Prints

Prints/Printmaking differs from other art forms Matrix is a surface on which a design is prepared before being transferred through pressure to a receiving surface such as paper. Indirect Process-the artist does not work directly on the work of art, he creates the surface that makes the work of art. Printmaking process results in many identical images. Each image is called an impression & is considered an original work of art. Making multiples-10, 15, 20, 100 works of the same image is called an edition. An Edition can vary with the surface you use: metal plates guarantees a better or perfect replica. Soft plates (linoleum) wear down faster. Editions are signed and dated. Ex. Name “title” edition number 1/500 date

There are FOUR basic methods for making a print. Relief----raised areas holds the ink. Intaglio----carved areas hold the ink. Lithography---the image area holds ink the non-image areas repel ink. Screen printing---ink passes through areas of screen that are not blocked.

Relief The term relief describes any printing method in which the image to be printed is raised from the background. Woodcut To make a woodcut the artist first draws his/her image on a block of wood. Then all areas that are not meant to print are cut and gouged out of the wood so that image stands out in relief. The block is inked using a brayer/ roller so that raised areas take the ink. The paper is placed on the block and rubbed to transfer the ink and make the print. Multiple blocks can be used to print in color. Wood engraving– the end grain of the wood is used and very fine cutter tools are used for detail.

Prefaced to the Diamond Sutra Woodblock hand scroll

Albrecht Durer. Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse series. c Woodcut, 15 5/8 x 11”

Chuck Close, Self-Portrait, Polychrome woodblock print, Image size: 22 1/2" x 17 3/4”.

Wood Engraving

Rockwell Kent. Workers of the World. Unite! Wood engraving, 8 x 6”

Pablo Picasso. Portrait of a Young Girl, after Cranach the Younger, II Linoleum cut, printed in color, Edition of 50, No. 3 comp: 25-1/2 x 21 in. Linoleum cut

Intaglio From the Italian word meaning “to cut” Intaglio is the reverse of relief printing. Areas to print are below the surface of the plate. Sharp tools and/or acid are used to make depression lines on a metal plate.

Types of Intaglio Printing Engraving: the oldest technique developed from medieval artisan cutting designs in armor. The tool for engraving is a burin V- shaped Dry point: similar to engraving except the cutting instrument is a dry point needle Mezzotint: a reverse process in which the artist works from dark to light. The surface is prepared to roughens the entire plate with a sharp tool called a rocker. To obtain lighter tones the area must be smoothed or rubbed out using a burnisher or scraper. The advantage to this method is subtle gradations from dark to light. Mezzotint is based on value

Types of Intaglio Printing cont. Etching: done with acids. The process starts with coating the printing plate with acid resistant substance called a ground, made from asphalt. The artist draw the image with an etching needle. Then the plate is placed in acid to reveal the lines. Aquatint: a variation of etching and is a way of achieving flat areas of value or tone. The plate is dusted with a fine powered resin. The plate is heated so the resin sticks. Then the cooled resin coated plate is placed in acid to achieve the desired effect

Drypoint Pablo Picasso. At the Circus Drypoint, 8 5/8 x 5 ½”

Louise Bourgeois. Hard Climb (Montee difficile) Burin and drypoint

Mezzotint Vija Celmins Untitled (Web 2), 2001 mezzotint 18 x 14 3/4 inches Ed: 50, 10 AP, 4 PP

Etching Rembrandt. Christ Preaching. c Etching, 6 ½ x 8 ½”

Aquatint An aquatint is created by etching sections, rather than lines, of a plate in order to create areas of uniform tone or value.

Francisco de Goya. Hasta La Muerte (Until Death), From Los Caprichos Etching and aquatint, 7 ½ x 5 ¼”

Mary Cassatt. Woman Bathing Drypoint and aquatint, 14 5/16”x 10 ½”

Lithography Kathe Kollwitz. Death and the Mother Lithograph, 20 ¼ x 14 ¾”

Elizabeth Catlett. Singing Their Songs Color lithograph, 23 x 19” based on Margaret Walker’s poem" For My People”

Screen Printing The screen is a fine mesh of silk or synthetic fiber mounted in a frame, rather than a window screen. (Silk is the traditional material, so the process has called silkscreen or serigraphy—”silk writing,”) Process-----working from a drawing, you stop out (block) screen areas that are not meant to print by plugging up the holes, usually with some kind of glue, so no ink can pass through. The screen is placed over paper, and the ink is forced through the mesh with a tool called a squeegee.

Edward Ruscha Standard Station, 1966 Color Screenprint 25 5/8 x 40 inches Signed, dated and numbered in pencil. Edition: 50

Special Techniques Maurice Prendergast. Bastille day Monotype in oil colors, 6 7/8 x 5 1/8”

Enrique Chagoya's Life Is a Dream, Then You Wake Up Monotype, 42 5/8 x 46 5/8”.

Recent Directions: The Photo Image and Printmaking

Victor Burgin. Untitled, from Fiction Film, computer- manipulated image printed as a photoscreen print, varnished, on white paper; 30 7/8 x 37 ½”

Carl Fudge. Rhapsody Spray Screenprint, 52 x 62” Giclee is a term to describe fine art inkjet printing.