What is a Giclee print …

The name ‘Giclee’ print may not be familiar to everyone, so I wanted to just say a little about why I favour this printing method and talk about its properties.

A Giclee is a digital inkjet print, using high quality pigment inks ‘sprayed/spalshed’ ( the French translation of giclee ) onto archival grade papers, producing art works to a professional museum quality. It is the wonderful range of fibrous papers that can be used that I am drawn to as well.

‘Contact’ 2018 - Giclee print

The paper I often print onto is called Hahnemuhle German Etching paper : it’s a heavy weight paper, very similar to watercolour paper and I feel adds a painterly touch to the works. Much of my work is less about precise depiction, but more of an interpretation inspired by the world about us. Nature has few straight lines. So the textured paper suits this work. This method does not really marry so well to portraiture, if you are trying to attain the perfect skin tones from your print, I would always choose a more traditional C-type print which is a coated paper, very much like the photograph surface you would get from a high street printer.

I find I keep returning to the Giclee print as the colours always seem to have so much more depth, a richness I don’t find in a C-Type. The colours are literally absorbed into the paper, there is no distracting sheen. Of course this comes with a slight drawback, the Giclee has a very delicate surface area, being uncoated paper. So extra care must be taken when handling the print, the ink can be scratched rather easily. Gloves are recommended when handling the work. Most professional framers will know about this, but it may be worth mentioning when sending it to the framers.

But once your print is framed, behind glass, it will be a piece you’ll be able to enjoy, and pass on to the generations to come.