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strange but beautiful prints
Artist's prints
Click on an image above to go to the page for that print. All the picture links are now active.
What is an artist's print?
Printing is a craft and an art-form in itself, and is quite distinct from the printed reproduction of works created in other media.
The artist has to respond to and work with the limitations and the possibilities of the medium itself, and can create effects not obtainable by other means.
An artist's print is hand-made by the artist. The lino, lithography stone, or other print medium is cut, etched or otherwise prepared by the artist, and the plate is inked and run through the press, print by print, either by the artist or by a skilled technician.
This is quite different from the kind of print you get when, for example, an artist paints a one-off watercolour and then has a commercial printer make a print run from a photograph or scan. The artist may do the things commonly associated with artists' prints, such as restricting the print run of an edition, and numbering and signing the prints, but these are still reproductions and not artists' prints.
An artist's print is a hand-made work of art.
All images are copyright Martin Dace 2005.