Some of you FlightImages visitors may remember the series of aircraft paintings I published on the covers of Model Builder and Model Aviation magazines during the ‘80’s and early ‘90’s. A few of you may even be familiar with a series of limited edition lithographic prints of my work published by Frame House Gallery during that same time period. Frame House has been absorbed into another corporate entity and good ol’ Model Builder is gone, and for a variety of reasons I have not been active as an artist for the past few years. However, a lot of people have recently been asking questions about “those old Model Builder covers”, especially the 1930’s race plane series I did during the late ‘80’s, and have expressed a continuing interest in the print reproductions I offered for sale for several years.

The time has come to make those cover art reproductions available once more, and with this issue of FlightImages I have returned them to the market. Please take time to look through the selection of subjects already available and consider whether one or more of them might look especially good framed and hanging on your shop or living room wall. Each image is accompanied by dimensions and price as well as some information about the original, including the magazine issue on which it was originally published.

There is more to come. If your response to this initial offering of art reproductions warrants, I plan to add to the selection by introducing prints of many more Model Builder and Model Aviation covers, none of which have ever before been available as reproductions of any kind. Better yet, I have plans to release prints of several large paintings completed on commission for galleries and private customers, including a series on Naval Aviation, that have never before appeared “in public”. Keep checking this site for gallery updates!

WHAT IS A PHOTO PRINT ?

Over the years, many different methods have been used to create reproductions of original artwork in order to enable more than one owner to appreciate a particular image. During the Nineteenth Century etchings and engravings became very popular, and true lithographs, actually prints made from contact with a specially treated smooth stone surface, appeared in galleries. As offset lithographic printing was developed during the first decades of the Twentieth Century and was sufficiently perfected to allow accurate full color reproduction of photographic images, it came to be accepted as the preferred method of fine art reproduction. In recent decades offset lithographic prints of fine artwork have become very popular, and many galleries specialize in selling them. Limited editions are printings of a particular image limited to a specific number, often 1000, with each print marked with a number denoting its place in the edition and hand signed by the artist. Open editions are produced in unlimited quantity. They are not numbered, may or may not be hand signed, and are usually less expensive than limited editions.

Although any type of art reproduction may be offered in open or limited edition, the limited edition lithograph has come to be considered by many as the “best” kind of art reproduction. This is not necessarily so. In recent years it has become possible to offer direct photographic reproductions which equal lithographs in accuracy, color fidelity and permanence. Comparison of the resistance to fading of printers inks to that of photographic dyes that once served as a justification for considering litho prints to be superior has ceased to make sense. Today’s fine photographic prints are in effect hand made from master negatives created directly from the original painting or drawing, and are made with photographic papers and chemicals that offer excellent color fidelity and resistance to fading over time. Indeed, the offset lithographic print is in fact a photographic print, created by making a minimum of four color separation negatives from the original art. From these, printing plates are made which transfer ink to paper on a printing press under the control of a master pressman. To enable accurate reproduction of color nuances in the original art additional colors, each entailing the use of an extra negative, plate and press operation, may be added to the printing process. In comparison, the photoprint process is much more direct and might be considered more nearly true to the original art…one photographic image, very delicately controlled, is made from a master negative and printed once onto the finest quality photographic paper. Just as is the case with lithographic reproductions, photoprints may be presented for sale either as limited edition, signed – and – numbered series or as open edition reproductions, either signed or unsigned.

Editions of traditional lithographic reproductions are by far the more expensive to initiate, with the creation of color separation negatives and plates and printing press set-up often involving five-figure costs, and substantial projected sales quantities are necessary to justify choosing a painting as the subject of a litho print. In fact, it would be correct to say that the first print of a litho edition is outrageously expensive, while all the subsequent prints off the press are quite reasonable! In comparison, the “set-up” costs for photographic prints are much lower and allow the artist to experiment with offering subjects that may be of great interest to relatively small groups of customers; however, the cost per print does not diminish significantly as the edition size becomes greater.

I believe it is fair to state that neither is “better”; each method of reproduction has its own advantages. I think the best advice I can give is, “If you like the art offered as a quality print, buy it…the means of reproduction should not be an issue.”

In the case of reproductions for FlightImages Gallery , I have chosen to use the photographic process to make it possible to offer not only all of the nine images from the series of Model Builder and Model Aviation covers presented this month, but also those many others mentioned above that you can look forward to seeing in the near future. All prints reproductions currently offered by FlightImages Gallery are open edition; that is, not numbered. However, I personally hand sign each print before it is packed for shipment to you. You may find it most convenient to order using our shopping cart and your bank card; however, you are welcome to place your order by mail to: Bob Benjamin FlightImages, 1222 26th Ave. NE, Olympia, WA 98506 and make payment by check or money order if you prefer. Please add $8.00 per print to the prices listed below to cover the cost of packing and shipping. Washington State residents, please add 8% sales tax.

Remember that these prints are made to order and allow up to three or four weeks for delivery.…Orders will be processed sooner whenever possible. All prints are shipped rolled in heavy tubes for maximum protection.