Prints, Prints, and More Prints

Over the last couple days, I've been creating new print listings. A lot of listings. I am happy to say that I now have over 50 different prints available for sale in my shop.

I've still got a long way to go, but I'm pretty happy with what I've got up there so far. I've put a variety of different pieces up on my store, ranging from the birds I've become known for to almost my entire fairytale collection. I've even listed some pieces that are stand-alone expressions that mean a lot to me. 

As I said, I have many more too put up. Over time, I've illustrated tons of birds and I've just scratched the surface of that body of work. I still have a few of my favorite owl illustrations to list. Additionally, I have some other Art Nouveau expressions to make available as well. 

But all the prints--regardless of their subject matter--are printed at 11x17". And I do that for two reasons: it's one of the largest sized I can print at home, and it's also the best scale at which to see all the detail and texture I work hard to incorporate. Many of my pieces have layers of subtlety that aren't apparent when reproduced as a greeting card. Yes, each card is richly saturated and finely printed, but when viewed at a size three times as large my work looks even better. 

Additionally, since I print these pieces at home on bright white double-sided mat photographic paper, each image is visually adjusted to look best with my own eyes. I don't send these out to be manufactured by print-on-demand companies because I never really know how they'll turn out if I do that--at least not without a proof. And I simply can't get proof copies of my entire body of work--that would be cost prohibitive. 

So I render my pieces knowing they'll end up being a specific size and that I'll be able to make adjustments myself mid-process if I need to, not after receiving a complaint about the quality of a product I've actually never seen. I use a Pixma Pro 200 8-color dye-based printer that I'm very happy with, and it enables me to print full bleed (edge-to-edge). 

Printing them myself also allows me to print directly on the back of the double-sided paper. I can make sure that an actual Certificate of Authenticity that includes a signature, a number for the print, and details about the paper and printer directly on the back side of each print, making it impossible to accidentally lose the accompanying printed Certificate. 

I ship the prints in a 13x19" rigid mailer that I secure even more with additional chipboard sheets to make it even stiffer and mitigate potential accidental folding in the mail system. For those who live locally in Humboldt County, I'll deliver purchases myself from my studio to customer locations up to a radius of 10 miles. 

Getting prints up for sale has been a dream of mine. I had always imagined, in the back of my mind, someday being able to sell prints outright but I'd always "protected myself" by saying I had to be successful in some other way to somehow "justify" the selling of prints. I'd started out wanting to make prints all along, but I never let myself believe I could or even should. 

Moving to Humboldt County last year changed all that. I achieved some small success at local fairs and festivals, where I got a much-needed ego boost and some validity. And some of my print pieces sold at the Redwood Art Association's member gallery as well, so in the end I didn't have an excuse. I realized my dream was a reality, and I had to do it or I'd lose the opportunity. 

And so, here I am getting it done. And proudly. This is how my work should be seen and collected. I am incredibly excited that I can do this now!! And I have so many more prints waiting in the wings to be listed!

Onward!