Everybody loves looking at great works of art, but almost nobody has the money to pay for them. If you want some of the pieces from your favorite artists, you should consider getting them in the form of fine art prints. They are exact replicas of the original, but you won't have to sell your home just to afford them - though the limited edition ones can sometimes set you back a considerable amount.
When you look at these items, you'll wonder how it was possible to make them look the way they do. There are three main methods, one of which is lithography. Here, printing is done through a chemical process, which these days is used for all sots of different things. Ink is pushed through a screen with sharp images formed by a stencil with serigraph.
Some of the best images you'll get, without even the need to use negatives, will come from giclee, the newest of all the different options. It starts with digital images and six different colors and makes for very advanced pieces, though it just came about in the 1990s. If you're interested in combining some of the already mentioned options, there's also serilith, used often for limited editions.
These prints can be found at many art dealers or fairs, or online. Once you get yours, though, you're going to want to do everything you can to protect them. Originals or not, there are a lot of different things that can hurt them, whether it's people touching them or other issues. For that reason, the first thing you should get is a frame to put the print in.
Of course, the frame only takes care of some issues - there are still several others that you need to keep an eye on. One of these is light, specifically UV light, which all types of paper are susceptible to. If there are especially high amounts of this, you'll probably notice considerable wearing down of your prints over time, unless you get special UV glass to protect them.
Still, that glass can only do so much. Humidity can get around it and continue to do damage. Generally, any damp area is probably going to wear down your prints, if you try to store them there for long periods of time without regularly looking at them. No matter where you put them, though, you should never leave them in plastic bags, which can trap moisture very significantly.
You should take a look at whatever is on the back of your print for its acidity level. In some cardboard and other backings, this can be especially high. Acidity is one of the worst things that can come in contact with paper, as it will transfer over to it very quickly. Fortunately, there are options out there with no acidity whatsoever you can buy.
You're not always going to have your prints on display, so it's okay to store them, but you must know what you're doing. As already mentioned, damp places are bad, so this means avoiding the basement, attic, or garage. Many of these prints are items you're going to want to hold onto and preserve, so treat them with the proper amount of care.
Annie Deakin is a journalist, fashion and furniture expert and editor at mydeco.com who is currently interested in
decorating ideas,
home office, and
home office furniture.
