Giclee printing was developed around the turn of the century using an industrial inkjet printer. The word Giclee, pronounced zhee’clay, means ‘to spray’ and is taken from the french verb gicler. This is exactly what an inkjet printer does by spraying ink onto a substrate to create a print.
What is special about Giclee printing?
The giclee printing process creates very high-quality prints whereby depth and richness of colour of the original artwork are conveyed accurately including all the marks, detail and brushstrokes. Giclee printing also enables prints to be enlarged to a bigger size than the original artwork without loss of quality.
As giclee printing makes work as close to the original artwork as you can get, the process has enabled artists to make their work more accessible to a wider audience, thus allowing more people to enjoy artists’ work than just the owner of the original.
what is the difference between a Fine Art Print and a Giclee Print?
Fine Art Prints
Fine art prints are generally made by using traditional printmaking techniques such as woodcuts and lino. These are original pieces of fine art and are created from an original image that the printmaker has developed themselves. These types of prints are created using plates and are printed in editions, limited runs of prints which are proofed, numbered and signed by the artist. With lino and woodcuts for example, these are normally used to create reduction prints where the same block is used to print 2 or more different layers, one for each colour with the block being re-carved each time a new colour is printed. Colour is usually printed from the lightest tones through to the darkest. At the end of the process the blocks can’t be used to make more prints as there is very little of the surface left.
Fine art prints are artworks in themselves and are created by skilled artists who have usually developed their skill and vision over many years.
See the beautiful woodcut prints of Neil Bousfield by clicking here
Also click here to view the wonderful reduction lino prints of Alexandra Buckle.
Other types of traditional fine art printing techniques include lithography, etching and screen printing.
Giclee Prints
Giclee prints are created from a professional photograph or a scan of the original artwork at 300dpi or even higher resolution. The print is created on a wide format ink jet printer using high quality archival pigment inks to deliver excellent colour quality. This ensures that the print produced will last a long time as the archival inks are resistant to fading. At least 8 inks are used to create a giclee print. The paper used must be archival quality. My giclee prints are printed on to 100% cotton Hahnemuhle paper at 310gsm.
Giclee prints are therefore a reproduction of the original artwork and are the best quality reproduction print that you can buy.
My Giclee Prints
I offer a range of beautiful quality giclee prints taken from a selection of my original paintings inspired by the natural world. The originals are worked in acrylic paint on linen, some have subtle collaged texture and others incorporate gold or silver leaf in the detail. All evidence vibrant colour and abstract pattern with lively brush strokes to create movement and depth. Giclee prints are of a very high quality and as close to the original as you can get. My giclee prints are printed on to archival quality 100% cotton Hahnemuhle paper at 310gsm. A much more affordable option, signed by the artist and available in a range of sizes from A4 to A1.
Please see the link to my giclee print page here
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