Buying Fine Art on Etsy

Etsy is a shopping website exclusively for buying handmade goods. There are currently over 116,000 artisans and craftspeople who sell their goods on the site, ranging from everything from handknit sweaters to pottery to greeting cards to jewelry to furniture to original paintings, drawings and sculpture. I have had experience with both buying and selling fine art on more general sites, such as eBay, and have become frustrated with the overwhelming amount of STUFF out there, and how difficult it is to find anything of quality.
So, both as a buyer and a seller of Fine Art, I was excited when I found this site called Etsy, where nothing was mass-produced and everthing is handmade. It is naturally the best place to buy Fine Art from the Artists themselves. Where walking into a gallery can be intimidating, at Etsy, you can browse through a hundred different artists in a day, write them a note, ask them a question, and get an answer back from the person who created the work.

The following explanation has to do with two dimensional art, for now, not sculpture.
One of the key factors for assessing the value of a piece of artwork (or, well, lots of other things too) is how rare it is. The answer to that question is a number between 1 and as many as the artist wants.
If the answer to that question is 1, then you are buying the Original. There were no copies made of it, it is not a print, it wasn't put into last year's calendar, that's the only one, and always will be. This type of image is always going to be the most valuable, because you know it is never going to show up on someone's t-shirt, or emblazoned on some dorm room wall. An original can be reproduced, but those copies are not exactly the same, using the same materials.
There are a number of different types of prints. I will start by breaking it down into two: Limited Edition Prints and Open Editions.
Limited Edition Prints
Also referred to as Fine Prints, LE prints are, as the name implies, produced in a limited quantity. Traditionally this means that the art has been specifically created for print purposes, and will only be produced in limited quantities because of the quality of the plate used to create it, or to maintain the rareness of the piece, or both. Fine prints are created using a variety of different methods, including etching, block printing, lithography and screenprinting. I will not go into the explanation of each type (that is a subject for a whole 'nother lens), but essentially, the image is created directly onto a plate of some sort, which is then transferred to paper. The fragility of the plate often determines how many prints you will be able to get out of it, as certain techniques create an inherently delicate plate that degrades over time. Also, the idea behind an edition is that the individual pieces to the edition are identical to one another. So for some delicate methods, such as drypoint, where a metal plate is carved into by hand to create lots of tiny lines that hold the ink, each time you ink up the plate and print it, you are degrading your plate a little bit more. So one drypoint plate may only be able to print 10 identical prints before you start to lose detail somewhere. More robust print methods, such as screenprinting or lithography, you can achieve edition sizes in the thousands--still limited, but on a different scale.
Whether the edition size is 5 or 5000, limited editions are still considered to have rarity and value as fine art. They are generally signed and numbered in pencil on the bottom edge of the print by the artist, which also adds value. Even beyond its limited nature, many fine prints are still hand pulled by the artist, and is quite labor intensive, which adds to the qualitative value of the print. Last but not least, there is a tradition in Limited Edition prints that, once all of the editions are pulled using a specific plate, that the artist will "cancel" the plate. This means they will score it or make an indelible mark on it, or in some other way, prevent it from being printed again. Not all artists do this, but they are supposed to, and it is tradition.
Open Editions, Photographic Prints, Posters
Any print that is called an Open Edition, Poster Print, or Photographic Print (as a side note, many photographers produce limited editions of their photographs, so those are part of the above set of prints) can be assumed to be created in unlimited quantities, mass-produced even, and when they run out, they can always make more. This type of print can be anything from the poster of Salvador Dali's "Metamorphosis of Narcissus" that you tacked up in your dormroom to an inkjet print produced one at a time on high quality photo paper by an individual artist on Etsy. These prints will not increase in value, and are solely intended for the viewer's enjoyment. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, it is something that collectors need to be aware of if they are concerned with rarity, durability and the value of their collection.
For both limited and unlimited prints, there are other qualities that determine a print's value, the most important of which is how long it will last. You will see prints created with "archival inks" on "acid-free paper," which means that the inks will last a very long time without degrading, either themselves or the paper they're printed on, and that the paper contains no acids that will turn it yellow over time, or affect the color of the inks printed on it. Some artists print their own work on fancy Epson giclee printers with archival inks on acid free paper. They could, in principle, print the same print over and over again forever, but this type of print would still be preferable to a print from the poster shop, because it would not fade or change color over time. This artist could then limit the edition, and upon its completion, destroy the digital file, thus satisfying the conditions of a limited edition. There are numerous types of digital prints which can be created, but because of the relative newness of the print method, there is not a lot of data available on how long these prints will last. So if you are buying a piece of artwork to add to your vast collection of future-Renoirs, you may want to stick to fine prints. For any of the other reasons to collect, you now have an informed method for determining what you want.

I might wind up putting this list in alphabetical order, like all proper lists, but for now, I'm putting them in order of importance... to me.
Support--No, this does not refer to the group of friends who are there for you to help you with your compulsive art-buying habit. The support for a piece of artwork refers to what it is created on. Examples include canvas, linen, masonite, paper, and wood. There are probably many more examples than that, but those are the most common. The support determines what type of art can be produced on it, how durable it will be, and how and whether it should be framed.
Canvas is a heavy cotton fabric that is generally stretched tightly across wooden stretchers to create a flat surface to paint on.
Linen is a softer, finer cotton fabric also stretched on stretchers, but is lighter and makes a smoother surface.
Paper is made from wood or other plant fibers, and comes in a wide variety of smoothness, thickness, and usefulness to given application. When buying a work on paper, it is important that the artist has used acid-free paper, because the artwork will last a long time without yellowing. Acids in paper processing are the reason why newspapers turn yellow fairly quickly and other older papers eventually turn yellow with age.
Medium--This does not refer to your dress size...at least in this case. If the support is the bread in your sandwich, the medium is your choice of meat, cheese or peanut butter. The medium is what creates the image on the support, and is usually the primary descriptor used to describe how the image was created. There are a ridiculous number of media (the plural of medium) out there, and here's some main headings:
Paint--Any combination of pigment (definition to follow) and suspending agent or binder. The pigment all by itself cannot stick to anything, so whatever it is suspended in is what will give it special properties and determine what you can apply it to. Examples include oil paint (often referred to as 'oils'), in which the pigment is suspended in special oils that dry gradually such as linseed oil, acrylic paint, in which the pigment is suspended in a paste of acrylic polymer, and watercolors, where the pigment is suspended in a water soluble vehicle. Each type of paint has different properties to work with (how fast they dry, how thick they are) and can create different effects (opacity, transparency, softness or vividness of color).
Ink is a colored medium, usually made of pigments or dyes suspended in liquid. The Difference between ink and paint is that ink will actually become incorporated into the support, whereas paint adheres to the top surface.
Pigment is a colored powder that gets broken up and thoroughly mixed with, but not dissolved in its suspending agent, such as oil or acrylic polymer.
Dye is a colored agent, natural or created, that can be dissolved in its suspending agent to give it color.

 


Obsoleteworld, from Portland, OR, describes a quiet, reflective imaginary place that, at the same time, expresses something familiar.  The artist has both original works and archival digital prints available in her shop.

 


Ashleyg, from St Louis, MO, prints her own high-quality, archival digital prints from her original whimsical drawings.

 


Artandghosts, from Manchester, UK, creates digital collages and other surreal images, many of which touch on the subject of our lives in dreams.

 


Dreamasylum, from the dreamy land of Texas, creates prints and originals expressing her unique, spooky vision.

 

Zen Breeze Art Gallery, from the San Francisco Bay Area, creates full size paintings, as well as art jewelry and miniatures, in beautiful rich colors and
soothing images.

PhotosbyFoosa, from the exotic land of Connecticut, creates Fine Art Photography of nature, calm interiors, and serene landscapes.

Smoochiekisses, from Beaconsfield, Quebec, has created some magnificent, large, vivid oil paintings that are
certain to make an impression, and go with your couch.

Artmixter, from East Dereham, UK, creates mixed media and encaustic paintings and art quilts in an exciting mix of colors and textures.

 


MundoGominola is an illustrator from Madrid, Spain, who creates light-hearted characters from fairy tales and other places, offering limited edition prints.

Easily Distracted by Julie D'Arcy, from Albuquerque, NM, creates original works, Fine Prints (etchings, block prints, embossed prints), and digital prints in a style that is sometimes whimsical, sometimes surreal, and sometimes something else.

Stilettoheights, from Columbus, OH, creates mixed media collages of ethereal beauty, and has both originals and digital prints available.

FancifulFlair, from Northern California, creates bold paintings that are sometimes abstract, sometimes a little surreal.