ORIGINAL ARTWORKS
Third & Wall originals are unique artworks created by the artist. Originals are available in a variety of media, reflecting the unique alchemies and preferences of the individual artists. Oils, acrylics, metallic leafs and foils, inks, pastels and collage elements are just some of the media that artists use to interpret their visions, ideas and emotions. Their surfaces vary, and may include canvas, paper, plexiglass, aluminum or other metals, wood or board that has been specially prepared to receive paint. Canvases may be stretched or un-stretched. Printmaking techniques are sometimes incorporated into the development of multiple originals, in which artists may use etching, monotype or monoprint processes to create original pieces that complement one another, yet can stand alone as unique works of art.
If you would like to commission original artworks from any of our artists, contact us! Many Third & Wall artists are available to create commissioned original artworks for you. If you want a Third & Wall original that has already been sold, in many cases we can work with you and the artist to create a custom painting.
GICLÉES
Giclée (pronounced zhee-CLAY) technology arrived on the scene in the late-1980's, and has rapidly evolved to become an essential creative tool for artists who want to satisfy the increasing demand for their works in a format that guarantees unbelievable saturation, accuracy and color brilliance. Print-on-demand and on-the-spot image resizes have also become a reality with the advent of giclée printing.
Simply put, a giclée is an extremely high-resolution digital print that is usually output on an 8-color to 12-color continuous tone inkjet printer. Using archival inks, the printer sprays millions of microscopic droplets onto the surface, resulting in extremely vibrant colors and a seamless image that is much richer and deeper than the characteristic dot-pattern of offset lithography (posters). A single giclée print can take up to an hour and a half to output. Third & Wall giclées are printed on luxurious archival paper and canvas, but other substrates such as silk can be used in giclée printing.
Before the giclée is printed, a great deal of painstaking and meticulous technology is involved in the initial "capture" of the image. The original artwork must be scanned by skilled professionals with years experience in the field of digital image capture, color calibration and reproduction, and who ideally are artists themselves. Once the artwork has been captured and enters the purely digital realm, it undergoes an intensive proofing and calibration process that involves feedback, proofing, critical observation and cooperation between the giclée craftsman, the publisher and the artist, all of whom are committed to achieving the best possible work of art.
All good things come to those who wait! The creation of a Third & Wall giclée edition is a slow and intensive process. Because of this, Third & Wall produces giclées only in small limited editions on archival paper and canvas. Our giclée editions are created using pigmented inks and acid-free 100% cotton papers that add up to a stable lifetime of 75 years or more. Many of our artists hand-embellish their giclée editions to create added richness and value to each work within the edition. All of our limited giclée editions are numbered, and approved and signed by the artists.
OPEN EDITIONS
An Open Edition in the world of two-dimensional art usually refers to posters. As the name suggests, it is an edition that is produced in unlimited quantities. Less-expensive reproduction techniques (such as off-set lithography) allow the existence of Open Editions because of the lower cost of printing and re-printing unlimited numbers of posters.
POSTERS (Offset Lithography)
Offset lithography, because it is an inexpensive and highly productive form of image replication, is the most common form of commercial reproduction. Offset lithography is sometimes casually referred to as 4-color printing because it creates a complete image using only the four basic ink colors of cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK). It is really amazing how those four simple colors, when properly combined, can result in such crisp, accurate, gorgeous reproductions. However, the term "4-color printing" can be a little misleading since the printing presses used to create Third & Wall posters sometimes involve presses using up to 8 ink colors, with the application of special elements such as varnishes, metallic inks, UV coatings, metal foils and special colors.
Poster printing begins when an image is transferred to thin printing plates using photomechanical, photochemical, or laser engraving processes. Unlike other forms of printing, in offset lithography the image on the printing plate is not recessed or raised. The printing plates may be made of metal, plastic, rubber, paper, and other materials. Typically, printing plates are attached to a cylinder in the press. There is one plate for each ink color (e.g. a cyan plate, a magenta plate, a varnish plate, etc.) The printing inks are distributed to the plates through a series of rollers. Rollers apply oil-based ink and water to the plates.
The underlying principle of offset lithography is that water and oil (ink) do not mix, so only the image area of the plate picks up ink from the ink rollers. The water rollers keep the ink off of the non-image areas of the plate. Each plate then transfers its image to a rubber blanket that in turn transfers the image to the paper. The printing plate itself does not actually touch the paper -- thus the term "offset" lithography. All of this occurs at an extremely high speed.
The Third & Wall Creative Team is "on press" for every single poster, reviewing each image as it rolls off the press to make sure it is color accurate, beautiful, and truly represents the artist's original intent. If we have to correct the color balance and send it back through the press, we'll keep making adjustments and running it through the press it until it is right. Watching a printing press in action as it inhales those big sheets of fine paper and shoots them rapidly (and noisily) through the mechanical expanse of cylinders and rollers and blankets is quite an amazing experience!
