Artwork Description:
The Giclee Print.
Fine art for the third millenium.
A giclee (pronounced "zhee-clay") is a high quality, fine art print. Each print is produced one at a time and requires extensive hand work and finishing. The giclee printing process can produce an amazing array of more than 5 million colors. Equally important is the incredible lush and velvety texture of the print.
Jamie Wyeth, Robert Rauschenburg and David Hockney are among the many well-known artists who are having Giclees printed. Giclees are being embraced by dozens of museums around the world, including New York's Metropolitan, Whitney and Guggenheim Museums, the Corcoran in Washington, DC, and the High Museum in Atlanta to name a few.
"Giclee' is a French term meaning "spray of ink". This is the basis for the fine art Giclee' print. It is a digital technology utilizing very high resolution scanning, Photo Shop image manipulation and Iris Inkjet Printing with archival inks and 100% rag paper. With proper software, this scanned image can then be viewed, altered in color, value etc. or have areas of the image touched up before printing.
The printing process is the reverse of scanning. The image is placed onto the paper by applying the four colors simultaneously, rather than one at a time as done in the four color printing process. Color registration is precise which makes the proofing process shorter. Proofing is done to optimize the contrast level or density of each color present in the print.
The inks used in Iris Giclee printing have been time tested for longevity and color-fastness. These inks are archival Lyson Inks, with an expected life of 60 plus years under normal lighting conditions before any noticeable fading begins. When correctly mounted, Giclee prints provide lasting years of pleasure.