My father is an artist. He paints abandoned cars.

My father is a super-cool dude. He's been painting for almost all of his 62 years. He hasn't had a job for probably 5 years or more. He's (barely) surviving by selling artwork and doing part-time work for a friend. I recently set him up with a storefront on ArtFire. I'm not expecting anybody to buy anything, but it would be super-cool if you could check it out, leave comments or tell friends about it.

scottlangart.artfire.com

I like your Father's work.  I will buy one.

Very nice work.  I just posted some comments under that 36 Ford.  Thanks for posting this for us.

...Tiger

I'm sure he would. He generally doesn't have much luck selling originals. Most people pick up his $3 greeting cards and say "That's awesome," and then move along. If you're truly interested in an original let me know!

And thanks to everybody's nice comments! I want this to work out for him. He's amazing at what he does, he's just 30 years behind on marketing himself.  :

If people buy from the website I presume they (Artfire) take a commission.  Is there a way to buy directly from your Dad?

I am also interested in the prices for originals like Golden Child was asking.

Excellent. All of us are looking forward to it. It'd be great if it worked out.

[quote author=GPS link=topic=1516.msg10408#msg10408 date=1342026851]
If people buy from the website I presume they (Artfire) take a commission.  Is there a way to buy directly from your Dad?

I am also interested in the prices for originals like Golden Child was asking.
[/quote]

ArtFire does not take any commission for a sale. You pay them a set amount of money ($12.95/month) to host an unlimited amount of content. Transactions have no fee, payments have no fee. You can buy stuff directly from him, if you'd like. Just let me know what you want and I'll pass it along. He also has greeting cards available for all the prints too, I just haven't gotten them up on the site yet.

As for originals, he still has originals for most everything. The Packard does not have an original, he sold that at an art show a few years back. And Golden Child might snag the Customline (my personal favorite). I, personally, think he asks too little for his original pieces. Each one he'll likely ask a different price for based on size, frame and material, (they're all framed and ready to hang) but I doubt anything would be much more than $600. If anybody is interested in anything, send me a message here or through the ArtFire site (I manage it for him).

I have a pretty decent photo printer capable of 13x19" prints so "cheap" prints are done by me. "Expensive" (read: Giclee prints) are done by a professional print shop locally.

The Artfire website says they are printed on a Epson printer, but what does that mean?  Is that better than my photo laser printer?

What is a "Giclee" print?  Why is it better, and how much does that cost compared to the $25 prints from Artfire.

Sorry for all the questions, I just have never purchased art without seeing it in person.

EDIT: I found this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gicl%C3%A9e

but that says any inkjet print is a Giclee print.

Well, in the art world, a Giclee print is considered a high-quality inkjet print done with pigment inks on archival paper. The ink and paper are supposed to resist fading and discoloring so it lasts for hundreds of years. Giclee's are also often printed on textured paper to give the artwork the "depth" of the original.

Any prints I make on my Epson are going to be very high-quality, but not quite Giclee quality. I use dye-based inks (as opposed to pigment) and although I have good paper, it's not archival. For the average person a "economy" print looks great. For somebody that wants a very nice reproduction, but doesn't want the original, a Giclee works well.

Basically, a Giclee is just a way of printing with higher-quality materials than most people have access to or would normally use.

How much would a locally printed 13x19" Giclee print cost?  What other sizes, if any, are available in locally printed Giclee quality?

I'll get in touch with my father and ask him what he has available in Giclee right now and send you a PM when I find out.