Technical Aspects:

Giclee Prints:

Giclee (French for to squirt or spray and pronounced ghee-clay) is an exciting new medium for artists and especially photographic artists because of its unparalleled quality, longevity and the desirability of printing-on-demand. As the name implies, a Giclee print is produced when the printing device generates (via a series of printer heads) a spray of exceedingly small drops (about the size of a human red blood cell) of archival ink which are precisely placed on a media (paper, canvas, etc) specifically designed to accept that particular ink.  The Giclee print process will render an image of exceptional clarity. The art of fine art printing has become more precise with the advent of the revolutionary Giclee printing process. A Giclee print is as rewarding visually as it is technically amazing.  For brilliant color and sharp detail it is unsurpassed. For art reproduction purposes this type of art is quickly becoming the standard in the art industry and is widely embraced for its quality by major museums, galleries, publishers, and artists. The cornerstone of this process is enhanced digital ink jet printers which are specifically designed for the rigorous and precise criteria of fine art collectors and connoisseurs of museum quality, limited edition prints. Producing a Giclee print is a slow and meticulous process which requires the skill of an artist to create museum quality prints. The technology calls for special equipment and techniques to obtain the best color accuracy, sharpness, continuous color tone and artistic interpretation available to fine art prints. A well done Giclee fine art print has no perceptible dot pattern, an endless array of richly saturated color, and every nuance represented in the original negative or transparency from which it was taken. Because Giclee technology allows the image to be stored on a disk, the artist has the choice of printing a Limited Edition on a "print-on-demand" basis. The resolution and color can be brilliant and most often will be better than lithographs. It is becoming more and more widely acknowledged that Giclee prints offer richness, detail and depth that set them apart from traditional offset lithography. Giclee prints are widely accepted in museums and galleries. Many museums in the United States and abroad have either mounted exhibitions of Giclee prints or purchased prints for their permanent collections. These include: the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), The Museum of Fine Art (Boston), The Philadelphia Museum, the Smithsonian Institute, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, National Museum of Art, The British Museum, The Washington Post Collection, The Corcoran Gallery, Laguna Museum of Art, and the San Francisco Museum of Art. Additionally, many distinguished photographers and artists, among them: Andrew Wyeth, Jamie Wyeth, Joyce Tennyson, Peter Ralston, John Paul Caponigro, Hans Neleman, Raymond Meeks, Dennis Schultz, Peter Nelson and Richard Avedon produce works that are Giclee printed.

Print Stability:

The number of years a given print can exist without demonstrating appreciable fading is influenced by many factors.  The media on which the print is printed greatly influences the life of that print.  The type of ink used to produce the image will greatly influence the life of a given print.  The conditions under which a print is displayed (sunlight, fluorescent light, high or low light intensity, under glass or not, ozone levels, humidity, etc.) will also greatly influence the life of a print.  Dr. Henry Wilhelm who is at present one of the leading authorities on print life testing estimates (based on accelerated aging of prints under controlled conditions) that Epson pigmented inks used on archival paper (Epson's fine art paper) using archival framing under glass in normal viewing conditions should last up to 200 years or longer in some cases prior to any noticeable fading.  Prints made on different medias have varied in their light fastness or expected print life.  As medias, inks and printers improve expected print life will increase.  For currant projected print life for any media consult Dr. Henry Wilhelm who does ongoing projections based on most recent testing.  All prints from Alan Adams are made using Epson 8-Color UltraChrome K3 Inks.  Prints are sold as print only.  I do not market frames butt it is important for the buyer to understand that when an unframed print is purchased it should be framed using current archival materials under glass or Plexiglas as soon as is possible to minimize print damage from environmental agents.  This is very important for the print to achieve the light-fastness and print life estimates.  As new findings are made available which could enhance the life of the print we will strive to incorporate these recommendations into the making of fine art prints. 

Limitations of Web-Site viewing of fine art prints:

Computer monitor images have approximately 72dpi resolution (very low).  In addition, there are tremendous variations in computer operating systems, video cards, screen resolutions and monitors used to view images via the internet each having it's strong and weak points.  Therefore, it should be realized that the image you view on your monitor (even the enlarged view) is a very crude representation of the actual image.  For this reason you need to realize factors such as contrast, texture, tonal range, saturation, scale, etc. will be appreciably different in the actual print.   There is no means available to enable you to view the print as if you were standing in front of it in the area where you choose to display the print.  Therefore, I have chosen to adopt the policy whereby if a client orders a print and after having viewed the print (two week period to evaluate) finds it unacceptable that client can return the print (in the condition it was received, i.e. undamaged) and the fee for the print be refunded less shipping charges. 

Viewing Recommendations:

These images are balanced to be viewed under the color temperature of halogen lighting.  The color temperature of halogen lights produce accurate color balance and tonal gradation in these prints which are printed using pigmented inks.  The least desirable lighting for viewing these images is lighting with a cool color temperature (i.e. fluorescent, etc.).  This lighting tends to shift color balance toward green and/or blue.  Halogen lighting is the color temperature used in a majority of the galleries and museums and is readily available through most lighting outlets nation wide.  

Artist's Statement

My greatest fascination is the outdoors and subjects found throughout nature — especially majestic landscapes. There exists a revelation of a profound and divine nature which can not be expressed with words in the natural world in which we live.   Even though we all walk through a natural world full of awe inspiring beauty, truth and revelation we often fail to see it.  It is my opinion that the first and greatest challenge for any artist is to learn to "see."  As I stated above, I am convinced that we pass by a myriad of beautiful compositions each day and never realize it because we either fail to take the time to see them or never develop the capacity to see and appreciate them. Often I find that subjects which possess what I like to term "simple elegance" are the most profoundly beautiful and at the same time profoundly simple. There really are no "common" things when you learn to "see."  Therefore, the art of photography speaks in a manner which makes words seem trite.  

The second greatest challenge for me as an artist is to master all the disciplines required to convey what I see into a form which I can effectively demonstrate to viewers.  Unfortunately, the term “master” has been largely discarded in recent times.  Ansel Adams once said, “The negative is the equivalent of the composer's score, and the print the performance.”  I am convinced that it is a necessary and worth while expenditure of time and effort to fully develop all the disciplines required to not only visualize, compose and record a work but to “perform” that work as well.  Over the years my equipment has grown more complex and heavier but I view each piece of equipment as a painter would a particular brush or canvas because they are a means to the same end: To capture the ineffable beauty and wonder in this world where we’ve been placed which can bring a unique pleasure to the heart of those viewers who "see" — and to thereby bring glory to the Sovereign God who created and sustains it. All of creation is a giant symphony ...  the ebb and flow of the tides, the waxing and waning of the moon, the movement of the great whales in due seasons on their specific paths in the oceans, the movement of the winds over the face of the earth, the movement of the heavenly bodies in their prescribed courses through the heavens, the migrations of birds in their respective times, the continual interplay of light and shadow through out the course of day and night as well as countless other pieces in the great symphony all bear witness to the Sovereign God who created, sustains and conducts it all.   Thus Soli Deo Gloria is the Latin phrase which is interpreted "To God Alone Be All Glory". The great masters of old performed with this theme as their driving motivation ...  Soli Deo Gloria.  This was the central theme of the Reformation. Johann Sebastian Bach signed his compositions, S.D.G., and carved Soli Deo Gloria into the organ at Leipzig. The "Golden Age" of English Literature (with Spenser, Milton, Herbert, Donne and Bunyan) was to a large extent driven by the concept of Soli Deo Gloria. Therefore, since this theme fitly represents my purpose I have chosen to inscribe on all signed prints S.D.G. as did those older masters. To God alone is all glory. Thank you for considering my prints. — Alan Adams

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