NOT EASY

 

NOT EASY BECOMING AN ARTIST

I’m going through boxes containing picture frames, art supplies, and hand coloured matted etchings attempting, with more than a little difficulty, to decide what to keep, and what to relegate to landfill. I pause, and look at the prints. 

When  I was active, years ago now, in the art industry, I sold many hand-coloured etchings. I had to, as I was competing with handsomely framed reproductions, the sellers of which promising that the asking price of $300.00 - $400.00 was cheap considering that they were destined to increase in value. Of course the general public not knowing better, and really having little to no knowledge about art,  lined up to get their share with dreams of future profit. Sadly, it soon became obvious that owning number 1,500 of 15,000, whether signed or not, was simply a hoax. In time the reproduction market crashed leaving the buyer with something akin to a calendar with virtually no value. That no one went to jail for this fraud has always been a mystery to me. 

So, back to my hand-coloured etchings/aquatint prints. It’s very true that I produced them in quantity, probably 15, or 20 of each, but it should be taken into account the fact they were produced by me, by hand, and hand-coloured by me. Each was unique, as colouring was done with watercolour, and to get two prints exactly alike was nothing short of impossible. Beside, I purposely made each a bit different. So for a vey modest $40.00 - $60.00 one could purchased a matted original work of art. Unfortunately, I was up against the fact that most that wandered by my booth had no idea what an etching was, nor art for that matter, and were simply interested in finding something decorative.

About  the art of etching did you know that its beginnings started back in the time of the Renaissance , way back in the 1400s. Believe it or not artists back then had much the same problem of making a living as they do today. You see, most of us cannot afford a $500.00 - $1,000.00 painting. With that in mind in order to survive one has to have a cheaper, affordable, product, which the etching, from which you can get multiple prints, became the answer. When I mention the fact that you can get a multiple print from a single effort, it’s not that simple. First of all there’s the question of the work involved in producing the plate. The plate, made from either copper, or zinc, must first of all be sized and prepared, with a  with an asphalt ground. An image is then transferred to the plate, and with a needle scratched through the ground baring the metal beneath. The plate is then immersed in an acid that eats away at the exposed metal, etching the image into the plate. Using turpentine, the  asphalt ground is removed from the plate, the plate is inked, and the plate is wiped clean of all ink save the ink in the etched lines of the image. The plate is then placed on the bed of a press. A dampened watercolour paper is laid over the plate, which is then covered with a piece of felt, and the plate is run through the press. If you’ve done everything right you end up with a reverse image on the watercolour paper. In the case of the print being hand-coloured, the print is allowed to dry overnight, and the image is painted with watercolour. To obtain several prints, the same plate is re-inked and printed for every print. Should the image be tonal it would need a coating, or coatings of resin melted on the surface of the plate to act as a resist, the white areas are then lacquered out, followed by repeated immersions in acid before  the plate is ready to print. 

Of course, the story doesn’t end here, the hand-coloured print must be matted and shrink wrapped, and then taken to market. Depending upon the market chosen, at art fairs, or an art galley, there are fees and commissions to be paid. If I were to sell the print myself from my studio I would receive 100% less material expense. If I were to sell the print at an art fair, or through a galley, I would receive approximately 50% of the retail value. With each print taking approximately 2-3 hours to produce, and the retail cost ranging from $40.00 - $60.00, one can see that life as an artist is a challenge, and in some ways, even though reproductions were/are really not art per se, just calendars,  you can’t blame the many for leaning towards  producing and sell reproductions. I too was tempted, but apart from a couple of half hearted failed attempts very early in my career, I held onto my belief in the value of “real” art. Anyone that purchased one of my prints possess the real thing, and a piece of my life during my time spent working at becoming an artist.

I wonder, as I realize that I really have no choice but to surrender my dream, whether anyone really cares, and if I’m simply deluded in thinking that my efforts were of some importance. I wonder?