Monday, November 16, 2015

Large Canvas Prints for the Colorado Uber Office

We just completed a set of 4 - 60" x 40" canvas prints for the Uber office here in Colorado. They found Colorado Josh | Fine Art Photography through his Facebook page and picked 4 of his images to put on their walls. They obviously have very good taste. We love making canvas prints and wanted to show everyone our process. I'll preface by saying we only use the very best giclée printing materials available on the market. Everything is handmade with great care. You are guaranteed to love it or we will give you a full refund.
Just a few of the test prints.

Every job starts with some small test prints to see if any color, contrast, or saturation adjustments need to be made. Also to see which of our printers is making the nicest print of each image. We do this for every image and don't charge for it. For this job our HP Z3100 was the right choice. We only use the highest quality canvas available and that is Breathing Color's Lyve canvas.


After a few small adjustments the prints were ready to roll. It's pretty magical watching these things come into the world. The next morning after the print fully dried; varnish was applied using a roller and Breathing Color's gorgeous Timeless Museum Grade Matte Giclée Varnish. The varnish preserves the print while protecting it from UV light. It also makes it waterproof and keeps the surface from cracking, scuffing, or fading. Incredibly important! Then Chris cut up some 1.5" thick stretcher bars to mount the canvas onto. We cut all of our bars here so we can do any size. Plus it's fun to use the mitre saw.


While the varnish was drying the bars were assembled to make the 4 60" x 40" frames. Very exciting! Corner supports were added to reinforce the frame so the print will maintain a nice tight stretch. Nothing makes us sadder than seeing a sagging canvas print out in the world. 


We are now ready to stretch the prints over the frames. This is done with the utmost of care to make sure the image is lined up just right and to avoid ripples ensuring that the canvas will look great years from now. We finish the corners with a really clean looking folding technique. This client chose to have the image "mirrored" onto the sides of the finished piece.  The other option is to "overflow" the image over the sides but then you lose a bit of the image from the front to the sides. Both of these techniques makes a finished product that is ready to hang without additional framing. Custom framing is expensive, but beautiful! If this were going into a frame it would be on thinner bars with plain white sides.

Our signature clean corner and the "Mirrored" side.

After that we put some hanging hardware on and they were ready to go! Here are some shots of the finished products. Human included to show scale. 


I don't think Josh wanted to let these ones go. And for $304 a piece he wouldn't have to.


We were even kind enough to deliver these for a very small fee. 

If you are in need of prints we would love to help you on your next project. Come stop by our gallery in Edgewater to see some samples and talk about your project. We even have access to lots of different artwork if you don't have something of your own to print.


Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Printing on Aluminum

If you are in search of a new way to print your artwork with more originality consider having it printed directly onto Aluminum.  After the Aluminum is sanded and then coated with an ink receptive coating it can go right through the printer like a regular paper.


All the highlights in the printed image take on a silver reflective look rather than plain white.  The whole image appears to glow.  Since the metal is sanded there is a subtle pattern left over that can be seen behind the ink.


After the ink is given time to dry the final product can be framed under glass or even mounted and framed without glass.  For this sample I mounted it to a piece of wood after staining it for a low cost alternative to framing.  It looks pretty sharp!


Aluminum prints are available at the Painted Pixel.  Contact us for a quote here: chris@thepaintedpixel.org

Friday, January 17, 2014

Metallic Canvas - Now Available!

the Painted Pixel is very excited to announce the addition of Metallic Canvas to our product lineup!  Metallic Canvas is very new to the Giclée printmaking market and we are one of the very first retailers to offer this amazing new print media.  You really have to see this stuff with your own eyes to fully appreciate it.  But here are some photographs to give you an idea of how this canvas looks.

Printed photos by www.coloradojosh.com
The most noticeable difference in this canvas is the metallic sheen in the highlights.  In the above image the clouds have an added depth that draws the viewer's attention.  The midtones also have a nice reflective glowing quality that is very appealing.  The yellow areas take on the appearance of having some gold in them.

This canvas is created with the same passion and standards of quality as all of our other canvases but made from an optimal blend of metallic, silver, and pearlescent surface finishes.

The top is our standard white canvas and the bottom is the new metallic.  You can begin to see the difference by comparing the highlights.  But you really have to see this canvas in person to understand the full impact it has!

Please visit www.thepaintedpixel.com to see pricing and to setup a time to see a sample for yourself.

Monday, August 19, 2013

Painting Reproduction for Michael Eoannou

Things have been pretty busy over here this summer at the Painted Pixel.  I recently got to work with an artist named Michael Eoannou.  He had me scan his original painting and print it on canvas at the same size.  I thought it turned out pretty amazing so I wanted to share a picture of the print and the original side by side.


The reproduction and the original.  Reproduction is on the left.

The scan was done at 350 dpi at a cost of $20.  The CD with the print file is included in that price.  The 16 x 20 inch canvas print was $52.44.  That price includes a post-printing glossy veneer to enhance and preserve the image.  Stretching the canvas onto bars was $18 for a total of $97.22 including tax.  If you are an artist who would like to sell an original and still be able to sell reproductions or just some smaller prints check out my website for more information:  www.thepaintedpixel.org

Friday, February 1, 2013

Put Those Instagram Pictures to Use!

Hey Instagramers, Facebook posters, lovers of life and digital photography.  Are all your cherished pictures confined to a hard drive?  Don't wait until they have all poofed out of existence!  Make a one of a kind piece of art that you and your friends can enjoy for years to come.


The Painted Pixel is now making custom photo collages on canvas.  This sample made from square photographs is printed on 100% Cotton Archival Canvas sealed with a Matte Varnish and stretched onto bars.  They arrive ready to hang, all you will need is a nail.


To get started on your own collage just email us your photographs and tell us what size you have in mind for the finished piece.  We will then create a digital proof of the collage so you can approve it before it is printed.


As always, The Painted Pixel provides color correction and image optimization free of charge!  To get a quick quote send an email to chris@thepaintedpixel.org with a general size and amount of images.  The collage shown is 26 x 26 inches and is priced at $89.  Free delivery available in the Denver area and very affordable shipping for those who are not.  For more information on our services visit www.thepaintedpixel.org

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Inkjet Transfers onto Wood for Weidmann

Jake Weidmann is a Denver based Artist & Master Penman who works with many mediums including drawing in pencil, pen and ink, painting in acrylics, airbrush gouache, carving in wood, wax, stone, antler and pre-ban Ivory; calligraphy forms of script, off-hand flourishing, illumination and black letter.


Jake and I just finished a really fun project that yielded fantastic results.  Jake knows I love the alternative printing surfaces and came to me with the idea of transferring his new drawing to a cross section of a tree trunk.  He had 25 tree trunk slabs that were to be the centerpieces at an upcoming conference.

 
Jake drew a beautifully intricate Compass Rose on Calfskin Vellum and had me scan it.  I was then able to print the Compass Rose onto transfer film.  The wood was then coated with a receptive coating that when comes into contact with the transfer film pulls the image away onto the new surface.


Some other alternative printing surfaces that I offer are tile, metal, Plexiglass, and many kinds of wood.