ANIMATION ART GLOSSARY - what's a cel??
Cel- What is it?
In the physical sense............ it's just a clear piece of plastic "like" material that is used in animation to paint characters on. Images are traced from a drawing and the images are painted on the reverse side of the cel. It's more complicated then that, but that's the abridged version of it.
Now let's keep things simple without treating you simplistically. There are three "kinds" of cels.
Production Cel- These are the cels actually used in the production of a cartoon. They can have either Xerographed or hand-inked outlines, and are hand-painted at the studio. These cels are one-of-a-kind pieces of art, and their rarity makes them highly sought after by collectors. Because these cels were created to make an actual cartoon, each cel is a component part of a larger movement. Different cels from the same scene may be more or less desirable depending on a variety of factors: size, profile and expression of the character, any damage to inking or paint, and overall visual appeal.
hand Painted Limited editions- These pieces are created for the collectors market and are created to be perfect images, with backgrounds and precisely posed figures. These fine art pieces are created in the same way a production cel is with a traced image from a drawing and then hand painted on the reverse side. These limited editions are created because the cost of getting the image in a production cel is too cost prohibited. Sometimes the production image can be valued at over $100,000. One thing to consider about hand painted limited editions, "They are the only fine art reproductions that are HAND PAINTED reproductions," all other fine art reproductions are printed.
Sericels (seri-graphed cels)- Sometimes called serigraph cels. The serigraphy process involves silk-screening each individual color to the cel, one at a time. Every distinct shade is a separate screen, and a separate pass in the procedure. As a result of this fine art operation, each color is flawlessly reproduced. Sericels are also created in limited quantities, typically 2500 to 5000 pieces. Because of their larger edition size, sericels are the most affordable type of animation art, ideal for the beginning collector.
If you would like to learn more about how sericels are
Now that we have conquered the basics in the terminology of animation art, we can move on into the terms used to describe "production art."
"Original" is not a singular term used to describe anything in artwork. Legitimate dealers don't use this term because of it's extreme VAGUENESS. It's a cheap ploy, used by salesman who are trying to pull a fast one on you. The term describes everything and it mean nothing. Yes this cel is original but original to what? The description terms you need to know are whether it's production, limited edition or a sericel.
)
