Do I do prints?

Dawn on the Grand Canyon by J. Binford-Bell

Once again the question has come up of do I do prints of my art work. Yes, if it is a photograph. And you can have it the size you want and on paper or canvas.

But no I do not do them of my paintings. I figure this is about fairness in business practices. A person buying a photograph knows they are buying a print. Photographs are prints. All prints. But paintings come in originals and now because of Giclee (just ink jet) prints. They are not even limited edition or signed prints. And the ones on just paper strike me as just being posters in a more pricey form. I own a couple prints by artists I admire and who only do limited editions. One was used as a poster for Music of Angel Fire. I have have never even taken them out of the tubes.

I researched the whole print or not to print subject for years while doing fairs with my originals beside other artists selling prints of their work in every size and shape and quantity. I quite honestly think that is very unfair to the customer that buys the original. Collectors of original art do not want to see the image everywhere. Even on coffee mugs. And why pay for an original if you can get a print for far less money? So the artist never sells the original.

And even if I print one of my original works of art on canvas like it is painted it is different. The metallic does not translate in sprayed ink.  Nor does the texture of the oil sticks I use over the watercolor. The only print I could even consider would be on canvas with the addition of metallic inks and oil to make it look like the original. But my work is still very cheap. I have not entered the $9000.00 Santa Fe gallery atmosphere where I recently saw a print with a $1500 price tag. My most expensive painting is $1200 and most fall in the $600 to $900 range.

As I discovered when recently printing a photograph on 20 x 30 inch canvas that makes not a huge gap between the print and the original. The above photograph is $300.00. And at a recent exhibition I say a photograph on canvas go for $900.00. Giclee is not that cheap because of the cost of inks.

I may revisit this subject when my originals are going for $10,000.00 or my heirs might. But for now the answer to "Do you sell prints of your work?" is no if we are talking paintings and Yes if we are talking photographs.

The New Economy

I feel a lot like the kitten in the picture above. Fairs are exhausting. Thankfully I am doing less of them this year. The economy made me take a long and hard look at my usual slate of fairs and delete some - the more expensive and further away.

Artists knew the economy was in recession a full year to two years before anyone in the government admitted it. It hit us first. Lots of my artist friends that existed on fair sales declared bankruptcy that first year. This year we have all pulled back severely on expenses because you cannot rely on previous sale figures to predict any given sales event.

This last weekend was a good fair. Not great but good. For this economy it was very acceptable. What I really noticed was my reluctance to spend any of what I made. Normally when a fair is good there is a lot of artists buying art or trading art. And that did not happen this fair. That extra boost on sales that comes from your fellow exhibitors in the closing hours was just not there.

I packed up and came home and ran my credit cards and prepared my deposit slip for the bank and then looked at what I "have to spend" before my next fair. It is relatively little. I need to paint a few more paintings and I already have the canvas. They will need framed and so there will be $40 to $60 for wood to make frames. And printer ink has gone up so much in price that I am going to have some cards printed instead of doing them myself. There is an Internet based company a friend has used and I should be able to get 500 done for $40. One print cartridge for my HP is $39.

I want the majority of this weekend's profits to stay in the bank. I never want another winter like last one when I had no idea where I was getting the money for the heating bills or pet food. Many of my fellow exhibitors at this weekend's event feel the same, and artists are not known for a conservative approach to the budget.

I am just thrilled that there are people who still have expendable income; money they can spend on art. They are buying at the lower price points on a whole but they are buying. And those artists that sold prints just sold prints. I have been debating prints for some time and I think I am currently on the "originals only" side of the argument.

I noticed when I was catching up with the news of the last three days last night that a recent poll reflected that most people believe Obama has improved the economy. But most also think he does not have a clear plan. Who does? We have not been this way before and I think we are all making guesses. In some cases more educated guesses. None of my artist friends have gotten past spend less as to a game plan.

Any thoughts among my readers as to what is a wise move in these days?