Since I am a new artist coming into the art festival seen. I was wondering would it be best to print my own prints or out source them to a printing gallery or business. Sizes are 5x7, 8x10, 11x14. I have did the math on the cost of printing it myself and buying them from company. Would like to here the Vets thoughts on the matter.

You need to be a member of Art Fair Insiders to add comments!

Join Art Fair Insiders

Votes: 0
Email me when people reply –

Replies

  • Hey Barrie Lynn Bryant. I am working on a couple of works in involving different sports from my school, like volleyball, tennis, track, swimming, etc.... I sketch out some ideas, just haven't put it to canvas. Can't really travel like I want to with my art supplies. Let me know what the total would be about the message I send you. Thanks for your time Barrie. Look forward to talking with you.

  • Thanks for the advice Jim Parker. I will be sure to concentrate more on my originals. Good luck to you as well.

  • I like the work, as I said upthread. What art are you doing featuring your sport? I'm sure you can do some great stuff with that.

     

    Thanks for the clarification.

     

    Yours truly,

    Barrie

  • Larry's word is golden, fer sher.

     

    Jim Parker has really given out some valuable information in this thread. Really pro thinking and talking.

     

    David Woeller gave you a really good tip and one that I use all the time. Buy rolls and cut your own paper, especially if you are graphic arts savvy. I use a normal steel carpenter's square from Lowe's or Home Depot and a sharp X-Acto blade. You'll need to also put some kind of weight on the paper, because it wants to curl while you are cutting it. Some folks like to backroll paper over a discarded paper spool so that it'll flatten out nicely, and this may be necessary if you are using bigger paper.

     

    And then Alison hits the nail on the head about ink price for smaller printers. If you can get a considerable rebate on the bigger printer, go for it since it's coming to you loaded with $500 or $600 worth of ink already inside the box. At Christmas time, you could have bought the 3880 for $1,189. and gotten a $300 rebate. So see the deal? The printer really only costs from $300-$400 itself.

     

    BUT HOLD EVERYTHING.

     

    I feel like your first obligation is to honor your originals and find a price point and market for them FIRST and before you spend hundreds and shortly thereafter thousands of dollars trying to make reproductions that will certainly steer customers away from owning your originals.

     

    If you look upthread, all these great comments have come from photographers who use printers from the get-go. Without one of these great new printers, they'd not have anything to sell except their camera gear or whatever. So think about that.

     

    I looked at your website featuring 14 acrylic paintings and I must say you are talented, Jimmy B. You might try a few illustration jobs if you don't mind "working" for someone else. Hey, get yourself back to Churchill Downs and do some more really cool work surrounding it. Does the black community get as excited about horse racing as whites? Does that matter? You've got plenty of youth to explore, too, like what you are doing with the sorority and cheerleading works. I love that girl's splits; I mean she's doing a perfect perpendicular split and then you give her this little bump of a knee cap. I like that. You might see what you can do for licensing to sororities and fraternities and other collegiate organizations. That route can also be a nightmare, but give it a shot. If you try to get merchandise into book stores and then also want to use logos and official school jerseys and stuff like that in your art, you'll have legal issues to deal with regarding trademark and copyright and whatever.

     

    So just do some good original work for some good original people, maybe, like the school chancellor or something.

     

    I think you need the sizes listed for your artworks on your website. I have no idea if they are napkin size or poster size.

     

    I know you're working with acrylic, but have you ever etched and inked a plate and run a hand-pulled original print? Have you ever considered serigraphy? Your work may be better suited to original printmaker prints than Epson/Canon type prints.

    • This crazy cyber age has me suspicious, Jimmy B. So forgive me if I'm wrongly inclined here.

       

      Do you live at Uruguay? If so, why does your profile say Louisville, KY? And then the email I received mentions you are at North Carolina. ????

       

      And I'm wondering about your Biography. You say you majored in graphic design at North Carolina, but then later in your bio you state you're self-taught. Here's what it says on your website from your profile:

       

      Jimmy was born in a small town called Washington, NC. As a young boy like all artist, his first steps he began doodling and drawing what he saw on television (cartoons). During his adolescent years Jimmy began to draw for friends. Primarily drawing things like their names in graffiti and cartoons. He always had a fun and exciting imagination, which is one of the reasons why Jimmy majored in graphic design at North Carolina Central University. Jimmy was an student-athlete who dreamed of making it to the NBA. However, his main goal was to spread his imagination across the world in the form of art. After graduating from college, Jimmy decided to play basketball overseas in numerous countries. While playing overseas, he had the urge to further explore his creative side. He began painting and expressing his imagination on canvass. Jimmy is a self taught artist who has never had training with the brush. His  art idols 'Frank Morrison and the late Ernie Barnes.'

      • In the words of the great and sadly recently late Harold Ramis, "Lighten up Francis"
        • You're right, Bill. I think I must be psycho right now. Sorry. I've got the flu.

           

          Earlier today I received an email from Jimmy Boston who contacted me through my website via the link in my artfairinsiders profile. The person who sent the email did so from Uruguay. That's the country my website server analytics indicates, anyway. 

  • Thank you all for your thoughts and recommendations. I will be investing in Epson very soon. Good luck to everyone on the Art Festival Season this spring and summer. God Bless!

  • I too am an Epson user. I am very much satisfied with the 3880. I currently create my own ICC profiles with the Spyder Print package and calibrate my monitor with the Spyder 4 Elite. The Profiles from the paper companies are generally very good though. Maybe I'm a control freak :-). I buy 17" roll paper (Epson Hot Press) and cut my own sheets to size (the 3880 doesn't support rolls as was stated above). I also print on Epson Exhibition Canvas Satin from rolls cut into sheets. There is no ICC profile from Epson for this canvas and the 3880, so I did my own. While you currently only state a few smaller sizes, as you do more shows and see others presentations you may well consider moving up a bit in your sizes. That's just a guess. Although these comments don't directly answer your question, they can give you some thoughts to consider down the road. From personal experience it is much more efficient for me to print my own. Best of luck to you.

  • Great info Jim Parker!!! I did my research and I even looked in to canon wide formate printer. I grew up using a Epson so more than likely I will buy one, if its in the right price rage. It will be a big investment for me. The 3880 and 4900 I looked into and the 3880 is more my price range. There is an Canon that is very close to getting bought, found it on sale for 219.00. Its the Canon Pixma PRO-100 Digital Photo Inkjet. It prints up to 13x19. It uses archival inks. I am still doing research but it will be between those two. Where would you recommend to buy 5x7 wood frames in bulk. I tried looking everywhere, I just can't find any or they are charging to much.

This reply was deleted.