FAQs

1. How will my prints arrive?

The prints are in a cellophane pouch with a backing board (unless otherwise stated in the product listing). I wrap them up carefully in brown paper and add an additional board to ensure your print stays flat and protected. I take them to the village post office over the hill.

2. Are limited editions always the originals?

A "limited edition" purely means that there is a finite quantity of that image available to purchase. 

All the prints in my shop are limited editions. Some of them are original prints, and some are digital reproductions using giclee technology.

In my shop, I say clearly if you are buying a limited edition ORIGINAL print, or a limited edition DIGITAL REPRODUCTION (GICLEE).

The quality of giclee prints is so good that they look identical to the original. They are printed onto high-quality paper using lightfast ink. This means they are suitable for collectors (they won't fade with time) and are more affordable too. 

(see FAQ 6 below: What is giclee?)

3. What is a collagraph?

I have devoted a separate page to this: Collagraphy: The Basics

If you are buying a collagraph from my shop, you are getting an ORIGINAL print.  Each print in the edition is inked by hand and will be near identical, save for a few minor differences due to the manual inking process.

In buying an original collagraph print from me, you are receiving something fully hand-made.

4. What is a monoprint?

A monoprint is a print that isn't repeatable. A print is basically an impression taken from one surface onto another. In collagraphy, all the elements are stuck down on the printing plate and I can re-ink that plate multiple times to produce an edition of almost-identical original prints.

However, in monoprinting the printing plate has no fixed elements on it. Therefore, when I ink and re-ink the plate, I get a different result each time. I can move elements around on the plate, and will also have to apply more ink for each individual run through the press. An original monoprint will be marked 1/1 on the bottom left corner. 

I have decided to take a professional photograph of some of my monoprints and print them off as limited edition reproductions. This will be clearly marked bottom left as 1/50, 2/50 (depending on the size of the digital edition).

My digital reproductions (giclee) are such high quality that they look almost identical to the original; they fit into a standard A3 picture frame and they are a lot more affordable.

(See FAQ 6 below: What is giclee?)

5. How do you create your monoprints?

The word "monoprint" encompasses any technique whereby only one impression is taken from a printing surface; the resulting "print" is unique. I use a flexible plastic plate as my surface and add or remove ink using rollers, paintbrushes and cloths. I use highly-pigmented linseed oil-based etching inks, which I sometimes need to dilute with a little plate oil to achieve the best consistency for rolling onto the surface.

Monoprints are much more painterly in style than most other methods of printmaking.

My monoprints are always created as a series; I spend time preparing ideas beforehand, but on the day I begin with no fixed expectations and I just let things flow. 

I like to use the "ghost" in my images; this simply means that I will leave ink on the plate from the previous run through the press and re-run the plate through again - the ink prints a lot paler. My monoprints are often a combination of new ink over old, which adds depth.

6. What is giclee?

Not all digital reproduction prints are created equal; a giclee print is from a high-resolution inkjet printer spraying lightfast pigment inks onto the printing surface (paper), which is rotating on a drum. The printer uses the standard CYMK colours with some all-important additional ones. This enables a much broader gamut and a smoother gradient transition. With giclee prints, the colours can be matched so closely to the original image that you would be hard-pushed to tell them apart. Added to which, these inkjet machines can use a wide range of high-quality papers as the printing surface, which adds to the "quality" aspect of them.

The colours are lightfast and will not fade like other digital copies.

7. How quickly will I receive my parcel?

As soon as I receive notification of your purchase, I will endeavour to get it in the post as soon as possible.  If I foresee a delay, I will email you to let you know.

8. Do you deliver abroad?

At the moment, I am only shipping to addresses within the UK. This is purely to save me the headache of working out how to arrange postage abroad in our Post-Brexit era. As I become braver, this might change! I'm doing it step by step. 

If you would like to purchase a print but do not live in the UK, please contact me to discuss options.