Originally Posted by jdh.goodgrief

I'm sad to hear I don't have a refined eye. Is there an operation I can have?

j, you haven't caught this bug yet? I know bullseye has it, so it has definately spread across the pond, if you will...

[JDH]

Originally Posted by Sam Wilson

j, you haven't caught this bug yet? I know bullseye has it, so it has definately spread across the pond, if you will...

Nah, I'm not bonkers like Bullseye. Shipping expenses pretty much rule this out as a bad idea over here, making the difference in price not worth it to me. There's only so much money to spend, after all, and the folks I have to visit won't be blown away by a giclee any more than they will be a well-framed lithograph: no comics fans to impress in my life. If I had all the money and wallspace in the world (and an infinitely, as opposed to just very, understanding wife), sure, I'd go for it, albeit after many other things (Factory X Mjolnir, for one...). But as it is, I'll stick with my very occasional Ross litho. I love McDonalds too, you won't get a better chip anywhere in the world, but I guess I won't be holding out my pinkie finger as I eat them.