Art of reproduction can be technically confusing

DEAR DESIGNER: My boss is opening a new office. Unfortunately the budget doesn’t allow us to hire a designer so he is depending on the office staff to purchase pictures for the walls. Can you help me understand the differences in types of art and give me direction on what I should be looking for, keeping in mind this is for an office building? — Brandi.

DEAR BRANDI: I am happy to put some perspective on the various types of wall art available and offer a designer tip that will help save your company money while making inexpensive poster art look good.

The art industry is incredibly vast and there is much to learn about it. Original art and commissioned art (art that is made exclusively for you) are wonderful options. But today, for small businesses and families on a budget, I’m addressing budget to midpriced wall art.

You may have heard that “art is personal” and, indeed, that is the bottom line. When choosing art for your home, the artwork needs to “speak” to the owner. The right piece of artwork, regardless of cost, can give a feeling of peace, happiness or trigger a memory; that is when you know you have selected the right art for your home. However, selecting artwork for a public space is a little different. Since a variety of personalities will view the art, the selection will need to be more universal and the process is more technical than emotional.

If the words lithograph, serigraph and giclee confuse you, you are not alone. In order to get some clarification on these types of artwork, I visited a local art and framing company where Mary Demos of Mixed Media shed some light on the subject. For 10 years, previous to working at Mixed Media, Demos ran an art gallery. After helping me to understand the differences in the terminology, she said, “People usually only want to know they like it.”

There are a multitude of technical details involved in creating reproductions. However, in a nutshell, the differences are in the process of transferring the original art onto the substrate (paper or canvas) and which substrate is used to receive the print. The numerous processes produce broad differences in quality.

Posters are mostly lithographs (a four-color-based printing method) and are the least expensive way to give your office (or home) some color and style. These are not to be confused with the posters we hung on our walls as teens, although the printing method and paper is the same.

When matted and framed, posters are acceptable forms of artistic expression. Whether you shop online or in person at a frame store, you will see every genre of poster waiting to be personalized with the matt and frame of your choosing. Posters are usually printed on shiny paper. Some poster companies call them poster art and then use a thicker cotton paper.

Limited editions are the next step up from the lithograph posters. When an artist determines to make a piece of his artwork into a limited edition, it is printed on a better paper, usually a rag paper. A limited amount is printed so the artist can number, sign and sometimes personalize each one. This process gives the public another form of enjoying the works of his or her favorite artist without the cost of purchasing an original.

Prints were once limited due to the wear and tear of the etching plates; only a number of quality prints could be printed with one set of plates before they wore thin. This is no longer the process or the problem, so now artists simply decide how many copies they want made. The fewer editions printed, the more valuable the art. A limited-edition print will usually have a pencil signature and the number of the printing on the front and below the print. If the number is 8/50, that means you have the eighth print out of 50 that were printed.

After limited editions come serigraphs. Most serigraphs are also limited editions. Serigraphs are screen printed and are usually printed on a higher quality cotton paper that absorbs the ink differently, giving the artwork a richer texture and feel.

Next is the giclee (a French word for spray, pronounced zhee-CLAY). A giclee uses a six-color method and is digitally driven. The ink is sprayed onto the substrate with an inkjet printer. Canvas is traditionally used for a reproduction of an oil painting. A high-quality paper is used if the giclee is a reproduction of a water color. The high-resolution process used to make a giclee results in a quality print that is brighter and more precise. It is sometimes difficult to tell if a giclee is an original or a print.

Designer tip: As a standard, pictures printed on paper should be framed with glass or acrylic. Canvas prints need no glass at all. For years we’ve had the option of transferring poster prints to canvas in order to eliminate the need for glass. Now there is yet another option and I use it for both commercial and residential décors.

I take my prints to Mixed Media which then vacuum presses the print onto hardboard. Next, a clear gel is applied to the front. If my design is contemporary, the clear coating is applied with a roller that has a mild texture. If my job calls for a traditional style, brush strokes are added, which makes the picture look like it was hand-painted. The clear texture protects the color and the print.

By eliminating the need for glass, the colors look brighter while distractive reflections and glare is substantially reduced. This process makes an inexpensive piece of poster art look expensive while it is still quite affordable.

Cindy Payne is a certified interior designer with more than 25 years of experience, a member of the American Society of Interior Designers, as well as a licensed contractor. E-mail questions to her at deardesigner@projectdesigninteriors .com or send them to her at Project Design Interiors, 2620 S. Maryland Parkway, Suite 189, Las Vegas, NV 89109. She can be reached online at www.projectdesign interiors.com.