Producing Canvas Art Prints

A very recent technology allows for artists’ original paintings to be replicated on canvas. Prior to this an artist who painted an original work on canvas would have to have a reproduction made on paper. Unlike a paper reproduction, one printed on canvas can be displayed without glass and matting, and also looks like an original.

There are two main ways that person can produce canvas prints. They are by canvas transferring and printing directly on the canvas. Both can produce high-quality results, and can be made to look as close to the original as possible.

When it comes to reproducing an artist’s original canvas art prints, it is obvious that the reproduction should look as much like the original as possible. By using several techniques, it makes it easy to produce canvas art prints that look just as good as the original.

Transferring to make canvas art prints is the most common of the two techniques. It begins with a standard, offset paper print that is made in the traditional way from the original. The print is then coated with a series of special chemicals that are designed to allow the paper and the ink to separate from each other. That means when the paper is removed, the ink remains.

The canvass is then prepped with adhesive, and the film is carefully laid on it. Pressure is applied to bond the film to the canvas, which is then set aside to dry. The result is a beautiful canvas art print that looks very much like the original.

Printing directly on the canvas to produce canvas art prints is the second most commonly used method.

Other methods used consist of direct offset printing, where a piece of canvas is run through an offset press; Repligraphy, where a hot-melt color dye printing system is used to create an oil-based film that adheres to the canvas; and Artagraphs, which features a mold of both the artist’s original brushstrokes and textures.

How can you tell if a piece of art is the original or a canvas art print reproduction? Although it may seem hard, there are clues that someone can use to tell what is real and what is a copy.

The first is to look for limited edition print numbers, which are normally found at the bottom of the work in xx/yy format. When producing canvas art prints, a reproduction often leaves this out.

Canvas art prints are usually completely flat or have small applications of hand-applied paint that is referred to as highlight. If the canvas art print is flat to the touch, then it’s probably a reproduction. Originals mostly include areas of texture.

Highlights can be obvious to see. A hightlight can be simply a small dab of paint, which is quite different from an artist’s actual brushstroke.

Other options include using a high-powered microscope to look for standard dot patterns and/or calling a gallery to see if they have someone who can identify your canvas art print as an original or a reproduction.

Learn To Paint Like A Child

All children love to draw or paint. It matters little whether the result is an exact copy of reality because at that very moment reality is in the mind of the artist. As they draw they are creators and each will stand back to admire what they have accomplished. It is not their desire to become an artist, they are there already!

There is that small child in all of us – an artist inside that holds a perception of the world as expressed by our feelings and thoughts. It differs from everyone else; it is unique. But during the years of maturity we became self-conscious about our abilities. Unfortunately, we might have been criticized and decided that our talents lay somewhere else. Because it was met with some form of disapproval, we stopped being so free with our expressions.

Picasso once said, “All of my life I have been learning to paint like a child”. Did he succeed? I think he did, because he never let go of his child-like images. He was the master of innocence. Today his artworks are priceless, but at the time they were created I’m sure some judged them harshly.

My first recollection of drawing or painting was around the age of ten. By high school I spent my meager earnings on oil paints and canvas. My passion was nature – animals in particular and that was my subject material at the time. Talent has two definitions--a natural ability or a developed skill. My parents couldn’t send me to art school, so I depended on the former.

I am still painting in my senior years without the benefit of schooling. There were times when I thought I should have learned the basics of form, reflective light, color-wheel importance, composition, etc. Still, not everyone can deal with the pressure of grades or a structured format. I paint from my heart, expressing what my mind dictates, and there are no schools that teach that. I give myself new challenges, just to see if I can produce this vision on canvas to my own satisfaction. You don't have to have a certificate to do that.

Often we look at things without really seeing them. After all, our eyes are merely lenses; they have no knowledge, no memories and no experiences. To see well we must open our minds as well as our eyes. Perhaps for that reason I like to paint the less-than-perfect subject material.

A broken sea-shell has more character than any perfect specimen. Models, just short of perfect beauty leave a little ‘yet to be desired’. My choice for portraits would be in the facial structure itself, eye or skin color and character lines. It’s been said that there are two times when a boy can be called beautiful -- at puberty, and when felled by the sword. I see in each of these a child-like perception and I am driven, at times, to put these images on canvas.

Henri Matisse put it this way: “Creation begins with vision. The artist has to look at everything as though seeing it for the first time, like a child”.

An Overview...Originals and Limited Editions

Art collectors have long had the choice of purchasing art on paper or art on canvas. The paper art included original works such as watercolors, pastels, pencil or ink drawings, lithos, serigraphs and etchings....and limited editions reproduced photomechanically from originals.

Canvases were usually original (and costly) works of art. But now, the growing popularity and availability of limited editions on canvas give collectors “the original look” at affordable prices.

So what are limited edition canvases and how are they produced?

There are several ways of producing canvas limited editions such as the once popular “canvas transfers,” made by fusing the top layer of a paper print onto a prepared canvas surface. The result was an image that appeared as you might expect it to — like a paper print fused to a piece of canvas. Often, to make the print look “original,” the artist (or a technician) added textured varnish or paint to the print surface.

Today's state of the art reproductive technique is the giclée (jhee-clay) method in which high-tech printing equipment sprays millions of digitally-matched ink droplets per second onto a surface. Canvas, paper and archival board are the most common giclée surfaces.

Developed some ten years ago, the giclée has now become the “gold standard” — an important and permanent part of the limited edition world.

This spectacular blend of technology and fine art looks so much like the original work of art that even astute collectors do “double-takes.” Therefore, buyers should be aware that not all “original appearing” works of art are original.

The giclée (unless printed on paper) is meant to be enjoyed without glass, so nothing comes between you and your art.