Flashmastermike
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Competition Alert: The National Portrait Gallery
The NPG is sponsoring its first ever portrait competition. Sometime next summer (in 2005), they will begin accepting submissions of painting and sculpture. In the fall of 2006, a cash prize of $25,000 will be awarded to the winning artist, and be exhibited along with 75 other selected works. The winning artist will also receive a commission to portray an "eminent living person" (such as Steven Hawking...or Stephen King?).
The competition will take place every three years.
The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery
A little background on Virginia (Outwin), (the NPG sponsor's) husband:
LOUIS CHARLES BOOCHEVER, M.P.A. '47, M.A. '48, A retired diplomat, he began his 30-year career with the State Department as an economist with the Marshall Plan. After transferring to the Foreign Service in 1956 he served on assignments in Luxembourg, Paris, Belgrade, Rome, and Brussels.
AASJ lists this and other local exhibition opportunities.
artist watch
Photographer: Mike Smith
Mike Smith is a German-born photographer living in Tennessee. His landscape photographs explore remote parts of rural Appalachia, depicting the isolation and interactions of the mountain landscape and the people who make their lives there. He directs the photography program at East Tennessee State University: 423.439.5688 smithm@mail.etsu.edu
He is represented by Lee Marks Fine Art gallery in Shelbyville, IN.
Painter: John Goodman
http://www.carolinaarts.com/202erl.html
Painter: Marianner Kolb
Marianne Kolb, Artist, Figurative Painter
Digital Negatives for Traditional Chemical Printing
Pictorico offers an OHP Transparency Film that can be used to create digital negatives to make contact prints. Dan Burkholder wrote the book on this process. Author of Making Digital Negatives for Contact Printing, Dan's platinum prints are now included in many museum and private collections.
Pictorico Ink Jet papers
A great review of the Pictorico Ink Jet papers that I'm currently using on my Epson 2200.
shutterbug: Pictorico Ink Jet Media
Download ICC Profiles for Pictorio paper using an Epson 2200:
ICC Printing Profiles
Also check out the Pictorico website:
www.pictorico.com.
A review of the Epson Stylus Photo 2200 for photographers, with review of the Pictorio papers:
shutterbug: Epson Stylus Photo 2200
Tony Levin Band at Martyrs Chicago
Tony Levin Band at Martyrs Chicago Photo Gallery from the 2003 show.
How To Professionally Mount Digital Prints
Archival methods are the way to go, which means 100% kozo paper hinges,
100% cotton rag, acid and lignin free, alkaline pH buffered 4-ply mattes,
and conservation glass or Plexiglas. That is going to be the most lasting
way to do it.
You can also go with plastic corner mounts and hinge the top matte to an
acid-free foam core backing with acid free linen hinges, if you wanted to.
There is some back and forth on buffered and nonbuffered matte board, but
it would appear that the concerns about general acidity of the air, etc.
makes using buffered matte board the more conservative method.
- acid-free linen tape hinges
- 100% cotton rag, acid and lignin free, alkaline pH buffered, 4-ply mattes
- conservation glass or Plexiglas
- acid-free foam core backing
For something that you want to be long lasting as well as reversible (so
the owner can have the print rematted, etc. if so desired) you will want
to avoid dry/cold mount methods. It appears you can use those techniques,
but why chance it? This means you won't need a press as well, so some cost
savings by not going down that path.
You want to make sure that you follow Epson's own advice on "outgassing" of
your prints.
http://www.epson.com/cmc_upload/0/000/019/809/Framing%20Tips.pdf
"Ink jet printer users may occasionally notice that an ink jet photo framed
behind glass has fogged the inside of the glass surface. This fog, which may
look like a ghost image, is a film caused by ink solvents that have not
completely 'cured.'"
To view the above document, you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you
do not have it, you can download it free from the Adobe website.
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
Here are some references for all of the above. They should be examined in
detail for all the specifics.
"Presentation and Care of Digital Prints" from the The Digital Art Society
of Hawai'i (DASH) web site.
http://www.digitalarthawaii.org/presentationandcare.htm
"Mattes are also alkaline pH buffered, offering extended protection from
environmental pollutants (the air has a slightly acidic pH).
...
Ultraviolet filtering glazing is available blocking up to 97% of the harmful
ultraviolet spectrum, significantly reducing fading due to light exposure."
"HOW TO DO YOUR OWN MATTING AND HINGING" by Mary Todd Glaser, Director of
Paper Conservation, from the Northeast Document Conservation Center web site.
http://nedcc.org/plam3/tleaf66.htm
"When matting paper artifacts, using the right materials is essential.
Cardboards for mounting must be chemically stable with good aging
properties. These are the so-called archival-quality or acid-free boards
sold by conservation suppliers. They are free of lignin and are pH neutral
or, more often, slightly alkaline."
All sorts of good tips on making your prints, as well as mounting methods
can be found on this "shutterbug" web page.
http://www.shutterbug.net/features/0401sb_digitalprint/
"Like most dye-based applications the ink that flows from your printer to
the paper needs time to "flash off." In other words, the solvent in the dye
needs to evaporate into the air.
...
Even when your print is totally dry to the touch it has a lot of flashing
to do. I have a couple of old 16x20 Agfa Brovira paper boxes that I use as
drying boxes."
These next two are various postings from the photo.net forums. Additional
searches there might prove useful.
Although it deals with photographic prints, there is some interesting
information within this "Buffered vs Non-Buffered Mat Board" thread.
http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=000fDw
"These are 100% cotton. You can usually see the 4 layers of board in the
bevel. That's why they're also called "4-ply" boards."
"How to display digital prints" thread.
http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=005BJB
"For permanent mounting I would consider the use of a linen-based archival
tape to make hinge-mounts."
As for finishing off the back, it always looks nicer if it's finished, at
least in my opinion. It also can keep the dust out of the frame. You can
go the traditional Kraft paper route if you want, but something about using
white frame sealing tape appeals to me. If you use a foam core backing, the
white-on-white effect would appear nice and clean. This "Sunshine Artist"
message base has some discussion on different approaches.
http://www.sunshineartist.com/forum/read.php?f=3&i=1583&t=1583
"I use a frame sealing tape. It is a heavy white tape that you put over the
gap between the [frame] and the foamboard or mounting board to seal the back."
You might want to check with your gallery to see if they have any preferences
as to the matte thickness and backing, etc.
(reprinted from google thread id=323850)
About Me
- Name: Mike White
- Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States
I'm a professional published photographer working with Chicago agencies. I specialize in fashion model photography - portfolios & comp cards. I also shoot events, products, and editorials. Contact my studio at: 312-436-1563 and visit mikewhitephotography.com