I never thought I'd have sleepless nights over a printer.
In our COVID world, one of the things that has been challenging is working with local businesses - something that I always prefer to do. I'd rather support the little guy (probably because I come from a long line of them) and my frustrations have mounted recently regarding art prints.
Teeny-tiny YouTubers do not need 100 prints of an artwork to sell - in fact, we don't even need 50 right now. We are limited in terms of places where we can showcase our work in the physical sense. Using online companies to produce high quality prints is great, but the minimum quantities and the lack of interaction to 'tweak' the final product after seeing a physical iteration can often result in frustration and dissatisfaction.
I have been using local companies with mixed results but our seemingly never-ending Scottish lockdown - which isn't going anywhere until at least April - has left me completely adrift. I decided to bite the bullet and buy a better quality home printer.
My thinking was, for the small print runs I need and the one-off requests now and then, surely I could manage them at home with a half-decent printer? Cue the endless research and rabbit-holes and my absolute horror at 'affordable' photo printers coming in at over £500. This is where the sleepless nights came in. I deliberated for almost two weeks, reluctant but excited to part with a reasonable some of money, something I haven't done for the Cave in over two years.
After much deliberation I settled for a lower-end priced model from a brand I trust that had mostly positive reviews... and crossed my fingers.
After taking almost two hours and three phone calls to figure out where the paper goes in, ('Oh God, what have I done?') I finally got going and made some test prints. Half a colour ink cartridge later, they are exactly what I need.
I am now pleased to say I can be a little more self sufficient through this pandemic and offer 1-off requests for prints of my previous artworks and do small print runs better suited to my needs - sleepless nights are worth it when you can solve your own problems.
If you would like any of my previous artworks as a print, drop me an email and let me know.