Guideline article for your use.
m a mass-produced or printed artwork – by Gill Knox
www.gillknox.blogspot.com
Original artwork
facts;
If you look at the darkest area with a
magnifier:- there will be a non-uniform pattern, either completely covered or at least looking like brush strokes This applies to all mediums including pencil, pen, any paint. If there is a pattern it will be a canvas looking pattern, not little round dots.
- If it is air brushed art, even these will be irregular on close up.
-
The artwork will be signed, usually in the same
medium(paint, or pen if it is watercolours) And nearly always in a colour
within the painting
-
If on a wrapped canvas, there will be no sudden,
sharp edge line where the painting stops, even if the artist has done this edge
on purpose with tape, there will be an uneven ridge where the paint line has
varying thickness.
-
Anything that says it is pastel, will be framed,
so will pencil, coloured pencil watercolor etc. the only exception will be
where these have been sprayed with a varnish, making it no longer the pure
medium stated. ASK for details.
-
There will be a rough/uneven texture on the work;
the paper texture will show through in watercolor OR in the case of
pencil/colored pencil/marker, some difference in reflection/shine/impressing
into the paper.
-
If someone states it is oil, and charges
accordingly, you need to be able to tell if it is acrylic instead. You could
try smelling it, you should be able to detect the difference between oil and
acrylic, oil would still leave an odor, and acrylic does not. If in doubt,
check with your local framer for advice.
-
You may think the image is familiar but
different, it may have been reversed! A common trick when using a reference
illegally without permission. Common with rare animals for example. Perhaps
even landscapes and buildings too.
Points to watch for:
a)
It is possible to paint a CLEAR gel medium over
a print, even brushstrokes will show, I have seen this, in all cases it was an
obvious print on a wrapped canvas, with a well-known painting reproduced, and
there was an abrupt line halfway on the canvas edge where the print stopped,
all around the painting. I would think you could still do the magnifying test
on these if not sure, but usually the prints done as these are well known
Master paintings.
b)
Price: if it is a print, the charge may be much
lower than you think it should be - too good to be true usually is!
c)
If the painting is air brushed (still requiring
some skill), produced over more than one canvas, and then sold very cheaply,
you can bet it is done super quickly, and perhaps even in assembly-line fashion. The image may be very
striking, but there will be as little paint as possible used, and so possibly
minimal layering of paint. A skilled airbrush artist, will take more time, add
time consuming detailing, and smaller areas or color. Watch again for illegible
signatures and fake names, or even no artist name evident.
d)
There may be many more than one painting, all
nearly identical, in that case it is mass produced. The only caution to this is
that artists can use a reference of their own and do different sections of it
to make multiple paintings. There will still be many differences though, and
usually different compositions, or at least different colour mixes.
e)
An artist these days usually has a presence on
the web, if you cannot find the name, it may be a fake name.
f)
Search a painting on the web using image search,
if you come up with many different versions of the same image, even under
different names, it will be illegally copied or mass produced.
g)
Artists who do produce their own prints, will
sign them additionally on the matt or outside the print edge as such
and also number limited addition prints.
©www.gillknox.blogspot.com
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