Printmaking

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This article is  about techniques of printmaking as a fine art. For the History of printmaking in Europe, see Old master print. For the Japanese printmaking tradition, see Ukiyo-e.

Printmaking is  the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. Except in the case of Monotyping, the process is  capable of producing multiple copies of the same piece, which is  called a print. Each copy is  known as an  impression. Painting or  drawing, on the other hand, create a unique original piece of artwork. Prints are  created from a single original surface, known technically as a matrix. Common types of matrix include: plates of metal, usually copper or  zinc, for engraving, etching or  lithography and  blocks of wood for woodcut. But there are  many other kinds, discussed below. Each print is  considered an  original work of art, not a copy. Works printed from a single plate create an  edition, in modern times usually each signed and  numbered to form a limited edition. Prints may also be published in book form, as Artists' Books. A single print could be the product of one or  multiple techniques.

Contents 1 Media 2 Color 3 Techniques 3.1 The basic families or  groups of printmaking techniques 3.2 Woodcut 3.3 Engraving 3.4 Etching 3.5 Mezzotint 3.6 Aquatint 3.7 Drypoint 3.8 Lithography 3.9 Screen-printing 3.10 Digital Prints 4 Protective Printmaking Equipment 5 See also 5.1 Printmakers 5.2 See Also 6 References 7 Suggested Reading 8 External links

[edit] Media

Printmakers work using a variety of media, including water based ink, water color paint, oil based ink, oil pastels, and  any water soluble solid pigment such as Caran D'Ache crayons. The work is  created on a flat surface called a plate. Printmaking techniques that utilize digital methods are  becoming increasingly popular and  in many markets are  the preferred method. Surfaces or  matrices used in printmaking include planks of wood, metal plates, panes of acrylic glass, pieces of shellacked book board, or  lithographic stones. A separate technique, called screenprinting, makes use of a porous fabric mesh stretched in a frame, called a screen. Small prints can even be made using the surface of a potato.

[edit] Color

Printmakers apply color to their prints in many different ways. Often color in printmaking that involves etching, screenprinting, woodcut or  linocut is  applied by either using separate plates, blocks or  screens or  by using a reductionist approach. In multiple plate color techniques are  a number of plates, screens or  blocks produced, each providing a different colour. Each separate plate, screen or  block will be inked up in a different color and  applied in a particular sequence to produce the entire picture. On average about 3 to 4 plates are  produced but there are  occasions where a printmaker may use up to seven plates. Every application of another plate of color will interact with the color already applied to the paper and  this must be kept in mind when producing the separation of colors. The lightest colors are  often applied first and  then that darker colors successively until the last one.

The reductionist approach to producing color is  to start with a lino or  wood block that is  either blank or  with a simple etching. Upon each printing of color the printmaker will then further cut into the lino or  woodblock removing more  material and  then apply another color and  reprint. Each successive removal of lino or  wood from the block will expose the already printed color to the viewer of the print.

With some printing techniques like chine-collé or  monotyping the printmaker may sometimes just paint into the colors they want like a painter would and  then print.

The subtractive color concept is  also used in offset or  digital print and  is present in bitmap or  vectorial software in CMYK or  other color spaces.

[edit] Techniques

[ or  groups of printmaking techniques">edit] The basic families or  groups of printmaking techniques

• relief printing, where the ink goes on the original surface of the matrix. Relief techniques include: woodcut or  woodblock as the Asian forms are  usually known, wood engraving, linocut and  metalcut;

• intaglio, where the ink goes beneath the original surface of the matrix. Intaglio techniques include: engraving, etching, mezzotint, aquatint, chine-collé and  drypoint;

• planographic, where the matrix retains its entire surface, but some parts are  treated to make the image. Planographic techniques include: lithography, batik on cloth, monotyping, and  digital techniques.

• stencil, including: screen-printing and  pochoir

Other types of printmaking techniques outside these groups include collography. Digital processes include giclée, photographic mediums and  combination of both digital process and  conventional processes.

Many of these techniques can also be combined, especially within the same family. For example Rembrandt's prints are  usually referred to as "etchings" for convenience, but very often include work in engraving and  drypoint as well, and  sometimes have  no etching at all.

[edit] Woodcut

Main article: woodcut

Woodcut, a type of relief print, is  the earliest printmaking technique, and  the only one traditionally used in the Far East. it  was probably first developed as a means of printing patterns on cloth, and  by the 5th century was used in China for printing text and  images on paper. Woodcuts of images on paper developed around 1400 in Europe, and  slightly later in Japan. These are  the two areas where woodcut has been most extensively used purely as a process for making images without text.

The artist draws a sketch either on a plank of wood, or  on paper which is  transferred to the wood. Traditionally the artist then handed the work to a specialist cutter, who then uses sharp tools to carve away the parts of the block that he/she does not want to receive the ink. The raised parts of the block are  inked with a brayer, then a sheet of paper, perhaps slightly damp, is  placed over the block. The block is  then rubbed with a baren or  spoon, or  is run through a press. If in color, separate blocks are  used for each color.

[edit] Engraving

Main article: Engraving

The process was developed in Germany in the 1430s from the engraving used by goldsmiths to decorate metalwork. Using the burin is  a difficult skill to learn.

Engravers use a hardened steel tool called a burin to cut the design into the surface of a metal, traditionally copper, plate. Gravers come in a variety of shapes and  sizes that yield different line types. The burin produces a unique and  recognizable quality of line that is  characterized by its steady, deliberate appearance and  clean edges. Other tools such as mezzotint rockers, roulets and  burnishers are  used for texturing effects.

The plate is  inked all over, and  then the ink wiped off the surface, leaving only the ink in the engraved lines. The plate is  then put through a high-pressure printing-press together with a sheet of paper (often moistened to soften it). The paper picks up the ink from the engraved lines, making a print. The process can be repeated many times; typically several hundred impressions (copies) could be printed before the plate shows much sign of wear. The work on the plate can also be added to by repeating the whole process; this creates an  engraving which exists in more  than one state.

[edit] Etching

Main article: Etching

Etching is  part of the intaglio family (along with engraving, drypoint, mezzotint, and  aquatint.) The process is  believed to have  been invented by Daniel Hopfer (circa 1470-1536) of Augsburg, Germany, who decorated armour in this way, and  applied the method to printmaking. Etching soon came to challenge engraving as the most popular printmaking medium. Its great advantage was that, unlike engraving which requires special skill in metalworking, etching is  relatively easy to learn for an  artist trained in drawing.

Etching prints are  generally linear and  often contain fine detail and  contours. Lines can vary from smooth to sketchy. an  etching is  opposite of a woodcut in that the raised portions of an  etching remain blank while the crevices hold ink. In pure etching, a metal (usually copper, zinc or  steel) plate is  covered with a waxy ground. The artist then scratches off the ground with a pointed etching needle where he wants a line to appear in the finished piece, so exposing the bare metal. The plate is  then dipped in a bath of acid, or  has acid washed over it. The acid "bites" into the metal, where it  is exposed, leaving behind lines to the plate. The remaining ground is  then cleaned off the plate, and  the printing process is  then just the same as for engraving.

[edit] Mezzotint

Main article: Mezzotint

An intaglio variant of engraving where the plate first is  roughened evenly all over; the image is  then brought out by scraping smooth the surface, creating the image by working from dark to light. it  is possible to create the image by only roughening the plate selectively, so working from light to dark.

Mezzotint is  known for the luxurious quality of its tones: first, because an  evenly, finely roughened surface holds a lot of ink, allowing deep solid colors to be printed; secondly because the process of smoothing the texture with burin, burnisher and  scraper allows fine gradations in tone to be developed.

The mezzotint printmaking method was invented by Ludwig von Siegen (1609-1680). The process was especially widely used in England from the mid-eighteenth century, to reproduce portraits and  other paintings.

[edit] Aquatint

Main article: Aquatint

A variant of etching. Like etching, Aquatint uses the application of acid to make the marks in the metal plate. Where the etching technique uses a needle to make lines that print in black (or whatever colour ink is  used), aquatint uses powdered resin which is  acid resistant in the ground to create a tonal effect. The tonal variation is  controlled by the level of acid exposure over large areas, and  thus the image is  shaped by large sections at a time.

Goya used aquatint for most of his prints.

[edit] Drypoint

Main article: Drypoint

A variant of engraving, done with a sharp point, rather than a v-shaped burin. While engraved lines are  very smooth and  hard-edged, drypoint scratching leaves a rough burr at the edges of each line. This burr gives drypoint prints a characteristically soft, and  sometimes blurry, line quality. Because the pressure of printing quickly destroys the burr, drypoint is  useful only for very small editions; as few as ten or  twenty impressions. To counter this, and  allow for longer print runs, electro-plating (here called steelfacing) has been used since the nineteenth century to harden the surface of a plate.

The technique appears to have  been invented by the Housebook Master, a south German fifteenth century artist, all of whose prints are  in drypoint only. Among the most famous artists of the old master print: Albrecht Dürer produced 3 drypoints before abandoning the technique; Rembrandt used it  frequently, but usually in conjunction with etching and  engraving.

[edit] Lithography

Main article: Lithography

Lithography is  a technique invented in 1798 by Alois Senefelder and  based on the chemical repulsion of oil and  water. A porous surface, normally limestone, is  used; the image is  drawn on the limestone with an  oily medium. Acid is  applied, transferring the oil to the limestone, leaving the image 'burned' into the surface. Gum arabic, a water soluble substance, is  then applied, sealing the surface of the stone not covered with the drawing medium. The stone is  wetted, with water staying only on the surface not covered in oil-based residue of the drawing; the stone is  then 'rolled up', meaning greasy ink is  applied with a roller covering the entire surface; since water repels the grease in the ink, the ink adheres only to the oily parts, perfectly inking the image. A sheet of wet paper is  placed on the surface, and  the image is  transferred to the paper by the pressure of the printing press. Lithography is  known for its ability to capture fine gradations in shading and  very small detail.

A variant is  photo-lithography, in which the image is  captured by photographic processes on metal plates; printing is  carried out in the same way.

[edit] Screen-printing

Main article: Screen-printing

[edit] Digital Prints

[edit] Protective Printmaking Equipment

Protective clothing is  very important for printmakers who engage in etching. In the past many printmakers did not live far past 35 to 40 years of age due to their exposure and  soaking up of various acids and  liquids or  their inhaling of rosin from aquatinting.

Whereas in the past printmakers used to put their plates in and  out of acid baths with their bare hands, nowadays printmakers use industrial strength rubber gloves. They also wear industrial gas masks that are  fitted with fume filters for the acid baths. Acid baths are  often built with fumigators above them also.

Often an  emergency cold shower is  nearby in case of acid spillages and  eye wash. Some printmakers wear goggles when dealing with acid.

The masks often have  particle filters for aquatinting. Plates are  put into an  aquatinting cabinet and  a fan is  turned by hand blowing rosin up into the top of the cabinet. The rosin floats down and  settles upon the plate (anywhere between 5 to 15 minutes until covering the plate properly). When the plate is  taken out of the cabinet often rosin powder is  still floating down and  comes out into the area where the printmaker is. Should this rosin powder be inhaled it  is taken into the lungs where it  remains throughout life, without dissolving or  being removed from the lungs. Rosin is  a serious health hazard and  especially to printmakers in the past who used to just hold their breath within an  aquatinting room.

Barrier cream is  often used upon a printmaker's hands both when putting them inside the protective gloves and  if using their hands to wipe-back plates (remove ink from plates).

Sterile plasters and  bandages are  always available especially if using steel plates that become extremely sharp when filing the edges of the plate down so as not to tear the paper with the edges of the plate when passing the print through the press. You soon realise why swords were made from steel when working with steel plates.

[edit] See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: printmaking

• Ukiyo-e
• Old master print
• Artist's proof
• Line engraving
• Edition

[edit] Printmakers

• Valenti Angelo
• Werner Drewes
• Albrecht Dürer
• Andy English
• M. C. Escher
• Jane Hammond
• Stanley William Hayter
• Mauricio Lasansky
• Edvard Munch
• Frank Stella
• Peter Stent
• Rembrandt van Rijn
• Stow Wengenroth

[edit] See Also

• Etchers by nationality
• Engravers by nationality
• Printmakers by nationality

[edit] References

• What is  a Print?, from the Museum of Modern Art
• Bamber Gascoigne: How to Identify Prints: A Complete Guide to Manual and  Mechanical Processes from Woodcut to Inkjet (ISBN 0-500-28480-6)

[edit] Suggested Reading

Prints and  Printmaking, Antony Griffiths, British Museum Press (in UK),2nd edn, 1996 ISBN 0-7141-2608-X

Ivins, William Jr. Prints and  Visual Communication. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1953. ISBN 0-262-59002-6

Gill Saunders and  Rosie Miles Prints Now : Directions and  Definitions Victoria and  Albert Museum (May 1, 2006) ISBN 1-85177-480-7

[edit] External links

• Thompson, Wendy. "The Printed Image in the West: History and  Techniques". In Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. (October 2003)
• André Béguin's dictionary;enormous dictionary of terms, relating more  to the printing than the creation of the image
• Another glossary - for modern prints
• Judging the Authenticity of Prints by The Masters by art historian David Rudd Cycleback