2013 Changes to Print Products

Shadow Horse Studios LLC and Glass Eyed Pony Photography will be utilizing new papers for the 2013 year. It is very important for those artists who market museum quality archival works to know the differences in the papers they are using. True archival quality matters to high end collectors with the intentions of purchasing artwork and prints that will be insured and past down through generations. Art is an investment to these collectors. Archival or museum papers are made with a fiber source, such as 100% cotton rag, that will last for centuries WITHOUT CONSERVATION. Acid-free papers are based on cellulose fiber and will eventually yellow as their buffering is exhausted, depending on atmospheric conditions where they are stored and displayed. Although conservation is possible, their lifespan without conservation should be measured in decades, not centuries.

Because digital art is ultimately preserved in a digital format, not on paper, most people mistakenly feel that the expense of a museum paper is not always necessary. While it is true that under good conditions, with archival grade inks and proper storage and display, acid-free cellulose papers can last more than 20 years, this is not ideal for the invested collector who is looking for museum quality archival works that last generations.

For all giclee fine art prints the new papers we are utilizing here in the studio for all  prints and greeting cards starting january 1, 2013 are as follows:


Canson Infinity Arches Aquarelle Rag
The world’s No. 1 mould-made watercolor paper is now available for the digital fine art market, lending a unique and unrivalled character to the fine art reproduction of traditional artwork and photographs. Internally buffered and acid-free, it was designed to meet the longevity requirements of galleries and museums.

A genuine 100% rag watercolor paper, Arches Aquarelle Rag possesses the unique structure, surface texture, and warm white tone that demanding artists expect from a traditional fine art paper. It’s compatible with pigmented and dye inks, dries instantly, and is water-resistant. The absence of optical brightening agents ensures consistency for generations.

Canson Infinity Arches Velin Museum Rag
For centuries, Arches Velin Museum Rag has been chosen to create lithography, intaglio etchings, engravings, and collotypes by world-renowned artists. Today, Arches Velin Museum Rag is available for the inkjet fine art and photograph market.
This mould-made paper has a unique, fine-grained, smooth surface and structure, and a pure white tone that is ideal for sophisticated photographs, museum-grade applications, and fine art printmaking.
Arches Velin Museum Rag is compatible with pigmented and dye inks, dries instantly, is water-resistant, and contains no optical brightening agents. Internally buffered and acid-free, it was designed to meet the longevity requirements of galleries and museums.

Canson Infinity BFK Rives
The world’s No. 1 traditional mould-made printmaking paper is now available within Canson’s Infinity Digital Fine Art & Photo portfolio.
BFK Rives has a unique, fine-grained smooth surface and structure, and a pure white tone that is ideal for sophisticated photographs, museum-grade applications, and fine art printmaking.
It is compatible with pigmented and dye inks, dries instantly, is water-resistant, and contains no optical brightening agents. Internally buffered and acid-free, BFK Rives was designed to meet the longevity requirements of galleries and museums.

Canson Infinity Edition Etching Rag
Canson Infinity Edition Etching Rag is a 100% cotton mould-made fine art paper that is reminiscent of the original etching and printmaking papers. By using natural minerals in its manufacture, Canson has developed a smooth-textured paper with the purest white tone in the industry, high paper shade stability, and a resistance to aging.
This museum-grade paper assures deep blacks, excellent image sharpness, and optimum color gradation, and its slight grain makes it ideal for printing detailed work, color photographs, and black-and-white portraits.
Edition Etching Rag is compatible with pigmented and dye inks, dries instantly, is water-resistant, and contains no optical brightening agents. Internally buffered and acid-free, it was designed to meet the longevity requirements of galleries and museums.

Canson Infinity Museum Canvas Water-Resistant Matte
This traditional, museum-quality, 100% archival cotton canvas has a natural white tone optimized for pigmented inks. Combining modern technical excellence with the texture, feel, and body that only an all-cotton canvas can deliver, it offers the highest quality for the most discerning of reproductions.
It is free of optical brightening agents, with a premium, coated, matte-textured surface that is ideal for giclée applications. Water-resistant and UV-resistant, it can be stretched and mounted with ease.

Canson Infinity Platine Fibre Rag
Platine Fibre Rag is the combination of the latest microporous coating with the premium 100% cotton platinum paper that Canson has supplied for years to the original Platinum and Platine photographic market.
Setting the benchmark for digital darkroom papers, Platine Fibre Rag provides the aesthetic and feel of the original F-Type Baryta Fibre paper, possessing a true pure white tone without using optical brighteners that are known to affect the longevity of digitally produced images.
Platine Fibre Rag’s extremely high Dmax and exceptional gray tones make it the product of choice for black-and-white and color photographic prints. It is compatible with pigmented and dye inks, and internally buffered to resist gas fading and maximize the conservation of prints. It dries instantly and is water-resistant.

Canson Infinity Rag Photographique
Rag Photographique is a 100% cotton, museum-grade white fine art paper developed by Canson to meet the longevity requirements of the digital fine art market. The natural minerals used in its manufacture render an extra-smooth white surface with a sensual feel and one of the highest Dmax ratings available. It is ideal for fine art photography as well as fine art printmaking.
Rag Photographique is compatible with pigmented and dye inks, dries instantly, is water-resistant, and contains no optical brightening agents. Internally buffered and acid-free, it was designed to meet the longevity requirements of galleries and museums.

Moab Entrada Digital Rag Paper
These 100% cotton, smooth, double-sided papers are beautiful surfaces for fine art prints that will last a lifetime.

Bright White — Reproduces vivid color and maximum contrast for exceptionally detailed prints. Bright White is compatible with dye and pigmented inks.
Natural — A soft white sheet created with no optical brighteners. Natural is ideal for black and white images, and it is compatible with dye and pigmented inks.

Moab Lasal Photo Paper
Lasal is a professional grade of digital photo paper featuring brilliant whiteness, excellent image sharpness, and good color density. Lasal papers are universally compatible with the widest range of dye-based and pigment-based inks.
These papers can be laminated with both hot and cold presses and are perfect for general photography, portraiture, presentations, posters, graphic art reproduction, as well as signage. Neutral pH and acid-free. Made in the USA.

Lasal Exhibition Luster 300 — This is a heavyweight, single-sided, ultra-white luster paper that is ideal for gallery and exhibition prints. A new, fourth-generation resin coating produces an extra-wide color gamut never before seen in a luster paper. Named after the Lasal mountains, whose snowy peaks tower above the Moab, Lasal Exhibition Luster keeps true to its namesake, incorporating many of the elements found in the surrounding Moab environment — pure crispy whites and deep, luscious colors. 11 mm. 300 gsm.
Lasal Photo Gloss 270 — This bright white sheet features an instant-dry smooth gloss surface that is also smudge and water resistant. 270 gsm.
Lasal Photo Matte 235 — An instant-dry paper that is double-sided with a smooth, matte surface. Water resistant. 235 gsm.

Moab Somerset Photo Enhanced Inkjet Paper
Digital prints deliver greater resolution than traditional lithographic prints, and offer a wider color range than serigraphy. Reproduce your own masterpieces...or create new ones with a collection of fine art papers.
Somerset Photo Enhanced papers are suitable for most desktop printers (inkjet or bubble), yet deliver museum-quality reproduction and archival quality.

Photo Enhanced Velvet — The answer for artists who demand crisp "photo quality" reproduction without sacrificing the luxurious feel of fine art paper. This radiant white paper, combined with high-quality ink, yields exceptional depth, and rich, vivid colors that grab the eye. 225 gsm.

We are now offering our photography clients an affordable option to our giclee fine art prints with the introduction of our C-print line, printed with a Chromira Digital Printer.

Just what is a C-Print?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromogenic_color_print
Chromogenic color prints are full-color photographic prints made using chromogenic materials and processes. These prints may be produced from an original digital image.

The first commercially available chromogenic print process was Kodacolor, introduced by Kodak in January of 1942. Kodak introduced a chromogenic paper with the name Type-C in the 1950s, and then discontinued the name several years later. The terminology Type-C and C-print have remained in popular use since this time. The chemistry used to develop chromogenic prints today is known as RA-4. Kodak Endura is one of the major professional chromogenic print papers.

The class of color photographic processes known as chromogenic are characterized by a reaction between two chemicals to form (or give birth to) the color dyes that make up a photographic image. Chromogenic color images are composed of three main dye layers—cyan, magenta, and yellow—that together form a full color image. The light sensitive material in each layer is a silver halide emulsion—just like black and white papers. After exposure, the silver image is developed (or reduced) by a special color developer. In this reaction, the color developer in the areas of exposed silver are oxidized, and then react with another chemical, the dye coupler, which is present throughout the emulsion. This is the chromogenic reaction—the union of the oxidized developer and the dye coupler form a color dye. Different dye couplers are used in each layer, so this same reaction forms a different colored dye in each layer. A series of processing steps follow, which remove the remaining silver and silver compounds, leaving a color image composed of dyes in three layers.

Prints can be exposed using digital exposure systems yielding a digital C print. These are exposed using LEDs on light sensitive photographic paper and processed using traditional silver based chemistry. These digital systems expose the paper using red, green, and blue lasers or light emitting diodes, and have the capability of correcting paper sensitivity errors.

All C-Prints are printed on Kodak Archival Supra Endura Professional Photographic Paper which has an extraordinary color gamut and state-of-the art image stability and is available in Glossy, Matte, Lustre, and Metallic.

 

 

 

The Echoes

I am falling back to something sentimental and difficult.

I am returning to the photographic work of a man I loved, admired, and hated.

A tragic something...
and deeply personal

It is a visual journey with poetry of two lives-two journeys taking place at two very different time periods.
Forgiveness? That is a thought that I carry with me on this journey and perhaps you will notice the complexity of this word during the exploration I do with this series.

I am combining my methods of photographic artistic expression with the images belonging to my grandfather, also a photographer.



~His Love~

Only one of many
an apature eye
capturing
beauty (ies)
Doing more than seeing.
She wrote
tragic love notes
set them to flame
watched then burn.
The fire
was easier to bear
than letting go
of the oceans
her eyes
held onto.

~her love~
the one and only

Art Tool or Art Reference: A Copyright Thing

BEFORE MY STUDIO SHOP GOES LIVE IN 2013 this is a
Note To EVERYONE

I have changed my texture and action usage agreement:

You can use my TEXTURES and ACTIONS resources anywhere and however you want in your artwork and photography and in pre-mades!


That includes:

 -Scrapbooking, Fine Art, Crafting, Digital Art, Illustration, etc
 -ANY other commercial use or non-commercial project.
 -You do not have to alter/change it to use them for these purposes.
 -*Premades* My textures and actions can be used in pre-mades with significant changes!

PLEASE, please don't redistribute and sell as your own RESOURCE UNLESS you make significant changes. You are not allowed to claim as your own or sell my textures or actions in their original state.
*This is a new agreement that carries over into the licensing of all my textures and actions when purchases and downloaded and applies to my giveaways from the past to present.

The reason I have made this decision is partly due to the nature of the "monster" when it comes to selling textures and actions. I am continually being informed of people stealing them and really, while I appreciate the "watch dogs" in the community, it becomes much too time consuming  to keep up with. Many textures out in the market have "similar" qualities and looks and often times people are reporting things to me that are in all actuality NOT MINE.

Secondly, I spoke to my own legal representative in regards to the copyrights of such "resources" that has left me rather, well, stunned, but I get it, and I understand now. I can see why there is a huge mass of confusion regarding the copyrighting of "resources". Stock Tools are different from STOCK REFERENCES as I have been informed. I will do my best to explain what I learned in regards to this aspect.

Texture and Action resources are not looked upon the at same as actual STOCK photos (photographs of people, places, things, etc) for the reference and or editorial market are. Those have recognizable subjects are treated under the copyright law quite differently than just action and texture resource. Textures and actions are labeled as art tools, not reference materials. What's the difference?

Here is how I will break it down for your understanding:

Let's start with textures:

Textures are created by an artist for use as an "art making" tool for other artists. It is a tool, much like a crayon. Only in its original form is it truly able to be "copyrighted". If this was not the case then every artist would have to license usage agreements for EVERY WORK OF ART THEY CREATED USING THAT TEXTURE! That means an artist who has purchased a texture can in fact DO WHATEVER they want with it, within their artwork and the creation of other works (even additional "tools" they want to sell).

Let's say, I have a red crayola crayon called Rose Red, that name is copyrighted to me.I may have a secret forumula used to create that red, but in all actuality, everyone has the "ingredients" to create a red crayon of their own, and by all accounts can do their best to match my Rose Red, through their own experimentation. The crayon was created as an art making TOOL, not a "reference". Anyone can take a red crayon and melt it down and mix it with other crayons or waxes or paints, what-have-you, and sell their creation in any form, including another "tool", yes that is right- they can sell the outcome of that "experiment", even if it is another texture.

THE COLOR RED cannot be copyrighted. I can make my own mix of red that may be similar even nearly exact but that is my red, and I can call it Royal Red. That is why paint companies when creating paints of their own (outside traditional paint names like Ochre etc) can only "copyright" the name of their paint and to some extent the "secret" formula. Anyone can take paints and mix colors to create paints that are similar to colors already created.

Now Let's Talk Actions:

Actions are just recorded steps that ANYONE can do themselves in the program they are using, be it Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom etc. The only thing that is copyrighted in actions is the actual name given to the "recording" the creator has chosen  and the way the creator as organized/tweaked the steps inside that action.

Let's pretend I am Rembrandt and I have an apprentice, I teach my apprentice my step by step method I use to mix paint, how I hold brushes while I a paint, and all the "other steps" I take to create a painting with the materials that everyone already has at their disposal.

Photoshop, Lightroom, and all these fancy computer programs have the tools already built in for your disposal to create all the steps that are recorded in the actions, they allow you to purchase additional plug-ins etc to supplement the tools already there. So, when I copyright an action, I am copyrighting the name and the "set" of that action. I cannot prevent the additional tweaking that customers do to my actions, including but not limited to, re-recording my actions with new tweaks and steps.

Textures, Actions, and other "art tools" made for artists to create with are not copyrightable the same way STOCK IMAGES ARE. Reference "stock" images are created to be used as a reference source for all traditional and or digital works where the final completed image takes influence from the look/feel/mood of the subjects within the referenced image or images. Artists who use stock images HAVE TO LICENSE for usage. (buyout exclusivity, dated/timed, general market, etc).

Textures, actions, and presets do not fall into the "reference" category according to the way they are defined by law for usage rights, as they are deemed as TOOLS and not reference. I can only imagine the paperwork that would entail from licensing usage agreements with every single artist for every artwork they create with that texture and or action preset in addition to commercial usage rights that entail from running prints and editions other editorial commercial work of their completed works that contain all the actions and textures (in some case well over a hundred textures can be used in a single piece)....See the problem here?