Park Avenue Armory is hosting the largest international Print Fair this weekend. NY1's Donna Karger filed the following report.

From all over the world, the leading print dealers, collectors, curators and artists are descending upon the Park Avenue Armory this weekend for the largest international print fair.

Thousands of etched works of art cover the walls, making this event, organizers say, a treat for print enthusiasts, and even for those who know little about the print medium.

“The show is a great place to come and train your eye, to go and look at work, ask questions, because the dealers are all here to talk to people,” explains Michele Senecal, director of the International Fine Print Dealers Association. “This is why they've come great distances and brought their finest work, not only to talk to collectors, but also to talk to those who are new to the medium.”

Since age 11, artist Andrew Raftery has been carving his own woodcuts and pressing his own prints. He sees the print fair as a great opportunity for artists to not only showcase their work, but also to learn from other printmakers, as well.

“I can draw on all of these influences that are around me and put them into a print that's about contemporary life,” says Raftery.

As many original artworks are unaffordable, collectors say prints are an accessible and relatively inexpensive way to own your own piece of art.

“The first print I ever bought was Ben Shahn's ‘Phoenix Bird;’ it’s a great big bird rising from the ashes with splashes of color. It's a stencil print,” says collector Janice Oresman. “And I didn't pay very much for it, and now I notice that the Museum of Modern Art has a postcard with it on. So I think I did all right with that one.”

Master printmaker Phil Sanders of the Robert Blackburn Print Shop says a print is made by first outlining the original piece of work and incising it in either a wood or metal plate. Next, Sanders says the artist covers the plate with black ink. The excess ink is then wiped off until only the ink inside the lines remains. The plate is placed on top of the press bed, felt blankets go on top of that, and then it is rolled through the press.

When the blankets are peeled off, what appears is an ink impression on the paper, otherwise known as a print.

“Everyone has most likely seen a print,” Sanders says. “If you’ve dealt with money, read a magazine or seen a billboard, you understand the basics of printmaking, which is to get an idea of transferring one surface to another.

"And the beauty of fine art printmaking is that it allows a much more accessible way for people who want to learn a little bit more about art as a good way to start out to learn about art," continues Sanders. "And they’ll find that a lot of artists prefer to work in this method of printmaking because it allows a different level of freedom. So for an art lover or someone new to art, printmaking is a really great way to get your start in fine art.”

To see these prints and many more, head over to the Park Avenue Armory this weekend, November 6-8. The IDPDA Print Fair is open from 12 p.m. – 8 p.m. Admission is $20.