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Fine Art & Creation Reproduction - part 6 of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

by Mike McNamee Published 01/10/2011

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Card Sharps

As soon as you have established a reputation with your artist clientele they are likely to mention printing cards for them. Artists like to both sell greetings cards and often to send a small(ish) number to their friends and clients at Christmas. Print runs for these applications usually run to hundreds but not thousands and so fall short of being suitable for offset litho. Inkjet cards are sufficiently popular for On-linepaper to stock nine manufacturers in the popular A4 to A5; A5 to A6 and DL sizes. They also sell both the cellophane protective point-of-sale slip-ins and envelopes. Museo are their most popular brand but they do sell a lot of pre-folded product, so much so that they also provide a bespoke service if you want your own favourite paper folded.

Although the standard photographer's inkjet printer will make cards, as soon as the numbers build then it is worth investing in a dedicated printer such as one of the WorkForce Pro series. These little beasties have big cartridges (although the brochure is coy about how much), print duplex and run quickly (up to 11 ppm). With cassettes holding up to 250 pieces of card they are a production tool at a cost starting at £170 on the street.


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About the cover image... Alone

The cover image is a colour version of a fine art series print shot by Tom Lee at his studio in Neston, Cheshire. Print No 11 out of a series of 20, depicts the Princess Illyana contemplating her future under the watchful gaze of a serpent god in the underworld of Hades.

The images are a combination of studio and location shots, composited and post produced in Photoshop with the help of other plug-ins.

The project will be unveiled in its entirety at the 2012 Societies' Convention in a Friday morning superclass. Tom will be showing all the techniques used to produce this amazing photo tableau, including a live shoot. With the difficulties of working within the increasingly competitive wedding market and growing number of 'BOGOFF' traders, Tom has sought to widen the appeal of his Fantasy Portrait product. The Innocence Turned project has been a six-month undertaking which has culminated in a 20-print fine art series, book and video to promote and make future clients aware of the exciting possibilities that new technology can provide.

Sometimes it is not a question of how much money you can make out of doing something, and in this case it's quite the opposite. A substantial investment of personal money and time is wrapped up in this venture which has been a labour of love, and even if the financial gains are minimal, there are no regrets.

"Every now and again, you just have to do things for yourself, rather than just because someone is willing to pay for it."

Editor's Note:

This is as much as Tom was prepared to reveal for the moment. I have had the pleasure of reviewing the near-complete project and was there for one of the shoots - even got to stroke the snake! It is not proposed that Hissing Syd will be present, in person, at the Novotel (he gets travel sick) but this superclass is going to be well worth seeing! Tom's latest venture fits perfectly with the fine art theme of this issue - a body of work produced by a driven creative urge, not because he had to!


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1st Published 01/10/2011
last update 21/07/2022 08:46:23

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