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Top Five Artist's Tips for Successfully Purchasing Art Prints Online

February 8th, 2022

Top Five Artist

Buying art prints online is certainly fun, but can also be a bit intimidating. Below are five easy steps you can take beforehand to ensure success and enjoy your artwork for years to come.

1. If precise colors in a print are important to you, calibrate your monitor's colors so you see the colors accurately. Professional artists work with color calibrated monitors so what they see on screen shows exactly how the colors in an artwork will print. Calibrating your own monitor will allow you to see colors the same way the artist who created the artwork did. Instructions for color calibration are easily found online for most brands of monitors.

2. Always measure your space, never just eyeball it for size. An easy way to see if a print of a particular size will fit and look good where you intend to hang it is to cut out a sheet of paper or cardboard the exact size of the mounted artwork and hold it to the wall where you want to place it. If you are purchasing a large artwork, you can tape newspaper or disassembled paper grocery bags together to make a larger template cut to the exact size of the piece.

3. Artists often provide a room mock up of their art hanging on a wall so you can see how the piece will look framed; however, you should never use a mock up to determine the size of art unless the artist has also included precise measurements in the mock up example. Without these measurements you cannot accurately judge how the art will fit or look in your own space because you won't know the size of the room or of the art's surroundings in the example the artist provided, or even if the artwork presented is exactly the same size as the one you intend to purchase unless that is clearly stated to be the case.

4. When purchasing an unframed print you intend to frame yourself, keep in mind that matting and framing can add considerably to the artwork's dimensions. Larger prints will generally require wider mats and frames to maintain good proportion to the artwork. To estimate the size of the finished framed piece, add the width of the mat and frame together then multiply the sum by two. Add the number you get to the dimensions of both the height and width of the unframed artwork to estimate the size of the finished framed piece.

5. Most artists can provide their art printed on several different substrates or choices of framing options. It's important to consider where you intend to hang your art when choosing the best substrate for the location. For example, if you are hanging art in a humid environment like a small bathroom or covered porch, a metal print would likely be your best choice. If you are hanging art in a room like a kitchen that tends to have a lot of particulates in the air, a framed print under glass or gallery grade acrylic would be best protected from its surrounding environment.

Bonus Art Placement Tip: NEVER hang artwork in direct sunlight. Even archival ink and pigments will fade in direct sun. To preserve your artwork's longevity carefully observe where the sun falls throughout the day before choosing the best place in which to hang it.

Observing these easy steps will help to ensure a successful and hassle free art print purchase and will go a long way to eliminating the most commonly arrising issues I see as a professional artist when clients endeavor to purchase a print online. Now go pour a glass of wine, sit in a comfy chair and enjoy that art!

50 States of Art 2015

November 4th, 2015

50 States of Art 2015

A huge thank you to Cindy Nunn for choosing me to represent Pennsylvania with my piece "Annecy Rain" in her publication "50 States of Art 2015!" So exciting!!

Expressionism Pick of the Week

October 4th, 2015

Expressionism Pick of the Week

A big thank you to Giuliano Sacchero, administrator of the Expressionism gallery group, for choosing my "Kissed by Autumn's Winds" digital painting as his Pick of the Week!

Expressionism

Kissed by Autumn's Winds

Female Artists Showcase

October 4th, 2015

Female Artists Showcase

A huge thank you to RC DeWinter for showcasing my work "The Mind's Eye" in her Female Artists gallery group for the week of August 23-29! WOO HOO! Click the link below to visit the Female Artists group, and then go check out RC's magnificent work, which equally deserves recognition!

Female Artists

RC DeWinter

The Mind's Eye

Crazy Abstract Artwork of the Week

September 16th, 2015

Crazy Abstract Artwork of the Week

Woo hoo! Thank you very much Belgin Bal Ayse for naming my "Beauty of Sorrow" fractal art the Crazy Abstract gallery group's Artwork of the Week!

SMS Art Appears on River City Portrait Single Paralysed

June 22nd, 2015

SMS Art Appears on River City Portrait Single Paralysed

In 2012 my image "Rain in the Trees" appeared on British group River City Portrait's digital single "Paralysed" on iTunes. I just discovered the single is now also available on Amazon. Check it out, they are very good!

The Grayscale Outdoors

June 5th, 2015

The Grayscale Outdoors

A HUGE thank you to Allan Van Gasbeck of The Grayscale Outdoors group for the Featured Artist Spotlight honor, what a thrill and great way to end a really bad week! TGO is one of my favorite groups on FAA, the artwork is just phenomenal, and that makes the honor even sweeter :)

Al wrote:

Subject: Featured Artist Spotlight - Grayscale Outdoors ~ Susan Maxwell Schmidt

Message: Hi Folks,

Congratulations to Susan Maxwell Schmidt, currently in the Featured Artist Spotlight. Susan's artwork demonstrates sensitivity, wonderful imagination, and an extensive skill set. Please stop by the Home Page and enjoy some of my favorites from her galleries, which you can now find posted there. Perhaps you could take a moment to promote some of her art. There are so many deserving individuals of the spotlight feature, and I hope to continue draw attention to more fine artists in the weeks to come

Good luck with your art.

Cheers,
Al

Garden Tripod 31

May 24th, 2015

Garden Tripod 31

A big thank you to Charlie Mclenahan for featuring my monochrome botanical image "Formation" in this month's issue of Garden Tripod (page 29). http://issuu.com/gardentripod/docs/garden_tripod_31

On Finding Hidden Artistic Gems

May 22nd, 2015

On Finding Hidden Artistic Gems

Being probably one of the geekiest artists in existence, I am always interested when art meets science. This is a fascinating article on creating an algorithm to find beautiful images gone unnoticed by the general populace: http://www.technologyreview.com/view/537741/computational-aesthetics-algorithm-spots-beauty-that-humans-overlook/

As the article implies, there is still hope for all we undiscovered artistic geniuses! ;)

SLAM Magazine - The Beautiful Fractals of Susan Maxwell Schmidt

May 4th, 2015

SLAM Magazine - The Beautiful Fractals of Susan Maxwell Schmidt

Thank you so much to Dayna Winters for featuring my art in the Glory Box section of SLAM Magazine as the winner of her Fine Art America abstract art contest. You can view the feature article at http://artslammag.com/glorybox/the-beautiful-fractals-of-susan-maxwell-schmidt/