Art Definitions

Art - For numerous reasons, the most difficult word to define without starting an endless argument! Many definitions have been proposed. At least art involves a degree of human involvement through manual skills or thought.

Artist Proofs (A/P) - Common practice is that 10% to 15% of an edition reserved for the artist. These proofs are identical to impressions in the edition in most instances.

Giclée (pronounced gee-clay) - French for "sprayed ink." A sophisticated print making process. Today typically produced on an ink-jet printer, capable of producing millions of colors using continuous-tone technology. Giclée's are often made from photographic images of paintings in order to produce high quality, permanent reproductions of them. A giclée should be printed on either a fine fabric or archival quality white paper using biodegradable water-soluble inks. After the process of printing it, a giclée specialist will examine the painting with special materials to make any necessary corrections, and apply a final, thin, transparent coating for maximum permanence.

Limited Edition - An edition or set of prints of a known number of impressions, usually, fewer then 200, numbered and signed.

Lithography - A method of printing from a prepared metal or plastic plate. A drawing is made on plate with a greasy crayon, and then washed with water. When ink is applied it sticks to the greasy drawing but runs off the wet surface allowing a print - a lithograph - to be made of the drawing. The artist, or other printmaker under the artist's supervision, then covers the plate with a sheet of paper and runs both through a press under light pressure. For color, lithography separate drawings are made for each color.

Multi - Media Prints - “Media” in art refers to the materials or artistic methods, such as oil or acrylic paint, brush or pallet knife. Mixed media is the combination of materials and methods to create an image. Mixed media prints are hand-drawn prints that employ a combination of methods.

Numbered - Refers to labeling on a print of its place in the order of its production, when it is part of an edition of a limited quantity of impression. Also, see Limited Edition.

Open Edition - A set of prints made in an unspecified or unlimited number of impressions. The opposite of Open Edition is a Limited Edition.

Prints - A print is a shape or mark made from a plate or block or other object that is covered with wet color (usually ink) and then pressed onto a flat surface.

Remarque - A sketch originally made by the artist. Because such remarques were originally intended to be scraped or burnished away before the final edition of the plate is printed, a print with a remarque is often called a remarque proof.

Serigraphs - Because it is a stencil process, serigraphy (also known as silk-screening or screen printing) has the deepest roots of any printmaking techniques. A serigraph is created this way: A screen of silk, nylon or polyester is stretched tightly across a frame. A design is made in stencil form on the mesh by blocking out parts of the mesh. The remaining open areas allow the ink to be squeeged through to the paper below, resulting in the final printed image. Although many prints may be made from each set of screens - each is printed individually paper or textile. Most prints can be repeated repeatedly by re-inking the printing block.