How does one tell the difference between an original art painting and a print?
reproduction prints will usually have some text printed on them, either near the bottom of the image or near the bottom edge of the paper, that gives info like title, artist, publisher, etc. if you look at a reproduction print with a strong magnifying lens, you can see tiny mechanical dots of yellow, red, blue, and black. reproduction prints usually use a smooth, slick finish paper (hot press clay coated). paintings have the texture of the canvas or watercolor paper, which is absorbent and slightly bumpy. original prints-etchings will have plate embossing around the edge, lithographs will have the grain of the plates or stones, relief prints will have tool marks in the design and will not have color or value gradations, silk screens are less likely to have color or value gradations-and original prints will be signed just below the image, with a number designating how many prints were made.
