Stephanie and Rev. George

Stephanie and George: the duo Sofistication

Rev George playing guitar

Rev George at the guitar

Harley cycle

Old Harley Chrome

Deep sea diver

Deep sea diver of turn of the century-20th

What makes an artist?

12/5/04

Stayed up late last night working on my prints.

Showed CP and AY my work. They both loved it.

Met a retired Navy man who is now a water color painter. Really had fun talking about art. He had some words of wisdom. “You are an artist if you say you are.”

It is really an internal decision. Am I committed to be an artist? And follow my bliss where it takes me? Then who is to argue with that commitment? Nobody.

Feels like I am now part of the brotherhood. I have claimed the title “artist” for myself. People see my work and have no trouble accepting my declaration. Neat!

Real pigments make the difference

12/4/04 later that day

Printed my “Desert Swan” image at 8×10 size on heavyweight matte paper. WOW. What a difference. I thought my images looked good on the glossy brochure paper. But the matte paper took it to a new level. The blacks were velvety. The other colors had a 3D quality. Not bold but soft natural colors. They didn’t scream “this is a photograph”. It was more like “Those colors look so fine I just love to keep looking at them”.

Almost like an oil painting. The colors look so real and natural because they are. Real pigments. Epson Durabright Inks are real pigments also, not dyes like the others. The difference is noticable to me. If you check out art galleries from time to time one develops an eye for these things. There is a reason oil painting has stood the test of time. Pigments are true and last.

I find the matte paper I needed

12/4/04

Went to CompUSA to find Epson Heavyweight Matte paper. Talked with the Canon rep. She was trying to convert me to the virtues of Canon printers. They produced high resolution prints but again more like photographic paper(glossy with detail but not deep blacks that my Epson produces. I think most of the other manufacturers are going for the snapshot market; people that would normally take their film to the corner Walgreens for double 4×6 prints. Now that they have a digital camera they like the convenience of getting the same prints on the desktop. I never was into snap shot pictures and 4×6 prints. I aspire to fine art prints because I am into photography for the pure beauty of the art. I am not into mundane recording of events. Nothing wrong with that. Just not what motivates me.

Anyway later the Epson rep showed up(cute too) and she answered some questions for me and was able to find the heavyweight paper in the 8×10 size not the 8.5 x11 which is more common. The 8×10 size is the maximun that I can print borderless in the Epson CX5400.

Again, my plan was to mount prints on gatorboard which they would trim to the edge. If I printed with a border there was I good chance that the trimming would look uneven. Without borders no one can tell.

I couldn’t wait to get home to try it out.

Making a brochure

12/3/04

I am thinking that I need to maximize the exposure I get from the show, so a brochure is in order. Always good to have a take away. Much better than a business card.

So I used MS Publisher with has pre-designed templates for a three fold brochure. I picked a color scheme I liked – just happend to be miseltoe. Green and red. Perfect since this show is Dec 11.

So I put my orchid shot on the cover and twelve images in side. Luckily I had recently made a brochure for another project and didn’t have much of a learning curve. Also I had double side glossy paper (HP brochure and flyer – 44lb).

I made a test print at max quality to see how it looks. Very excellent. This Epson CX5400 isn’t even a dedicated photoprinter but the output is stunning.

EPSON America, Inc. – Product Information – All-In-Ones

So I knew that look would be successful. Just needed to come up with verbage. Also I played with different fonts especially on front. Which one would set the right tone? I chose Agency FB. Thin width and simple.