Art Terms

Acid-free Paper or Canvas

Paper or canvas that are treated to neutralize it's natural acidity in order to protect fine art, and photographic prints from discoloration, and deterioration that can happen over the course of time.

Canvas Transfer

This is an art reproduction on canvas which is created by a process such as, serigraphy, photomechanical or giclée printing. Some processes can even recreate the brush strokes, texture, and aged appearance of the original art work.

Giclée (pronounced "zhee-clay") Digital Prints

A term describing the spraying of ink onto paper. Literal meaning, "that which is sprayed." A digital reproduction is a multiple print or exact copy of an original work of art that was created by conventional means, such as, painting, drawing, and so on, and then reproduced by using any of the digital print technologies. This computerized reproduction technique, creates the image from a digital file, which is then printed by a special ink jet printer, using inks or dyes especially produced for printing giclées.

A giclée print of an original oil painting, for example, is a digital reproduction. Giclée printing offers one of the highest levels of accuracy, and richness of color available in any of the art reproduction techniques.

Gouache
Pronounced 'gwash' as in squash.

Gouache (from the Italian guazzo, meaning, water paint, splash) is a type of paint that consists of pigment suspended in water. Gouache is different from watercolor, because the particles are larger, the ratio of pigment of water is much higher and an additional, inert, white pigment, such as, chalk, is also present, which makes gouache heavier and more opaque than watercolor and also gives it greater reflective qualities.

Gouache paint is often called, 'Designers Gouache' due to it's opaqueness, matt finish and speed of drying. This is a medium that most designers, illustrators and commercial artists use. Sometimes it is called 'opaque watercolor.'

Gouache is a medium which is quick and has excellent covering power. It's more controllable than watercolor and you can even take out mistakes and re-paint. I love gouache and use it almost exclusively for my fine art paintings.

Impressionism

Impressionism was the art movement in painting, and music, which was founded in France in the last third of the 19th century, and is often considered to mark the beginning of the modern period in art. It is the theory of painting, in which the goal of the artist was to record their vivid first impression, without a lot of great detail. The term, Impressionism, was first used in 1874 by a writer who made fun of a landscape painting by Monet called, Impression.

The primary object of Impressionism, was to achieve an instinctive, undetailed representation of what was being painted, through carefully breaking up natural light into it's element colors on different objects, and the ways it changes the appearance of the world that is seen by all.

Short brush strokes of bright colors were used in this style of painting, to give new life and freshness to visual impressions of the subject, and to capture the light, climate, and atmosphere of the subject at a certain moment in time. The colors are then mixed by the eyes into another color when viewed at a distance.

Limited Edition

This is a set of identical prints, numbered in succession, and signed by the artist. The total number of prints is "limited" by the artist who supervises the printing. All additional prints have been destroyed. Tulip Serenade, and Shoe Fly are my examples of limited edition prints. They each have only 300 in the hand-signed, titled, and numbered editions.

Monotype Print, also known as Monoprints

A one-of-a-kind printmaking process in which an image, pattern or color composition is painted directly onto an individual plate made of metal, glass, plexiglas or other material.

The still-wet painting is transferred onto a sheet of paper, either by hand (rubbing the back with a smooth, hard object) or with an etching press. If enough paint remains on the master plate, additional prints can be made, however, the reprint will have substantial variations from the original image.

Monotype printing is not a multiple repeated process, since each print is unique. The process results in a single, unique impression that has a painterly look and feel about it, yet still retains the real beauty of a print. Click here for monotype example.

Offset Lithography

This is a special photo-mechanical technique in which the image to be printed is transferred to the negative plates, and printed onto paper. Offset lithography works very well with color printing. View my limited edition prints created by offset lithography; Tulip Serenade, and Shoe Fly.

Realism

This style of art is the practice of presenting people, and things as they are in real life, without idealization. In other words, presenting people, and scenes as they actually exist; true to fact; lifelike. It is an ordinary visual experience without distortion or stylization.