I was an original-only holdout for quite some time. I equated art print with what you can buy at Hobby Lobby or Home Goods. And then my artist friend, Gretchen, sold the original of a watercolor I loved and wanted before I could grab it from her site, so I bought and framed a print of it instead. It hangs proudly in my entryway; there isn’t an evening spent on the sofa where my eye does not gravitate towards it, and then linger there in delight.
Prints bought directly from artists can be beautiful and meaningful, I realized. So I spent more money than I’m willing to admit on an “art to print” course to teach me how to create beautiful, high-quality reproductions of my work. Several lessons in, and I was in over my head: the technical color matching, the never-ending editing, the complicated scanning and photography, not to mention the super expensive equipment I’d need to invest in to even make it to that point. I quickly realized if I was to become even average at these tedious tasks, I would never paint (nor be happy) again.
Maybe the money on the course was well spent because it taught me, definitively, that there was no way I was going to be able to do it. I was disheartened. And then I met Katrina.
Katrina owns BSL prints, a local printing company that specifically does printing for artists. She now makes all of my prints in house right in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Her work is flawless, and I love that I can now offer reproductions that I am proud of.
In a perfect world, I would own the originals of all the pieces I love by all the artists I admire, but until then, prints allow me to collect a variety of art in a variety of sizes. I am able to pick work that is meaningful to me in sizes that fit my space and my budget.
In this spirit, I launched the print of the month– a new print each month offered in all its forms at 15% off all month long. This month’s print is pretty dear to me so when my social media followers voted it for November, I was thrilled. You can read more about creating “Persistence” in this post from several months ago.
So what are your thoughts on art prints? Do you own any? How do you display them? Do you only buy originals? Let me know in the comments!
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Written by Denise Hopkins
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When the Denise Hopkins original I had my eye on sold, I also went for the print. And I adore it!!!
While I love owning originals, prints open up access to your art both financially and over time. I have a collection of several birds of yours that were produced over a few years. Prints allowed me to make a display of some of my favorite works that were produced years apart.
Thank you so much, Victoria. So happy you have found pieces from throughout the years.
Well, you’ve made my day. I’m so glad you like it!