Reply To: Prints, prints, prints.

[Kaye Boggs]

We have a professional photographer in my town who belongs to a gallery who does print work.    He takes your original painting and makes a small print of it; for you to check for  coloration and approval.  He will make any changes and then makes prints in any size and quantity that you wish, gives you a statement of authenticity to attach to your work  along with making greeting cards w/envelopes and return them to you with sleeves and boxes with a copy of the final proof.  When you need more copies you just call him and he reprints from your original order that he keeps on file.    I would suggest you check with your local galleries to see who they recommend or if they have a member who does this. Also check watercolor magazines for companies who specialize in printmaking. It isn’t cheap to have this done but if you do a lot of shows it’s worth it.

I am able to take photographs with either my camera or cell phone and download them to HP printer to manipulate to my liking, then I print a copy and take it to my local copy store for a black and white copy enlarged to the size I want my painting to be.  I then trace the image over a light box (or hold it up to the light on a window if you don’t have one) onto watercolor paper to paint.  I use a gum eraser to lighten the trace marks to just where you can almost see the outline.  I can use the large black and white copy (from the print store) to check the values.

Since I’m a procrastinator, I usually do this with 2 or 3 images at a time so I always have something to paint.(or  not)