Portraits, Paintings and Prints by the artist John Earl Entrekin - FAQ about art prints

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FAQ's about prints

What process do your prints use to be created?
What is a lithograph print?
What is a serigraph print?

What process do your prints use to be created?
The prints I have for sale now are either an offset lithograph or a serigraph. In the description of any print I will state the "type" of print. The are all printed on 100% rag paper and ready for framing. Each is signed and numbered by me and is sold in a prograessive numbered order. The serigraph on sale here on line is one that was made as a variation of a painting I did called "Jennifer" It was printed by me, by hand, in my studio. It is a 9 color printing. The edition is very small.
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What is a lithograph print?
The most common form of print, today, is the lithograph. Properly called an Offset Lithograph. Originally, the term "Lithograph" meant a print done by hand on a stone in a long and difficult process to create a modest number of prints. The drawing was done on the stone and for the most part, each color was a seperate pass through a hand operated press.

Today this is all done by machine unless the artist states that is is done as an original on the traditional stone. Most of what we see today is printed on a very large and complex press called an "offset press." (same type used for almost all magazines and newspapers) The technology is based on the idea that oil and water don't mix. (long story as to the complete process) What happens to artwork now is that it is photographed and then that image is broken down into separate images based on color. One each for; red, blue, yellow, black and sometimes more. These are then most often transferred to printing plates via a photographic or a digital process. The press is then run with each plate putting down its color in a dot pattern known as a halftone. The result is a print on paper of the original artwork that might have been created on canvas or any other surface. Originally lithograph prints were limited to what could be run before the stone image wore out. Hence, the number of the signed print had a different value depending how high it was and how near the end of the run. The editions were short. Today there is really no limit as to how large an edition could be except what is set by the artist. Editions that are signed and numbered by the artist will carry more value than a print from an unlimited edition. Usually the smaller the edition the more expensive each print will be. Very often as an edition runs out the artist will increase the cost of the print because it is becoming less available except on the resale market.
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What is a serigraph print?
The word "serigraph" is a fancy term for a silk screen print. Silk screen printing is a very old form of reproduction where an image is fastened to a piece of stretched screen and then ink is squeezed through the screen onto paper or some other surface. Tee shirts, bottles and plastics are printed in this form but in a much more industrial way. Artists have been using slik screen or the serigraph process for many years. This was originally done by hand with blocking glues or other substances put directly on the screen and then a color printed and then another screen blocked out with another color and so on and so on until the image was complete. Today most serigraphs are made with some sort of photographic process where the screen is a sensitized surface and the various color layers put on and printed one at a time. It is a much more labor intensitive process than offset lithography and will usually result in a much shorter run or edition.
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John Earl Entrekin
Newark, Ohio 43055
Phone: 614.439.4972

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