Being able to distinguish an original painting from a print is one of the most important skills for art buyers, collectors, resellers, and estate handlers. Modern reproductions—including giclée prints, textured canvas prints, and mixed-media hybrids—often look convincing at first glance, making misidentification extremely common in online listings and estate sales.
DJR Expert Guide Series, Vol. 575 provides a complete, beginner-friendly, non-destructive workflow for identifying whether a piece is oil, acrylic, or a printed reproduction. This guide explains how to evaluate texture, sheen, pigment behavior, printing dots, canvas edges, surface depth, and backside clues using the same observational principles trusted by professional authenticators.
Inside this guide, you’ll learn how experts:
Recognize the defining traits of oil paint such as texture depth, slow-blended transitions, varnish aging, and gloss behavior
Distinguish acrylic using surface smoothness, color brightness, drying traits, and modern pigment characteristics
Identify giclée, offset, lithograph, serigraph, and digital prints by analyzing dot patterns, uniformity, and surface texture
Use safe tactile surface checks to differentiate real brushstrokes from machine-applied texture
Examine canvas and paper edges for paint flow, pigment buildup, or abrupt ink termination
Analyze reflection patterns under angled light to reveal physical paint depth
Evaluate the backside of canvas for staining, seep-through, stretcher construction, and factory uniformity
Identify hybrid artworks with both printed and hand-applied paint
Spot common misrepresentation red flags in marketplace listings
Understand when a professional appraisal or authentication is necessary
Whether you're assessing thrift-store finds, reviewing estate artwork, evaluating online listings, or researching family pieces, this guide gives you the expert structure needed to determine whether a painting is an original oil, an acrylic, or a print.
Digital Download — PDF • 9 Pages • Instant Access
Being able to distinguish an original painting from a print is one of the most important skills for art buyers, collectors, resellers, and estate handlers. Modern reproductions—including giclée prints, textured canvas prints, and mixed-media hybrids—often look convincing at first glance, making misidentification extremely common in online listings and estate sales.
DJR Expert Guide Series, Vol. 575 provides a complete, beginner-friendly, non-destructive workflow for identifying whether a piece is oil, acrylic, or a printed reproduction. This guide explains how to evaluate texture, sheen, pigment behavior, printing dots, canvas edges, surface depth, and backside clues using the same observational principles trusted by professional authenticators.
Inside this guide, you’ll learn how experts:
Recognize the defining traits of oil paint such as texture depth, slow-blended transitions, varnish aging, and gloss behavior
Distinguish acrylic using surface smoothness, color brightness, drying traits, and modern pigment characteristics
Identify giclée, offset, lithograph, serigraph, and digital prints by analyzing dot patterns, uniformity, and surface texture
Use safe tactile surface checks to differentiate real brushstrokes from machine-applied texture
Examine canvas and paper edges for paint flow, pigment buildup, or abrupt ink termination
Analyze reflection patterns under angled light to reveal physical paint depth
Evaluate the backside of canvas for staining, seep-through, stretcher construction, and factory uniformity
Identify hybrid artworks with both printed and hand-applied paint
Spot common misrepresentation red flags in marketplace listings
Understand when a professional appraisal or authentication is necessary
Whether you're assessing thrift-store finds, reviewing estate artwork, evaluating online listings, or researching family pieces, this guide gives you the expert structure needed to determine whether a painting is an original oil, an acrylic, or a print.
Digital Download — PDF • 9 Pages • Instant Access
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