Workshopping a reproduction with Hope and Feathers

I met with Michelle, the printmaker at Hope and Feathers in Northampton, and we talked paper, we talked painting, we talked color. After our initial consult, she kept four (4) of the small 6" x 6" canvases and scanned them for reproduction. From those she made mock ups of each piece on four different types of paper. The original canvases incorporate metallic paint in with the layers of acrylic paint. Which Michelle warned most likely wouldn't come through the reproductions; the scanning and printing process can't pick up the shimmer of the original work.

Below is a photo taken with the samples side by side the original. The photo also loses some of that sheen, but in person there is a significant difference for the gold and bronze bits in the original versus the reproduction.

Michelle wasn't there at the time I picked up the samples, but I was still quite excited to brainstorm with HAF staff about how to attach the reproductions to a more durable backing. My goal for this exercise is to create a work that could be moved around by multiple viewers during an exhibit or in their own home as their whimsy allows. I originally thought the squares might be mounted to wood blocks since the original pieces are mounted to interior wood framing pieces. She steered me away from wood altogether and suggested thicker matt board instead. I wasn't sold at first--that is until we started talking about what type of panel or board these might be displayed on. She mentioned that their frame samples in the shop all have thin magnets on the back and the wall is covered in a metal sheet. This makes it easy to store and move around frame samples as customers try out other frames.

We mocked up one of the sheets with various colors of matt board behind them. Settling on black or bright blue, we held the mockups against the aluminum colored sheet on the wall. The black board visually melted behind the paper, almost becoming a thin shadow against the silver grey of the panel, making the reproduction square float above. The matt board no longer was a dominant figure in the assemblage but 100% supporting role only. In theory the matt board could be cut so it meets the edge of the square flush- no overhangs, no borders. HAF staff would be able to mount the paper on the matt board, and affix the magnets, but I would need to source the metal panels. HAF staff mentioned that their panels were found through FB marketplace and were discards from a construction project.

Ok, sourcing metal panels- I have a feeling this will be its own adventure for sure.

But first the question remains: Which paper do I choose to print these on?

See a comparision of the four paper types below (Fine Art, Hahnemühle , Velvet, and Canvas)

Canvas (Far Right Column)

I thought initially printing on canvas would be the choice because the texture would match and the material is quite thick and durable. However, the reproduction flattened the colors, printing with an opaque sheen. The column on the right of this mockup shows how muted the colors are with the canvas reproduction. The darker colors especially became greyed out.

Velvet (Second from Right Column)

Velvet feels good on the hands. It is a thicker paper and slightly fuzzy to touch. The colors took on a deeper richness, and the colors of the trees and green blues trended even more blue. Not a bad choice, but I miss some of the subtle purples and darker greens of the original in this reproduction.

Hahnemühle (Third from Right Column)

This paper is a bit thicker than the Fine Art Paper and prints a tad bit darker than the original work. It seems to bias slightly purple, which is also a nice twist. But it seems that some of the midtones miss some of the subtlety. I admit, when we first reviewed these in the shop, I thought Hahnemühle paper was the way to go. But today after displaying these side by side again, I may go another route.

Fine Art (Far Left Column)

Fine Art paper does sound like fine branding, and Michelle did mention it and the Hahnemühle paper were the most popular. She offered that folks do often paint on top of the Fine Art prints--especially after printing; she suggested I give it a try. I may try re-layering thin washes of metallic paint colors that I used in the original pieces. I do think that this is the paper of choice (unless we got the stacks mixed up!) I will try painting on this soon to double-triple-check that this is the direction to pursue.

A shout out to Hope and Feathers in Northampton, MA for all your expertise and advice- stay tuned

https://hopeandfeathersframing.com/

-09.28.2024