Giclee (pronounced “zhee-clay”) is a French term meaning ‘to spray’. The printing machine used to create our fine canvas prints is one of only two approved by the Giclee Society. This printing process involves a fine stream of ink more than four million droplets per inch being sprayed one line at a time onto archival paper or canvas. This produces a combination of 512 chromatic changes (with over three million colors possible) of highly saturated, non-toxic water based ink. Since no screens or plates are used in Giclee printing, the prints have a higher resolution and intensity than lithographs. The inks are pigmented and last 150 years. Each canvas print is coated by hand with a waterproof UV varnish.

        

Giclee prints recreate deep saturated colors and have a beautiful painterly quality that retains minute details from the original painting, and subtle tints and blends of color.  The preciseness of the printing along with the depth of color range captures the subtleties and nuances of an original image, be it a watercolor, oil or acrylic.

        

The giclee reproduction process begins with an original painting which is photographed in house as a transparency, and then scanned by a transparency scanner into a computer. The scanned artwork is then color adjusted and imperfections such as dots and dust are removed. When all looks ready the art is electronically fed to the printer and proofs are run with more fine tuning and color adjustment being made. Every step of the process is artist supervised and no print is run until it is deemed perfect by the artist. A giclee print takes one half to one hour to print, and each is trimmed by hand.    

        

The popularity of this new printing method is due to the unique original art quality that is achieved in the canvas printing process. You cannot tell the difference between an original painting and a canvas print. The Cobane style of painting is so smooth and delicate that it would not be enhanced by the addition of artificial brushstrokes, therefore none have been added.

        

Another unique desirable quality of this beautiful product is that it is made entirely in the USA. Not many products today can make that statement. And it is produced with the same masterful delicacy as the originals themselves. You and your clients will love and treasure this unique work of art.