Art Buyer Guide
Hey Guys!
With Long Beach Comic Con coming this weekend, there will be a lot of amazing things to buy, especially when it comes to art!! Long Beach Comic Con boasts the Largest Artist Alley in the US! So many in fact that it's hard to know where to start. Some people have the time to explain, but since the show is so overwhelmingly busy you can get lost in the shuffle and it can all be a bit daunting.
In an effort to further aid in conquest of great art here is a supplement to my last guide to buying art at a convention!
Last time I went over knowing what you're looking for in a piece of art is key. This will always remain true. What I mean by that is does the art work within your space (be it office, home, or Nerd Cave), are you looking for a collectors item for later down the road to have it gain in value, or do you just want something new and original? Are you looking for a specific licensed art print of a property you adore on Television or movies, or are you looking for a creator driven item? Once you've got that down we always come back to art terminology.
Original art is going to be something that the creator has made only the one! You will have a 1/1. There may be others like it, but only similar as there will be subtleties that can’t be replicated. Within the world of printing there are a lot of different terms for different printing methods, which if you're unfamiliar, can be confusing. Here’s a bit more of a breakdown.
When you like an original piece of art, finding the closest to it is going to be preferable, but sometimes still a little pricey. The closest you can get to an original piece of artwork is a Giclee print (a fancy term for inkjet print). A Giclee is a reproduction inkjet printed on a substrate (i.e. paper, canvas, or other). The reason for this is when the dots are laid down by the print heads; they create a bit more of a seamless transition of color. If done properly they can last a really long time, and retain their color, and look gorgeous matted or framed. If treated with a coating they become a bit more lightfast (less of a chance to fade when exposed to sunlight). These can get a little expensive because of the way they are printed, upkeep, ink, the expenses of scanning and reproduction, and treatment to preserve them. But knowing why helps ease the sticker shock for a fair amount of people. Also knowing they are limited editions, a fair amount hand signed by the artists, and the years they will last will also aid in this some range for small can be 20, all the way up to big canvas wraps that are 695 and over. It just depends on the factors listed above and what the artists costs are.
Next we come to Silkscrens and Lithographs. These tend to be higher production runs, still limited editions, but the higher the run the cheaper the cost on the consumer. These style prints are run on a press and printed in larger quantities, as mass production is easier to maintain a consistent level of reproduction. A lithograph can run you 15 to 40 dollars on a limited edition depending on size, artist, license etc. Lithos are still great output as a they tend to be full color. These prints are made utilizing a dot pattern of colors to make up a full color image with four process colors, which you will sometimes hear people say CMYK printings. Silkscreens are printed using a method of ink being pulled through a mesh screen in pre-planned areas to make an image utilizing a limited color pallet. Prints can run you 35 to 70 depending on complexity and if it's an Artists proof will run you more ( smaller edition sizes make for higher prices).
Artist Brian Miller @octopolis signing a lithograph for a fan.
Artist Scott Derby @nakedderby Tangled Silkscreen
