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limited edition collection
signed and numbered by the artist |
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| This collection is a very special offering of limited edition fine art prints. All are signed and numbered by the artist. The printing method and output varies from artist to artist so we have listed some helpful details on what some of the available processes are. Unique from the rest of our extensive product line, these items will increase in value over time due to their very special and limited nature. We hope you enjoy.
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| FEATURED ARTISTS |
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| LIMITED EDITION MEDIA TYPES |
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| LIMITED EDITION PRINTS |
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| A limited edition prints is an original image limited to a predetermined quantity to retain it's integrity and value. The edition is individually signed and numbered by the artist. The numbers denote the individual piece number in the edition over the total edition size (written as a fraction). In addition to the numbered prints in an edition, there are usually an additional 20-25% of signed proofs produced for the artist and publisher. Artist's Proofs (APs) are reserved for the artist and are used for personal use. They are not part of the regular edition. Printer's Proofs (PPs) are proofs presented to the printer upon completion of printing. Sales Proofs (HCs) are kept by the Publisher and are generally used as sales samples. Selected limited editions you purchase are accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity. This certifies that your print is an authentic limited edition print. The certificate should detail the exact number of numbered prints, artist proofs, printers proofs and sales proofs created. The studio where the print was produced, the type of paper used, the number of color plates, the date the edition was signed, the date the plates were cancelled are also mentioned. Note: All items with item number codes beginning with DEV will include a certificate of authenticity.
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| PAPER QUALITY |
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 The paper on which serigraphs, giclees, mixed media and stone lithographs are printed add immensely to the value and quality of the print. The paper weight and content make the difference in the way a print looks, feels and ages. An integral part of the print making, paper is perhaps the foremost consideration for the publisher at the outset of the printing process, especially in terms of what best interprets the original piece and the artist's intent.The traditional art of paper making has remained virtually the same for centuries. Ts'ai Lun, a Chinese eunuch, is generally credited with its invention in A.D. 105. The invention of paper spread from China to Korea and later, by A.D. 610, to Japan. The paper trail blew eastward to Persia, and eventually to Egypt, Morocco, Spain and Italy. By the time paper making got to Europe, the materials had changed from those in the Orient. Europeans used cotton and linen fibers and then sized it with gelatin. The result was a paper that was more durable and could take the scratch of quill pens. In the East, the paper was soft translucent and absorbent, and could only be used on one side, perfect for their extensive use of brushes. The real changes in papermaking occurred in the materials used to make the paper. The more cotton and high quality fibers present, the stronger the paper. The quality of the paper content will not only affect the longevity of the print but also the quality of the print's color.
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| GICLEES |
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 Claude Monet said, "Technique changes but art remains the same." No where is this sentiment more evident than with speaking of today's world where art and technology meet. It is inevitable that technology plays an important roll in a progress of civilization and the art that is born from it. Artists throughout their time have used the prevailing technology, whether it was the use of aquatints or a stylus attached to a digitized pad. The artistic process continues and is enhanced by the unique characteristics lent by the use of new technology. Once such technological breakthrough has been the advent of the giclee printing.Since giclee printing made its debut in 1985, many influential artists have incorporated it into their artistic endeavors. David Hockney, Robert Rauschenberg, Jamie Wyeth and Francesco Clamente have made wide us of the medium. Museums have also realized giclees vast potential and have already made many giclee additions a permanent part of their collections. What these influential artists and institutions value in a giclee print is an excellent, high quality method of printing that truly captures the artist's original intent. The strong interpretive power of a giclee is, in part, due to the quality of the inks, which are optimized for fine art applications and which simulate press conditions without the toxic or environmental effects (inks are all water-based). In addition, giclee can be printed on a varitey of surfaces, including archival quality papers, canvas, and silks, giving the ultimate look and feel of a fine art print. The combination of the ink and paper allows for unbelievable saturation and depth of color and a beautiful finished product worthy of the respect of artists and art collectors alike. While the technological aspects of giclee in part an impression of simplicity and ease, the process is extremely complex and time-consuming. The giclee printer is a digital printer that uses continuous ink jet technology whereby microscopic droplets of ink are placed with excruciating precision onto a surface. The image consists of pixels or dots that are formed by these droplets in combinations of each of the four colors (cyan, magenta, yellow and black). Data from the computer instructs the printer how many droplets of each color to place within each dot. The dots are so small (each droplet can only be viewed under a microscope) and precise that, instead of seeing dots, the human eye registers only a slow tonal gradation. The inkjet travels from left to right along a steel rod while a drum wrapped with fine art print paper is spinning traversely to the ink at about 250 inches per second. Each nozzle of ink (four nozzles, one for each color) produces one million droplets per second, an amazing testament to the intensely precise calibration and mechanical accuracy of which the giclee printer is capable.
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| STONE LITHOGRAPHY |
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 The process of lithography (which literally means "writing on stone") was discovered in 1878 by Alois Senefelder of Munich, Germany. Senefelder originally experimented with printing on copperplate, with limited success. While working, he mixed his ink on a stone slab obtained from the quarries near his home. One day his mother asked him to write down the items of a washing bill. Senefelder had no writing materials at hand, so he took a wooden stick, dipped it in his printing ink and wrote the items out on the stone. From this rudimentary beginning, Senefelder began to experiment with stone etching, creating reliefs using an acid wash. Gradually, he developed a method for writing on the stone without creating a relief.Stone lithography today emulates many of the same techniques used by Senefelder. Much of the world's litho stone originates in the quarries of Solnhofen, Germany, and is a hard, dense limestone that is sufficiently porous to allow transfer ink and gum solution to penetrate its surface. The artist uses a greasy substance to sketch the image onto the porous stone. The ink is repelled by the blank wet areas, but coats the design areas. The final step is to firmly apply a sheet of paper to the freshly-inked stone surface, thus transferring the design to the paper. This process is then repeated for each color in the image. If the image has fifteen colors, then fifteen stones are used, one per color. Stone lithography is a very demanding process, but a well-produced stone lithograph can be almost indistinguishable from an original drawing.
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| SERIGRAPHS |
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 The word serigraph was formed from the Latin word seri (meaning silk) and the greek word graphos (meaning to draw). A serigraph is a print created utilizing the silkscreen process. A silkscreen is a frame with silk or other fine fabric stretched tightly across it. An image is created directly on the fabric screen using a stencil to form the image and to block the areas where paint is not needed. Water-based or oil-based paint is squeezed or brushed through the screen, creating the image on the paper below.Serigraphs are a generally much higher in quality and more labor intensive than offset lithographs, therefore the cost is usually higher.
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| MIXED MEDIA |
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 The term "mixed media" can encompass the creative combinations of a variety of media and techniques. For our purposes, we will narrow the definition of mixed media to describe those mixed media editions presented by Global Gallery. These limited editions are created by the artist in the artist's own studio. Because the editions are sometimes quite large, the artist may oversee one or more apprentices who assist in the running of the hand press, hand-coloring, and the application of various materials. To begin the artist creates a design on a printing plate and, using a hand-run printing press, established the basic design, or background image, onto the paper. The background image is then meticulously embellished with a variety of materials, including gold and silver leafing, metallic inks and a wide variety of papers and textiles, pastels, pencil, charcoals, watercolor, and so on. Some artists ink not only the plate, but other natural materials as well, such as leaves, which they run through the press along with the plate. Because every piece in an edition is created by hand, each individual piece contains slight variations from the rest of the edition, and is completely unique. The application of the artist's own hand gives these editions an original edge and value that will only increase throughout the years.
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