Interpretive Reprints™ |
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Lake Tahoe by Thomas Moran |
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Above are the four major masks
used to make this print. The red mask hides covered areas from changes.
These masks divide the image into four areas (from left to right):
the foreground, the mountains, the sky, and the water. Other masks
and patches were used to further isolate working areas, and quite
a bit of work was done to individual engraving lines and the spaces
between them. |
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 Working
with 19th century woodcuts and steel engravings for sixteen years, Walton
Mendelson has a deep love and respect for the artists and artisans of
that time. Using digital scanning and photo editing software—he
has made a point of not cutting up old books—for his collage work.
Now he brings the same printing skills to reprinting master works from
135 years ago. |
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| Every
year sees tens of thousands of old books destroyed or lost. Aside
from wear and tear, books with artwork are often plated—steel
engravings are cut out to be sold separately—and the remainder
of the books, often filled with stunning woodcuts are thrown away.
Even if art books are kept whole on someone’s shelves, the work
of those masters is out of sight. |
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| Interpretive
Reprints™ from One-Off Press presents a growing number of examples
of some of the best work of that period. There is a movement to preserve
our older books on CD or DVD. This is truly commendable given the losses,
and inaccessibility of many rare books. But if art in a book is virtually
out of sight, the CD is even less accessible to casually browse through
except on a monitor. The woodcuts and steel engravings come from
The Aldine, The Art Journal, Picturesque America,
Picturesque Europe, Picturesque Palestine, Sinai &
Egypt, The Magazine of Art, Scientific American,
etc., and represent artists like Thomas Moran, J. M. Turner, Albert
Bierstadt, J. O. Davidson. |
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| Reprinting
these images presents several problems. The ink and paper have oxidized
over the last one hundred plus years. Some of the images have foxing,
water stains, tears, or other signs of ware. Was the paper bright white?
Was the ink pure black? As remarkable as the engravings and woodcuts
are in translating paintings, photographs, or drawings, these images
were limited in the sense that a fine art print might have been manipulated
by selective and multiple inkings, these were printed in one pass, allowing
no manipulation by the artists involved. If the artists had choices,
what might they have done? |
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| After
years of reprinting this material in collage form, using non-silver
and silver photographic papers, Illfochrome (color) papers, toners,
extensive reducing and spotting techniques, Mendelson brings digital
image editing technologies to focus on these reprints. The images are
enlarged, between 120% - 180% depending on the quality and size of the
original, squared, and restored and retouched if there is physical damage.
The paper tone outside the image area is painted out, however the color
of the aged paper is usually retained. Then the image is worked to bring
out its potentials, based on the image itself and the style of the artist
from other drawings, paintings, and engravings. Through the use of masks
and layers, curves and levels, hues and saturation, layer blending,
dodging and burning, and selective sharpening, the image is interpreted.
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Seven Before & After Plates |
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All prints are Epson UltraGiclée prints. We use the Epson Stylus Pro 7600 with Ultrachrome inks on Epson UltraSmooth, heavy weight, acid free, 100% cotton, paper. Each print has print data on the back and is signed. All prints are coated front and back with a UV inhibiting acrylic spray. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has selected the Epson UltraGiclée as their choice for reprinting art work because of color fidelity and longevity. See prints for ordering information. |
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Interpretive Reprints™
Currently Available |
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