Fine Art Prints ~ DOT Foundry

The sketch above is of a thatched cottage in Merthyr Mawr near Bridgend. I did the sketch while waiting at the DOT Foundry. I may do a painting of it one day? The DOT Foundry is where we have our prints done. They have justifiably won an award for the best fine art printers in the UK.


Fine Art Prints come in all shapes and sizes and of hugely varying quality. As an individual artist it is not possible to compete with a set up that spends up to an hour photographing one painting and then colour matching it with tens of thousands of pounds worth of equipment. The DOT Foundry has all the equipment and Sian has spent time in America with the manufacturers learning how to be an expert with it. Hence we rarely produce our own prints. We have three printers and use high quality light fast inks but now only use them for making cards.

At the end of the day you get what you pay for.

Some artists do invest time and money in expensive equipment and produce excellent prints but I find that it is nearly impossible to compete with the clarity and quality of bespoke fine art printers.

So what do you look for when buying a print?

Well there should be information with the print about the materials and inks used. Most fine art prints are printed using inks that are lightfast for 99 years when not hung in direct sunlight.

Look at the resolution of the print. Are the outlines hazy/ indistinct like looking through frosted glass? What are the colours like? Often prints can be predominantly over saturated with one colour for example normally purples and blues.

You can of course rely on reputation. A good artist is unlikely to risk their reputation with poor quality prints, but beware there are prints out there that are little better than colour photocopies.

I have been painting today and Alex has been making frames and preparing for a fish extravaganza with all the family tonight.

I have provided a link to our prints and the DOT Foundry below.

http://www.markcoxpaintings.co.uk/newfile_17.html


http://www.thedotfoundry.co.uk/