Making the Artisanal Inkjet Print
Moab Master, Harold Davis, was recently asked by an art gallerist he works with to help educate some clients regarding his printmaking. Essentially the issues come down to exploring how his prints differ from mass-produced inkjet prints, since largely the same equipment is used. In contrast to those you get from Costco or giclees from an art reproduction company, Harold's prints require a great deal of hand labor. Harold's FAQ: Prints by Harold Davis covers much of this ground, and the following discussion helps put things in perspective.
Harold Davis answers many questions frequently asked by printmakers such as:
What printer do you use? How long does it take you to make a print? Are your prints limited editions? Do you hand sign your prints? Is a certificate of authenticity available? And our personal favorite: What papers do you use?
Acido Dorado: Illusions on Slickrock Metallic Silver
Based in Los Angeles, Mona Kuhn is acclaimed for her contemporary and intimate depictions of the nude. In Acido Dorado: Illusions, she takes the human form in a new direction by blurring the demarcation between figure and abstraction. Here, Kuhn shifts focus to integrate completely the female nude as another element of her raw material merged with light, shadow, and architecture, to create an intimate, mirage-like vignette.
Acido Dorado: Illusions was photographed at architect Robert Stone's secluded glass house located in California's Mojave Desert near Joshua Tree. Inspired by the early autumn light and elongated shadows in the desert at the beginning and the end of the day, the resulting prints are imbued with a fluid, dreamy palette of yellow, gold and blue. Kuhn's collaboration with The Lapis Press introduced her to a process that ultimately gave the images a radiance that complements the shimmering, reflective quality of the images.
"Acido Dorado: Illusions is from an abstracted series, where I blended landscape, figure and architectural lines into one plane of reflective surface. I photographed inside a glass house in the middle of the desert, where the light and reflections would mirror all over its surface."
- Mona Kuhn
Harold Davis: An Eclectic Collection
Moab Master, Harold Davis, is very excited to be exhibiting at Arts & Friends, a photography gallery in Heidelberg, Germany. The show, Harold Davis: An Eclectic Collection, will display two large prints, one on Slickrock Silver and Metallic Pearl. There are roughly twenty other prints in the show of varying sizes, printed on Awagami Kozo Washi, Slickrock Pearl and Lasal Exhibition Luster. All the prints are monochromatic. The exhibit runs from October 18 through November 16, 2014.
Moab Teams Up With Canon Pixma Pro
To celebrate, Canon will be giving away printers, cameras, pro football tickets and more.
The gallery will have signed giveaway prints for you to enjoy.
And the Pixma PRO demo area will have fresh prints on a bunch of Moab Papers including Slickrock Metallic Silver and Lasal Exhibition Luster
Looking to Mount your Slickrock Silver?
Moab's new Slickrock Metallic Silver created a jaw-dropping repsonse from our audience. The only greater response we recieved was towards the Slickrock Metallic Silver face-mounted to Acrylic. This has stirred up a tremendous amount of interest in Slickrock Silver. The image above is an image by Harold Davis done by Lamin-8.
The process requires 3 components to our prints: Slickrock Metallic Silver, an adhesive film and the acrylic.
Our recommendation?
For laminating use a high grade clear adhesive film from MacTa
For the acrylic use a high grade plexi glass. Ensure that the plexi glass does not contain any gas as once the print is sealed it will look to escape and create bubbles in the print. Here are some grades we suggest from Acrylite here and here.
The Appropriate Paper for a Motif: Silver Effects
The FineArtPrinter contest "Showing Silver Effects" allowed for up to three photos to be handed in, all of which were printed on Moab Silver up to the size of A4. Discover the amazing photos the jury agreed upon and how their decision was made within the blink of an eye!
Imaging USA (Booth #1540)
The Moab team is packing up the crates and traveling to Phoenix for the annual Imaging USA show.
The highlight in our booth will be focused on the new Slickrock Metallic Silver. If you have been interested in giving this paper a try, then swing by our booth #1540 to pick up your free sample.
Featured at the show, our very own Moab Master Jim Lasala, will be showcasing several of his breathtaking prints from his portfolio. Jim will also be giving away signed 8.5x11 images of selected pieces of his work.
In addition to our entire Moab line,we will also be showing the Museo range of fine art inkjet papers, including their 100% cotton Artist Cards.
Hope to see you in Phoenix.
Moab Team
Slickrock Metallic Silver wins BIG!
The new Slickrock Metallic Silver 300 has been presented with TWO Editor Choice awards!
Both the renowned Outdoor Photographer and Digital Photo magazines have selected Slickrock Silver as their 'medium of choice' for 2013.
Moab Paper makes the Editor's Pick list again as Slickrock Silver nabs the inkjet paper category in their Gear of the Year roundup for 2013.
"The Moab Slickrock Metallic Silver 300 has become my medium of choice as I test different images. Its metal-like surface maintains rich blacks, and where the paper white would come through, I get the reflective, bright metallic look that I find so interesting. The print has a luminance that I don't get on plain paper."
Slickrock Metallic Silver 300 in-depth review
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/videos/photography/moab-slickrock-silver-300-metallic-paper
PhotoPlus Day 1 Highlights
What a whirlwind of a day! The show was packed. Slickrock Metallic Silver almost stole the show, but it had some stiff competition with the Moab Master presentations at the far end of the booth. Large 40x60 prints on the Silver from Harold Davis and Jim LaSala truly showed the impressive caliber of this amazing paper.
And those who were able to see the five Moab Master presentations got a real treat with insights into NASA, Haiti, Cuba, African wildlife and fashion. Live Slickrock printing demos on the new Canon Pixma PRO-1 rounded out the day.
The line-up tomorrow is equally impressive:
11:00am Michael Zide Through A Photographer’s Eyes
12:00pm Jody Dole Renowned image maker and digital photographer pioneer
3:00pm Ryszard Horowitz Capturing nonexistent world
Outgassing and Slickrock Silver
We've been receiving some inquiries from people about outgassing their prints prior to framing, with one in particular asking about what to do with the new Slickrock Metallic Silver.
Outgassing is a reality of inkjet printing. If you plan to frame your image behind glass, then it's necessary to allow the print to gas out otherwise a 'fog' could appear on the back side of the glass.
The amount of time needed for outgassing depends on ink load, ink type, coating type, absorptivity of the coating and paper, and ink quantity (light vs dark). The glycerin and glycol used to keep the pigment particles in the suspension in the ink, and to keep the ink from clogging the head, take a longer time to evaporate than the time we accept as drytime.
This is not only true of RC photo papers. Because RC papers have a PE layer (plastic layer) that limits the amount of ink that can be absorbed into the paper itself, they do require longer outgassing time than a matte coated fine art paper with no barrier.
What about our new Slickrock Metallic Silver 300? Most (all) of the true-metallic inkjet papers on the market are not instant dry. They use a swellable coating that keeps the ink on the surface. That is why you need a solvent spray to lock in the ink with those other papers…the coating does not really absorb the ink.
Our new Moab Slickrock Metallic Silver is a game-changing product. It uses a microporous coating that is designed to quickly move the ink away from the surface, thus creating the illusion of instant dry. There is no metallic like this in the industry. People are going to have to throw away everything they think they know about metallic and its poor dry time.
How do you properly outgas your prints? Check out this excellent article for some pointers.