The Blackbird Sings

Competition Winner + The First Limited Edition Prints

I'm a little late writing this blog (apologies for that - preparation for the solo show is taking over my life somewhat) but on Saturday morning, with a little help, I chose the winner of the print competition from the 29 entries received.....and the winner was Marisa Redondo! Marisa has already been informed and a signed open edition print of the painting Magic Forest will be on its way to her soon. Everyone who entered was allocated a number, and to make it fair I asked my twitter followers to randomly choose a number between 1 and 29 (without knowing why they were choosing) and I went with the first one sent to me, which just happened to be number 27. A HUGE thank you to everyone who entered - your opinions on which painting(s) you felt would make good limited edition prints were invaluable, and sometimes even surprised me! Certainly a lot of food for thought and good advice.

 

Intermission 2 Limited Edition Prints

With that in mind, I've decided that the first limited edition print will be Intermission 2. It seemed a popular choice and it's certainly one I was considering anyway. There will be an edition of 20 14x14" prints, and an edition of 15 larger 18x18" prints. Each print will be hand-signed and numbered, and is professionally printed on heavyweight acid-free art paper with archival quality lightfast inks, guaranteed not to fade for 100+ years. After these editions have sold out there will be no more made in these sizes, so if you like this piece it's a good idea to get one while they're still around!

 

Intermission 2

© Natasha Newton

You can pre-order / reserve either of the prints here in my shop: www.etsy.com/shop/theblackbirdsings

Limited edition prints are a fantastic, affordable way to collect art if you don't have the budget for an original - or even if you do! I have a mix of original paintings and prints in my personal art collection. And the fact that they're somewhat rare (as opposed to an open edition print where an unlimited quantity are made) means they're something quite special too. I received the sample prints from the printing company the other day and I'm extremely happy with the quality - they look wonderful. I hope you'll love them too.

Tell me what you think - and be in with a chance of winning a signed print!

I've decided to venture further into the world of producing and selling prints of my paintings, and I would like your opinion. If you like my work, have perhaps bought my work in the past, would like to buy it in the future, or if you're just one of those people who likes giving your opinion on things (let's face it, that's pretty much all of us), it's your chance to have your say and possibly win a signed Magic Forest print too!

 

'Magic Forest' print

8x8" with a half inch border for framing (9x9" total size)

© Natasha Newton

This is what I would like to do...

As some of you may have seen, I've been offering hand-signed, archival-quality prints of the painting 'Magic Forest' in the shop for a short while now. These have proven to be pretty popular and I've almost sold out, with just a few prints remaining. These were not a 'limited edition', but what is known as an 'open edition', meaning an unlimited number are printed, and at any time I can choose to print more. They have value because they are hand-signed by me, and also because they are professionally printed with archival quality inks on acid free art paper, making the print guaranteed to last for 100+ years.

However, what I'd really like to do is invest in some 'limited edition' prints of my work. The limited edition prints will be printed in the same way, with lightfast archival inks and paper, but they're intrinsically more valuable - and more of an investment - because a certain number will only ever be made. For example, a limited edition set can consist of 20, 50, 100, 200 or even 500 prints - the number is up to the artist, so it could be a large limited edition run or a small run, but the important thing is that each print will be signed AND numbered by hand (e.g. 15/20 - meaning that your print is number 15 out of a total of just 20 that exist worldwide). Because of the rarity, and the fact that after the edition has sold out no further prints exactly like those will ever be made again, they become quite valuable. They're a great way of purchasing something from the artist that has value (the value may even rise over time) but at the same time they're more affordable than an original painting. I'd still recommend investing in original artwork if you can possibly afford to, because it's still the most valuable way of buying art, and even though high quality prints look amazing, it's not on the same level as owning and viewing the original painting. But they're a great alternative!

 

So what do you need to do?

Basically, I'd like to know from you which paintings YOU think I should consider making into limited edition prints. All you need to do to be in with a chance of winning one of the open edition, hand-signed Magic Forest prints (as seen above) is to go to my website: www.natasha-newton.co.uk and have a look at the various paintings on there (they're now separated into sections, as you will see). Then come back to the blog and leave a comment below, at the bottom of this post, telling me which painting or paintings you think would work best as a print, or which one you'd be most likely to buy as a print. That's all you need to do! If you feel like it, you can expand upon that and tell me exactly why you like a certain piece, subject, or series, but that's entirely up to you. I'll give you a week to leave your comment (one per person, please) and when the week is up, someone will be chosen at random to win a signed Magic Forest print. Et voila!

I look forward to reading your suggestions. Thank you in advance for your help.