Prints are produced by a variety of means and the following brief definitions illustrate the artistic opportunity they create.
Those produced by an artist in a limited edition will vary with the type of print, the complexity and cost of producing the print and the price required.
A list of typical prints and their definitions are shown below.
The latest development of ink jet or gicleé methods has enhanced the range and quality of printing techniques.
Limited editions can be a worthwhile investment as well as an attractive and collectable item when editions are kept to low print runs.
ARTISTIC PRINTS
Monoprints
These are images that are produced by one off impression of artwork that has been painted or prepared on a base plate prior to simple contact printing.
Engravings
These are images that have been produced on the end grain of wood that has been engraved, inked and then used to produce a relief print.
Wood cuts
These are images that have been carved on wooden planks that are subsequently inked and used to produce a relief wood cut print.
Woodcut impressions
These are scanned wood cuts that have then been enhanced to produce a wood cut impressionistic effect which is printed as a gicleé print.
Screen impressions
These are images that have been produced from artwork, layered, coloured, adjusted and printed as a gicleé print.
Paintings
These are images that have been produced from selected paintings as a gicleé print.
PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTS
Photographic
Traditional dark room prints are being replaced by the gicleé prints on archival paper with recommended inks, such as chromatic inks, being used to enhance their quality and light fastness.
Fractal Art
A new art form whereby solutions to mathematical formulae are converted into images which are subsequently adjusted and printed as a gicleé print.
PrintPhotomontage
A combination of photography by creating a collage of a variety of images and producing a new image that can then be printed as a gicleé print.