PUBLICATION CENTER

Bob Tursack and his team help photographers and artists take their work to the next level

Brilliant Studio is housed in a welcoming, newly built facility in the rolling hills of Chester County, PA, about 20 miles west of Philadelphia.

To some people, the term printmaking means meticulously reproducing exactly what the artist or photographer created. For others, printmaking is an art in itself—an extension of what can be achieved with cameras, paintbrushes, or drawing tools alone.

Photographer and Master Printer Bob Tursack of Brilliant Studio and Brilliant Graphics in Exton, PA can do it either way. While he has the technical proficiency to reproduce art with the utmost fidelity, he believes he does his finest work for the many artists and photographers who regard him as a printmaker in the fullest creative sense of the word. He enjoys collaborating with clients who trust him enough to recommend ways to achieve the highest artistic realization of the image they had visualized from the start.

Tursack’s passion for printmaking excellence and deep understanding of the creative process has earned the respect of many well-known artists, photographers, publishers, and galleries. Brilliant Studio has printed reproductions for painters such as the late Andrew Wyeth and photographs by Michael Furman, George Tice, and Yaakov Asher Sinclair.

Bob Tursack started Brilliant Studio in his basement in 2000, two years after selling the $60-million-a-year commercial-printing business that his family had run for years. Originally, he intended Brilliant Studio to simply be a fun, part-time venture. His first printer was an IRIS printer that had originally been used as prepress proofer. His first clients were artists and photographers he had met through the family business. But after Tursack repeatedly found himself making prints well into the wee hours of the morning, he decided to get into printmaking full time. His first employee was computer-networking specialist who had a degree in graphic design.

Blending Traditional and Digital Equipment: Brilliant Studio offers multiple types of printmaking methods, and is equipped with four 44-in. Epson Stylus Pro 9800 printers with the ImagePrint RIP, a 64-in. Epson Stylus Pro 11880 printer, a Ryobi four-color waterless offset lithography press, and an antique etching press which can be used for either copperplate etchings or relief prints from woodcuts or linoleum cuts. Sometimes Tursack mixes the old with the new, printing a transparency film on an Epson printer for work that will be printed on the etching press. For capturing original artwork, Brilliant Studio uses Phase One and Hasselblad cameras and Creo Eversmart Pro Scanners.

The etching press can be used for either copperplate etchings or relief prints from woodcuts or linoleum cuts.

At first, Brilliant Studio outsourced the printing of artists’ books and gallery catalogs. But rather than continuing to put his reputation for excellence at risk, Tursack decided to get back into commercial printing. So he bought a Heidelberg press, developed a first-of-its-kind-in-the-US computer-integrated printing workflow, and opened Brilliant Graphics as a companion business to Brilliant Studio.

Brilliant Graphics not only provides graphics-related services for artists and photographers, but also serves many other types of businesses. They print brochures, annual reports, corporate marketing materials, catalogs, posters, and perfect-bound and casebound books. Many of these projects require the utmost quality in reproduction, such as the catalogs that Brilliant produced for Swann Galleries, the New York auction house that sells works from the earliest days of photography to images by modern masters.

A Love for Both Printing and Photography:While growing up around his family’s printing business, Tursack became so interested in photography that he was using an Exakta 35mm camera by the time in was in the fifth grade and studying the Zone system during summer workshops. It wasn’t until after he had acquired a thorough technical understanding of photography and darkroom work that he started gaining a deeper appreciation for the importance of really seeing and previsualizing an idea before attempting to execute the image on film and paper.

“Now, when photographers give me an original, I know they’re giving me a piece of their soul. It’s not just emulsion or bytes of information in a file. I know what goes into creating an image and the sense of great disappointment that can be felt when something you created isn’t reproduced well. That disappointment can sit with you for years.” says Tursack.

While this empathy for creative professionals has helped attract new clients, Tursack’s communications skills help retain them. He encourages artists to freely tell him when they aren’t satisfied with something he tries. But he also feels comfortable enough to suggest ways they can improve the market acceptance of their work without compromising their artistic integrity.

Tursack and his staff are happy to help good artists get their work noticed. When appropriate, they introduce artists to some of their gallery or publisher clients. And the marketing consultants and designers at Brilliant Graphics can help artists create branding and identity packages, and advertise their work in regional lifestyle magazines and art trade journals. Brilliant Studio also produces a bimonthly mailing of full-color art cards to 3,000 qualified contacts in the print-sales marketplace. Each card features the work of a single artist with details about the artist and available print sizes.

In-Depth Media Evaluation: One role Tursack takes very seriously is helping the artist choose the right paper or canvas for each print. He recommends a paper for a particular job based on its color gamut, maximum density, tactile quality, archival nature, and what the paper will add to the personality of the print.

He typically stocks six or eight papers and two fine canvases, but is always open to trying new things. Right now, he recommends Hahnemuhle papers because of how well the papers performed during his own thorough testing of tonal range, Dmax, and tonal transitions.

Depending on the requirements of a particular job, he may recommend a Hahnemuhle German Etching, Photo Rag Bright White, Photo Rag Satin, Fine Art Pearl, Photo Rag, or Fine Art Baryta. For prints output on canvas, he uses LexJet Sunset Select Matte Canvas or Instant-Dry Satin Canvas.

Tursack evaluates different materials so that the artist’s faith in his expertise will be rewarded. He says “The technology is merely a means to an end.” What really matters in printmaking is being able to build a collaborative relationship with the artist. He notes that, “Understanding where an artist is trying to go with their work is by far the most important part of what we do.”

For more information about the wide range of services offered by Brilliant Studio and Brilliant Graphics visit www.brilliantstudio.com