A guide to buying art prints

Welcome to my blog, I am a professional cartoonist, illustrator and writer. My site here is intended to promote a range of works that I think will look good on the wall. I've included here, not just my work, but some works by other artists whose work I love and hope to bring to a wider audience. I've chosen to illustrate these blogs with my own photographic images that have inspired some of my latest works. I hope you will feel inspired to look further.

If you are looking for a guide to buying art prints, the first thing to say is that most people make it harder than it needs to be. You do not need to speak fluent gallery language or know your way round every paper stock on the market. You need a decent eye, a bit of honesty about your space, and enough information to tell the difference between a print that will give lasting pleasure and one that merely fills a blank bit of wall.

What makes a print worth buying?

A good art print earns its place every time you walk past it. That sounds obvious, but it matters more than novelty, trend or whether something happens to match the cushions. The best prints have visual character. They hold together from across the room, but they also reward a closer look. That could be in the line, the composition, the atmosphere, the colour, or simply the subject being handled with conviction.

This is where buying from an artist-led collection can make a real difference. A tightly chosen range usually has more personality than a vast catalogue stuffed with interchangeable images. You are not just buying a picture. You are buying somebody's judgement about what deserves space on a wall.

There is, of course, a trade-off. A highly distinctive print may ask a bit more of the room than a bland decorative piece. But that is often the point. The work should bring something with it.

A guide to buying art prints by process

Not all prints are the same, and the process matters because it affects appearance, feel and price. If you see terms such as fine art digital print, giclée print and canvas print, they are not just sales language when used properly. They describe different ways of presenting the image.

A fine art digital print usually refers to a professionally produced print made from a digital file, often on quality paper with good archival inks. If the original work is digital, illustration-based or photographic, this can be a very strong choice. The key question is not whether it sounds technical enough, but whether the print has depth, clarity and proper tonal range.

A giclée print is generally used to describe high-quality inkjet printing with archival pigment inks on fine art paper or canvas. When done well, it gives rich colour, excellent detail and a finish that feels serious without being fussy. It suits everything from black and white drawing to layered colour work. The term gets overused, so it is worth checking whether the seller actually cares about print standards rather than just borrowing the vocabulary.

Canvas prints have a different job. They can feel bolder and more immediate, particularly for larger pieces, and they suit some interiors very well. But they are not automatically better. A delicate drawing or finely textured image may sing on paper and lose something on canvas. It depends on the work.

Size matters more than most people think

One of the most common mistakes in this guide to buying art prints is choosing a piece that is too small. A timid print on a large wall often looks apologetic. People worry about going too big, but too small is usually the real problem.

Before buying, look at the wall properly. Measure it. Think about the furniture underneath. A print above a sofa, sideboard or bed needs enough presence to feel intentional. If you are buying for a hallway, landing or study corner, smaller pieces can work beautifully, but they still need to be in proportion.

It also helps to think about viewing distance. A bold graphic print can handle a larger scale brilliantly. A quieter work with subtle line or tone may be better somewhere you can stand close to it. This is not a rule, just common sense.

Paper, finish and why quality shows up over time

Good print quality is not always the sort of thing that shouts from across the room on day one. Often it is what keeps the image looking alive after months and years of living with it. Better paper tends to hold ink with more subtlety. Blacks feel richer, colours sit better, and highlights do not look thin or chalky.

There is also a physical pleasure to proper paper. It has weight, texture and presence. Even behind glass, you can sense the difference. Cheap paper and weak printing often leave an image looking flat, over-shiny or slightly dead.

That does not mean every print needs the most expensive paper available. A smooth finish may suit one image, while a more textured stock suits another. Black and white work, charcoal drawing and photography often benefit from careful tonal control. Colourful digital pieces may need brightness and crispness. The important thing is that the process suits the image.

How to choose art prints for your room

A room does not need everything in it to agree politely. In fact, too much coordination can make a place feel staged. The better question is whether the print brings energy, mood or balance to the space.

If your room is quiet and pared back, a print with strong line or colour can do the heavy lifting. If the room already has plenty going on, a more restrained piece may give the eye somewhere to rest. Black and white prints are especially useful here. They can be dramatic without becoming noisy.

Subject matters too. Landscapes can open a room up. Urban scenes and signage can add edge and rhythm. Drawings of old buildings, sheds, streets or weathered surfaces often bring a kind of lived-in honesty that suits both modern and traditional interiors. The best choice is usually the one you keep returning to rather than the one that seems safest.

Framed or unframed?

There is no universal right answer. An unframed print gives you flexibility and can be the sensible route if you want to match existing frames or take your time choosing. It is also useful if you live somewhere that makes delivery of glazed framed work less practical.

A framed print is easier. It arrives ready to hang, and that matters more than people admit. If something is wall-ready, it is far more likely to get up on the wall rather than live in a tube under the bed for six months.

The frame itself should support the image, not try to improve it through force of personality. Simple frames are often the strongest choice because they let the work do the talking.

Questions worth asking before you buy

A useful guide to buying art prints should include a bit of healthy scepticism. Ask what the print process is. Ask what paper or canvas is used. Ask whether the colours are likely to match what you see on screen as closely as possible. Ask about sizing and whether there is a border. These are practical questions, not fussy ones.

It is also worth asking yourself one thing: do I actually want to live with this image? That sounds basic, but people often buy art as if they are passing an exam. You are not. You are choosing what you want to see while making tea, walking downstairs, or sitting in a chair on a rainy afternoon.

Buying with your eye, not just your checklist

Checklists are useful up to a point. Quality, size and print method all matter. But after that, your eye has to do its job. A print should feel convincing. The line should have confidence. The composition should hold together. The image should have some life in it.

That is often why artist-run collections are appealing. They tend to feel more human and less algorithmic. At Paul Davies Prints, for instance, the appeal is not simply that the work is produced to a high standard. It is that the selection reflects a genuine point of view about what looks good on the wall.

If you are buying your first proper print, trust the piece that sticks in your mind after you have left the screen. That is usually the one. Taste grows by living with good things, and one well-chosen print can set the tone for everything that follows.