What is an original print? What’s special about it? – Prints come in two types: reproduction prints and original prints. Reproduction prints are made by photographing an original artwork like a drawing or painting and then making copies of the photograph using a commercial printing process. The drawing/painting is an original work by an artist and the prints are copies that are not original artworks. Original prints are images made using a printmaking process (linocut is one but there are many others) where the artist uses the unique qualities of the process to create the image. The artist can make multiple, identical prints and each one is considered an original work of art because each is made using the printmaking block or plate that the artist has created.
What is an edition of prints? – An edition of prints is a set of identical, printed images. Printmakers often make a series of prints of a limited number, called a limited edition, and then destroy the block or plate used to print the images so that no more prints can be made from it. In a limited edition each print is both signed and serially numbered by the artist. The first print in an edition of 9 prints would have the number 1/9 written under it, the second print is 2/9 and so on until the last print is marked with the serial number 9/9. The reason for limiting an edition can be to assure the purchasers of the prints of the exclusivity of the artwork they own or it can be a function of the process: the color reduction process involves carving away more and more of the printing surface between printing layers of ink. See color reduction prints below.
What is a linocut print? – A linocut print, at its simplest, is a glorified rubber stamp. An image is carved into a sheet or block of linoleum. The surface of the sheet or block is inked up and paper is pressed against the inked block to transfer the image to the paper. An artist can make multiples of the printed image by inking and pressing over and over again. If the artist prints multiple prints, they are all considered to be identical, original artworks.
What is a color reduction linocut print? – A reduction print is made by carving away part of the surface of a linoleum sheet, printing the image made by that first carving, then carving away more of the surface, printing that new image on top of the first layer of ink, etc., until the artist deems the image complete. Each layer adds to the one(s) below to create the image. By the time the artist prints the last layer of ink there is sometimes very little left of the sheet of linoleum. The color reduction printing process means the output of prints is always a limited edition. No more prints can be made than the number of prints the artist prints with the first layer of ink.
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Chet Mink, linocut prints & drawings 