Hello from My Little Corner of the World!
This blog attempts to simplify and explain the intricacies of fine art inkjet printing. Before we go further, my definition of fine art is any art of value that is intended to be framed and hung longer than a few days or months. Like all definitions, there are exceptions. Grandma may hang a grandchild’s cherished art with hopes that it will last forever. But its colors will soon fade and paper disintegrate. One might buy a colorful painting at a flea market but it soon loses its luster and heads for the next yard sale. Fine art is subjective so, with apologies to Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, “I know it when I see it…”.
Like the image above, the field of inkjet printing is vast. My little corner tries to explain what I think I know but there’s a huge body of both known and unknowns out there. As I used to tell students “Keep an open mind but not so open that your brain falls out”. Professor Walter Kotschnig.
I’ll cover a range of topics from basic to complex, from easily proven to, at best, intuitively obvious but false. As H.L. Mencken once wrote, “Every complex problem has a solution which is simple, direct, plausible—and wrong”.
Starting with the next post, I’ll cover why monitor calibration is such an important task when printing fine art prints that require accurate color matching. After all, Thomas Gainesborough, titled his painting “The Blue Boy,” not The Purple Boy.
To properly set expectations, my posts aren’t tutorials or step-by-step guides. My posts are intended to be food for thought. That’s why Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie said, “…if you give a man a fish he is hungry again in an hour. If you teach him to catch a fish you do him a good turn”. I plan to show you how to figure out your own printing problems. Then you won’t have to rely on some guy on the Internet who may or may not be blowing smoke.
Like any good blogger, my intention is to sell you something, in my case a training class. If you have questions, feel free to contact me so I can keep you engaged until you feel you absolutely need and are willing to pay for my knowledge, wisdom and wit.