Why Collecting Original Fine Art Prints Is an Accessible Choice for Beginners

Starting an art collection can feel intimidating, especially with the assumption that "real" art means gallery prices and years of expertise. That's not the case with handmade printmaking. Collecting original fine art prints is one of the more approachable ways to start, since the medium itself is built around smaller, more affordable pieces without sacrificing the handmade quality of an original work.

What Makes a Print "Original"

An original print isn't a mass-produced reproduction. At Hummingbird Fine Arts, Brooke and Frank Remmert create every piece through hand-pulled processes, like collagraph, monoprint, monotype, and solar plate intaglio, where ink is applied to a plate and run through a press by hand. Each print carries the slight variation that comes from that process, which is part of what separates it from a printed poster or digital reproduction.

Start Small and Build

Frank Remmert's Abstract collection is a practical entry point for a first-time buyer. Pieces like Up In Smoke and Wasp use color and motion rather than a specific subject, which makes them easy to place in almost any room while still being a genuine hand-pulled monotype. Red Hills works the same way with a slightly warmer palette.

Brooke Remmert's dahlia prints offer a similar starting point from a different angle. Dahlias On Asian Paper #1 takes advantage of a different printing surface to shift how the ink settles, and Garden Whimsy carries the layered, botanical texture typical of her collagraph work.

For a beginner drawn to architecture and place, Frank's The Corner of Delgado and Canyon, from the CARDS collection of Santa Fe doors and walls, captures the city's Pueblo and Territorial building details.

Pro tip: Ask about the paper stock. Prints on heavy, 100% cotton rag paper hold their color and texture far longer than standard paper, which matters if you're planning to keep and add to a collection over time.

Frequently Asked Questions

1- Do original prints lose value if they're not part of a numbered edition?

Not necessarily. Value in printmaking comes from the technique and the artist's process as much as edition size. Monotypes, for example, are valuable precisely because each one is the only print of its kind.

2- Is it better to buy one larger piece or several smaller ones when starting?

Either works. A few smaller pieces, like Frank's Abstract prints, let a beginner collect several distinct works at once, while a single mid-range piece works better if you want one focal point to build a collection around.

3- What's the difference between an original print and a reproduction?

An original print is hand-pulled from a plate the artist inked and ran through a press, which means it carries slight, natural variation. A reproduction is a mechanical copy of an existing image with no variation between copies.

Collecting shouldn't require a big budget to start, and that's the whole idea behind how we price our work at Hummingbird Fine Arts. Whether you're drawn to affordable original art like Frank's Abstract series or original fine art for sale from Brooke's dahlia prints, we make it easy to begin collecting original fine art prints one piece at a time.