About Jon Lybrook

Jon Lybrook is owner of Intaglio Editions just outside Boulder Colorado. Intaglio Editions makes polymer photogravure plates and prints from photos, drawings, and other fine art. Jon has devised a method of creating prints that provide superior tonality, richness and depth, much like copper photogravure, but at a fraction of the cost. In addition to his work as a professional printmaker and computer programmer, Jon Lybrook is also a photo-based artist who paints on film with photochemistry to create abstractions. More at http://jonlybrook.com

17 Things to Know About Art Festivals

— by Jon Lybrook, Lead Printmaker & Owner, Intaglio Editions LLC

FolksFest2024

Summer Art Fairs are a great way to expand your list of collectors and supporters!

I used to do alot of summer and holiday art fairs about 10 years ago, but stopped due to the amount of work I was doing with other artists, photographers, and printmakers. That plus internet marketing and consulting work meant there just wasn’t time. We continue to produce custom, high-quality intaglio plates and prints for photographers, printmakers and other small businesses world-wide, but not like we were in the early 2000s.

The current state of the economy here in the United States has me considering showing my own work, and that of the artists I contract with, at summer art shows again. If you are a traditional intaglio printmaker like me, perhaps you’ve been considering the same. If you are participating in art fairs already, you know summer is a busy and back-breaking time for many artists who registered for art shows back in April, when most submissions deadlines end. The good news is, you have plenty of time to start preparing for the summer art shows happening in 2026!
Researching, preparing, and showing at quality outdoor art festivals can take alot of time, planning, hard work, and money, but if they are effective for you, and you are committed to doing them every year, they are an excellent way to gain a new, growing audience of fans, supporters, and repeat buyers.
  1. Visit the festivals in your area before registering to show your work – Walk the grounds, talk to vendors, and get a feel for the crowd, layout, and location to determine if it’s a good fit for your artwork and price-point.
  2. Start Small and Stay Local – Begin with nearby shows to minimize stress and travel costs while learning the ropes of outdoor selling. Do a dry-run setting up your tent, your walls, hanging work, and breaking it all down again. Time yourself with the goal of improving efficiency. Do this well before the show, and you’ll know what to expect.
  3. Talk to fellow artists already showing there – Other artists can offer priceless insight into their experiences – especially if they’ve done a particular show more than once. Ask about the reliability of the promoter, visitor and sales numbers, and whether the show would be worth doing again to them, or if it was a big mistake! What is their highest priced original work, and what are they charging for inkjet prints of it? Learn from your peers.
  4. Give yourself plenty of time to prepare – Weeks or even months of prep may be required to build inventory, create signs and post cards, package artwork and prints, design your layout and display, notify your social media followers, and email list of collectors — and test your payment system!
  5. Provide a wide price range – Offer everything from $5 stickers to $500+ originals, large, handmade prints or 1/1 monotypes. If you’re an intaglio printmaker specializing in photogravure, offer smaller matted inkjet prints of your most popular prints. These will cater to a broader range of supporters and art collectors, and bring in extra cash.
  6. Bring business cards and/or promotional postcards – Even if someone doesn’t make a purchase, give them a tangible reminder of you and your work to take home and possibly follow up later. This simple promotion technique works!
  7. Offer high-quality prints in multiple sizes – Affordable inkjet prints are a great entry point for new collectors and make your work more accessible. Handmade prints such as photogravure, etchings, or monoprints painted with watercolors show your range of classic art interests and abilities. Provide both options and a price range between $25 (for 8×10″ inkjets) and $500+ for your biggest and best traditional fine art prints or original drawings / paintings.
  8. Be sure you bring the “Cadillac” – Feature one or two striking, large, and high-end pieces that show off your best work. Hang them on the outer walls of your tent, if possible, as well as inside. Even if they don’t sell, they show commitment to your abilities and elevate your booth’s atmosphere.
  9. Have promotional “loss leaders” for your supporters – Offer inexpensive or free items (like mini prints or stickers) to build goodwill, especially for returning or loyal fans.
  10. Avoid shows that focus on jewelry or low-dollar craft items – These events often attract bargain-hunters rather than serious art collectors, and your work may not get the appreciation it deserves.
  11. Ignore the loud, drive-by critics – Not everyone will “get” your work—don’t let quick or dismissive comments shake your confidence.
  12. Stay hydrated – Outdoor summer shows can be brutally hot; bring water, low-sodium snacks, and perhaps a cooling towel or portable fan if electricity is provided.
  13. Engage prospects – Don’t hide in the back — but also avoid hard selling —instead, have relaxed, open conversations. Ask them about themselves, their interests, and let your passion and confidence naturally draw buyers in. Read “The Art of Seduction” by Robert Greene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LEQHQNsWOc
  14. Track sales and inventory – What sold? What didn’t? Adjust future show plans accordingly – Use a spreadsheet or inventory app to track what moves at each show, helping you refine your offerings and avoid spending good time and money after bad.
  15. Accept credit cards – Square, Paypal, and other providers offer free phone apps and inexpensive credit card readers you can use wherever you have wifi or cellular service. Most buyers expect the convenience of cards—if you don’t have the ability to process them on site, you could be missing out on sales.
  16. Bring a cash box with change – People still use cash, especially for lower-priced items. Keep small bills and coins handy—some buyers will appreciate a fast, no-hassle cash transaction. Have a pad of receipts handy in case the buyer wants a record of the sale – write the name of the piece on the receipt, and staple your business card to it!
  17. Differentiate your work from the competition – Use unique themes, color combinations, quality framing, signage, demo materials, or storytelling to stand out from the sea of artists and create a lasting impression. If you are a photographer or illustrator, instead of only providing low-cost inkjet prints of your best work, offer traditional prints on heavy-weight, etching paper.

Need high-quality, professional art prints to help promote your fine art drawing, painting or photography?

Let Intaglio Editions Help Your Art Business Thrive!

Artist Interview with Paul Richards – April 2025

Paul Richards, guitarist and co-founder of California Guitar Trio, is also a fine art landscape photographer. In this April, 2025 interview Paul talks with his printmaker, Jon Lybrook, about his new print releases, the upcoming CGT Tour, the trials and challenges of being a working musician while making landscape photographs from around the world.

Important Links:

https://PaulRichardsPrints.com 

https://TonyLevinPrints.com 

https://Timeless-Prints.com

Donating Gently Used, Fine Art Supplies to Schools

We used to wonder what to do with by-products of expensive editioning projects, like used backing sheets of fine art paper, and unused inks and paints… 

The solution of what to do with them was easier than we thought. Through the help of a friend, we were able to reach out to teachers and donate them to our local schools!

Over the past 5 years Intaglio Editions LLC has donated thousands of dollars worth of gently used Stonehenge 250 gsm, 100% cotton rag paper to classrooms around Colorado. This paper is a something we use as backing sheets when printing photogravure prints. After they have gone through the press a few times, the paper fibers have been pressed down to the point where the paper starts to crack under pressure, so they are no longer usable to us.

Our annual donation of quality art paper gives students the opportunity to work with professional art materials, often for the first time. Colorado schools benefiting include: Mapleton Expeditionary School of the Arts (MESA) (public high school grades 9-12), Mapleton Public Schools #1. Thanks to art teacher Erica Wernsmann-Loppnow (Mapleton/MESA), and Silverthorn Elementary teacher Katie Irvin for sharing their stories and student’s exceptional artwork, below.

Do you have surplus paper or fine art materials to donate to art students in Colorado?  Please contact them directly using the links above, or let us know!

Student art made on paper donated by Intaglio Editions!

“[We teach] a mix of student work, ink, gelli print, paper weaving, watercolor, pencil. We really try it all and encourage experimentation and complexity and pushing the capabilities of materials.” – Erica Wensmann-Loppnow

The paper you have given us is so lovely. I really does elevate their work it’s a great opportunity to talk to kids about reusing as well as quality of paper and what we use it for”

Katy Irvin, Art Teacher, Silverthorne Elementary School, Summit, CO.


“[From the paper donations] we use every piece, nothing is wasted. And kids definitely feel the difference using high quality paper.” – Erica Wensmann-Loppnow

Have quality art supplies to donate as well?  Contact your local elementary school or contact the school board to ask about what donations are needed in your area.  New or gently used art paper, canvas, and non-toxic paints are usually welcomed.

Calendering the Paper

Our last post about the top 2023’s Best 5 Printmaking Tips as concerned paper calendering prompted alot of questions on our website! So, I thought I should elaborate a little on the practice and value of calendering paper here at Intaglio Editions Fine Art Prints!

The verb ‘calender’ comes from the root word ‘cylinder’, which is what is used to make paper flat. In our case, we use the steel-faced drum of an intaglio printing press! All paper is calendered to a certain degree of flatness from the paper mill.

Calendaring paper with Jon Lybrook of Intaglio Editions.

Calendaring paper with Jon Lybrook of Intaglio Editions.

However heavy-weight art papers often have added texture to their surface. Hahnemule Copperplate 300 g/sm is one such paper. Such texture can add noise in the continuous tones of photogravure prints, so we stretch and press the paper even flatter to address this.

At Intaglio Editions, we soak paper for at least an hour. We then blot the paper between towels, and use a drafting brush to remove any particles or hairs that may have gotten transferred to the paper.  The paper is then laid printable side down on the press bed against a smooth plexiglass, and covered with two similar sheets of heavy-weight paper.  Paper is run through the press at least 2 times at hand-tight pressure.  We then remove the paper and cover sheets, wipe down the bed, and register the plate. The plate is typically printed at slightly less than hand-tight pressure on the press bed.

Some finer papers, such as quality Japanese gampi, will not be made any smoother through calendering. These papers should be ‘ready to go’ straight from the vendor with no calendering needed.

When printing photogravure quality plates, also be sure to use 2-4 backing sheets to help ensure the pattern from your blankets doesn’t interfere with your continuous tones.  Also remember to use pressed wool blankets – never woven – as these can leave a more noticeable pattern in continuous tone areas of the print).

Check out this excellent demo video on calendering paper on an intaglio press by Jeffrey Dell.

5 BEST Intaglio Printmaking Tips of 2023 from Intaglio Editions

As we close down another year, it’s a good time to pause and examined what we’ve learned. Over the years we have come up with some effective ways to increase print quality and efficiency when printing steel-backed, polymer photogravure plates. Here are the Top 5 tips we use all the time when printing your Intaglio Editions polymer plate:

Jon Lybrook at Nils Borch Jensen Studios in 2018 in front of a large Keith Haring print.

Jon Lybrook at Nils Borch Jensen Studios in 2018 in front of a large Keith Haring print.

  1. Use heating pads available from drug stores to warm your plate before applying ink. The same pads can be placed under the glass ink slab. Heating the ink makes it looser and allows it to flow into the pits of the plate better, providing better density and richness. This is especially vital in winter months.
  2. Some projects go on longer than the ink can stay fresh. Weigh your ink when mixing combinations of modifiers and inks to ensure a consistent mixture every time.
  3. Always calender your paper before printing photogravure! This pre-stretches the paper, and allows for more consistent results. It is also necessary when printing multiple plates on the same sheet to prevent overlap.
  4. To secure registration of your plate, lick a clean finger.  Now put three dots of spit from your finger to the middle of the back of the plate. Moisture behind the plate helps prevent the plate from pivoting or sliding during the printing.
  5. Clean your plates using a gentle solvent, like SoySolv2 after use, but avoid over-cleaning or scrubbing polymer photogravure plates.  Cleaning plates too often or roughly will lead to an early loss of fidelity.

Questions?  Contact us for a free consultation!

Jon Lybrook - Printmaker and Publisher, Intaglio Editions LLC

Jon Lybrook – Printmaker and Publisher, Intaglio Editions LLC

What is an Open Edition vs. Limited Edition in Fine Art Prints?

Here’s a good teaching opportunity to our readers who are currently, or want to be, more knowledgeable art collectors.  For those who either already are, or are interested in becoming art collectors of Tony Levin’s work, we just officially released an authorized collection of five open edition inkjet prints.  These vintage photographs of Peter Gabriel are mostly from tours which took place during the 1980s. They are, without question, among some of the most iconic photos taken of Peter, and of that era in rock music.
This historic print project started in 2016 when Jon Lybrook, Lead Printmaker at Intaglio Editions, approached Tony about doing a fine art photogravure collection of his and his fans’ favorite prints from his illustrious, 50-plus year career on stage. The project evolved into two collections so far, Tony’s King Crimson Limited Edition Photogravure Collection, and his newest open edition inkjet Collection of Peter Gabriel vintage photos.
We will be producing and selling these signed, open edition, fine art prints until the end of the Peter Gabriel I/O tour in the fall of 2023, at least. After that, who knows if we’ll continue to edition them? We will likely move on to publishing newer work of Tony’s, which would be party funded by these print sales.
For new art collectors who may be interested: Open Edition prints, such as this special Peter Gabriel Vintage Photo collection, aren’t tied to a commitment to a certain number of prints. How many signed prints go out into the world may be hundreds, or thousands, or more! We’ll continue to make them as they sell, until we decide to stop. This is unlike Limited Edition runs, in which the artist and publisher commit to a specific maximum number of prints that can be made.
Have you decided on your favorite Peter Gabriel prints? Be sure to post a photo of you with your Tony Levin print and hashtag #tonylevin and #tonylevinprints ! Peter Gabriel’s I/O World Tour will run through October 2023 with a break in July and August, so Tony can sign more prints with us!  
Get all the up-to-date photos and news from Tony’s Road Diary — one of the the longest-maintained blogs on the internet!

Artist Tony Levin on his music and photography

Excellent interview with Tony Levin, hot off the road from his recent Stick Men tour, and getting ready to embark on a month of touring Europe and England with Peter Gabriel. At 1:07 he discusses his vintage photographs of Peter Gabriel, which are now available as heavy-weight inkjet prints at https://TonyLevinPrints.com


Modern Musicology’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk-MlcGy5u3fK1j4bVty1Kw

Find more about Modern Musicology team members:
Rob Levy: 
https://kdhx.org/shows/show/juxtaposition
Stephanie Seymour: www.therearebirds.com
R. Alan Siler: www.kozmiccreative.com
Anthony Williams: https://watchers4d.podbean.com/

King Crimson Photogravure prints by Tony Levin featured at Haggin Museum exhibition

The legendary Tony Levin shows his limited edition King Crimson intaglio print collection at the Haggin Museum on Feb. 16, 2023. Learn More about this high-quality print collection here:
https://timeless-prints.com/tony-levin-king-crimson-fine-art-prints/

Unboxing New Intaglio Proofs with Artist Jerry LoFaro

Jerry is one of our favorite artists to work with, and in this video you’ll see why. His talents behind the camera and the computer are only exceeded by his capacity for telling bad jokes and cringe-worthy puns in front of it! Photography and videography by Kathleen LoFaro.

“Some of the design details from the late 1950s cars were pretty crazy – they where like chrome & plastic sculptures from a bizarro, futuristic world! However, I think the tail lights of the 1957 Cadillac Coupe de Ville were the most amazing, especially for it’s Mohawk topped, humanoid expression of surprise.

 I first encountered this Ford truck on a neighbor’s property in 1997, shortly after we purchased our home just up the road from them. I thought it was pretty cool, but it somehow didn’t even occur to me to photograph it at the time. However, when the rusty bug finally bit me all these years later, I went out on a hot spring day in 2018 to find it still quietly tucked away, though much further out in the woods than I remembered.

I’ve photographed this beautiful barge of a car abandoned in the woods a few times, but “Panic on Main Street” is the first time I encountered a restored vintage model at a car show. I got to the huge Elm Street Classic Car Cruise in Manchester, NH late that September day, and as it was winding down I saw this car getting ready to drive off from it’s spot. I quickly asked the owner if I could take a few shots before he did, and I went right to the back and laid down on the hot pavement to capture this!

Jerry LoFaro holding the first intaglio proof of "Panic on Main Street" 2022

Jerry LoFaro holding the first intaglio proof of “Panic on Main Street” 2022

Learn more about Jerry’s special edition prints here:  https://timeless-prints.com/jerry-lofaro-fine-art-photography/