A New Journey Ahead

If you've been following my blog, you know that I've been having an internal debate with myself (in which I occasionally win) in regards to whether or not to offer prints of my Pen & Ink Caricatures.

https://michaelhopkinscaricatures.ecwid.com/ 

The decision was finally made to offer limited edition prints of my work. However, I was only willing to do this if I could offer quality prints, which would offer a good investment to the buyer of my prints. So the question became, which type of prints should I offer?

I have finally decided to offer Giclée prints of my originals. What is a Giclée print? Please see the Merriam Webster definition below

giclée print : a print produced by the giclée process

The high end of inkjet printing is the giclée print … . The name is derived from the French verb “gicler” meaning to squirt, or more accurately in this case, an extremely fine spray of many different sized droplets. This application of overlapping dots of ink mixes, forming additional color combinations. The application of the inks in this printing process is so fine that there are no discernible dots or droplets on the final print.

— Steven Bleicher, Contemporary Color: Theory and Use, 2012

So my next step will be determining a price for my prints and how many of each original will be made available. I have to base these decisions on what I feel the drawing is worth (including the value I placed on the original), potential demand of the print and the exact number of limited prints I will make available for purchase (i.e., if I make 1000 prints available they will be of less value than if I limit then to, say, 200). So that’s where I am at the moment. Also, I'm currently discussing the giclée printing process and production costs with my printer, so I’ll take you with me on that journey in future blogs…

Another step I have taken this weekend is to begin looking for an art gallery to display and sell my art. I’m thinking I like to find a gallery in Las Vegas or Lake Tahoe (although I won't rule out other cities...or countries for that matter), I’m going to inquire into several, over the next few weeks and hopefully line up some visits to galleries in February.

Exciting times ahead!

Michael